Hello friends.
As you might be aware of, I’ve been very busy working on the first volume of The Hesitant Hero. Although the core story is unchanged, there are many details and bits of worldbuilding that I didn’t include in the original version that you can find on my blog, that I started adding in later. There are references to other regions, important characters and historical moments that I simply hadn’t worked out all that well. When I first set out to write this story I had no idea that I wanted the Vadier family to play a bigger role. For this reason you haven’t seen much of them yet, even if you’re all caught up on volume 3. But once the definitive version of this story is finished, there will be much more to learn about them. To that effect, I am including what is now Chapter 11 of the Hesitant Hero volume 1, which centers on the Vadier household and the first time that Cobal and friends meet the former lord of the region. I hope you enjoy this post as I frantically finish the last few chapters of volume 3 and mentally prepare for volume 4. As always I appreciate your attention and time immensely and it brings me much joy to know that people read my stories and hopefully enjoy them too. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 11
The Vadier Estate
The sun shone brightly that morning as Cobal looked over his shoulder at the quaint seaside house that had been his home for the past couple weeks. Spring had transitioned into early summer and after having spent some time in Ravadier he truly understood why the place was such a popular vacation spot. “Are you sure you packed everything?” he asked Mana.
She nodded. She was wearing a beautiful dress so light blue it was almost white and a brimmed hat to protect herself from the sun. The dress cut off just above her ankles allowing her to easily walk in it. She had a bag with her belongings over her shoulder. Cobal had offered to carry it for her but she said there was no need for that. “I have everything I need. It’s not that much to begin with and it’s only really the books that make it heavy. And we already divided those.”
Cobal nodded. “Very well, let’s go grab Cassandra and head towards the Vadier Estate.” They traveled up the sandy path for the last time and arrived at the bakery where the lights were already on. Upon entering it they found Cassandra and her parents in the store. This was the first time Cobal met Cassandra’s mother. She looked to be a little bit older than Sebastian, but not much. Her eyes sparkled bright green and she had a wide smile. Her apron looked just as covered in flour as Sebastian’s and when she spotted the duo entering the store she promptly went over to them. “I’m Sarah, nice to meet you both.” She grabbed Cobal’s hand and shook it energetically. “I’ve heard that you’re the ones who’ve come to kidnap my daughter.”
“Only if you’ll allow it,” Mana said.
“Allow it? I’m glad to finally be rid of the rascal. Perhaps I can have a nap without the sound of metal scraping the insides of my ear.”
Cassandra started whistling and looked the other way.
From the other room the little brother, Seb, appeared. “Are you going away sis?” He asked.
Cassandra bent down. “I am going on an adventure with my new friends.”
“When will you be back?”
Cassandra thought for a bit. “It’ll be a little while, but within a year.”
Seb thought about that. “That’s long.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll protect her,” Cobal said.
Seb looked at Cobal before running off.
Confused about what that was about, Cobal returned his attention to Cassandra’s parents. “We’ll be traveling towards the elven stronghold of Milinia. It should be a relatively safe journey and we’ll make sure to take good care of your daughter. I promise this in my honor as a Blueyerd.”
Sebastian put his hand on Cobal’s shoulder. “She’s a feisty woman, she’ll be fine on her own. But I appreciate the commitment to her safety.” He pushed a basket into Cobal’s arm. “I got some food for the road, figured you might appreciate some fresh bread.”
Cobal peeked into the basket which was filled with all sorts of baked goods. He smiled. “This will be very nice, thank you Sebastian.”
Mana looked at Cassandra. “Ready to go?”
Cassandra nodded. “I can’t wait.”
They all walked outside. As they were about to leave, Seb came running out of the store, holding something in his arms. He walked over to Cobal and handed him something. It was the wooden sword that he wielded to protect the house. “Here. To protect my sister.”
Cobal took the wooden sword into his hands. “How will you protect the house without a sword?” He asked.
“I’ll get a new one.” Seb said confidently. Cobal looked at the others. Mana had a tear rolling down her face, clearly surprised by the incredibly sweet gesture of the young boy.
Cobal took off his bag and rummaged through it before he found what he was looking for. He had an ornate dagger on him from the palace. He placed the weapon in the boy’s hand. “Now be very careful with this, it’s very sharp.” Cobal looked at Sebastian to make sure he saw the exchange. “You should only use this when you need to protect the house, is that clear?”
Seb looked at the dagger in awe and nodded. “I will make sure the house is safe.”
“This is much too expensive of a weapon to give to him,” Sarah said. “We can’t possibly accept such a gift.”
Cobal stood up and looked at the baker and his wife. “A gift for a gift. It’s only fair that if he gives me something precious, I give him something precious in return.” Cobal put the wooden sword on his belt. “Besides, it was just sitting in my bag most of the time, so it’s not like I was using it actively. Just make sure he doesn’t hurt himself with it, perhaps it’s best to keep it for him for a while until he’s responsible enough.”
“I’m responsible enough,” Seb said, still staring at the dagger.
With gifts being exchanged, the trio finally left, waving goodbye to the baker’s family before leaving town and traveling north, towards the Vadier Estate.
The fence around the Vadier Estate was closed but due to it only being about a meter high you could see the grounds from a little while away. A simple stone fence stood in front of a large garden filled with produce and trees. A fountain decorated the front of the house and the house itself was built from the region’s famous pasaja palm of course. Several of the servants were hard at work in the yard when Cobal and the others approached the front. One of the workers noticed them and after wiping the dirt from his hands he walked over to greet them. “Ho there travelers, how can I help you today? If you’re looking to speak with the Lady, she’s currently out on business I’m afraid?”
“The Lady? I was hoping to speak with Lord Vadier.”
The man’s eyes narrowed a bit. “And who might you be?”
“I’m Cobal Blueyerd, prince of the Blueyerd Kingdom. I’ve been staying in town and wanted to show my respect to the local lord.”
The servants’ eyes widened immediately. “I didn’t mean to be rude, your highness, I’ll go talk to the Lord immediately.” And before Cobal could get in another word the man was already out of sight.
“What was that about a lady?” Mana asked.
Cobal shrugged but Cassandra had the answer. “Lord Vadier has been bedridden for quite a while now so his daughter handles a lot of business.”
“And you couldn’t have told us about this earlier?”
“You didn’t ask.”
Cobal let out a deep sigh. They waited a couple more minutes before the man they spoke to earlier came hurrying back out. “I’m sorry to let you wait, your highness, Lord Vadier will speak with you.” He opened the gate. “Please follow me.”
They followed the servant into the house and down a hallway lined with paintings and flowers until they reached the lords’ office.
Inside they found an office so tidy it looked basically unused. A desk stood against a window but there were no papers or books on it. At the center of the room was a small table filled with teas and pastries. Around it stood two couches and several chairs, one of which was currently occupied by a frail looking man in his late forties.
“Apologies for the lackluster welcome, your highness, but I wasn’t expecting a visit anytime soon.”
Cobal shook his head. “I came unannounced, it would be ridiculous to have any expectations.”
The man tried to get up but struggled. “Please, stay seated.” Cobal said, quickly walking over to one of the nice chairs and sitting down. “As your man probably told you, I’m Cobal Blueyerd. I’m here with Lady Mana, hero of the kingdom as well as Cassandra.”
“No titles for me but I live down the road so I’ve got that going for me.” Cassandra sat down cross legged on the couch and scooped up a pastry.
“You’re Sebas’ daughter, are you not?”
Cassandra nodded. “You know my dad?”
“Of course I do, there is not a soul in town that doesn’t.” He turned his attention to Mana. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Mana. I hope you found your stay in my domain pleasant.”
Mana smiled. “Just Mana is fine, and I can proudly say that my stay in your domain was everything it wanted to be. I found what I was looking for, after all.”
The man coughed into his handkerchief before tucking it away again. “Allow me to introduce myself as well. My name is Guthir Vadier and I’m the current lord of the Ravadier Peninsula. Although when I say that I should also admit that most of the work is being done by my daughter these days. As you can see, my health isn’t particularly great so I stay indoors most of the time to conserve my energy.”
“That’s quite alright and I hope we didn’t visit at an inconvenient moment.”
“Not at all, I’m honored that you wanted to come and pay your respects to someone like me.”
“There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about,” Cobal said.
Guthir looked him over as well as Mana and smiled. “Ah, so you’ve been.”
Mana nodded. “We visited Miyara.”
“How did you know?” Cobal asked.
“Her necklace is made by a jeweler from Arana, odds are pretty high.”
“So you do know about its existence and haven’t shared it with the crown.”
Guthir’s face turned serious. “My family has known about the existence of Arana for many generations. My ancestors made a promise with their head priest to not divulge their existence to anyone and we have kept our word throughout several generations. Our promise to Arana is older than our loyalty to the Blueyerd crown even, so it is fair to say that it takes precedence.” He smiled. “Besides, you’re not the first member of your family to visit Arana.”
This surprised Cobal. “Really?”
Guthir nodded. “Your grandfather’s younger sister visited it once as well. At least that’s what my grandfather told me back then. He told me that if she didn’t see fit to share it with the rest of their family then there was no reason for us to do so either.”
Cobal thought for a moment. He wasn’t too familiar with his grandfather’s siblings but he did remember him having two younger sisters. Skye Blueyerd and Arcticia Blueyerd. So one of them went to Arana, Cobal thought to himself. He nodded to Guthir and pulled out the signet ring that Kiiran had given him. “I couldn’t promise that I would never reveal their existence to my father or older brothers, but I did promise the head priest that I would not reveal it before first returning this ring to him.”
Guthir smiled. “A wise and honorable decision, your highness.” He sat up straight, a wince appearing on his face as something in his body seemed to hurt, but he quickly recovered. “Did you say where you were traveling towards next?” He asked.
“We’re on our way to Milinia,” Mana said. “There’s someone there I’d like to meet.”
“Elven lands, I see. I’ve never been there myself, but Diana has gone there once to speak to their leader. She told me they were all a bit strange in their mannerisms.”
“Diana?” Mana asked.
“My daughter and the future lady of this domain. I would like to retire in the near future. My illness isn’t deadly but it’s keeping me weak and exhausted a lot of the time. It would behoove Ravadier to have a young and energetic lady at its service as opposed to a tired old man.” He smiled wryly.
“You don’t look that old and tired,” Cassandra said.
“That’s mighty kind of you, but I know my limits.” He smiled. “I’m glad to see one of our own accompanying the new hero, it makes me proud.”
“Don’t go having high expectations of me,” Cassandra replied. “I’m just going to see some elves, that is all.”
“Well if you’re going to visit Milinia, I would highly appreciate it if you sent my regards to Karnisal, their head of council.”
Cobal nodded. “I can certainly do that.”
Some polite back and forth about the state of the capital city as well as the state of the pasaja trade followed before Cobal and his companions said their goodbyes to Guthir and left the estate behind them.
“What a nice man,” Cassandra remarked.
Cobal nodded. “He certainly is. It’s strange to me that one of my great aunts went to Arana but never told anyone though.” He looked at Mana as if she had an answer.
She shrugged. “There could have been many reasons. It could have been as simple as making a promise like you did. What I find more interesting is that Kiiran never mentioned it. Either he forgot, which I think is unlikely, or maybe they weren’t aware that she was royalty?”
Cobal thought about it for a moment. “We’ll just have to ask him if we ever go back.”
Opal Kaharis 