Kedrin ran a hand through a thick head of silver hair, speckled with strands of its previous red-gold. He straightened his tabard, adjusted his sword, and settled into a position better suited to comfort than defense.
Though it bothered his Renshai sensibilities, and Saviar found himself locked into a crouch unable to buck his own training, he did not judge his grandfather. He stuffed the chunk of dried apple into his mouth and chewed.
Ra-khir returned from his errand, his clothing and grooming immaculate. Though he had brushed through weeds and trees, not a bit of leaf, twig, or seed marred the image. He studied his father and his son briefly, clearly to ascertain whether or not he could speak without interrupting. As both men fell silent at his entrance, he uttered the first words, "Did I miss anything?"
Suddenly feeling guilty for finding such an easy solution to his father's challenge, Saviar dodged Ra-khir's gaze.
Kedrin nodded toward Ra-khir, then Saviar, in turn. "I was just preparing to tell the story of Sir Colbey Calistinsson."
Ra-khir turned his son a searching look that held a hint of disapproval. "This isn't exactly what I meant when I said you should use your studies to find the answer."
Staring at his boots, Saviar sought words to explain. His father had not expressly told him not to ask Kedrin, and he had planned to get the information from the Sage before the Knight Captain volunteered it.
Kedrin rescued his grandson. "Sir Ra-khir, what better way to research than to ask the person most likely to know the correct answer?"
Ra-khir back stepped with a majestic gesture of respect directed at his captain. "Well, yes, Captain. Of course, sir." He bowed. "I only meant that running to one's grandfather for help does not require the same intensity and effort as finding the information on one's own."
Saviar watched the exchange in quiet amusement. For most of his life, the paternal side of his heritage had hampered him. His physical size and broad musculature hindered his agility, and many Renshai considered the Knights of Erythane stiff, stodgy objects of ridicule. For once, it felt good to have a man of Kedrin's rank and experience on his side.
"Well, Sir Ra-khir, when one's grandfather also happens to be the best source of information about a certain topic, why should one be penalized simply because he happens to be one's grandfather?" Kedrin's pale brows arched. "Any other man's child would be considered brave and wise to bring such a question to me."
Saviar considered mentioning that he had not actually asked Kedrin, only informed the captain that he planned to research the answer in the Sage's library. Instead, he held his tongue. Kedrin was handling the matter quite ably without his meddling.
Ra-khir opened his mouth, then closed it. He raised a hand as if making a point, started to speak, then stopped again without a sound emerging.
Saviar continued to study his feet. It might humiliate Ra-khir if Saviar seemed to take too much amusement from his father's obvious discomfort.
Finally, Ra-khir heaved a sigh. "Captain, I request permission to speak freely."
Kedrin did not hesitate. "Granted. Consider yourself off-duty, my son." His brows remained high, showing curiosity for the words Ra-khir had not managed to find a polite way to speak.
Ra-khir's shoulders relaxed. Though his dress remained fastidious, as always, the transition to a looser, informal stance was obvious even to Saviar. "Why is it when I bring you a question, I get riddles and enigma? When Saviar asks, he gets instant solutions and entertaining stories."
Kedrin laughed, and Saviar found himself smiling despite his best intentions. His grandfather spent so much time immersed in formality and vital matters of country that Saviar rarely saw or heard him relax. "First, Ra-khir, perhaps Saviar asks better questions." He winked, though whether at son or grandson, Saviar was not sure. "Second, he's not training to become a Knight of Erythane. And third… well, you'll understand when you become a grandfather."
Ra-khir shook his head with a grin, looked away from his captain and rolled his eyes. "As to your third point, Father, more riddles. I won't argue the first because I think it pertains to the third. But I will take exception to the second." He turned his attention to Saviar, much to the boy's chagrin. "It is exactly because Saviar is considering becoming a knight that he asked about Sir Colbey in the first place."
A light seemed to fill Kedrin's face, and his eyes sparkled. Saviar expected his grandfather to ply him with questions about the seriousness of his intentions. Surely he wished to do so, but he remained true to the conversation instead. "It would seem to me, then, that Saviar should know the extraordinary details of Colbey's story before he makes such a difficult and momentous decision."
Their discussion forced Saviar into consideration. Many times he had wished he had pursued knighthood rather than the intense and single-minded Renshai training. Until his recent discussion with his father, however, he had accepted the lot his parents had given him. It had never occurred to him that becoming both was possible.The fact that Colbey had done so barely seemed reason to change his mind. The immortal Renshai had performed many feats no one else had accomplished, before or since.
Uncomfortable beneath the sudden scrutiny of father and grandfather, Saviar cleared his throat. "So, Grandpapa. Tell me about Sir Colbey."
Ra-khir sat, Kedrin resumed his position of comfort, and Saviar remained in his Renshai-wary crouch.
"It all began more than three hundred years ago, in the reigns of King Sterrane of Bearn and King Orlis of Erythane. Though nearly eighty, Colbey Calistinsson appeared much younger, with an agility and speed beyond even those one usually associates with men your age." Kedrin waved a hand in Saviar's general direction.
Saviar seized upon the pause. "Because he was immortal."
"Yes," Kedrin said, though a twist in his tone suggested it was only half an admission. "And because he kept himself as well as any man can. At the time, he did not know the blood of Thor ran in his veins. No one did."
Saviar nodded, understanding those details well, as all Renshai. As it turned out, Colbey had not known either of his blood parents. His Renshai mother had died in battle, the baby plucked from her womb by Sif and placed in one otherwise barren. He had no siblings; and Colbey still considered the man and woman who raised him, Ranhilda and Calistin, his only true parents.
Kedrin continued, "The Great War was over, the West victorious over the mighty armies of the Eastlands. The scourge of the North had left the Renshai tribe with only two living members; and, of the two, only Colbey survived the War."
Saviar spoke from his Renshai history lessons, "The other was Rache, right? The Einherjar who gave Mama her sword."
Kedrin nodded. "And Colbey was traveling through Erythane with a boy about your age, also named Rache as I recall." He looked askance at Ra-khir, who bobbed his head in assent.
Again, history filled in the gaps for Saviar. Modern Renshai consisted of three tribes, each descended from a couple from the era of Kedrin's story. The first, the tribe of Modrey, his mother's tribe, carried the most ancient Renshai blood. The tribe of Rache, the boy in Kedrin's story, initially carried no true Renshai bloodline. Rache's mother, Mitrian, had married Tannin, the patriarch of the third, half-blood tribe. As this information did not seem significant to the story, however, Saviar kept it to himself and gave his grandfather an encouraging look.
"Rache wound up dueling with and killing a young apprentice knight named Shalfon."
"Killing?" The word startled out before Saviar could think to stifle it.
"Killing," Kedrin repeated. "Duels to the death were a lot more common in those days, and it is likely that Shalfon set that end point as a condition of the challenge."
Kedrin's open-mindedness pleased Saviar. Most would automatically condemn the outcome as a Renshai succumbing to his violent nature.