the_lioness | Trebond

Trebond

Over a year has passed since Alanna laid eyes on Trebond. An eventful year, to say the least, but as they turn off the Great Road on to Trebond Way, Alanna thinks it might as well have been ten. The sun is bright in the clear sky, but the light does nothing to soften the rocky forest and dense underbrush lining the steep road.

"The Grimhold Mountains are less than hospitable," Alanna explains, "but Thom and I never thought much of it when we were young."

She pats Moonlight's neck and gives Adam an encouraging smile. Everything is just fine. She almost believes it.

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He smiles back and reaches out to try and grab her hand -- tricky, but the gesture is there.

"I'll bet you two were horrid trouble."

Laughing softly, she grabs for his hand when the motion of the horses causes it to slip away.

"Indeed. Coram was more than a little afraid of us. It's not as if we threatened to hex him all that often."

He smiles as their fingers brush against each other, and he retakes the reins.

"It's a wonder the place is still standing."

Glancing over her shoulder at the spot where she said goodbye to Thom all those years ago, she sighs wistfully and nods. They ride in companionable silence for a time, Alanna humming under her breath. She stands in her stirrups and catches a leaf off a low hanging branch as they round a curve and the road opens up. Ahead lies Trebond with all its cold, imposing presence, the stone almost resembling ice from a distance.

It's a large castle, but it's nothing like Olau. Very clearly a fortress, Trebond was built to help keep invaders from the north out of Tortall.

"Home. Or it was, anyway."

Adam blinks once, twice, and there's a sharp inhalation of breath.

"Wow."

Alanna watches Adam absorb the sight. It's easier somehow than looking ahead, and she holds the reins in her teeth as she fiddles with her pack, stirrup leather, saddle blanket -- anything.

And then, just like that, she relaxes.

"I much prefer Father's home," she says, and it's true. "But I wanted you to see it."

His tone is soft, a little reverent.

"I'm glad you did."

So is Alanna. She looks ahead, and for the first time in a great long while, she can focus on the castle without dwelling on the graveyard that lies beyond.

The village itself is unremarkable. The people look leaner, harder than they do in Olau, but not mean. Children stare in curiosity as they pass, and Alanna points out the healer's hut.

"That's where Maude lived. I swear we spent more time there than we did in the keep."

Adam waves uncomfortably at a small child, and shuffles to catch up with Alanna.

"I suppose I ought to just get used to the fact that everybody knows you."

Surprised, she glances over her shoulder.

"Not everyone. Some of those children are far too young to remember me. It's just that they don't get many visitors here."

She smiles and leans sideways to squeeze his arm just as they ride through the gate into the castle courtyard. There's hardly anyone about, just a man pulling water from a well and another mending a saddle blanket near the stables.

"We're here, then."

It's quiet here, much more quiet than out on the streets. But so different than the orchards at Olau. It feels somehow completely overwhelming and utterly unremarkable all at once. He reaches over to wind his arm through hers, and lays a kiss on her cheek.

Alanna shivers, and it has as much to do with the mountains as the nature of the place.

She had loved Trebond as a child, but so much has changed since then.

For a moment, all she can hear is the wind.

"They'll take care of the horses." She gestures and smiles to the two men. Taking his hand, she leads the way into the castle, not breaking stride until they are in Lord Alan's study.

Not much has changed. Books and maps still cover most surfaces, along with a healthy layer of dust.

Adam's hesitant to sit, but he does so eventually. Not before walking around the room and taking careful note of the books, dust and all.

"These would be the books I didn't eat," she says wryly. "When they were pies."

Alanna turns in a slow circle, eventually focusing on the fireplace. Above it hangs a painting of a young woman, and although she has neither red hair nor violet eyes, it's not hard to recognize the smile.

The painting had hung briefly in her room at the bar, before Adam, but she had brought it back. It felt odd.

She thinks it would feel less odd now.

Adam watches Alanna's gaze from behind, and follows her eyes to the painting. There's a smile on his face, a little sad, and when he speaks, his voice is quiet.

"She was very pretty."

"Father always said."

She studies the painting for another minute before lowering her gaze to something on the mantle. Something she also intends to take with them.

Lugging a heavy chair over to the fireplace with a grunt, she climbs up and lifts an impressive sword, drawing it easily. It looks as if it should be tremendously heavy, but she handles it well.

"Thom would sneak in here for the books. I always came for this."

He crosses to her and reaches out to place a hand on the sword.

"His sword.

I can't imagine he was happy about that."

"He was very rarely happy about anything," she says with only a hint of bitterness. "I can forgive him for some of it now."

Climbing off the chair, she looks up at Adam.

"Nothing has changed, really. I suppose those of us who lived at Trebond when Lord Alan did were just too conditioned not to come in here."

"Do you suppose nobody's been in here?"

"I have a few times," she says, "and I'm sure a few of the servants have. But not often."

Alanna tucks the sword under her arm and glances at the painting again.

"Would you mind if we took it with us when we leave?"

Well, it's not like Thom'll be able to take it is the first (rather uncharitable) thought that goes through his head. But what he says is-

"Of course."

"Thank you," is the oddly formal response.

Less formal is the small hand that clutches his and starts to lead him outside.

"No sense in waiting, I suppose."

Unlike Olau, no one has hastened to see to their needs, but it's probably for the best.

He lets her lead. He often does, out of courtesy, habit, lack of anything important to do. But this time it's different. This time she needs to. He squeezes her hand onces, twice, as they make their way through old neglected areas, and steps up to keep closer to her when the gravemarkers appear.

She hesitates at the edge of the family cemetery, swallowing around the lump in her throat, but another small squeeze from his hand to reassure her gives her the nerve to step inside.

Lord Alan and Lady Thea aren't difficult to find, lying side-by-side on top of a small hill. Lord Thom (he had been Lord of Trebond when he died, but she never thinks of him that way) rests nearby, under a tree she had made him climb when they were young. Alanna sits down somewhere in the middle of all three and stares without seeing much of anything at all.

Adam moves behind her. He doesn't say anything but kneels, placing his hands on her shoulders.

Wondering if it's at all strange for him to see Thom's grave, Alanna reaches up to squeeze one of his hands again.

At first, she has nothing to say. Many long minutes pass as the wind whips their hair and rustles the trees.

When the words come, it seems as if they'll never stop.

She tells them everything as she's never been able to do. About training, about living as a boy, about being a knight -- she stumbles here, finally admitting aloud that she hopes they are proud of her, wherever they are.

She tells her father that she forgives him, and that maybe she understands better now, at least a little.

Unaware of the tears, she talks to her mother like a little girl, like a woman, like a daughter. There's so much she wishes she had been able to ask, but some of the sadness has turned to excitement that one day, maybe she'll have a daughter who wants to ask her those questions.

Thom? She simply stares at his grave and says, I'm sorry.

Pulling Adam's arms more closely around her, she tells them all about him, her husband, and all their plans. Only then does she look up at him.

He squeezes his arms around her tightly, laying kiss after kiss on her head, her cheek, her neck. He turns to the graves, and he feels a little silly, but he introduces himself and he says a little something and later he won't even remember what it is, but he does.

Later, she might be embarrassed by her emotions and words, but she doesn't think so. When Adam finishes, she turns and kisses him softly, tasting her own tears.

"Thank you," she says again.

He brings a hand up, wiping the tears away lightly and kisses her again.

"Thank you."

"For what? Getting your shirt all wet?"

She teases and smiles, the shadows gone from her eyes.

He laughs lightly and watches her move with him.

"For bringing me here."

Alanna closes her eyes and breathes in, feeling her way across the rocky ground as if by memory.

"I suppose it does still feel like home, at least a little. But it feels like a home I'm prepared to let someone else have now."

"Doesn't mean you can't come back."

"No, it doesn't. And I will. Eventually."

She looks back at the graves and smiles, a bit sad, but also a bit relieved.

"But for now, this feels right. Shall we find some food, before I take you on an exhausting tour of the castle itself? There are many hiding places of the famous Trebond twins you should see."

He pulls back, just enough to be able to take her hand in his and swing their arms a bit.

"That sounds about perfect."

Alanna smiles and playfully swings their arms a bit higher. One more night. For one more night, Trebond is hers.

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Trebond

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