YVERNU GORGE: HOME AGAIN
The airship and army are greeted with music and cheering as they reenter Cislunar, led by King Lament, with Malachi, Olivar, and Gaetano on his right hand and any members of the SRC who wish to ride in which him on his left. The three boys have grown much older since they first set off for Yvernu Gorge; they are quieter and more thoughtful, understanding at last many of the things Domenico has been trying to tell them about making leadership decisions and taking responsibility for others' lives. Nevertheless, being greeted as heroes cheers all three of them up, and they straighten proudly in their saddles and beam at the crowds.
Although the SRC wants desperately to go home to greet loved ones, wash, rest, and perhaps mourn, for the rest of the day the goal eludes them as etiquette demands their presence beside the king. A celebratory feast is scheduled for the next night, and at last the SRC is permitted to head back to their homes to rest.
Halkem is greeted warmly by his wife and her family, who regard him as a hero and hasten to make him comfortable, plying him with comfortable clothes, wine, pillows, and everything else he wants, listening raptly to his stories of the battle. His wife is delighted to tell him, when they are in bed together at last, that they're going to have a baby together soon.
Pip's greeting, on the other hand, is colder: he arrives home to find his wife and children gone, "off to relatives," reports his followers in a nervous whisper. The house seems empty without them, and no note has been left behind.
Caprice's grandmere thanks the ancestors that her baby is back alive and well, and cooks up the young priestess' favorite meal, clucking her tongue over everything Caprice tells her. Caprice eventually manages to get to the temple after her grandmere leaves appropriate thanks-offerings on the house altar for the loa, and there she finds Nicodemus and Hari sitting and talking over the battle. The elderly hierodule priest is delighted that Caprice is safe and welcomes her as she joins them. The long discussion ends in a devout prayer of remembrance for the slain and thanksgiving for the living. Nicodemus bids her to gather the SRC the day after the feast to discuss their next step. She notes that he seems to be aging rapidly -- perhaps part of his corypheism.
Minimin returns to the Watchful Order to report and receives the rarest of rarities, a smile from Cadmium Narcissus, the doorman, who tells him that Guildmistress Carel is very eager to see him. Every mage he passes in the Order stops to greet him, ask after his health, or give him a congratulatory slap on the back. A few ask quietly after friends and loved ones, and Minimin tells them what he can of their fates. When he arrives at Carignan Carel's chambers he is ushered in, and he sees Carel and Papa Lucco sitting in the guildmistress' ornate room, laughing. He has seen them together before. Papa Lucco slides off his chair, gives Minimin a cheery handshake, and leaves. The guildmistress pours fresh drinks and she and Minimin spend most of the rest of the evening discussing the battles, the Sacrament Sanguis, the items found in the aeries, and other matters of mystic importance. She takes many notes and will ask what he intends to do next -- as a mage, not as part of the Company.
The next day is filled with social calls that the SRC tries to shrug off in order to wrap up the loose ends from the battle -- getting friends raised, housing surviving soldiers, and so forth. They soon find that their capable followers and seconds-in-command have everything in order, though, and that they have no good excuse not to spend time enjoying the praise and admiration of the city. The Sun Rose Company -- and the rest of the survivors -- are heroes.
The feast at King Lament's is very impressive, not only celebrating the victory over the Sacrament Sanguis but, implicitly, the king's own maturity into a warrior. Plates and wineglasses remain full throughout, and many rousing speeches are given in honor of both the living and the dead in that battle. Bards are already composing songs, some of which are performed -- both celebrating heroism and lamenting deaths. The king bestows posthumous awards on the slain that have the pragmatic result of giving the families of the deceased some money to survive on, and he bestows many more awards on the living, which are less pragmatic but result in medals, titles, monetary awards and promotions that are just as welcome.
The members of the Sun Rose Company, as leaders of the attack against the Sacrament Sanguis, are especially honored, inducted into the king's privy council as royal advisors and given the honorary status of the king's personal bodyguard -- an honor previously held by the slain Cristofawr and still held by the filthy and standoffish Arlin the Knave. They will be expected to, if they are present at the time, stand on guard around the king-to-be during his coronation in the next month.
Later that evening, the young Domenico pulls Elianora aside.
"Have your son crowned before me," he says solemnly. "I would have him set my crown on my head, and I will swear allegiance to him then."
The SRC agrees, later, that this is a good idea, but before they can crown Malachi they must, at Dominarch/Regent Magicbane Minor's command, find the remaining two swords. They have less than a month in which to do so, if they are to crown Malachi before Domenico, but they have an outstanding invitation that may lead them to the third blade -- the ivory invitation to Cappadocia from its mysterious ruler, Jack of Tears.
