Blair
Blair smiled at Edith. “I wish we didn’t have to go,” she said as she watched the kids run around the feasting hall of Stonehill Hold. She had spent almost each day on Isca with the System-lord, and his family, although King Oswald had spent less time.
Blair was reminded by her own homeworld of Goldenfields. Isca was different enough that it looked nothing like Goldenfields, but it was the people she had realized. There was laugher, smiles, and fun. Children played, and families were large. It was a part of Furse culture which her own Ancestors had maintained in the Kingdom of the Salians when they had been granted the System of Goldenfields, and the sector itself. It was something which the Old Blood Furse of the Dragon’s Head Nebula seemed to have lost.
Everyone seemed to stand apart. Blair had watched the System-lord’s on their journey as they interacted with the king, his court, and their own subjects, and family. It was all so formal. There was a layer of separation between those of rank, and all others. Not on Isca, like on her own homeworld. Lord Frost joked with his subjects, they shared his meals, shared his table. Their children clung to him, and he played with them. He wasn’t just their lord, he was their leader. He was someone they respected, and loved.
King Oswald was different. He was respected of course, but there was always a void between him, and others. She couldn’t imgaine anyone tossing his hair like she might toss Duncan’s, even though they were the same age. Perhaps it was just the kingship, and what came with it. It was hard to explain, but there was a loneliness there that wasn’t there with Lord Frost.
“How far is Ambermere?” Blair finally asked Edith.
Lady Frost thought for a moment before she answered. “I wasn’t born in the Commonwealth, it makes me miss my Echo,” she said, and rubbed her wrist. “Must be a month or more. It is in the Anchorage Sector is it not?”
Blair nodded. “Yes, I am not as familiar with the Commonwealth Space as much as I would like,” she replied, and let out a sigh. “How I wish we could stay here a little longer.”
“It will be over in no time,” Lady Frost said. “It took us more than four months when we left the Kingdom of Fist, and when we arrived in the Void of Eriu, but we would be happy for you to remain, or more important to come back.”
“I knew the Commonwealth was big, I just,” Blair let out a sigh. “You just don’t truly realize it until you try and travel about it.”
Edith smiled. “Settling down here on Isca was the best thing we have ever done,” she said as she looked out at her children. “There is a thrill to be on a ship for months or years on end, but to settle, and watch your young grow, and live in peace, that is a reward worth any price.”
Blair smiled. “What made you settle on Isca?” Blair asked quietly. “I mean, I’ve heard the stories…”
Lady Frost smiled. “You mean how could we spend years fighting in the Void of Eriu, not only fight, but defeat King Oswald, and than turn around and swear loyalty to him?”
“Yes!” Blair saied a little to loud.
Lady Frost shrugged. “We Furse love to fight,” she said and laughed. “But honestly, we fell in love. We fell in love with the people of Isca, the people of Dumgarth, and the people of the Commonwealth. We had a disagreement with the King, but it was solved, and we hope that in the years since, we have shown our loyalty.”
“My handmaiden say that you are a shieldmaiden,” Blair finally asked.
Lady Frost nodded.
“A warrior of renown,” Blair whispered in awe. “They still tell stories of the Shieldmaidens of old on Goldenfields.” She looked at the slender woman. “You are a fascinating woman.”
