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“Ihope this helps,” he said shyly. “Iam glad he likes it.”
Tryggrtwitched a nod, his eyes lingering oddly onEben’sface. “Ach, he does,” he replied. “An’Iken it does help him — he’s always a bit more easy and alert afterwards.Enoughto even keep making a fool of himself over that lazy arseGaukr.”
Ebencouldn’t help a laugh —DuffandGaukrhad begun a halting romance of sorts, these past days — but then he found thatTryggrwas still hesitating, studying him over the workbench.Hismouth pursed, his head tilted, his brow slowly furrowing.
“So… where’d you learn it all, anyway,Ka-esh?” he asked, his voice carefully light. “Allthis” — he gestured vaguely around at the sickroom — “and everything you know about the scullery, too?Thevents, the drains, the chutes?Thechalk for the bloodstains?Howto make lye?”
Moreheat pooled intoEben’sface, but he shrugged and gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Mostof it from reading and studying,Iken,” he said, as steadily as he could. “Thelye and chalk have oft been discussed in medical journals and treatises, for keeping clean is of great import in healing wounds, ach?Andthe engineering,Itrained for many, many years upon this, forIwas meant to be —”
Hisvoice tripped, caught in his throat, but before him,Tryggrwas still waiting, listening, his eyes curious and intent.SoEbenforced himself to swallow, to draw in a deep breath ofTryggr’ssweet scent.Stillwith only him, only him, upon it.
“Iwas meant to be our clan’sChiefStructuralEngineer,” he said thickly. “Justas my father, and his father before him.ButIwished — to learn medicine, instead.Toseek answers to what ails our kin and our women, and offer the help they need.”
Tryggr’seyes shifted, his head tilting a little further. “Youhave regrets, though?” he asked, careful now. “Wishyou’d gone for the fancy title after all?Probablycame with plenty of credits and acclaim,Iken?”
Hisvoice sounded skeptical, almost suspicious, and curse it,Eben’sscent must have betrayed something, must have hinted at all that old whispering darkness.Andhe had to draw in another deep, dragging breath, hold it in, only him, only him…
“Ionly regret — my father,” he croaked out, his lip quivering hard enough that he bit down painfully against it. “Henever forgave me for abandoning his great work, and he banished me from — our lives.Ourhome.Evenupon his deathbed, he did not —”
Hecouldn’t finish it, squeezing his eyes shut, shaking his head.Andfor an instant, there was silence before him, heavy and watchful — and then the feel of a warm, strong hand, gripping at his shoulder.
“Realsorry to hear that,Ka-esh,” cameTryggr’slow voice. “Yourpa was a fool for not seeing how good you are at your work.An’ how important it is, too.”
Eben’sshocked eyes blinked open, searchingTryggr’sface, but there was no mockery in it, no trace of guile or sarcasm.Onlya strange, serious stillness, something almost like… respect.
“It’sgood work,Ka-esh,”Tryggrsaid, with a gentle squeeze toEben’sarm. “Realgood, ach?”
What?Tryggrdidn’t… mean that.Didhe?HethoughtEben’swork was good?Truly?
Butyes,Tryggrwas still looking at him like that, still holdingEben’sshoulder, and now twitching a sad little smile. “Youdeserved better,Ka-esh,” he said. “Notsure howIgot two good fathers — betweenPaandPabbi— and you got dumped with yours.Don’tseem fair, does it?”
Ebenswallowed, his scrambling thoughts fighting to follow, to focus.Becauseyes,Tryggrhad mentioned his father before, hadn’t he?Buthe’d never brought up hispabbi— his adopted father — right?
“What— what are your fathers like?”Ebenmanaged. “Arethey both — good to you?Dothey uphold — your goals?Yourwork?”
Tryggr’smouth twitched, his eyes flickering with warm, wry fondness. “Ach, always,” he said. “Thoughit oft takes a bit of fussing to sort out, you ken.Pafirst got it into his thick head thatIoughta be a greatSkaiwarrior, leading battles and such — but onceItold himI’drather work forBoss, he blustered for a day or two, and then went and set it all up for me.ToldBosshe’d be a fool not to take me.”
Asmall smile pulled atEben’smouth —Tryggr’spa had to be a fearsome orc, to make demands ofDraflilike that — andTryggr’ssmile widened too, as he huffed a rueful little chuckle. “Don’tmeanPadon’t still try to poke his nose in wherever hecan, though,” he added lightly, with a roll of his eyes. “ThankSkai-kesh,Pabbiusually settles him down, and keeps him in line.Withouthim,IkenPawould be sniffing about the scullery every damned day, asking after the sweetKa-esh’s scent.Again.”
Wait.Tryggrmeant — his pa had been asking about…Eben?AboutEben’sscent?AboutEben’sscent onTryggr, he surely meant, because of courseTryggr’sfamily would smell it, and wonder at it.Wouldn’tthey?
Andcurse it,Eben’sbreath was coming too hard, the longing shivering fast and hungry into his scent.Strongenough that perhapsTryggrhad caught it too, his eyes gone blank as he twitched backwards, away — but then he hesitated, and raised the jar of milk towardEben, as if in a little salute.
“Well, thanks again,Ka-esh,” he said, husky. “An’ see you later today?”
Ebenfervently nodded and smiled, and again made theSkaisign forthank you, his hand over his heart.Amovement thatTryggrlooked at for an instant too long before he turned toward the door — but just before he left, he hesitated, and made a sign back, too.Myhonour, it said.
Ebencouldn’t stop smiling to himself for the rest of the day, as the happiness kept circling and skittering in his chest.Tryggrhad come to see him.Tryggrhad wanted his tonic.Tryggrhad told him about his family.Andmost powerful of all,Tryggrhad praisedEben’swork.
Yourpa was a fool.It’sgood work.Realgood.
Itwas something no one else had ever said toEben, not that he could ever recall.AmongtheKa-esh, an engineer remained the highest possible calling, commanding praise and respect, while medicine was new, untested, unfamiliar.Somethingdone mostly by theAsh-Kaiclan, with their gifted healers likeEfterar— or perhaps sometimes by theGrisk, with their care for kin and home.UntilEben, and thenSalviafter him, it had never beenaKa-esh discipline, not in the slightest.Andto be told — by aSkai! — of its worth felt deeply, fundamentally powerful.LikesomethingEbenwould forever treasure, for all his days.
Thatafternoon in the scullery, it was even easier to chat and laugh withTryggrandDuff— who’d eagerly drunk the second bottle of tonicEbenhad brought him — and withAlma, too.Almastill wasn’t in the scullery as often asTryggrandDuff, due to her ever-expanding work as the mountain’s newKeeper, but today she was making more soap, while excitedly reviewing their plans to do a full floor-washing, all throughout the mountain.
Itwas an endeavour that required flooding the mountain from the top, and it had needed considerable amounts ofKa-esh input, including the involvement of multiple engineers.AndEbenhad willingly taken the lead on theKa-esh side of the project, collecting and combining all the engineers’ notes, reviewing and translating them into common-tongue, and adding his own annotations.Andjust the evening before, he’d finished a comprehensive summary of required processes and estimated timelines forAlma, so she could assign tasks to her helpers as needed, and create a proper schedule for the day.
“Thatdocument has just been so helpful,” she said warmly over her shoulder, toward whereEbenwas currently hanging the clean wet laundry on the wall’s rickety drying racks. “Thankyou so much for pulling it together on such short notice.Itmust have been a shocking amount of work, on top of all your work in the sickroom.”
