Let it Be, Ch 3
Let it Be Chapter 3 copyright 2011 comidacomida
The sunlight shining through the shuttered windows was still deeply gold in color, identifying to Cory that he'd awoken early in the dawn. Ever since he could remember, the buck always seemed to rise with the sun; his mother called him her morning star... her real mother, not Agatha. The thought brought a moment of pain to him as he wondered idly what had become of his parents. He overrode the sorrow a moment later when he made himself realize that their life was probably continuing exactly as it had before he had been taken from them.
Agatha was his mother now. The gators were his family. He was happy. As he let out a sigh, however, he realized that, despite his contentment, he couldn't fool himself-- his mother and father each helped make him who he was and, despite their differences and their inability to fully understand and accept them, he still loved them. The emotional pitfall threatened to swallow him whole, but, at that very moment, a thick, well-muscled, scaled arm slid around his abdomen and pulled him back against the enormous form sharing the bed with him.
"What's wrong?" Rolis asked; the alligator nuzzled the back of Cory's head with his broad muzzle. Cory couldn't help but smile... just a little-- the gator always seemed to have no trouble reading him.
"Just thinking." Cory responded, rolling to his other side so he could lay facing his reptilian lover, "You know... about what might have been."
"Like?" Rolis asked, sliding the fingers of one of his big talons gingerly into the grasp of the buck's soft paw, interlacing them with Cory's.
"Nothing that important compared to what I'm thinking about right now." Cory smiled, leaning forward so he could embrace his lover. Rolis didn't press the issue, instead, he accepted the buck into his arms. They laid together for a few minutes until Cory finally let out a sigh, "We need to get up."
"So get up." the gator suggested. Cory went to do so, but Rolis' vice-like arms didn't let him so much as budge. The buck looked his lover in the eye, and saw more than a little hint of mischief. It passed quickly though, and Rolis released him.
"I'll have to let your dad know that you're going to run errands for me today." Cory announced, "I think he was planning on taking you out for more sword practice." the buck sat at the edge of the bed, stretching his arms over his head, arching his back as he yawned.
"I will." Rolis answered, sliding out of bed and placing his clawed feet on the wooden floor. The alligator raised his largest claw, followed by the next largest, then second-smallest, then smallest, creating a wave of motion and a rapid succession of *thunk*s as each tip dug into the wood after descending back to the floor. Cory always admired the control the alligator had over his lower appendages... the buck didn't think he'd be able to do so well with toes... but mostly because he was limited to hooves himself; the little extremities on the alligator's feet seemed complicated in comparison.
Cory stood, realizing that he didn't have the amount of time he would have liked to explore his lover's body... it would have to wait. He went to the wardrobe and quickly put together his clothing for the day, finishing the gear off with his leather apron. Rolis, over the same course of time, had donned leather breeches a stitched tunic, and a boiled leather breastplate; Cory had made every single one of the pieces for his lover; it was suitable enough to protect him from any general dangers in the city without being to excessive-- there were specific guidelines about wearing heavy armor in the city but nobody looked twice at boiled leather.
"I bet Tandrid will be by today with more cattle." Cory noted, pulling his skinning knife out of the drawer, "He really seems to love piecemeal jobs."
"You did 12." Rolis reminded him.
"I know... but Tandrid has the largest herd in town... he could keep us busy for a month solid and still barely make a dent in his animals." Cory explained, "He did say that he was considering increasing his sales this season."
"Is that bad?" the alligator asked, standing behind the buck as they looked at one another's reflections in the mirror. Rolis laid a talon down on Cory's shoulder.
"It's really good." Cory laughed mildly, "It means we can finish a whole month's worth of work by week's end." he turned around to hug the gator's midsection, gazing up at him, "Maybe it's for the best that you're visiting the apothecary for me... I'll probably be needed here if Tandrid does show up."
"Good." Rolis nodded, giving the buck a light squeeze before slowly disengaging. The gator moved toward the stairs.
"You're not leaving without breakfast though." Cory quickly spoke up.
"I know." Rolis answered, waiting by the stairway for the buck, holding an arm out toward Cory.
"Mom wouldn't let you." the buck took the offered arm and the two descended together.
"I know." the gator repeated.
"So eloquent." Cory chuckled, giving Rolis a playful elbow in the side. The alligator grinned in response but took it in stride.
The two descended to the ground floor and made an immediate right, heading into the back room where the scent of hot food and fine spices was already beginning to replace the acrid stench of leather treatments. Cory often lamented the horrible stench that his craft brought to the shop, but he was thankful for Agatha and Fedine, who were more than competent with herbs, oils, and unguents-- they cleared the scents every night and left the shop smelling far finer than any tannery had a right to smell. The morning's breakfast only added to the wonderful aroma.
The alligator family was already seated at the heavy wooden table, Ackert at one end and Agatha at the other. The seats closest to Ackert were left vacant for the tanner and his lover, while the four daughters took the next four seats; Naia and Fedine were closest to their mother, while Yveen and Lidee were in the middle between their older sisters and Cory and Rolis.
The discussion at the table was light-hearted and upbeat. Rolis explained simply that he was going to be going to the apothecary in Cory's stead and, as expected, nobody seemed to mind... not even Ackert, who mentioned he needed a day to meet with some benefactors about consultation work and that there wouldn't be a problem using Rolis as a delivery gator (the comment got a solid tail-lash against the ground by the younger gator, causing everyone to laugh).
Agatha and Fedine began talking about all the wonderful uses for the fresh oils that they'd be getting from the alchemist, and even Cory's mood had shifted more positively to the possible activities that would fill his day. Naia brought up the queue line she had almost finished weaving, noting that she expected it to be ready in the next day or two and hopefully help with controlling customer flow.
As breakfast slowly came to a close, Agatha shooed everyone away from the table. She and Fedine began clearing the dishes while Yveen and Lidee went to get their cloaks. Rolis stood but waited patiently for Cory to stand as well. The two exchanged a quick embrace, "Have a good trip." the buck offered, "Don't let Heinyr get to you." Cory knew that Rolis didn't particularly like the alchemist, but the buck did consider the jackal an important supplier of the chemicals he needed, "Behave." he added, with a smile.
Rolis nodded simply and accepted a small pouch of coin from the deer. Cory looked to the two alligator sisters as they came over to join their brother, "Do you both have the list I made?" he asked them.
"I have your list," Lidee, "and mom gave the notes of what she needed to Yveen." the other gator sister held up a piece of paper at that.
"Alright." Cory acknowledged, and gave them each a hug in turn, "Make sure Rolis doesn't try to kill the alchemist." he smiled playfully.
"We can't promise anything." Yveen smiled widely; Cory had grown used to seeing the alligators' expressions but there had been a time that it would have given him the chills.
"Alright... well I'll see you all back here for lunch." Agatha announced from the sink, "Now shoo! Cory needs those chemicals and I want my oils. Away with you!" the matronly gator began motioning the three of them out the door.
With little more to be said, the entirety of the family quickly broke ranks and went about their business. Ackert went out the back door while Rolis and the two sisters joining him exited through the front. Naia completed some last-minute cleaning of the shop while Cory opened the doors for business. Agatha finished with cleaning the dining area before coming out into the shop to help Cory place the displays and finished merchandise. Not ten minutes after they finished, the first customer entered: Tandrid the herder.
The shepherd dog, as expected, had a dozen cattle that were set to go to the butcher. Just as the prior day, he was willing to pay top coin to get all of Cory's attention. Fortunately, the deer had no work in reserve and was happy to accept the pay and the job. Tandrid explained that the butcher and his assistants would be bringing their wagons by after the noon hour; Cory guaranteed that the cattle would be hideless and ready for cutting by then. As always, Tandrid left with a bounce in his step and a wagging tail.
"Sometimes I think you could run this shop without anyone else but him for a customer." Naia pointed out.
"At that point, why own a shop?" Cory countered, "I could just hire on as one of his laborers and have him cover all of the costs."
"Wouldn't that make things easier?" the female gator asked.
"Easier, yes... but then it wouldn't be MY shop." Cory answered, casually tapping one of the support beams pointedly with an antler, "And, so long as life is good to me, I'd rather not be at the beck and call of anyone ever again."
"Cory!" Agatha called from one room over, "You have a customer! Come here, Lad!"
Cory and Naia exchanged grins at that, "There's no escaping it with mom around." Naia laughed.
The buck was kept busy throughout the morning. As promised, Tandrid's laborers showed up less than an hour later and provided a full dozen cattle. Per Cory's preference, they had been slain before being transported; the buck was a tanner-- he didn't kill the animals, he just skinned them. Skilled with his knife far beyond most in his trade, Cory had all of them finely and neatly prepared for the butcher before lunch, and even had some time afterwards to sit down with Agatha, Naia, and Fedine.
The four chatted casually, discussing everything ranging from the boiling vats to expected customer traffic for the afternoon. Naia showed everyone the progress she was making on the queue rope; a few more feet and it would be ready to hang up. she was confident that customers would be much more orderly if they had a place to wait in line. At that point, Lidee and Yveen, carrying numerous sacks, satchels, pouches, and bags between them. Cory and Agatha got up immediately to help them find the right place to put everything down, but the buck paused as he took the provisions from the young alligators, "Where's Rolis?" he asked.
"He said he wanted to stay and talk with Heinyr." Yveen noted.
"Why would Rolis want to stay and talk to him?" Fedine asked, "He hates the alchemist."
"He promised he'd behave." Lidee responded with a casual shrug.
"Do you think maybe it had something to do with the kingdom soldiers near the shop?" Yveen asked. In unison, Agatha, Fedine, and Cory went pale. Unlike the older members of the family, the two youngest had never been made fully aware of just what kind of trouble Cory and their father had been in.
"Fedine, dear..." Agatha noted, "Would you please take your sisters upstairs and get them cleaned up? I swear, the city must be getting dirtier and dirtier." her voice was convincing, but her eyes gave away her concern. Once the youngest girls were upstairs, Agatha turned directly to Cory, who was already sitting down gazing at the wall, "Ackert went to see Captain Privaed."
"I should go get him." Cory noted quickly, standing up.
Agatha's firm grip pushed him back down into his seat, "No you shouldn't... I don't want you out on the streets if there really are kingdom soldiers in town." she countered, "You stay here and keep doing what you're doing... I'll go find my husband."
Cory remained at the table as his mind continued to run all around the shop for him. There were kingdom soldiers in town? They were miles from the border! There wasn't any way the king (even as insane as he was) could have had any reason (or right) to have his troops travel so far away from his own lands. Flashbacks of his nightmares started coming to him, so it was only natural that he jumped out of his chair as the front door slammed closed quickly.
"Rolis!" the buck bleated, seeing his lover breathing heavily, back to the closed door. Already expecting something to be wrong, it didn't take long for Cory to see the numerous, violent cuts on the alligator's hide. Sections of Rolis' boiled leather armor was torn in places with blood coloring it "Oh Gods..." Cory breathed, "you're hurt."
"I'm fine." Rolis said. At that time, the buck noticed the alligator's sword; it was in Rolis' white-knuckled grasp, blade covered in blood.
"You're bleeding." Cory countered, checking his lover all over to see just how bad the wounds were.
"Not as bad as them." the gator grunted, letting out a hiss as the buck touched a tender spot.
"What happened?" Cory pressed for information, slowly leading Rolis away from the door. Despite the buck's fears, he was relieved to see that the alligator didn't have any serious wounds.
"I had to fight." Rolis explained, sitting at the table, "I sent the girls home." he glanced around the shop quickly.
"They made it back just fine." Cory reassured his lover, resting his hands on Rolis' free talon, "What about you?"
"I had to fight." Rolis repeated.
"Why didn't you just run?" the buck asked, working hard to make sure his voice didn't waver or start to choke up. He wasn't sure how he was maintaining his composure, but he knew it was important... not just for himself, but for Rolis... for the girls... for everyone.
"I had to fight." the alligator said for a third time, "If they followed me..."
Cory went even whiter at the thought and felt his spine freeze solid.
"Cory..." Rolis said softly, resting his sword on the table so he could cover the stag's paw with his other talon.
"Hmm?" the buck asked numbly, faintly registering the blood that had been on Rolis' talon was now staining his own fur.
"They were kingdom soldiers." the alligator stated.
Cory nodded, "Yea... I know."
"They weren't the king's." Rolis added.
"Huh?" the buck asked, the statement catching him completely by surprised, "They weren't the king's soldiers?"
"No." the alligator acknowledged.
"Then whose crest were they wearing?"
"Baron Vilamont's." the admission came out quietly.
Cory felt his heart fall through his stomach, "Louis' father's men?"
Rolis nodded quietly, eyes gazing down at their joined hands, "They're looking for you."