Founder's Day - 1. Chapter 1

Arjun woke up when his shieldmate Vale shifted in the bed, dislodging him from where they stopped their coupling in the middle of the night. The sudden loss of warmth was enough to wake Vale as well because he immediately pressed back into Arjun.

“I have to go meet my brother, as lovely as it has been to sleep in my bed,” Arjun said.

“Sleep eventually, at least,” Vale said in response.

“We started here in this bed five years ago today,” Arjun said.

“Sixteen winters old on the Founder’s Day for your family. You’ve stayed with me, even making sure I could join the King’s Rangers with you.”

Arjun curled his arm around Vale’s chest to pull him close. “Vale, you are my bonded shieldmate. There is no other for either of us.

“Your family is noble, and it does not matter what that twatwaffle ambassador from the Empire thinks of those with mixed Elvin heritage. You know damned well our Kingdom has no such prejudice.”

“Nobody would ever whisper a word of it near you or your family as the hellfire your family would bring down on them is legendary. But there are some grumblings among the smallfolk who live closer to the Empire than the Elvin Court,” Vale said.

“The lives of the smallfolk on the border of the Kingdom and the Empire can be rough. The less worldly people of any group always blame people different from them, whether they deserve it or not. I know they sometimes blame the Elves for not using more magic to protect them. I will speak to my mother about reminding the Border Lords to address the issue before it is allowed to grow.”

“I will mention it to my father, so he is not surprised. He has no issue with Elves.”

Arjun ground himself into Vale a little bit. “As much as I would like to repeat last night’s fun, I need to see my brother before the ceremony. Are you still planning to cultivate your contacts before joining me with the rest of the family on the dais?”

“It would be better for me if you take the time to soften the Stoic Foehammer before he breaks his famed stoicism to rant at me for stealing you again.”

“I’ll remind him that I stole you and not the other way around. We are a good match and have joined our houses. He is the one still loitering around as marriage and alliance fodder.”

“We won’t have children.”

“We won’t have children of our loins, no. But we can use the Elvin ceremonial rights to adopt a child to share our family lines. There is enough Elvin blood in our families for that to work and no shortage of orphans,” Arjun said.

“Are you ready to give up the road and settle?”

“Are you?” Arjun asked.

“I am content to be with you wherever you are. Though, having our bed all the time has benefits.” Vale ground his arse into Arjun again and smirked over his shoulder at Arjun’s natural reaction.

Arjun smacked his arse cheek as he extracted himself from bed. “If we start that again now, we’ll miss the ceremony and the feast.”

“It’s still four candlemarks before the ceremony, and the feast is after that.”

“Yeah? I can go at least that long,” Arjun said.

Vale smirked, rolled over, and wiggled his arse at his lover. “Prove it.”

“You are an awful temptation, but I will have to prove it after the feast. You’d think after five cycles together I wouldn’t have to keep proving it to you. But I shall sacrifice my time to once again prove to you that four candlemarks is no burden in showing my love for you.”

“You enjoy proving it as much as I enjoy being proven wrong,” Vale said. The soft smile and fond look said more than words would.

Arjun returned to the bed, leaned in, and kissed Vale. “Until this evening, beloved.”

Arjun went to his attached bathing chamber to clean. He made himself presentable in his dress uniform for the King’s Rangers. He went to the wall of his dressing chamber and carefully pressed five different bricks in a star pattern that caused the wall to click. With a gentle push, the wall swung open to an eldritch blue, glowing light. He carefully sealed the door before he strode down the family’s secret corridor.

The corridors within the walls of the fortress were a literal labyrinth if you did not know the secret of the runes etched into the walls. You needed to be the blood of the Foehammer family or have very carefully controlled Dwarven-forged rings even to be able to see the runes. Years of familiarity with the corridors allowed Arjun to get to the family entrance to the chamber where he knew his brother would be.

Carefully tapping a hexagonal pattern on this door caused a soft click that allowed him to pull open the door.

He stepped into the room in an area that was well-cloaked by tapestries. After making sure the door was closed, he circled a quarter of the way around the room before emerging from the curtain as if entering from the hallway.

Casual observers and non-family members would never realize he came from a secret passage, let alone from one on the other side of the room. His second next oldest brother, Devlin, was acting like a statue standing in front of the Great Foehammer Shield Crest mounted on the wall. The shield was twice the size of a man and visually dominated the entire north side of the room. Devlin was the largest of his brothers, towering over him by half a head and outweighing him by nearly two stones.

Arjun walked up to his brother and bowed his head. “Devlin Foehammer, Master of Arms, I formally present myself this Founder’s Day as Arjun Foehammer, War Wizard of the King’s Rangers, and as a brother.”

“Arjun Foehammer, Warwizard of the King’s Rangers, I, Devlin Foehammer, formally welcome you to Foehammer Hall, your ancestral home.”

Arjun went forward the rest of the way and hugged his older brother. Devlin pulled his brother in close and kissed his forehead. “Welcome, little brother. It is good to see you again. Where’s your boy?”

Arjun smiled as he pulled away, moving carefully not to impede his brother if an attack occurred.

“My Lord Vale, of Gryffonfield Hall, has already gone to the ballroom to meet with allies. He will join us before Mother starts the ceremony and the celebrations.”

“I’m guessing you two have reacquainted yourselves with your old rooms?”

“Of course. It was five cycles this day since we consummated our love for each other in that very bed.”

“You are the most sentimental of my brothers, though, I suppose that is because you are the youngest and most spoiled. Father was around and a great deal more rigid in the raising of our elder brothers and let Mother have more sway with you than any of the rest of us.”

“I’d argue that our youngest sister is the most doted upon, though not in front of her. I will freely acknowledge that our warrior princess would kick my arse back and forth in the arena unless I could fire off magic first. Though I would lose since there is no magic in my arsenal I would ever use against the family.”

“Did you admit you’d lose to me because you knew I was here to soften my disposition or because it is the truth, Arjun?”

“Welcome, Suyra. I did so for both reasons, of course, dear sister.”

“Welcome home, Arjun, my most truthful of brothers.”

“Suyra, I protest!” Devlin said.

“Are you going to admit I’m good with a sword?” she asked, her lips pinched and brow furrowed.

“Sure, sure.”

“Dev, you are acting like a twatwaffle again. While you are one of the best amongst us siblings, being the Master of Arms and dedicating your time to fighting, it is unfair to the arduous work our sister puts in to be a Gryffon Rider. She has earned her spot.”

“She has.”

“There, see, Suyra, he admits it. No reason to scowl at him.”

She stopped scowling at Devlin and turned to pull Arjun into a hug. “It’s good to see you, Arjun. Where’s your boy?”

“He is already in the ballroom making contacts.”

“When are you going to adopt yourselves an heir?”

“We were talking about options earlier. Now that I’ve served my time on the circuit, I can settle in and be the Battle Mage for Gryffonfield Hall and report to the King’s Rangers there.”

“It is about time. I thought you might accept another rotation.”

“Vale’s family is not nearly as accommodating as ours, and it took them a bit longer to settle down.”

“I’m sure that had nothing to do with Father summoning Lord Vale’s father before the King and having a go at him?”

“I have no idea where you hear such scandalous things, Suyra.”

A stare and pinched look were Arjun’s only answers for a long moment before she said, “Mother.”

“Interesting,” Devlin said.

“Did Father arrange that?” Arjun asked after a moment of contemplation.

“I have not heard that myself, but any less than complimentary treatment of your union would have easily reached his ears through the commanders of the King’s Rangers. Father has shown a great deal more friendliness with Lord Vale than he ever has Lord Vale’s father. That was true even before you became sweet on him,” Suyra said.

“I think we should head to the ballroom and make our rounds before Mother starts the ceremony,” Arjun said after a long pause.

The siblings nodded at him, and they left the room. The ballroom was one of the largest rooms in the fortress, easily accommodating a thousand guests along with the servants and guards needed to keep people safe and happy.

The siblings split up to work the room with well-practiced ease. They had been doing some variation of this for every feast or event they were nearby enough to attend. The common folk were only happy when the family appeared robust and united.

The Foehammers had a long and steady rule because each generation made each following generation understand and live this.

They were all on opposite corners of the room when a hush moved through the crowd, and a surprise guest appeared. Towering above all others, and dressed in his full regalia, was Shaman Chief Icebones of North Pine Crag Mountain. The strongest testament to the open trade strategy of the Foehammers was that the vast behemoth drew no adverse reactions and plenty of respectful nods and head tilts.

The crowd of people cleared a path for him as he made his way straight to his intended target, with two much smaller youngsters trailing behind him.

Arjun recognized the chief as soon as he turned to see why the crowd had become quiet. The chief spotted him and went straight at him.

Arjun responded by moving towards the chief until he was close enough.

“Shaman Chief Icebones, be welcome in Foehammer Hall.”

“War Mage Arjun Foehammer, I accept your welcome and pledge peace in this Hall.”

“How may I assist our ally of the north?” Arjun asked as the giant man sized him up.

“Per the pact between our tribes, I commend these two into your service, to train and protect as you would your own,” Icebones said, gently pushing forward two boys of his tribe, distinct in their size and sky blue skin tone.

Mage potentials were extraordinarily rare in the tribe, appearing every other generation or two.

For two mages to be born in the tribe at the same time was unprecedented. Arjun examined the two boys closely for a long moment and nearly gasped aloud when he realized they were identical twins. They were the first twins ever born to the tribe.

Arjun reached forward with both palms up, one to each boy. The boys looked at each, looked back at the chief, and getting a nod, they turned and placed their hands into Arjun’s. They were nearly his height, despite only just becoming teens, if they were even that old.

There was a surge of blue-white light and a clear ting, like the soft peal of a bell, after only a moment. Feeling a little breathless from the rise of magic, he called out loudly, “I, Arjun Foehammer, War Mage, accept these apprentices in accordance with the pact between our tribes.”

Chief Icebones nodded and nudged each boy’s shoulder towards Arjun before spinning around and making his way out.

The boys watched his progress to the door before turning back to face Arjun.

“Do you two understand Common?” Arjun asked.

One boy bowed his head while the other answered, “We do.”

“Good. Are you in need of anything right now? Anything at all?”

The two boys glanced at other before looking back at Arjun and shaking their heads.

Stepping closer to both boys, Arjun said much quieter, “Be sure to let me know. I have accepted the responsibility of you now, and family for a Foehammer is the most important duty of all.”

“We understand,” the previously silent twin said in Northern.

“Good,” Arjun said. “Follow me, please.”

Arjun, spotting Devlin making his way over, walked towards him. The boys followed along, staying close enough that they were nearly touching Arjun.

Devlin nodded at the two boys, and they returned the greeting by bowing their heads in acknowledgment.

“I was not expecting the old pact to be enacted today, of all days.”

“I have found, brother, that things never happen as I expect them. It helps keep us on our toes, though.”

“It does, at that. Mother will want to start the celebration soon, and we should alert her to her new adopted grandchildren, shouldn’t we?”

Arjun narrowed his eyes at the smirk on his brother’s face.

“Boys, this is your new Uncle Devlin. You can continue your wrestling and other combat training with him while we remain in Foehammer Hall.”

Both boys nodded again while they narrowed their eyes in speculation.

Another parting of the crowd prefaced the arrival of their Lady Mother Elissa Foehammer.

“Arjun, you are in public for less than a candlemark and are already the center of attention once again.”

“Mother, may I present my new wards in fulfillment with the pact with Shaman Chief Icebones. We’ve not had the time or privacy to discuss what this means for all of us, but with the bonding so fresh, we must stay together for now.”

“Indeed you must. Welcome to Foehammer Hall and the Foehammer Tribe, boys. We will talk after the celebration.”

Both boys bowed their heads to her.

Arjun placed his hands on their backs, all three pausing a moment as the tingle of magic. “This is a bit more bonding than I anticipated, but fear not, boys. We’ll see you safely trained and ready for what the gods throw our way.”

The Family Herald and Master of Ceremonies descended upon them like a whirling dervish, barking out instructions to the hovering servants and guards as he got the family into position at the grand dais on the north end of the ballroom.

Arjun found himself side by side with his shieldmate and the two boys tucked up against them. He focused on his mother as she strummed a chord of her harp to draw attention before her bardic gift wove its magic into the room.

“Friends, family, neighbors, fellow lords, and ladies, we have gathered once more on this most august of days to celebrate the Founding of the Foehammer Family. Please indulge me while I tell you the tale….”