All that Glitters (Stavin DragonBlessed Book 1) (3 page)

Karvik grinned. "She's not really
that
bad, Stave. Master Stavin. Do I have to keep calling you 'master' all the time?"

Stavin shrugged. "I don't think so, but we'd better ask your mom. I don't care what's changed, I'm still afraid of her. I don't want to make her mad."

Karvik nodded. "Good idea. Not making her mad is always a good plan, even if she can't really do anything to you anymore."

Stavin collapsed on to the bench and put his head in his hands. "Why did your dad try to kill me? I still don't understand. It's against all of our customs."

Karvik leaned against the wall. "I don't know, Stave. He probably just got mad and lost his temper when you defied him. Defiance really infuriates him, and he's been getting plenty of that from Dorvi lately. Or he may have thought you were lying about staying in the cave. You know how all of the Elders get when they think someone is lying to them."

"But I wasn't lying," Stavin whispered. "I did stay. Look at this cloth. Have you ever seen anything like it?"

Karvik shook his head. "No. It looks like spun gold. It feels like fluffy cloth, but it's shiny like metal. Stave, no one has ever stayed in the cave.
Never.
Dad didn't when he was a boy." Karvik paused and pursed his lips. "
That
may be what made him so mad. You're claiming that you are braver than he was."

"Now
that
, my friend, sounds more reasonable than him thinking I was lying. The last time I got caught lying I had to haul water for a moon."

"You're probably right," Karvik agreed, but was interrupted by a knock at the door before he could say anything else.

They both went out to the bedroom and Stavin said, "Come in." The door opened to reveal a bundle of clothes with a pair of skinny legs sticking out of the bottom.

"Here are your clothes, Master Stavin," a voice said from somewhere as the legs started forward.

Karvik saw the wrinkle in the carpet and said, "Zahri, be careful, you're going to—" Zahrinis's foot hit the wrinkle and sent her and the clothes tumbling to the floor. "—trip."

Zahrinis scrambled to her feet, snarling at her brother, then turned shame-faced to Stavin. "Please forgive my clumsiness, Master Stavin."

Stavin was struggling not to laugh as he said, "It's all right, Zahri. Why don't you go help your mother?"

Zahrinis bowed very low and said, "Yes, Master Stavin. Thank you." The look she gave her brother said far more as she turned away.

Stavin and Karvik managed to stifle their laughter until she had closed the door, then they picked up the clothes. Karvik put out a hand to stop Stavin when he tried to help. "You're the master here. Let me do it."

"I don't know how to be a master, Kar. I've always just been the third boy. I follow orders, not give them."

Karvik fought not to sneer at Stavin's self-pitying tone. "You have to learn. Master. All of the decisions about how this household is run are now yours to make. Master."

Stavin sat on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands. "I'm not ready to be the head of a household, Kar. I don't even have my trade yet. I've never won in battle. I've never even fought in a real battle."

"You fought and won against my dad," Karvik said hotly. "Master."

Stavin looked up at the tone of Karvik's voice, then looked down again. "I wish I hadn't."

N
EITHER BOY HAD NOTICED THAT THE
door had opened again until a deep voice said, "I'm glad you did," from the doorway. They both immediately scrambled to their feet. "If I had killed you, we would have been outlawed. Dispossessed, cast out of our home and people, bereft of everything. Your armor saved me from condemning my family, and for that I am truly grateful. With your permission, Master Stavin, Kar is needed in the kitchen. I'll see to you now."

Stavin nodded and said, "Yes, Sir," automatically, then flushed with embarrassment when Barvil raised an eyebrow. "I meant, very well, Eld—Barvil. Kar, go do whatever your mother needs you to do."

Karvik turned and started walking toward the door, but his father's growl of anger made him turn around. Barvil angled his body slightly, and Karvik remembered his manners enough to bow deeply to Stavin before he left.

"I don't care if he doesn't do that," Stavin said as Karvik closed the door.

"You should, Master Stavin. I certainly do. He has to help regain the family honor, and he can't do that if he doesn't remember his place at all times. You two are no longer friends and equals, Master Stavin. You are the master, he is the servant, not just here, but throughout the town. Our status has changed, and he must remember that. At all times."

Stavin looked at Barvil for a moment, then said, "Yes, s—Barvil. But it's hard."

Barvil nodded sagely. "Responsibility always is, Master Stavin. Shall I help you dress?"

For a moment Stavin was horrified and enraged by the notion that Barvil didn't think he could dress himself, but he quickly realized that Barvil was just doing what tradition required him to do: Being a servant. "No, thank you. I'd prefer to do it myself. You can go do—whatever you think needs to be done. I'll be along shortly."

Barvil bowed deeply and said, "Yes, Master Stavin. Sahrena should have the mid day meal prepared soon." He turned and left the room silently, closing the door softly behind him.

When he was alone again, Stavin sat on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands. He'd made so many plans on the long trek down the mountain. He'd planned on presenting the proof of his bravery to Barvil and Sahrena and petitioning once again for Dorvina to be his wife. They would live with his parents. He would make his trips to the lowlands and apprentice in the off season with Master Scribe Kel'Zorgan, and would become the town scribe in his turn. During the warm season he would join the draft of young warriors who were hired out as caravan guards. Warmaster Kel'Horval said he was ready, though he'd taken an extra year to get there. Now, because he'd decided to stand up for himself, those plans were just so much smoke up the chimney.

Stavin shook his head sharply, then stood and squirmed out of the soft golden undergarment. He hadn't noticed that the room was chilly until he pulled the golden cloth away from his skin. He hurried to the bed and found some warm clothes, and dressed quickly. Once he looked like himself, he went to the kitchen.

Once he arrived, he immediately felt self-conscious. Everyone was staring at him. Worse, the only person in the room who was smaller than him was Zahrinis, but that was because she was only ten years old. Even so, she was only half a hand shorter than he was. Barvil was four hands taller and Sahrena was only half a hand shorter than her husband. Dorvina was only a finger shorter than her mother.

"Gods Above protect this house," he said automatically.

The others replied, "And its master."

Swallowing his embarrassment, Stavin nodded and stepped forward, toward Karvik's side, but Sahrena's cleared throat stopped him in his tracks. "The head of the table awaits you, Master Stavin," she said pointedly.

Barvil stood behind the chair and held it for him as Stavin cautiously sat, then walked to the chair at Sahrena's left hand, where a guest would normally sit. Dorvina sat at her mother's right hand, as the oldest daughter. Karvik sat at Stavin's right hand, where he would have been at his father's side as the eldest son, and Zahrinis sat at Stavin's left.

Stavin finally found himself in a situation where he knew what to do, because the guest's role was the same as the master's. "We offer thanks to the Gods Above for the bounty of the Harvest, the success of the Hunt, and the comfort of the Hearth."

"Land, Air, Fire, and Water bless this house," the others replied, completing the blessing.

Sahrena looked to her right and nodded. "Dorvi?"

Dorvina stood and went to the side-board to begin serving the light mid day meal. Her expression was carefully neutral as she served Stavin first. Beans and corn, a piece of hard sausage, a bit of yellow cheese, and a piece of bread made up the traditional meal, and everyone waited for Dorvina to return to her seat before looking expectantly at Stavin.

Stavin nodded, then began eating. Once he had taken a bite, everyone else began eating as well. The only thing that made this meal different from all the other times Stavin had shared a meal with the Kel'Carins was the silence. He was too distracted to start a conversation, and tradition demanded that everyone remain silent if the master did not speak first.

Once everyone had finished eating, Stavin addressed Barvil. "I am going to go talk with my parents for a while. I don't know what to tell you to do, so I'm leaving you in charge. You know what is needed far better than I do."

Barvil nodded. "Very well, Master Stavin. Everything will be in order when you return."

Stavin stood and almost bowed to Sahrena, turning the mistake into a deep nod instead. "Thank you, Madam Kel'Carin, that was very good." He smiled at her, then left quickly before he made another mistake.

* * *

Once Stavin was gone, the atmosphere in the room became even tenser. "This isn't right!" Dorvina said hotly. "He isn't fit to be the master of our clan."

"Be quiet, Dorvi!" Sahrena snapped. "Tradition will be honored."

"But Mother—"

"No buts, Dorvina," Barvil snapped. "What's done is done, and all we can do now is make the best of it. Stavin is young, but he's old enough to join the expedition and quite skilled with his weapon. We've proof enough of that. If I hadn't been so quick to disbelieve his story, we'd be having a far different argument right now. With that armor and Dragon's Tongue as proof of his courage, I'd have had a hard time finding a reason not to grant his petition for you as his wife. The Kel'Aniston clan might not rank with us, but he's the highest-ranking young man that has approached me about you."

"And now the Kel'Aniston clan is far above us," Sahrena added. "Whoever your father finally approves of will have to be approved of by Stavin as well. By right, he could approve of someone without consulting us at all."

Dorvina's eyes narrowed. "He wouldn't dare."

"Sure he would," Karvik said from across the table. "You're no longer available to him in any way, and he can't like being around you. Every time he sees you, he's reminded that the thing he wanted most in life is farther away than ever before." Karvik's face twisted into a sour grimace. "Though I can't see why he'd want to be married to a shrew like you. He's seen your temper."

Dorvina snarled and picked up her knife, but Sahrena snapped, "Dorvi!" and she put it down.

"There are better men who want me."

"Not many. And now, possibly none," Barvil said softly. "Your station has fallen, Dorvina. My fault, I know, but true nonetheless. You are no longer an Elder's daughter. You're a servant and the daughter of servants. The parents of several of the boys who have unofficially approached me would never accept you now. Franik I'm sure of. Elvar Kel'Coris would never allow you in his home, and Arvinis probably wouldn't even acknowledge your existence. Harner is less likely to have a problem with his parents, but Jorvan and Coriannis would treat you like a servant while he was away with the rest of the youngsters in the lowlands."

Dorvina was looking back and forth between her parents in disbelief. "No! It can't be! It can't! I thought I was finally free to marry who
I
wanted, but now you're telling me that I'm actually in a worse position?"

"Precisely so," her mother said. "Now, you and Zahri clear the table and wash the dishes."

S
TAVIN WALKED TO HIS PARENTS' HOUSE
and paused at the door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and found his family still at the table.

"You're a bit late, son, but there's still bread and cheese to be had," his father said as he waved him to a seat.

Stavin took the seat, but shook his head when his sister tried to serve him. "I've already eaten, Sora. Thank you. Mom, Dad, I'm so confused by this. I don't know how to run a household. I'm already making mistakes. Barvil said he's grateful that he was only dishonored and not dispossessed. Sahrena is being quiet, which frightens me. Kar and Zahri are acting like themselves, but Dorvi is so smug about there not being any way she could be mine now and she's the reason I went up the mountain in the
first place!"
he finished hotly.

Marinis nodded her understanding. "You went up there to prove your bravery to Barvil. He would have accepted you, but Dorvina is so much like her mother that she'd have refused you. I'm six years older than Sahrena, and I remember how she was when the boys came calling. She was the hardest to please of her sisters. She only agreed to Barvil when she had managed to drive all the other eligible young men into the arms of other girls."

"Barvil had actually made his first trip to the lowlands before he petitioned Sahrena's father for her," Karlit said with a wry grin. "She'd driven all the other young men away, and she hadn't had a suitor in three moons. Her father said yes as soon as Barvil formally asked and had some short words for
her
when he announced his decision."

Marinis chuckled. "We never would have dreamed of telling you this before, but you should know what you were trying to get yourself into. Like they say, even the worst storm brings rain to the fields."

Sorandis reached over and ruffled his hair, then laughed when he swatted at her hand. "Now you can settle down with a
nice
girl and be happy." Sorandis was the youngest of his three older sisters and two older brothers, and she had come over to their parents' house in hopes of seeing him. She was two years older than Stavin, and her husband was one of the hunters out trying to bring in some fresh meat now that the winter was ebbing toward spring.

"But she was the only one I wanted," Stavin whispered.

Sorandis exchanged glances with her parents before continuing. "Stavi, there are girls who like you, you know. Girls who would have accepted you a moon ago, dragon's cave be damned. Not all of us are dead-set on marrying some muscle-head like Harner."