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Lead Me Not Into Temptation
Part Three : Falling In
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Saleh was gone when Ewan awoke the next morning. He sat up blearily and squinted at the sunlight beaming down on him through the window - he must have been more exhausted than he thought to have slept so late. Ewan rubbed an eye halfheartedly and swung his legs over the side of the bed, wondering why he was feeling so unusually gloomy. With his chipper personality, he was what others irritably called a ‘morning person,’ up with the sun and ready to greet the day with a smile. Back in the army, this talent was generally rewarded with slurred and groggy insults and threats to pelt him with fruit from everyone but L’Arachel. L’Arachel received full-blown rants and actually was pelted with fruit - not that anyone ever landed a hit or made any impression on her morning habits whatsoever.
Ewan stretched and groaned when he heard a joint pop. “Age twenty-three and I’m already getting old,” he muttered to himself. He rummaged in a drawer for a pair of clean pants.
Judging from the sun, it was only a few hours until noon - four at most; he’d probably already missed breakfast. Saleh had probably been up for hours; certainly his half of the bed was already cold when Ewan woke up. Ewan told himself he didn’t care that Saleh hadn’t woken him - Saleh was being generous and letting him sleep in, something he wasn’t normally allowed to do (not that he usually had much interest in it anyway) - but somehow that didn’t help his mood any. He glared at the offending sun and left the room, intent on finding his own entertainment for the day. ‘The palace is yours,’ Eirika had said, and he damn well intended to use it.
He knew he should probably greet everyone else, and he did, in the back of his mind, want to, but he was in one of those rare and inexplicably bitter moods and knew better than to impose it on anyone if he could help it. A couple hours exploring the palace and its grounds and he would be himself again. He could better torment people when he was of a cheery disposition.
Fortunately for Ewan, the palace was big enough for several dozen people to get lost in and still never cross paths, and Ewan himself had absolutely no qualms with getting lost. In an hour or so of wandering, he found a music room, several courtyards, a rather cozy parlor, a gallery, and the library - or perhaps a library, given the size of the palace - and though he was sorely tempted to lose himself in some books right then and there, he knew he’d never pull himself out again if he did. Perhaps he should bring Saleh down here later; his teacher would appreciate the wealth of information even more than he did himself.
Reluctantly dragging himself from the library, Ewan instead headed in the general direction where he assumed the gardens were located. After a bit of backtracking and several detours, mostly to locate a window from which he could attempt to trace a route down to his destination, he finally emerged in a sunlit yard flanked by two wings of the palace. The immediate vicinity was rigorously maintained: hedges and flowers seemed to have been given no leeway but were trimmed into an impeccable formation. Everything was low and trees seemed sparse; Ewan was a little uncomfortable with the rigidness of it all, and breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed a distinctly more natural garden some ways down the yard.
He struck off down one of the cobblestone paths towards it and was thrilled to find it even more beautiful up close than it had been from a distance. Vine-covered trellises covered some walkways, others were hemmed in by large rhododendron bushes, yet more lined with a thick cluster of evergreen or beech trees, and every turn was met with a different sort of ambiance, be it brightly colored flowers or exotic dark ferns or blossoming cherry trees. “It’s like a maze,” murmured Ewan as he walked.
He’d taken several more turns and met a dead end before he realized that it was a maze, and with a grin set about getting himself as lost as possible in it to make finding his way out that much more exciting. At one point he stumbled across a pond that wound its way in curls across a clearing. Big white water lilies sat on even bigger green lily pads, one of which was currently hosting the largest bullfrog Ewan had ever seen. There were reeds and flowers and even a willow tree along the water’s edge, and a small wooden bridge over the narrowest part of the pond with a matching loveseat in the sun overlooking the pond some distance away. Ewan collapsed onto it and stared about himself in awe. “I must bring Saleh here,” he said reverently, then chuckled, “If I can ever find it again.”
“You’re talking to yourself.”
Ewan jumped and spun around. The small girl who had been playing with Eirika when they’d arrived last night was watching him with large eyes and a patronizing expression. “You’re going to get caught,” she said.
Ewan blinked. “What?”
“They’ll find you if you sit out there in the open. They’ll definitely find you if you keep talking to yourself.”
“Who?”
She gave him a pitying look. “The Seekers.”
“…The who?”
The girl - Celeste, he recalled - gave an elaborate sigh and rolled her eyes, then glared at him and said, “Shhhhh!” very loudly. She followed this up by marching over, grabbing his wrist, and dragging him under the hanging branches of the willow tree with surprising force. “We’re hiding,” she told him, then assumed a post right at the edge of the overhanging branches and watched the entrance to the clearing with military vigor. Ewan realized that she thought she was hidden by the wispy twigs.
“No, wait,” he whispered. He took her hand and led her behind the willow’s trunk. “This is a better hiding place. See, we can still see the path, but anyone on it can’t see us.”
Celeste smiled up at him. “You’re Ewan.”
He blinked. “Er, yes.”
“Amelia told me about you,” she continued, before he could ask how she knew that. She put extra emphasis on the middle syllable of Amelia’s name, as though the word were a little strange to her. “You have funny hair.”
He put his hand self-consciously to the back of his head but his hair felt no different from usual. “How is it-”
“Shhhhh!”
Ewan looked up at the path where Celeste’s eyes were riveted and saw Amelia enter the clearing and look around. “Seeker,” Celeste whispered.
Amelia seemed generally impressed with the pond, but Ewan could tell she’d seen it before as she wandered down the walkway, staring intently at the cattails and shrubbery. Ewan and Celeste moved around the tree trunk as she passed the willow, keeping it between themselves and her line of sight. Suddenly, as Amelia passed on the part of the path closest to their hiding spot, Celeste broke away and charged at her, launching herself through the branches with a yell.
“Oof!” Amelia laughed and staggered more than was necessary as Celeste tackled her. “There you are!”
“I caught you! Piggy-back ride, Amelia, please?”
“I don’t know, you’re getting awfully big for those…” the older girl teased.
“Please?”
“Oh, all right,” she laughed, and got down on her knees so Celeste could climb onto her back. Getting up again, she turned around and almost dropped Celeste. “E-Ewan!”
“Hello again,” he grinned.
“Ewan helped me find a good hiding place,” Celeste said seriously.
Amelia beamed at him. “Of course he did, he knows all kinds of neat tricks like that.”
Ewan nodded. “I learned it in my days as a rebel outlaw,” he told Celeste, whose eyes grew wide over Amelia’s shoulder.
“Were you really a rebel outlaw?”
He gave her a grave nod. “The most wanted in the land. I would appreciate it if you not mention this to your parents, though,” he added with a wink.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You weren’t a rebel outlaw, were you?” she said accusingly. “You’re making it up.”
“She’s got you figured, Ewan,” giggled Amelia.
“Alas, my days have never seen anything so exciting as those of a rebel outlaw,” he sighed.
“Oh, and the War of the Stones was what, pray?”
“A mere tea party in comparison to the life of the lawless, my dear.”
Amelia flushed and smiled up at him. “You’ve gotten more dramatic, but in terms of being a joker you haven’t changed a bit.”
“Well, I like to think I’ve gotten a bit taller, too…”
Ewan’s joking put Amelia more at ease, and she smirked at him in response. “It’s certainly true that you’re not shorter than me anymore.”
“Touché.”
“Amelia,” a young voice interjected, “Piggy-back.”
“Where to?”
The small hand pointed at the other exit from the clearing.
“Your wish is my command, Princess,” she said with a fake bow, tipping Celeste forward in the process and causing the child to giggle. Hoisting her back up again, Amelia turned to Ewan and nodded at the path. “Shall we?”
“After you,” he smiled, waving her ahead. He didn’t notice her slight blush as he followed her down the path and back into the maze.
Their third turn into the maze, Ewan was brought up short when Amelia apparently collided with someone coming around the corner. There was a brief scuffle as the person steadied Amelia, who had lost her balance due to the extra weight of the princess on her back, and then Ewan got a good idea of who was around the corner from the hearty baritone chuckle that accompanied him. “Damn, you found her first again!”
“No swearing in front of Celeste, please,” chided Amelia.
“I didn’t hear anything,” the girl assured them, though she quite clearly had. Ewan could practically see her little mind filing the word away for later use.
“Besides,” Amelia continued, “it was Ewan who found her first this time.”
“Ewan?”
Amelia moved aside to let Ewan pass, and he suddenly found himself engulfed in an enthusiastic bear hug. “Bro!” cried Ross, pounding him on the back. Ewan laughed and responded in kind, though not with nearly as much force; Ross was still half a head taller than him and seemed twice as strong.
Ross finally stepped back and regarded him with a huge grin. “How’ve you been, Bro? By the Light, it’s been forever! Look at you, you’re all grown up!”
“You make it sound as though you haven’t grown up yourself,” returned Ewan with a matching expression.
“Pah, I was already grown up back then; barely changed.”
“Oh, sure,” Ewan smirked as Amelia snickered behind him, “And what’s this, huh?” He reached around and tugged on the tail of bound hair that fell halfway down Ross’s back.
“Hey!” Ross removed his ponytail from Ewan’s grip and pushed it back over his shoulder. “I’ll have you know the ladies love it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep!”
“Hm, I don’t know. What do you think, Amelia?” Ross froze as Ewan turned and presented him to Amelia. “Does it make him look absolutely dashing?”
She flushed red, eyes darting between the two of them uncertainly.
“Er,” said Ross.
“I, uh,” said Amelia.
Ewan blinked. “Either your dazzling good looks have rendered her speechless, or she’s struggling for words sufficiently diplomatic as to not scar your ego too badly.” He grinned at Ross, “My money’s on the latter.”
Ross mock-scowled and socked him in the shoulder as Amelia flushed even darker.
“I like Mister Ross’s hair,” declared a voice over Amelia’s shoulder.
Ross grinned and bowed. “Y’see? The little Princess has taste. She knows a man when she sees one.”
“It’s like a girl’s hair,” Celeste continued, “So Mister Ross is like a girl with muscles.”
Ewan doubled over laughing at his friend’s horrified expression. Celeste glared at him. “He does have muscles!” she insisted, misinterpreting Ewan’s amusement, “Amelia said it’s because he fights with axes. I’m going to learn to fight with axes and have muscles like that one day!”
It took all of Ewan’s self-discipline to not laugh even harder at this statement. Glancing at his friends, he saw that Amelia seemed torn between being embarrassed and bursting out laughing herself. Ross looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“I’m sure,” said Ewan as he got himself under control, “that Ross would be more than happy to teach you while he’s here.”
This time Ross really did glare at him and Amelia broke out in giggles.
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By one o’clock - after a morning of catering to the whims of a young princess and catching up with his two friends - Ewan had been bodily hauled off to dinner, a spectacularly informal meal where everyone was far more interested in the conversation than the food. Tana was there in an instant when the four of them entered the hall, hugging all of them, pinching Ewan’s cheeks, and finally whisking Celeste away with the mission of hunting down and abusing her father.
Scanning the room for Saleh, Ewan spotted him at the empty end of a table, deep in conversation with Eirika. He felt something akin to unjustified jealousy rising in him, but didn’t have time to dwell on it as Ross insisted on dragging both he and Amelia over to talk to his father, who was laughing over something with Dozla when they arrived. Ewan received hearty thumps on the back from both men, a cup of wine thrust into his hand, and was essentially propelled into a chair next to Dozla as Garcia had already begun talking was sounded suspiciously like battle strategies with Amelia. Whatever the topic, she seemed more enthusiastic and at ease than she had all day, and Ross, though apparently unable to get a word in edgewise, looked thrilled.
“Ewan!” boomed Dozla, clapping the back of his chair and nearly making Ewan spill his drink, “How have you been, my lad? Tell me about your adventures!”
“I’m sure yours have been far more exciting than mine, Uncle Dozla,” Ewan grinned, “A day with Princess L’Arachel is never a dull one!”
Dozla guffawed at this. “That’s for sure, laddie. But don’t try to tell me you’ve done nothing interesting. Come on, what have you been up to?”
“Well… do you remember how I told you about my idea of creating something that would let people talk to each other from miles and miles away?”
“Of course! A fantastic idea if I ever heard one, though I still can’t get my head around it.”
“I’ve been working on making such a device.”
“You never! Does it work?”
Ewan nodded. “I think so. In fact…” he put his cup down and dug about in one of his pockets before producing two identical hand mirrors and offering one to Dozla. “You could do me a great favor by helping me test it out.”
“Absolutely!” he laughed, taking the mirror, “But you sure I’m the right man for the job?”
“I need someone who doesn’t do magic to make sure it can be activated by anyone. And no one’s ever listened to my ideas better than you, Uncle Dozla!”
The man chuckled again. “Ah, surely Master Saleh does, and understands them, too!”
Ewan’s smile faded and he glanced at his teacher again. “Sometimes I wonder,” he murmured.
There was a moment’s pause. “So, laddie,” said Dozla, tapping the mirror, “Tell me how this thing works, eh?”
Ewan’s head snapped back around, grin back in place. “Well, I’ve got one and you’ve got one, and they’re magically linked to one another. Theoretically, when one of us says the activation word, our mirror will connect to the other one and we’ll be able to see each other in the mirror instead of our own reflections. We should be able to hear each other, too, though that might need a bit of fine-tuning.”
“Incredible!”
“I hope so, anyway,” laughed Ewan, “What I don’t know is how well the link holds up over distance. I’ve only been able to try with relatively short distances so far. It’d be really great to see if it still works after the reunion, when we’ve gone home. If people can still be connected over that much space…”
“Even as it is, it’s very impressive, lad. I always knew you would go far with that imagination of yours.”
“Aw, thanks, Uncle. But don’t praise me yet; we’ve still got to make sure that the activation word will work even if someone with no magic says it. And even if the whole thing works, I don’t know how useful it will be. How are you supposed to know when someone’s contacting you if you’re not actually looking at the mirror at that moment?” He paused to consider that. “Of course, if you hear a voice shouting at you from your pocket, that might be a clue.”
Dozla laughed and ruffled Ewan’s hair. “You’ll figure it out, my boy. You’ve got wit and talent, but most importantly, you’ve got dedication. You’ll achieve anything you try for so long as you hang onto that and don’t give up.”
Ewan gave him a contemplative look. “You really think so?”
“I know so.” Dozla stood and gave him another clap on the back. “My Lady summons me now, but come see me at any time, lad! You’re always great fun to talk to!”
Ewan raised his cup to him with a grin and took a sip as his honorary uncle departed. In good spirits, he gazed around the room and noted with amusement where Amelia was now trying to talk to Artur and looked very uncomfortable under the disapproving gaze of the nearby Cormag. Another glance in Saleh’s direction revealed the sage now sitting by himself, sipping his wine and surveying the room with his usual quiet but thorough observation. Ewan caught his eyes and they shared a small smile.
A moment later, however, Ewan spotted Renais’ young princess making a beeline for his teacher. He bit back a smirk as Saleh followed his gaze and paled, suddenly finding himself verbally accosted by an adamant Celeste. Ewan snickered as he watched the girl talk at his teacher, who appeared more uncomfortable by the minute and who finally resorted to sending Ewan a pleading look that he didn’t have the heart to say no to.
He knocked back the last of his wine and sauntered over Saleh’s end of the table with an amused grin on his face. “What’re you telling Master Saleh about, Princess?” he asked, “Or is it a big secret that you can only share with him?”
She turned and eyed him warily for a moment. “It’s a secret,” she said finally, which Ewan took to mean that she didn’t feel like explaining it again and had probably forgotten what she’d initially been talking about anyway.
“Well, you picked the right person to confide in,” he told her confidentially, “Master Saleh is good at keeping secrets.” He glanced at his teacher, but Saleh only looked mildly confused. He looked back at Celeste. “How would you like a shoulder ride?” he asked.
“Yes, up!” she cried, jumping up and down. He laughed and lifted her onto his shoulders, slightly surprised at how heavy she was. “By the Light, I think Amelia wasn’t kidding when she said you were getting big for this kind of thing!”
Saleh gave a light chuckle. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re good with children,” he said.
“He’s wonderful with children,” Amelia corrected, coming up behind him with Ross trailing in her wake. “He spent all morning playing with Celeste, you should have seen him.”
“I was there, too,” Ewan swore he heard Ross mutter, but when he looked over Ross gave no indication that he’d said anything. Frowning slightly, Ewan turned back to Saleh and protested, “One would think that you’re pretty good with children yourself. After all, you put up with me for how many year s?”
Saleh shook his head. “Being a teacher is different,” he said, “I don’t know how to simply… entertain.”
“Not even a bit of magic?” his student persisted teasingly.
The sage looked a little startled, then smiled. “That I can do.”
Lead Me Not Into Temptation
Part Three : Falling In
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Saleh was gone when Ewan awoke the next morning. He sat up blearily and squinted at the sunlight beaming down on him through the window - he must have been more exhausted than he thought to have slept so late. Ewan rubbed an eye halfheartedly and swung his legs over the side of the bed, wondering why he was feeling so unusually gloomy. With his chipper personality, he was what others irritably called a ‘morning person,’ up with the sun and ready to greet the day with a smile. Back in the army, this talent was generally rewarded with slurred and groggy insults and threats to pelt him with fruit from everyone but L’Arachel. L’Arachel received full-blown rants and actually was pelted with fruit - not that anyone ever landed a hit or made any impression on her morning habits whatsoever.
Ewan stretched and groaned when he heard a joint pop. “Age twenty-three and I’m already getting old,” he muttered to himself. He rummaged in a drawer for a pair of clean pants.
Judging from the sun, it was only a few hours until noon - four at most; he’d probably already missed breakfast. Saleh had probably been up for hours; certainly his half of the bed was already cold when Ewan woke up. Ewan told himself he didn’t care that Saleh hadn’t woken him - Saleh was being generous and letting him sleep in, something he wasn’t normally allowed to do (not that he usually had much interest in it anyway) - but somehow that didn’t help his mood any. He glared at the offending sun and left the room, intent on finding his own entertainment for the day. ‘The palace is yours,’ Eirika had said, and he damn well intended to use it.
He knew he should probably greet everyone else, and he did, in the back of his mind, want to, but he was in one of those rare and inexplicably bitter moods and knew better than to impose it on anyone if he could help it. A couple hours exploring the palace and its grounds and he would be himself again. He could better torment people when he was of a cheery disposition.
Fortunately for Ewan, the palace was big enough for several dozen people to get lost in and still never cross paths, and Ewan himself had absolutely no qualms with getting lost. In an hour or so of wandering, he found a music room, several courtyards, a rather cozy parlor, a gallery, and the library - or perhaps a library, given the size of the palace - and though he was sorely tempted to lose himself in some books right then and there, he knew he’d never pull himself out again if he did. Perhaps he should bring Saleh down here later; his teacher would appreciate the wealth of information even more than he did himself.
Reluctantly dragging himself from the library, Ewan instead headed in the general direction where he assumed the gardens were located. After a bit of backtracking and several detours, mostly to locate a window from which he could attempt to trace a route down to his destination, he finally emerged in a sunlit yard flanked by two wings of the palace. The immediate vicinity was rigorously maintained: hedges and flowers seemed to have been given no leeway but were trimmed into an impeccable formation. Everything was low and trees seemed sparse; Ewan was a little uncomfortable with the rigidness of it all, and breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed a distinctly more natural garden some ways down the yard.
He struck off down one of the cobblestone paths towards it and was thrilled to find it even more beautiful up close than it had been from a distance. Vine-covered trellises covered some walkways, others were hemmed in by large rhododendron bushes, yet more lined with a thick cluster of evergreen or beech trees, and every turn was met with a different sort of ambiance, be it brightly colored flowers or exotic dark ferns or blossoming cherry trees. “It’s like a maze,” murmured Ewan as he walked.
He’d taken several more turns and met a dead end before he realized that it was a maze, and with a grin set about getting himself as lost as possible in it to make finding his way out that much more exciting. At one point he stumbled across a pond that wound its way in curls across a clearing. Big white water lilies sat on even bigger green lily pads, one of which was currently hosting the largest bullfrog Ewan had ever seen. There were reeds and flowers and even a willow tree along the water’s edge, and a small wooden bridge over the narrowest part of the pond with a matching loveseat in the sun overlooking the pond some distance away. Ewan collapsed onto it and stared about himself in awe. “I must bring Saleh here,” he said reverently, then chuckled, “If I can ever find it again.”
“You’re talking to yourself.”
Ewan jumped and spun around. The small girl who had been playing with Eirika when they’d arrived last night was watching him with large eyes and a patronizing expression. “You’re going to get caught,” she said.
Ewan blinked. “What?”
“They’ll find you if you sit out there in the open. They’ll definitely find you if you keep talking to yourself.”
“Who?”
She gave him a pitying look. “The Seekers.”
“…The who?”
The girl - Celeste, he recalled - gave an elaborate sigh and rolled her eyes, then glared at him and said, “Shhhhh!” very loudly. She followed this up by marching over, grabbing his wrist, and dragging him under the hanging branches of the willow tree with surprising force. “We’re hiding,” she told him, then assumed a post right at the edge of the overhanging branches and watched the entrance to the clearing with military vigor. Ewan realized that she thought she was hidden by the wispy twigs.
“No, wait,” he whispered. He took her hand and led her behind the willow’s trunk. “This is a better hiding place. See, we can still see the path, but anyone on it can’t see us.”
Celeste smiled up at him. “You’re Ewan.”
He blinked. “Er, yes.”
“Amelia told me about you,” she continued, before he could ask how she knew that. She put extra emphasis on the middle syllable of Amelia’s name, as though the word were a little strange to her. “You have funny hair.”
He put his hand self-consciously to the back of his head but his hair felt no different from usual. “How is it-”
“Shhhhh!”
Ewan looked up at the path where Celeste’s eyes were riveted and saw Amelia enter the clearing and look around. “Seeker,” Celeste whispered.
Amelia seemed generally impressed with the pond, but Ewan could tell she’d seen it before as she wandered down the walkway, staring intently at the cattails and shrubbery. Ewan and Celeste moved around the tree trunk as she passed the willow, keeping it between themselves and her line of sight. Suddenly, as Amelia passed on the part of the path closest to their hiding spot, Celeste broke away and charged at her, launching herself through the branches with a yell.
“Oof!” Amelia laughed and staggered more than was necessary as Celeste tackled her. “There you are!”
“I caught you! Piggy-back ride, Amelia, please?”
“I don’t know, you’re getting awfully big for those…” the older girl teased.
“Please?”
“Oh, all right,” she laughed, and got down on her knees so Celeste could climb onto her back. Getting up again, she turned around and almost dropped Celeste. “E-Ewan!”
“Hello again,” he grinned.
“Ewan helped me find a good hiding place,” Celeste said seriously.
Amelia beamed at him. “Of course he did, he knows all kinds of neat tricks like that.”
Ewan nodded. “I learned it in my days as a rebel outlaw,” he told Celeste, whose eyes grew wide over Amelia’s shoulder.
“Were you really a rebel outlaw?”
He gave her a grave nod. “The most wanted in the land. I would appreciate it if you not mention this to your parents, though,” he added with a wink.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You weren’t a rebel outlaw, were you?” she said accusingly. “You’re making it up.”
“She’s got you figured, Ewan,” giggled Amelia.
“Alas, my days have never seen anything so exciting as those of a rebel outlaw,” he sighed.
“Oh, and the War of the Stones was what, pray?”
“A mere tea party in comparison to the life of the lawless, my dear.”
Amelia flushed and smiled up at him. “You’ve gotten more dramatic, but in terms of being a joker you haven’t changed a bit.”
“Well, I like to think I’ve gotten a bit taller, too…”
Ewan’s joking put Amelia more at ease, and she smirked at him in response. “It’s certainly true that you’re not shorter than me anymore.”
“Touché.”
“Amelia,” a young voice interjected, “Piggy-back.”
“Where to?”
The small hand pointed at the other exit from the clearing.
“Your wish is my command, Princess,” she said with a fake bow, tipping Celeste forward in the process and causing the child to giggle. Hoisting her back up again, Amelia turned to Ewan and nodded at the path. “Shall we?”
“After you,” he smiled, waving her ahead. He didn’t notice her slight blush as he followed her down the path and back into the maze.
Their third turn into the maze, Ewan was brought up short when Amelia apparently collided with someone coming around the corner. There was a brief scuffle as the person steadied Amelia, who had lost her balance due to the extra weight of the princess on her back, and then Ewan got a good idea of who was around the corner from the hearty baritone chuckle that accompanied him. “Damn, you found her first again!”
“No swearing in front of Celeste, please,” chided Amelia.
“I didn’t hear anything,” the girl assured them, though she quite clearly had. Ewan could practically see her little mind filing the word away for later use.
“Besides,” Amelia continued, “it was Ewan who found her first this time.”
“Ewan?”
Amelia moved aside to let Ewan pass, and he suddenly found himself engulfed in an enthusiastic bear hug. “Bro!” cried Ross, pounding him on the back. Ewan laughed and responded in kind, though not with nearly as much force; Ross was still half a head taller than him and seemed twice as strong.
Ross finally stepped back and regarded him with a huge grin. “How’ve you been, Bro? By the Light, it’s been forever! Look at you, you’re all grown up!”
“You make it sound as though you haven’t grown up yourself,” returned Ewan with a matching expression.
“Pah, I was already grown up back then; barely changed.”
“Oh, sure,” Ewan smirked as Amelia snickered behind him, “And what’s this, huh?” He reached around and tugged on the tail of bound hair that fell halfway down Ross’s back.
“Hey!” Ross removed his ponytail from Ewan’s grip and pushed it back over his shoulder. “I’ll have you know the ladies love it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep!”
“Hm, I don’t know. What do you think, Amelia?” Ross froze as Ewan turned and presented him to Amelia. “Does it make him look absolutely dashing?”
She flushed red, eyes darting between the two of them uncertainly.
“Er,” said Ross.
“I, uh,” said Amelia.
Ewan blinked. “Either your dazzling good looks have rendered her speechless, or she’s struggling for words sufficiently diplomatic as to not scar your ego too badly.” He grinned at Ross, “My money’s on the latter.”
Ross mock-scowled and socked him in the shoulder as Amelia flushed even darker.
“I like Mister Ross’s hair,” declared a voice over Amelia’s shoulder.
Ross grinned and bowed. “Y’see? The little Princess has taste. She knows a man when she sees one.”
“It’s like a girl’s hair,” Celeste continued, “So Mister Ross is like a girl with muscles.”
Ewan doubled over laughing at his friend’s horrified expression. Celeste glared at him. “He does have muscles!” she insisted, misinterpreting Ewan’s amusement, “Amelia said it’s because he fights with axes. I’m going to learn to fight with axes and have muscles like that one day!”
It took all of Ewan’s self-discipline to not laugh even harder at this statement. Glancing at his friends, he saw that Amelia seemed torn between being embarrassed and bursting out laughing herself. Ross looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“I’m sure,” said Ewan as he got himself under control, “that Ross would be more than happy to teach you while he’s here.”
This time Ross really did glare at him and Amelia broke out in giggles.
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By one o’clock - after a morning of catering to the whims of a young princess and catching up with his two friends - Ewan had been bodily hauled off to dinner, a spectacularly informal meal where everyone was far more interested in the conversation than the food. Tana was there in an instant when the four of them entered the hall, hugging all of them, pinching Ewan’s cheeks, and finally whisking Celeste away with the mission of hunting down and abusing her father.
Scanning the room for Saleh, Ewan spotted him at the empty end of a table, deep in conversation with Eirika. He felt something akin to unjustified jealousy rising in him, but didn’t have time to dwell on it as Ross insisted on dragging both he and Amelia over to talk to his father, who was laughing over something with Dozla when they arrived. Ewan received hearty thumps on the back from both men, a cup of wine thrust into his hand, and was essentially propelled into a chair next to Dozla as Garcia had already begun talking was sounded suspiciously like battle strategies with Amelia. Whatever the topic, she seemed more enthusiastic and at ease than she had all day, and Ross, though apparently unable to get a word in edgewise, looked thrilled.
“Ewan!” boomed Dozla, clapping the back of his chair and nearly making Ewan spill his drink, “How have you been, my lad? Tell me about your adventures!”
“I’m sure yours have been far more exciting than mine, Uncle Dozla,” Ewan grinned, “A day with Princess L’Arachel is never a dull one!”
Dozla guffawed at this. “That’s for sure, laddie. But don’t try to tell me you’ve done nothing interesting. Come on, what have you been up to?”
“Well… do you remember how I told you about my idea of creating something that would let people talk to each other from miles and miles away?”
“Of course! A fantastic idea if I ever heard one, though I still can’t get my head around it.”
“I’ve been working on making such a device.”
“You never! Does it work?”
Ewan nodded. “I think so. In fact…” he put his cup down and dug about in one of his pockets before producing two identical hand mirrors and offering one to Dozla. “You could do me a great favor by helping me test it out.”
“Absolutely!” he laughed, taking the mirror, “But you sure I’m the right man for the job?”
“I need someone who doesn’t do magic to make sure it can be activated by anyone. And no one’s ever listened to my ideas better than you, Uncle Dozla!”
The man chuckled again. “Ah, surely Master Saleh does, and understands them, too!”
Ewan’s smile faded and he glanced at his teacher again. “Sometimes I wonder,” he murmured.
There was a moment’s pause. “So, laddie,” said Dozla, tapping the mirror, “Tell me how this thing works, eh?”
Ewan’s head snapped back around, grin back in place. “Well, I’ve got one and you’ve got one, and they’re magically linked to one another. Theoretically, when one of us says the activation word, our mirror will connect to the other one and we’ll be able to see each other in the mirror instead of our own reflections. We should be able to hear each other, too, though that might need a bit of fine-tuning.”
“Incredible!”
“I hope so, anyway,” laughed Ewan, “What I don’t know is how well the link holds up over distance. I’ve only been able to try with relatively short distances so far. It’d be really great to see if it still works after the reunion, when we’ve gone home. If people can still be connected over that much space…”
“Even as it is, it’s very impressive, lad. I always knew you would go far with that imagination of yours.”
“Aw, thanks, Uncle. But don’t praise me yet; we’ve still got to make sure that the activation word will work even if someone with no magic says it. And even if the whole thing works, I don’t know how useful it will be. How are you supposed to know when someone’s contacting you if you’re not actually looking at the mirror at that moment?” He paused to consider that. “Of course, if you hear a voice shouting at you from your pocket, that might be a clue.”
Dozla laughed and ruffled Ewan’s hair. “You’ll figure it out, my boy. You’ve got wit and talent, but most importantly, you’ve got dedication. You’ll achieve anything you try for so long as you hang onto that and don’t give up.”
Ewan gave him a contemplative look. “You really think so?”
“I know so.” Dozla stood and gave him another clap on the back. “My Lady summons me now, but come see me at any time, lad! You’re always great fun to talk to!”
Ewan raised his cup to him with a grin and took a sip as his honorary uncle departed. In good spirits, he gazed around the room and noted with amusement where Amelia was now trying to talk to Artur and looked very uncomfortable under the disapproving gaze of the nearby Cormag. Another glance in Saleh’s direction revealed the sage now sitting by himself, sipping his wine and surveying the room with his usual quiet but thorough observation. Ewan caught his eyes and they shared a small smile.
A moment later, however, Ewan spotted Renais’ young princess making a beeline for his teacher. He bit back a smirk as Saleh followed his gaze and paled, suddenly finding himself verbally accosted by an adamant Celeste. Ewan snickered as he watched the girl talk at his teacher, who appeared more uncomfortable by the minute and who finally resorted to sending Ewan a pleading look that he didn’t have the heart to say no to.
He knocked back the last of his wine and sauntered over Saleh’s end of the table with an amused grin on his face. “What’re you telling Master Saleh about, Princess?” he asked, “Or is it a big secret that you can only share with him?”
She turned and eyed him warily for a moment. “It’s a secret,” she said finally, which Ewan took to mean that she didn’t feel like explaining it again and had probably forgotten what she’d initially been talking about anyway.
“Well, you picked the right person to confide in,” he told her confidentially, “Master Saleh is good at keeping secrets.” He glanced at his teacher, but Saleh only looked mildly confused. He looked back at Celeste. “How would you like a shoulder ride?” he asked.
“Yes, up!” she cried, jumping up and down. He laughed and lifted her onto his shoulders, slightly surprised at how heavy she was. “By the Light, I think Amelia wasn’t kidding when she said you were getting big for this kind of thing!”
Saleh gave a light chuckle. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re good with children,” he said.
“He’s wonderful with children,” Amelia corrected, coming up behind him with Ross trailing in her wake. “He spent all morning playing with Celeste, you should have seen him.”
“I was there, too,” Ewan swore he heard Ross mutter, but when he looked over Ross gave no indication that he’d said anything. Frowning slightly, Ewan turned back to Saleh and protested, “One would think that you’re pretty good with children yourself. After all, you put up with me for how many year s?”
Saleh shook his head. “Being a teacher is different,” he said, “I don’t know how to simply… entertain.”
“Not even a bit of magic?” his student persisted teasingly.
The sage looked a little startled, then smiled. “That I can do.”