guard grinned. “Welcome back, yeti-killer.”
“I’m going to leave my things here,” Kestrel replied, piling his goods in a corner.
“What, don’t you think you want to stay with us a while? Go ahead up to your room and put your things away,” Gion replied.
“I’m pretty sure they’re going to send me back to Center Trunk. I just don’t know if it will be immediately or delayed,” Kestrel protested. “If I get to stay here, I’ll go to my room.”
With that he wandered back to the armory where Arlen and Casimo were both engaged in matches, along with a half dozen others. Kestrel stood in the doorway and watched the activity as guards practiced swords along with as staffs and hand-to-hand techniques as well. He hoped he’d have a chance to stay at Firheng for a few days and practice his skills, living simply for the engagements without worries about surgeries or assignments or loyalties or deities.
“All welcome the great combatant!” Arlen shouted, and heads turned to look at Kestrel. Both Arlen and Casimo dismissed their opponents, and walked over to shake his hand and heartily welcome him back to Firheng.
“You took your time returning, it seems,” Casimo commented. “Did anything interesting happen?”
“He had a long journey from where we were all the way to Estone city, especially considering he had to play papa to a widow and at least a couple of babies,” Arlen spoke up defensively. “Did everything go well? Did you find Castona? Was he a help?”
“I did find Castona, and he was a big help. There were complications at times, but Castona knew how to deal with everything,” Kestrel answered. “I owe him thanks for his help.”
“And did you get the widow settled in? Were the kids a handful?” Arlen asked.
“They’re great kids. They handled the journey well; they handled the city pretty well. Merilla’s from Estone, she has returned to her parents, and with the money Castona got for the yeti items, I think she’ll be set,” Kestrel sighed.
“How did you feel in the city, around all those humans? How was your accent?” Casimo jumped in. “Your ears look like they never were treated? What did you do to them?”
“I think my accent is fine; Castona said I sounded like I came from some of the southern cities. He said I wouldn’t have any problems, and no one else said anything at all,” Kestrel answered. He paused, as he wondered how much more to say about all that had taken place, the things that were unbelievable and the things that were intensely personal.
“On the way back to Firheng I was ambushed by thieves; at least I assume they meant to be thieves. I used my bow, my sword, and my staff to escape,” he began with the easiest matter.
“Good for you! How many were there?” Arlen asked.
“I hit two with arrows, beat three with the sword, and one with the staff. He was the biggest one,” Kestrel answered. Arlen and Casimo exchanged a look.
“You beat six thieves?” Arlen asked.
“They tried to ambush me, and they were split up, so I never fought more than three at a time,” Kestrel explained.
“They probably saw a solitary elf on the road and assumed you were just a merchant who couldn’t fight, who was returned from trading goods in Estone and would have money they could steal,” Casimo hypothesized.
“They didn’t know or care if I could fight,” Kestrel blurted out. “Their first shot was meant to kill me.” He thought of the arrow that had bounced off his chest.
“Sure,” Arlen agreed casually. “They’re not known as kind and gentle people.”
“I was lauded as a yeti-killer,” Kestrel began to approach his story. “When I took the goods to Castona to sell, he thought he could make the most money through an auction, so he spread the story about fighting the yeti to give the auction more publicity. So I got some recognition.” He wasn’t sure what else to say that wouldn’t sound completely unbelievable, although he knew he had the proof he needed for his story.
“Did the sale go well?” Arlen asked.
“Castona raised,” Kestrel added the amounts together, “one hundred and twenty golds. He kept fifty for himself, and Merilla got the rest.”
“She got seventy golds! How much did you get?” Casimo exclaimed, his voice rising.
“I didn’t get anything from the yeti sales,” Kestrel answered. “I told Merilla she could have everything. She has the boys after all.”
“So why are your ears back to normal?” Casimo repeated his earlier question.
“When we fought the yeti, we were all injured, so I used some of the healing water. I didn’t think about it healing my ears so completely back to their usual shape. And then on the trip to the city, one of the boys got hurt, and I rubbed more of the water into his scalp wound a couple of times,” Kestrel explained. “By the time we went to the palace to meet the Doge my ears already grew out enough that Castona had my head wrapped to hide them.”
“You met the Doge at the palace?” Arlen asked in surprise.
He had said a little too much, Kestrel realized, and he had taken a step closer to revealing the frightening part of what he had experienced.
“That was part of the plan for promoting the auction,” he replied.
“What’s the rest of this story?” the commander asked. “I sense you’re not telling us everything.”
Kestrel took another deep breath, then sighed. He wasn’t good at lying, and he was speaking to a commanding officer to boot.
“The Doge gave me titles; he named me as a Captain of the Fleet, and he named me as Champion of the People. Then the goddess Kai came to earth and named me her champion of the people too,” he spoke hurriedly, his words running together.
Casimo sat back. “Okay, now tell me what really happened.”
In response, Kestrel stood up. He untucked his shirt, then pulled it up over his head, revealing the new marks that had been added to his torso. “This is the one the Doge ordered for me,” he pointed, “and this is the one the goddess created,” his finger crossed his chest, then he twisted his back into their view and pointed over his shoulder. “This is the mark she left behind.”
Both the other elves at the table stood as well, looking at Kestrel, then at one another, then at Kestrel again.
“Put your shirt on,” Casimo snapped. “We’re going to my office right now.” He immediately left the armory, as others looked at the trio, examining Kestrel from a distance.
Arlen grabbed Kestrel’s arm. “What is this?” he asked.
Kestrel wretched his arm free. “Kai told me before that I would owe her a favor, because she had done something I asked her to. I just never knew it would be anything like this.
“Let’s go,” he said, heading to the door.
Arlen followed. “That mark on your back looks like it must have been painful.”
“It was,” Kestrel confirmed. “But the mark saved my life. The arrow the thieves shot at me? It hit me square on the mark and bounced off. A sword stabbed me there, but couldn’t penetrate it.”
They walked the short distance across the base to Casimo’s office, where Belinda had returned.
“Kestrel!” she said fondly. “It’s so good to see you, even with elven ears. Your healing water worked miracles for Ranor; I applied all of it to him, and so much is improving. His ears and his eyes have grown back!”
Kestrel walked to the corner and picked up another bag of healing water. “Here, take this one then and put it to use,” he handed it to her.
She hugged him tightly, and when they broke apart, there were tears in her eyes. “Kestrel, I dream that I’ll have the old Ranor back someday. Do you think I will?”
“The water does great things, Belinda. Just say your prayers and hope for the best,” he answered with a smile.
He left her as he started to walk towards Casimo’s office with Arlen. “He just went in there in quite a mood. You might want to come back later,” she advised.
“I’m the reason he’s in that mood,” Kestrel said bleakly, his hand on the door, and then it pushed it open and
