Shattered | By : Koori Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 8001 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own World of Warcraft, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Thomas Conway
Thomas walked across the lumber mill’s yard toward his homestead. His shoulders ached from stacking the large wooden beams. His white locks looked almost blonde from the sawdust that had settled on him from the giant saw used to cut the huge trees down to more manageable size. The weariness of the day left him when he saw Norah working in her garden, sitting nearby was Sara. The young girl had a cloak pulled up over her face to hide the tattoos the bastards had marked with her. It had been too long since he had seen Norah in the garden. Only home a week, the return of Sara and Nathaniel had done great things for his wife.
Speaking of his elfin child he spied him speaking to Supervisor Raelen, the brunette woman only stood to her son’s shoulder. He altered his path slightly and walked toward them.
“If you wouldn’t mind that is,” the woman’s cheeks got slightly pink and Thomas grinned, his son had that effect on the opposite sex.
“No problem at all, Lady Raelen,” Nathaniel said, “can’t have the lumberjacks mauled by bears and wolves can we … oh my. I’ll bring my bow tomorrow and see if I can cull the packs a bit.”
“Thank you, Nathaniel,” Supervisor Raelen replied, “And please call me Thelma.”
“Yes Lady Thelma,” Nathaniel said and the woman smiled brightly. Blue eyes saw him approaching and the elf bowed. “See you tomorrow, have a good evening.”
Nathaniel fell in step beside him, “how did the mill work go today?”
“Hot … heavy and dusty,” Thomas replied, “how about you? Seems you get to trade your axe for a bow.”
“Aye,” Nathaniel said, “And all fingers accounted for.”
“Will make the bow thing easier,” Thomas replied with a grin. He glanced at his son, his face looked gaunt and the ever present circles under his eyes seemed darker. As his wife regained her vigor, his son was losing his. “Son?”
Nathaniel did little to hide his sigh and glanced over at him, “I’m fine, Pa,” he said, “it’s been an adjustment but I’m getting there.”
One thing Nathaniel could never do well is lie and yet that seemed all he was ever saying since returning home. Thomas doubted he’d gotten a true answer out of his son since his homecoming. He knew better than to approach it after a long day of work. “You go shower first,” he said, “I’m going to go get your Ma all dusty.”
Nathaniel laughed and after dropping his axe off inside the barn, disappeared around the corner of the house toward the shower. Thomas had been surprised by the lack of fancy smelling shampoos from the elves, the last time Nathaniel had left Silvermoon he had come back with enough elaborate hair products to last him a couple of years. “Hey beautiful,” he called out.
Norah looked up and smiled, her brilliant red hair shimmered in the sunlight. Unlike his locks, hers maintained their youthful hue. Thomas returned the smile, he could tell as he approached there was news his wife was bursting to voice. “Guess what, love?” she asked.
“You’re pregnant?” Thomas deadpanned.
Sara snorted and his wife looked taken back for a second. “That would be a miracle, love,” she said when recovered. “Look what Jenna and I did today!”
Thomas glanced around, only seeing the garden as he left it and Sara cradling her sleeping daughter. Sara stood up and the hood of her cloak fell back, revealing a flawless lovely face. The malicious tattoos were gone. She smiled radiant at him. Thomas reached out and traced her cheek.
“Jenna was able to show me how to draw the ink out,” Norah said, “we worked on it together.”
“Didn’t even hurt,” Sara said. “Though Ma and Sis had purple hands afterwards.”
“Beautiful,” Thomas said. “Guess I’ll have to get ready to start chasing men away again.”
Sara laughed; she reached up and brushed some sawdust off his shoulder. “Taking work home with you again, Pa,” she said. The smile faded as her eyes saw something behind him. Turning around he saw the back of Nathaniel as he disappeared into the barn, wrapped in a towel.
“He’s so thin,” Norah said, “I don’t understand it, he’s eating well enough. I’ve tried to check him out but he won’t let me.”
Thomas frowned, he was unaware his son had been avoiding his wife’s healing touch.
“He just needs time, it’s an adjustment,” Sara said, parroting her brother. “I’ll go check on him.” Sara stood up and walked into the barn, singing softly to give warning she was coming.
Through the open barn doors Thomas saw Nathaniel appear at the top of the loft, he had put on some leggings but his chest was bare. He climbed down the ladder and after taking Violet, climbed back up one-handed while his sister followed. The curtain to his small apartment closed, hiding them from view.
“She’s taken his place,” Norah said, sitting down her hoe and walking over, she wrapped her arms around him.
Enjoying the simple touch he took a moment to reply, “Hm?”
“Foster,” she said, “Nathaniel needs someone at his side; he’s been lost since Foster’s death. The journey home they made, he has bonded to his sister the same way as he did his brother. I love the both of them but we cannot let him do that to Sara, his brother sacrificed too much.”
“Foster would argue that point,” Thomas said. “But you are right, Sara has a baby she cannot be his crutch. But let’s give them a few days, I would rather Nathaniel find his strength before we go upsetting the boat more than we have to.”
After he had had showered and dressed, both of his children were still missing and Norah was setting the table. Without being asked Thomas headed toward the barn. An odd feeling overcame him and instead of shouting as he had planned he climbed up the ladder. “I love them,” he said to himself, “but they are hiding something … could it be their relationship crossed the line between brother and sister, to something else?”
Without announcing himself he pulled back the blanket that acted like a doorway. Sara startled from her seat on the floor, her brother was asleep behind her on the bed. Thomas pondered the scene for a moment, as he did Nathaniel’s eyes opened. The elf looked around for a moment disoriented in sleep. “Oh, Sis did I fall asleep on you?” he said sheepishly. “It must have been a harder day at work than I thought.”
“It’s okay,” Sara said standing, “I couldn’t get down the ladder myself and didn’t want to wake you. I knew dinner wasn’t too far off. Is that what you’re doing Pa, chasing us down for dinner?”
A perfectly reasonable answer, how come both of his children were lying? There was no mistake Nathaniel had been sleeping; he was struggling to wake up. He swung his feet off the edge of the bed and walked over to where the basin sat. Splashing himself with water, he used a towel to dry his face and then grabbed a shirt to put on. Thomas helped Sara to her feet and taking the babe from her made his way down the ladder; she followed next with Nathaniel being the last one down.
Keeping his granddaughter Thomas walked toward the house, Nathaniel and Sara followed chatting about the day. Sara was excited about taking a trip to Stormwind to catch up with friends. “You should plan on that this weekend,” Thomas said over his shoulder, “I’m sure news of your return has reached your superiors at the garrison, they are probably curious of your status.”
“I sent them notice the day after I got back,” Sara assured him, “but I would love to see my brothers and sisters in arms again.”
“I can go with you …” Nathaniel started.
“No,” Thomas said, “I need your help around the homestead; there are repairs in the barn I haven’t gotten to.”
“Of course Pa,” Nathaniel said, “anything you need.”
They walked into the house, it smelled of fresh baked bread. “Nothing smells better than home,” Nathaniel said, taking his seat at the end of the table. Pa placed Violet down in her bassinet and sat opposite of Nathaniel, they were flanked by the women. Norah walked in and put a small roast on the table, there were already potatoes and carrots from the garden. “Looks wonderful, Ma,” Nathaniel said.
They linked hands around the table and Norah led them in saying grace, afterwards he carved the roast and served the family making sure to give Nathaniel an extra slice. Afterwards the potatoes, carrots and fresh rolls were passed around. Thomas loved the banter at the dinner table, it had been lacking for the past months. A soft squeeze on his knee brought a grin to his lips and he reached under the table and wrapped his fingers around his wife’s. However, when their eyes met she slightly nodded her head toward the other end of the table. Sara was talking about the rabbit moccasins she had made for her and Nathaniel. Her brother was listening as he cut his roast into pieces. Then the carrots and potatoes were diced. Afterwards Nathaniel set the knife down and forked a piece of meat.
“She did a wonderful job,” Nathaniel said, “I still have the first pair she made, they treated me well.”
Nathaniel put his fork down the meat uneaten. Thomas took a bite of his own roast, as he asked his wife about the garden he kept one eye on the other end of the table. After a moment Nathaniel picked back up the fork and brought the bite to his mouth, there was a pause and then his lips parted and he took it from the tongs. Thomas frowned there was something off, the rhythm which his son was eating wasn’t normal. However, he was indeed eating one slow bite at a time. “Perhaps he’s savoring it,” he thought silently. He soon noticed another oddity, Sara was eating left handed. Her right hand was tucked into her lap. Thomas observed Nathaniel’s left hand was also down on his lap as Norah squeezed his hand again, it became clear his children were holding hands under the table and the thought of romance came again.
Suddenly he lost his appetite and set his own fork down. “Okay,” he said, “is there something you two want to tell us?”
Nathaniel looked up, that’s when Thomas truly noticed his son’s eyes and the pain he saw took his breath away … the anguish, sorrow, hurt. And as quickly as the elf allowed him a glance into his soul, it faded, replaced by confusion. “What do you mean, Pa?”
“The cuddling in the loft, the holding of hands under the table,” at that comment his two children pulled their hands apart. “I can’t say I would have chosen this path for either of you ….”
“Eww,” Sara said loudly, “um how about no, no offense, Big Brother.”
“None taken,” Nathaniel said, “at least from your comment, Little Sis,” he looked over at Thomas those same eyes now flashing angrily, “I …” he pushed away from the table, standing. “… have nothing to say to you, that I wouldn’t regret later.”
Just then the door burst open and two small boys came running in, followed by their older sister. “Uncle Nathaniel!”
His son smiled at the Wendy and York’s children, but it was forced. “Hey guys,” he said, “just in time for dinner, you can have my portion, I’m not hungry.”
“Can I have your roll!” the youngest, Henry asked.
“Of course, little man.”
Wendy followed her children inside and Nathaniel gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Kyle must be at the forge in Stormwind still. “I need to go feed Sara’s pet before he decides beef is on the menu,” Nathaniel said excusing himself.
“Hell no,” Thomas whispered under his breath. He stood to follow Nathaniel out, intent on confronting the elf and getting the truth out of him. “Oh, Pa,” Wendy said, “this letter arrived in Goldshire today, I told them I would give it to you. Sure looks fancy.”
Thomas took the offered envelope, it was indeed ‘fancy’, with a gold seal on the back imprinted with a grape vine, the address was written in beautiful script, and there was no return address. Breaking the seal he opened the envelope and slipped out single folded page. As he read the letter, his annoyance at his son grew. However, he finally had a means to get the truth out of him.
“Who is it, love?” Norah asked, “don’t keep us guessing.”
“I’ll explain in a little bit, beloved,” he said. “At the moment I have a deceitful son to confront.”
“Pa!” Sara stood up alarmed and her cry woke Violet who started crying. “Please … don’t …”
“You had your chance,” he said coolly. “Tend to your daughter.”
“Pa!” Sara called again as he walked past a confused Wendy and strolled toward the barn.
The barn was empty, a quick look in the loft didn’t show Nathaniel there either. Thomas frowned and opened the letter once more, reading it.
Dear Master Conway,
I am so sorry to receive the news of the death of your daughter, Sara. I am saddened at your loss. However, I am also concerned about our son, Nahoan. You mentioned in your letter you were sending news of your loss to him, because he was staying with me. I am sorry and a bit concerned to tell you that I haven’t seen our son since he left with you and your son, Foster before the loss of the Sunwell. I had scouts search for him as far as the gate to Darrowmere Forest with no sign of him. I fear what this means, if you have any more information please contact me.
Sincerely, Master Suntouched
If his son wasn’t with the elves all these months where was he? And what had happened to give him such a haunted look he was trying so hard to hide? He obviously wasn’t getting any answers tonight; his son had gone into hiding. However, there was someone else that knew at least some of the answers.
Returning to the house he found Norah putting out place settings for Wendy and the kids, Sara was sitting next to the hearth nursing her daughter. His youngest looked up as he entered her expression fearful. She was afraid of him? Thomas sighed and returned to his place at the table, scooping up Wendy’s youngest, Henry, as he did. “Hey, that was my roll,” he said with a smile.
The brown haired child looked up at him and smiled, butter smeared over his chubby cheeks. “Sorry, Pawpaw,” he said, “Uncle Nathaniel said …”
“It’s fine,” he reassured the boy as he reached over and grabbed another roll out of the basket, “Grandma made plenty.”
“Didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner,” Wendy said as she started putting food on a plate for herself.
“It’s perfectly fine, dear,” Norah said taking her seat once more. His wife glanced at him and he shook his head. “It’s always wonderful to have you and the grand babies visit.”
“Grandma!” Lucy said, “I’m not a baby!” The young girl was fifteen and her body was developing into a young lady. She had taken after her late Aunt Janice and had a love for books, one which she was reading as she sat nibbling on her roll.
A hand on his shoulder startled him and he looked up at Sara. She bent over and hugged him from behind. “Can we talk?” she whispered in his ear.
“After dinner,” he replied, squeezing her arm gently.
Nodding Sara returned to the hearth and sat in the rocking chair there, rocking her daughter and signing softly.
Wendy’s son, Nate, walked over to his Aunt and Sara pulled back the blanket so he could see Violet. “She’s so tiny,” the young boy said. “Where’s her daddy?”
Sara stiffened at the question as Norah and Wendy stopped mid conversation. “Honey,” Wendy started.
“It’s okay, Big Sis,” Sara said, “Violet doesn’t have a Daddy, but she has wonderful Uncles and a great Grandpa …”
“And me too!” Nate said, “I’ll teach her how to climb trees, catch a ball, catch worms, chase …”
Sara laughed and hugged him. “I can’t wait,” she said.
Thomas watched his daughter rock, her eyes gazing in the flames dancing in the fireplace. He wondered what she was thinking of, the babe had been conceived during the time she was a prisoner at Acherus, and he didn’t need to know the details his blood boiled enough at the thought of it. A tremor racked her body and she trembled in the chair, placing a hand over her face.
“Oh, Baby Girl,” he thought to himself as he stood and walked toward her. However, Norah beat him and wrapped her arms around their daughter. It pained Thomas to see tears on Sara’s cheeks.
“Maybe we should go,” Wendy said.
“No,” Sara said quickly wiping a hand across her cheeks. “Please stay, Sis, I’ve missed you so much and the kids. Nathaniel and I are still growing accustomed to having family around again, but the love of you all will fix our troubles in no time.”
The moon was up by the time he hooked up the wagon to bring Wendy and her children home, refusing to let them walk in the dusk. It was just a short ride to Goldshire where they lived. Nathaniel’s apartment was still empty, though Omelet was chewing on a fresh bear carcass which meant his son had been around. The cow and horse had also been taken care of. Omelet had made a nest of straw in the empty stall. Neither the horse nor the cow was too thrilled with their new stable buddy but so far the raptor was behaving. He would have to think of a long term solution for Sara’s scaly pet soon. With his own children grown he had stopped naming his farm animals, even the scraggly dog that kept the chicken coop safe was just named “Dog”. After he got back, he put the horse in its stall and climbed up the ladder to check on more time on his son. The apartment was still empty. He’d be back tomorrow, Nathaniel had promised Supervisor Raelen and his boy would keep his word regardless of his feelings toward his father.
“I just want to help,” he said aloud to the empty room, “how can I help if I don’t know what’s wrong?’
Walking back into the house he found Sara sitting by the hearth, her daughter asleep in the bassinet beside her. “Pa,” she said as he entered. “I’m sorry.”
He sat down across from her and took her hands in his. “For what baby girl?”
“For lying to you,” she said meekly. “We thought it would be the best, but it’s tearing him apart. I’m so worried about him.” Tears once again began to fall.
“Tell me the truth?” he asked gently.
“Nathaniel didn’t rescue me from that awful place, the death knight you shot at … he saved … he saved us both. Pa, Nathaniel was a prisoner too and he was there so much longer than me. They broke him, Pa … it took us months to get him back in his right mind. He’s trying so hard but … instead of getting stronger he’s fading right before me and there is nothing I can do! He’ll be so mad at me for telling you; with Ma not well he didn’t want to add to your burden. But Pa, he says nightmares have returned, he’s not sleeping, and what little food I can get him to eat he’s not keeping down … he’ll die if we don’t do something. I don’t know what to do … please help him.”
“I’m so sorry,” Thomas said hugging her tight. “That was a terrible weight for you to bear. I know you did it out of love, but please let this burden be mine. I’ll save your brother, I promise.”
Norah stepped into her room, her own eyes wet with tears. “He did it for me and we were blaming him.”
“At least now we know what we’re dealing with,” Thomas said, “thank you for trusting me enough to tell the truth.” An emotion flickered across Sara’s face. And Thomas realized he hadn’t heard everything yet but it was certainly more knowledge then he had at the start of the day. The rest would come out when his children were ready to share it. “Well, your brother is gone for now …”
“Gone where?” Norah asked alarmed.
“Don’t worry, love,” Thomas said kissing her cheek, “he’s just cooling off somewhere; he’ll be back for work tomorrow.” After he helped Sara move the bassinet into her room that was next to his own, he joined his wife in bed. Norah snuggled close, though still too thin, she had put on a little weight.
“What do you think they did to him, Tom?” Norah asked.
“Terrible things, Norah,” he replied, “very horrendous things. We know Sara was raped, I’m afraid the only reason her brother was with her to be rescued was because he was used for the same purposes.”
Norah shuddered, “our poor son, first to lose Foster and then … how are we going to help?”
“I’m not sure,” Thomas said, “I have to get him to open up first and he’s shutting down in more than one way.” Kissing her forehead he continued, “Go to sleep my lovely wife, I won’t fail our children again.”
Hours later as the clock struck two he separated himself from his wife and slipping on his leggings walked outside barefoot. His son might be built for stealth but he could be pretty silent in his own right. Noiselessly he climbed the ladder to the loft and pushed the blanket aside, the room was empty and he frowned. Then he saw Nathaniel’s boots, bow and shirt lying across the cedar chest. “Maybe he stepped out for a moment,” he thought as he sat down on the corner of bed to wait. A few minutes later he heard a whimper, at first he thought Dog had caught something sneaking into the hen house but then it came again and it sounded close. There was a scraping noise, it came from under him. Frowning, Thomas got off the bed and looked underneath it.
His swore softly, pressed far into the corner, under the bed, and against the wall was Nathaniel. The elf was asleep but by the sounds he was making and the look on his face it was anything but peaceful. Laying down flat, Thomas reached under the bed toward his son, “It’s okay, Son,” he said, “Pa is here.”
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