Spirit Speaker

The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon when we trudged back into camp. Rowan sat at the fire, prodding at the coals. 

He waved us over when he saw us, holding a finger to his lips. 

Anna and I joined him. 

"How did it go?" Rowan asked.

"Brilliantly." Anna said, "Unbelievably well. Lukas destroyed a spiritbreaker, and I cured a spirit and then hugged the forest spirit!"

I sighed. "Oh princess, I wish you hadn't said that." I raised my hand. "Before we commence with the yelling, Rowan, we really should send the princess to bed."

"Did I miss something?" Anna asked, looking at Rowan and then back to me. 

I shook my head. "No, highness, you did perfectly fine. Why don't you go and catch up on your sleep, we'll leave once you wake."

Anna stood, confused. "Alright…" she said, "Good night, master, good night, Rowan."

"Good night, highness." Rowan said, his voice light, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. 

"Good night, Anna." 

We both waited for the princess to enter the tent. 

And I braced for impact. 

"You promised, master." Rowan hissed, his eyes aflame with anger. "You promised you wouldn't take another one on your own."

"I wasn't on my own, Rowan," I replied. "I had Anna with me."

"She's a child. What good could she possibly be in fighting the creature?"

"It was a weak one, Rowan, barely a threat. I crushed it quickly."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better? What if it had been a strong one? What if it had started raising the dead? What if it started throwing rocks? Or possessed you? Or the princess? What if it disabled Ilargia? You would have died, and dragged the princess into the arms of Pale Queen along with you! "

Rowan stood up and began pacing back and forth. 

"You promised master. You promised that next time you would take me with you. This is the second time. Third if you count what happened in Corel." He sat down heavily, and stared at me, his eyes boring themselves into mine. 

"You keep leaving me behind." 

I opened my mouth to reply. 

"No. I am still talking. Master. If you do this again, I will chain you to the carriage."

He was breathing heavily. His face red with anger. 

I waited for a few moments, letting him cool off. 

"I've been unfair to you, Rowan." I said, bowing my head. "I see that now."

"I swore that I would give my life to protect you, Master. Sworn with a soulseal! How am I supposed to protect you if I'm NEVER THERE!" 

He shouted the last two words. I winced as they echoed through the clearing. 

Rowan didn't care.

He knelt before me, drew his sword put it in my hand, and held it to his throat. 

"I am your sword, master. A tool in your hands. But a tool that is never raised is a useless tool."

A memory flashed before me.

Rowan, bloody, bruised, surrounded by corpses on all sides, his blade slick with their blood. He fell to his knees, and his sword dropped to the ground. 

I rushed forward to catch him before he collapsed. 

"Lord…lord, I have fulfilled my oath."

I nodded. "Yes, Rowan, you fulfilled your oath perfectly." 

He gripped my arm weakly, his hand covered in blood. 

"Was I a good servant, master?" He asked, his voice shaking. 

"There could never have been a better one." I said. "And you were so much better than a servant. You were my friend."

Rowan's eyes shone, tears that mirrored my own. 

He swallowed painfully. 

"Master, master. Will you bless me? Will you bless my journey to the Pale Queen?"

I nodded, and I put my hand on his chest. 

"Rowan, son of Sareth and Lerien, last child of the Shattered Palace, I bless you with peace. I bless you with a smooth journey to the great ancestral halls of your people. I bless you that you will see your father, and your mother, and their fathers and mothers. And they will take you into their arms, and you will never leave them again."

I felt my voice break. 

"Rowan, slave of men. I bless you that you will never again feel the chains of servitude. I bless you that in the golden halls, you will be hailed as a hero and that the heavens will shake with your passing."

I began to shake. 

"Rowan, beloved of Ayenna, I bless you to know where your bride awaits you in the golden halls. I bless that you will never be separated again."

I felt his grip weaken on my arm.

"Rowan, servant of Lukas, I bless you to know that your master will not rest until you are avenged so that you can crush the souls of those who hurt you in this life beneath your boots. I bless you to know that your master will fight until his last breath so that the things you love remain untouched by blood and horror."

"Rowan, soulfriend of Lukas. I bless you to know that you will never be forgotten."

I trailed off. I couldn't speak anymore. 

Rowan raised his hand and traced the tears on my cheeks. 

"Do you weep for me, my lord?" He asked. 

I nodded. "Yes, Rowan. I weep for you."

"Tell me I was a good servant one last time, master."

"You were a good servant. The very best of servants. And I will never forget your service."

He smiled, and I watched as the light left his eyes. 

And I bowed over him and wept. 

And those same tears streaked my face now. 

The sword fell from my grasp.

I fell to my knees and clasped the hand of my friend. 

"Forgive me, Rowan," I said, my voice hoarse, and thick with emotion. "Forgive me, my friend. I forgot. And I will never forget again."

Rowan stood confused. His anger had never elicited such a response before. He pulled back a moment, studying his master as I wept. 

"Forgive me, my soulfriend," I uttered. 

Confusion was replaced by surprise, surprise to shock. 

"Master, I…no one has named me soulfriend." He took my hand. 

I took a deep breath. 

"Help me up Rowan," I said, my voice shaking. 

My servant pulled me up. 

I put my hand on his shoulder. 

"Rowan. I name you soulfriend." I looked into his eyes, and beyond them to his weave. 

I put my other hand on his other shoulder.

"I name you soulbrother to Lukas, claimed of clan Golden Leaf," I said. 

Rowan began to shake. 

"Lord, do you know what you're doing?" He asked. 

I nodded. "I know exactly what I'm doing, Rowan." 

I stepped away from him. "Rowan. I can't promise that I will take you with me to every battle. But I swear, from the bottom of my soul, that you will be by my side for the ones that matter most."

*

The carriage trundled on, hitting every bump and stone. 

Miss Rita and Severen were dozing in the heat. 

Anna was wide awake. 

"Master? May I ask you a question?"

I saw the look on her face. 

"You want to know who he is," I said. 

She nodded. 

"Which means that you weren't sleeping."

She nodded again. 

"Which means you heard everything."

"Master, I think people back in Corel heard everything. I have no idea how Miss Rita slept through it."

"It's his secret to tell, highness." I said. "I can't tell you." 

"Then what is a soulfriend? Can you tell me that?"

I studied her for a few moments. 

"Look into my eyes, Anna." I said. "What do you see?"

Her eyes met mine. 

"They…glitter, master. There are flecks of light all over them."

"Good. What else do you see?" 

"They glitter gold?" 

"Exactly. That's a sign that I have been marked by the Weaver. I'm hers fully. She owns part of my soul. Any attack on her is an attack on me. And any attack on me is an attack on her."

I blinked. "Okay Anna, you can stop looking at my weave." I chided. 

"It's…twisted somehow." She said, looking away.

"Were you listening to me?"

"Sorry master, I caught about half of that. You're marked by the Weaver, and she owns part of your soul."

"Yes, which means an attack on her, is an attack on me. And vice versa. A soulfriend is the mortal equivalent of such a connection. An attack on Rowan is the same as attacking me, and an attack on me is the same as attacking him."

I paused. "It also works in reverse. His enemies are mine and mine his. Much like the Weaver's foes have become mine."

"Can you only have one soulfriend?" Anna asked. 

I shook my head. "No, but it's a serious promise, Anna. If you break it, the Pale Queen will punish you severely when you die."

"Will you be my soulfriend?"

I smiled gently. I knew she was going to ask that. 

"No, highness." I said. 

Her eyes widened in shock, and tears began to well up in them.

"Oh." She sounded heartbroken. 

I wiped the tears from her eyes. "Don't weep princess, I only said no because I am already far more than your soulfriend." 

"How do I explain this." I said, looking out the window. "Uh…oh right, this will work." 

I concentrated and a glowing spirit popped into existence a few inches from my face. I flooded it with happy, positive memories, and it launched itself at me, kissing my face, glowing brightly. 

"Do you see how this little one is?" I asked. "How it does all I ask it to?" I concentrated, and the spirit transformed into a butterfly and landed on the princess's knee. "And it asks for nothing in return?"

She nodded slowly. 

The butterfly flew over her heart and began to pulse in harmony with her heartbeat. 

"I'm your spirit, highness. And I always will be" 

Anna blinked. "What?"

I chuckled. "That's the level of power you have over me, highness, which is why I don't need to be your soulfriend. Your enemies are already my enemies, your foes my foes."

Anna focused for a moment, and the butterfly flew back to her palm. 

"Why, Lukas? What did I do to earn such loyalty from you?"

You led me through darkness. You saved thousands. You were Saintess Anna, and I was your greatest disciple. And on the last day, the day the world ended, when you passed the gates of hell into the golden halls we counted ourselves blessed to follow you. 

I smiled at the princess. The queen. The saintess. "Maybe one day, I'll tell you."