NaNo stuph

[summer_sparrow]

The stone was cold against Maek’s fingertips, almost icy, leaving a grainy feel on his hands as he slowly followed the wall to its end. One, two, three, counting the steps as he did in his childhood, four and five and six. Anything to keep from thinking about Dolsi’s note, crumpled and tucked into his pants. Count steps, or the stones of the wall, or the banners streaming from the _, except that there were no banners. Dolsi tore them down long ago, pulled down the banners and portraits and statues that had graced this wing of the fortress. It was his, he had declared, warning his brothers to stay out unless- unlikely- he invited them.

This hadn’t been passed on to the servants. The bodies in the dog-pens, wrapped in tattered wall-hangings, were enough of a deterrent even for Jaete and Holf, cruelest of the brothers.

Bodies were still found, occasionally, and no one had ever doubted from whence they came. It had never bothered Maek. He never wanted to be near his brothers anyway, even if Dolsi was the least horrific of his siblings, and besides- he knew it was not Dolsi that killed, but his manservant, Sheeas, a strange, over-sized creature from the southern mountains.

The same creature was his reason for avoiding the main route to Dolsi’s chambers. Sheeas was frightening, even for someone like Maek. Small at first glance- perhaps five feet tall-its reddish-copper scales shone in torchlight, like bloodied armor. It couldn’t speak, not true speech. His hissing, obsequious speech, often understood only by Dolsi, ‘Yish, Dal-she…asssss mesh-teer saysss, yish…,” never failed to turn Maek’s stomach, combined as it was with the long sinuous tongue and flickering tail. From what Maek could gather, both were some form of communication for it’s species, and yet…Maek couldn’t overcome his revulsion. Few could- there was something about the creature that would send even the most stubborn of soldiers retreating to safety.

Suddenly his fingers dragged against wood instead of stone, bringing him to a stop so quickly he nearly pitched forward. Thanking the gods he hadn’t- that would be a prime spot for one of Dolsi’s “jokes,” the painful traps set randomly with this part of the fortress- he ran a cold hand against the jagged door, wincing but not stopping as slivers of wood embedded themselves in his palm.

The door opened seconds after Maek found the knocker. Dolsi arched a spare eyebrow at him as he leaned himself against the doorframe with an odd, lanky sort of dignity. Maek had always envied Dolsi that- despite his own mother being the first wife, and far more elegant than Dolsi’s, Maek had never quite been able to achieve anything like grace or elegance.

“Ahh… you’re late, elsee.” Dolsi’s smile could almost be genuine, and perhaps would be, to anyone else. For Maek, the too-handsome smile was a sign that there was pain in his near future. Dolsi could charm the most hardened of women, the oldest and angriest of soldiers, but Maek knew that Dolsi could be the worst of his brothers.

“Late. I wasn’t aware there was a time limit… if you summon someone, try putting up some torches. It might make it a little easier to get through your little labyrinth.” Maek matched Dolsi’s smile with one of his own, more a grimace than a grin. “Burn your eyebrows off again, brother?”

That was enough to jolt the older boy. Though as bloody-minded as the rest of his family, Dolsi cared more for his appearance than even some of the court ladies. The odd contrast of thick black hair and beard with nearly no eyebrows was probably why Maek hadn’t seen him out in the stables recently. He wondered what sort of experiments his brother was up to- amateur alchemy was more dangerous than nearly any other profession, and Dolsi had proved that many times over. Dolsi’s lips pulled into a sneer, reminding Maek of some of the more vicious of animals in the dog-pens.

“Get in here, boy. We’ve got things to discuss.”

“As you wish…” Maek bowed, doing his best to radiate sarcasm towards his elder brother. “…you know, you’d get far more visitors if you separated the greeting room from your work-tables. Dolsi… I must admit, I’m curious as to why you want to talk with me… ah, I suppose even you would be disturbed by Jaete’s latest-“

“You’d really like me to pour this down your throat, wouldn’t you?” Dolsi carelessly rolled a bottle in his hand, the contents glowing a particularly disturbing shade of blue. Maek took the hint, settling down on grayish leather chair. The feel of its smooth wooden armrests against his palms was faintly familiar. Yes…this would be the chair that went missing from their father’s chambers years ago. Maek had been beaten for that. He thought he should, perhaps, be angry at Dolsi for the incident…but the feelings did not come. Maek was used to that. It was always knowing the way he should feel, but rarely experiencing anything more than curiosity. And occasionally, like now, a heavy, dreading sort of sensation, knowing he didn’t want a part of whatever Dolsi had summoned him here to discuss.

Dolsi stood a moment longer, contemplating the bottle in his hand. Maek was sure his eyebrows would be furrowed, if he had any.

“Ah, Maek, my dear little brother…even you’re not dense enough to have missed the things that have been going on lately- I hope? I’d be dreadfully disappointed…”

“I’ve seen. And you can stop mocking the way I speak, if you please. You may have your nasty little liquids, but I don’t really think you can throw that at me before I can get out of here. I’m much faster than you are. Comes from years of practice running from you and your monsters, that.”

“Not a nice way to speak of our brothers, elsee. Where’s that fraternal love?” Slipping the bottle from one pale palm to the other, Dolsi sauntered towards the couch opposite Maek with agonizing leisure. “Besides, it was never me that chased you. Why would I? Jaete was more than suitable- and willing- to send you tearing around the gardens.” Dolsi’s smile was one of fond memory. “Maek… this is serious. You know what he’s planning. I can’t say I have any love for- him- but none of us can keep the empire together, not the way we fight. Holf and Shaso- They’re trying, I think, but it won’t work. We’re the only ones who can see it…you can, can’t you?” Dolsi had fallen into the languid, rhythmic tones he had always used for persuasion.
It took a moment for Maek to puzzle out the ‘he.’ ‘Him’ would be their father, of course…and the other he would be Jaete. That wasn’t surprising. If any of their father’s sons would commit treason- that was, he assumed, what Dolsi was talking about, as murder was the only way their almost frighteningly healthy father would be gotten out of the way- it would be Jaete. Jaete was more a cause of fear in Maek than even Sheeas, combining Holf’s tendency towards bloody-mindedness with Dolsi’s slow, cold cruelty and skills of persuasion. And if Jaete was planning a coup, some sort of rebellion… Maek’s dinner threatened to revisit him. Their father was a hard-handed tyrant, but Jaete on the throne would send even the most ambitious of courtiers into hiding.

“You want my help. To protect father?” Dolsi’s slick smile returned, and this time it truly was genuine, crinkling the corner of his gray eyes.

“Protect? It’s a little late for that, little one…recall the meeting of war after dinner? He- Father, he knows what Jaete is planning, I suppose. Or at least that he is planning something. I doubt he knows what…well, knew, anyway.”

Maek was, for once, grateful for his lack of emotion. “You think father is dead. How?”

“I know it, elsee, and how…Jaete is my creation, Maek. You weren’t old enough to see it, but we were so close in age, we used to be like twins. You wouldn’t understand, though, would you? You’re too young. You didn’t see it, and even Holf is far your senior. -Ah, see? I’m not mocking your speech, little brother, I’m the same when I’m not around our siblings. - Jaete will do what I would have done, were I as bloodthirsty. Father wouldn’t refuse his son access to a war council, would he?” He sighed. “Maek, you need to help me. I won’t say I have any love for our family, or any love for our land, but I do not want to lose what I have.” Dolsi glanced around at his bare chambers, the gray-blue stones that made up walls, floor, and ceiling almost seeming to glow, casting their own haunting light on the room, a light that faded the torches on the walls into bare embers.

“No.”

“Brother!” A change of expression, of his whole body, and Dolsi could be a different person. “Maek, listen to me! We can’t just sit around while Jaete rules!”

“Who said I planned on sitting around?” Maek countered Dolsi’s offended expression with his habitual smirk. “You’re talking to the one you lot tortured, remember? I don’t want Jaete in power any more than you do…but what I do, I don’t need you for.”

Another slight shift, and Dolsi was back to calm, practical, nearly radiating icy anger. “I don’t need you either, Maek, and you’d do well to remember that whatever else I am, I am still your older brother…and your elder. And you may think you’re faster- but you’ve never seen me run. You’ll stay here, and you’ll listen, boy, or I’ll chase you, and when I catch you I’ll be in possession of a very big stick.”

Maek froze in the process of rising from his seat. “Don’t…there’s nothing we really can do, if he’s already dead. Follow the leader, bow to the strongest, keep alive even if you have to lick boots to do it. If that’s what we were taught, brother mine, imagine what others have been taught! The guards, the whole militia, will follow anyone with the ability and stupidity to murder our father, and there is nothing we can do about it. The only thing we can do is leave. Shaso-”

“-is gone, with Holf. I spoke with them earlier. You’re so proud of your mind, elsee, so arrogant. Smarter than the rest of us, you think? I don’t. Learning and magic only give you a little more power, Maek, and not much…Maek…Lejin, little elsee, think what he’ll do to your mother.”

And that was the trouble with Dolsi, you could never argue with someone that smart and that cold. Not when he could see your weaknesses and didn’t mind using them.

“Bastard.”

“Yes, but so are you. To be quite serious, though, even with father, Shaso, and Holf gone, there will still be people who look to you or me for power. I have yet to meet anyone who likes Jaete, except, perhaps, for Sheeas. She seems to feel a sort of kinship with him. Not surprising…”

She? “…I’ll….think about it….”

“Think quickly, Maek. We have very little time, and much to accomplish, if we want to keep brother dearest from doing too much damage. Knowing him, he’ll start a war just for the fun of it…completely ruin the economy…”

Maek had stopped listening, trying to subdue the storm in his stomach. Feeling as if Dolsi had somehow pulled his strength from him, he shoved himself up from the chair, walking- more like stumbling­­­- across the room. His legs would barely support him. It was as if they had turned to wax…his whole body felt that way. Betrayal, chaos, even his father’s death he could deal with, but the moment the words had spilled from Dolsi’s mouth- Think what he’ll do to your mother- he lost his breath, lost the ability to breath. His mother- the one thing he had any caring for- almost. His mother, and his books. Jaete would burn the books. He’d probably burn both.

It barely registered as he made his way to the door that Dolsi was laughing, talking. Dolsi had always been strange, after all. Then he saw, through the hair that had fallen into his face, clawed, golden-scaled feet.

“Meeeeeeey-aaaaaach…..” a long, grayish tongue waved sinuously into his sight. The creature giggled as Maek dropped to the floor, the contents of his stomach spreading themselves across the stone floor.

“Take him to his room when he’s done, beautiful one, and stay there. Don’t let him out of your sight.”

Maek curled up beside his mess, slipping out of conciousness.





It's occured to me that while Maek's story is fairly long- certainly longer than anything I've ever written- it's not novel-length. Which is somewhat of a problem, considering NaNo.

It also occurs to me, though, that I have at least two other stories in that world- three if I try to flesh out my freaky island-of-twins (it's hard translating completely disconnected, thought-up-at-completey-different-times civilizations onto one map. Oy!), and four if I can squish Stupid-Psuedo-Religious-Quest-Story into the same world...Eh, there's some other continents I can dump those on to, I think.

Maybe.

Anyone want to see the maps? (and maybe, liek, make some suggestions on climate and stuff? 'cause I know where a mountain range is and that the second-biggest continent is mostly very arid, except for some swampy areas. urk.)

Comments

[yay4pikas.livejournal.com]

Memememememe I love maps!

(And yay snippet!)