Tachartasan Seachdaineil

I write because I love telling stories. Part of that is to get through the long nights at work, between eleven pm and seven am. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any writing done this past week. The area I was assigned to required safety checks every twenty-three minutes, and whenever someone became suicidal, those checks increased to every eleven minutes.

On top of that, we were training new employees in my unit, so I ended up covering both the eleven-minute and twenty-three-minute rounds.

I don’t mind telling you that my feet hurt and I slept all day on my first day off.

Because of that schedule, there won’t be a new Royal Road chapter this week—but Chapter Nine is already lined up for next week.

There won’t be any Patreon updates this week, either, but I’ll make it up to everyone next week.

Below you will find a half-chapter that I wrote two weeks ago.

Rhyslin sat on the balcony outside the master bedroom staring out into the grove.

Something had been bothering him about the Mansion, but he could put his finger on it. He was absolutely sure that the master bedroom seemed bigger.

If the master bedroom is bigger, does that mean that the rest of the mansion is bigger as well?

He could have walked the house, but didn’t feel strong enough to do it yet.

A slow smile cross his lips. There was more than one way to get information.

“Keisha?” He called out, directing his voice toward the oak growing near the balcony.

“How may I serve, Grove-Master?” the hin i-balanath dryad asked as she stepped out of her tree and onto the main support branch before looking up at the balcony.

“Would you care to join me?” He invited, “I have questions about the mansion.”

“I’ll be right up,” the grove-mother replied as she scampered along the branch until she reached the part where it hadn’t grown as strong. She paused, testing the rest of the branch with an extended foot before shaking her head. “Would my grove-master allow me the use of his staff?”

Rhyslin walked to the edge of the balcony and placed his right hand on the railing. Looking down, he nodded. “Of course.” He extended the staff and reached out to where she was standing.

“Thank you, Master,” Keisha said as she took the end of the staff and pulled it in toward her body. “Can you strengthen my branch, guardian staff?”

The staff was silent for a moment, then made a negative trill.

“Oh, I see,” the dryad replied with a pout. “Thank you for trying.”

The staff grew lighter in her hands, causing her to blink. “What do you have in mind?” Something prompted her to take a step onto the still growing branch. “Are you sure?” When the staff tugged her toward the balcony, she took a slow breath and carefully walked across the branch.

“Oh, I see,” she whispered as her step didn’t shake the branch. Then, with growing confidence, she made her way to the balcony and hopped over the railing.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she handed the staff back to Rhyslin. She offered a half-bow and looked up at the draoidh. “What do you want to know, my grove-master?”

Keisha’s eyes widened slightly and she nodded. “I’m not surprised that you noticed it, Master.” She wore a faint blush as she crossed the balcony and sat down on the bench near Rhyslin’s chair.

“When we moved the grove and mansion, we made a few minor changes.” She began, then paused. When he gestured for her to continue, she did. “We added two sitting rooms and a family room on the lower level and combined the second and third floor libraries into one on the third floor.”

Rhyslin closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses. “Yes, I see that now.” Impulsively, he reached out and pulled Keisha into his lap.

The dryad curled against him. “Are we going to fertilize my seed?” She asked in hushed innocence.

Rhyslin dipped his head. “Only if you are ready, little-mother.”

He watched as she blushed deeply. “Did I do good, Master?”

“You did. I can’t think of another dryad that could do what you did.” He smiled. “How did you grow the grove so quickly?”

“Yestasúre Tuilëo helped us grow our trees.”

“Who?” Rhyslin couldn’t remember a person named Yestasure Tuioleo. A small part of his mind instantly translated it to ‘The first breath of spring.’

“Where did Yestasure Tuileo come from?” Maybe if he knew where this person came from, he’d be able to recall the name, if he knew it.

Keisha gave him an endearing look, then giggled. “From the Cloud Dancer.”

The Draoidh leaned back, shocked. Had he missed someone traveling on the cutter? A new crew member? A stowaway?

He glanced back at the giggling dryad. “I don’t recall anyone on the cutter named Yestasure Tuoileo.”

Keisha leaned toward him, pointing her finger at him and poking him in the chest. “That’s because you were rude and didn’t ask her her name when you found her.”

At Rhyslin’s quirked brow, she continued. “You called her Kur-An.” Her lips turned down in a frown. “You treated her like a thing, not a person.”

She’s right, Rhyslin thought, I took advantage to what she feared and then went on about my business.

For the first time he could remember, the hollow feeling in his chest came as a consequence.

“Keisha, is Yestasure Tiuleo still here?”

Keisha watched him for a moment, then nodded. “She is. She’s a guest in my tree. She has my protection.” She knew that he would never intentionally hurt anyone, but sometimes things just happened.

“I see.” Rhyslin said as he bowed his head. “Is there a chance I can talk to her?”

The hin-i-balanath dryad watched him for a moment, as if judging him, before answering. “You may. All you have to do is ask her if she’ll come up here. If she agrees, she’ll come here. If she doesn’t, she won’t and you can’t force her without breaking our compact.”

Rhyslin drew in a breath. The compact she was talking about was the first one formed between dryads and their grove-masters. They would bless the land around them, but only if the grove-master granted them their rights.

And Rhyslin would never break that compact. Just the idea of it made him feel ill.

“Thank you, Keisha.” He softly said after a moment of silence. “I will abide by the compact.”

The dryad closed her eyes, letting her court know what had happened even as she gave them a chance to object.

“Go ahead, my grove-master. Call and see if she agrees to see you.”

Rhyslin felt as if he needed to bathe. The discussion had left him feeling dirty somehow.

With a slight nod, he called out. “I greet thee Lady Yestasure Tuoileo. If thou art willing, I invite thee freely into my house.”

The formal address was in its own way, as binding as a written law.

For a moment, there was silence, one that worried him. If she refused to answer, there was nothing he could do.

He waited for her answer, hoping that she’d agree to visit him.

When a liquid fog rolled up the branches of the Oak and flowed onto the balcony, he drew in a slow breath. When the fog coalesced into the form of an elderly hin-i-taur wearing a living cloak, he blinked.

“I accept thy invitation Mac Draoidheacd,” her melodious voice replied. She pulled the hood of her cloak back, revealing the green pall to her skin. “I thank thee for thy welcome.”