Keeper: Chapter 25

Oops, I thought I had this set to automatically post last Thursday.  Must not have hit the right button. v

Chapter 25

Jamie blinked hard as the man with the face from his dreams swept past him and into the guest parlor. His heart was racing. ‘I wonder if keeper’s get used to this sort of thing,’ he mentally asked himself. Normally people didn’t step out of his dreams and onto the front porch. “If they did, dating in high school would have been a whole lot different,” he muttered as he closed the door, turned and followed his visitor into the parlor. The man with the scarred face was examining some of the knickknacks placed decoratively on the fireplace mantel. Jamie found himself being irrationally glad they were the impersonal sort of items Albe had never told stories about.



“I’m afraid you have me at a bit of a disadvantage,” Jamie said, recalling some of his mother’s lessons in manners and verbal sparring.



“Oh and how is that?” the man said, turning to face Jamie.



“Your face is somewhat familiar but I am afraid I can not place it, yet you have my name.” The man laughed and winked at Jamie.



“Of course, of course, I had forgotten the restrictions. They would have let you vaguely recognize me but nothing else in such a short time. You must be having an interesting time of it with visitors.”



“Oh?” Jamie replied. The man laughed again.



“Ah the training of a Keeper. Personally I always thought it was a bit over the top but who am I to flout tradition. And in this Albe was a traditionalist.” The man stepped away from the fireplace and executed a deep bow in Jamie’s direction. “I am Terrel San Vojnoen of the House of the Fiery Lily. You may call me Terrell of course.” Personally Jamie thought The House of the Fiery Lily sounded like the name of a bad brothel but he didn’t comment.



“And we have met before?” Jamie asked instead as Terrell straightened.



“Many times, a fact you will come to realize in the next few weeks.”



“Really?” Jamie said, trying to keep his disbelief out of his voice. Terrell smiled broadly.



“Of course. The traditional method of training Keepers involves the up and coming keepers not to know they are being trained. Memories are somewhat suppressed from what I gather or only found in dreams. A goblin kin becomes a giant iguana. Fairies become butterflies, that sort of thing. And then when the trainee becomes the keeper in actuality the veil gradually disintegrates.” Terrell gave a low chuckle. “I can only imagine what some of your dreams would be like in the next few weeks.”



“I think interesting would cover it.” Jamie commented dryly.



“Yes that would be a good catch all term I suppose.” Del reached the door with another load of delicacies on the tea cart. Absently Jamie wondered how many miles the cart had clocked between the kitchen and the parlor during the day. He had lost track of how many times it had arrived with the perfect set of edibles for who or whatever his guest happened to be at the moment. Jamie noticed the savory offerings were a little more on the stout variety and smiled. Apparently Del realized Jamie was going to miss lunch today as well. Del glanced up at the visitor and Jamie and did his customary nod before leaving. There seemed to be no surprise in Del’s face and Jamie realize he had only shown him the drawing of the fairy and not of his current visitor. Terrell’s face on the other hand registered surprise at Del’s presence. The flamboyant good humor seemed to drain for a moment, leaving his eyes cold and calculating. When he caught Jamie looking at him he smiled again, his eyes flashing nothing but good humor.



“I see you have hired a housekeeper then,” Terrell said. He walked over to the tea tray, placed a few of the small sandwiches on a plate and settled himself in the visitor’s chair. Jamie filled his own plate, his tastes edging more to the ham side of the sandwiches than the water cress and cucumber ones his guest had taken. He settled himself in the seat he had spent much of the morning occupying.



“Yes,” Jamie replied. “I did.” He took a bite of the small triangle of a sandwich. In two bites the morsel was gone. Terrell did not touch the items he had placed on the plate. He merely held it as if it were a prop.



“Good, good, always good to have help around the house,” Terrell commented. The line sounded somewhat stilted. Terrell’s jaw seemed to clench after he spoke the words and Jamie’s eyes drifted to the scar. It moved oddly with the muscles of Terrell’s face, almost as if there were something buried underneath the flesh and the scar was merely the covering.



“I thought so,” Jamie replied. He picked up a second triangle of sandwich and took a bite, wondering if Terrell would follow suit. Jamie watched him as he chewed and swallowed his bite. Terrell picked up a sandwich as though to eat it but did not bring it to his mouth. “So we have met before then?” he asked.



“Yes, many times,” Came the reply. Terrell set his untouched food back on his plate so his hand was free to gesture while he spoke. “Many times I would come over and Albe would be training you on some point or another of Keeper lore.” Terrell had a far away look in his eye for a moment. “He will be missed. Regrettable of course, but we now have you don’t we? So we must push on.”



“Regrettable?” Jamie said, watching Terrell. Terrell winced slightly, like an actor who realized he had misspoken one of his lines.



“I meant that he had to pass on of course,” Terrell said. “Ah, mortality.” Terrell quieted and his hand fluttered down to his plate. Jamie thought he might pick up one of the sandwiches but he didn’t. Terrell merely rested his hand on the edge of the plate. The silence stretched long and thin.



“So why is it you have come today?” Jamie asked, breaking the silence with a snap.



“Why?” Terrell asked with a smile. “Well to offer my condolences of course.” His face drooped into an expression of grave concern, then brightened a few heartbeats later. “And to offer my assistance of course.”



“Assistance?”



“Yes,” Terrell affirmed. “Albe and I were close friends and I’m probably the only one alive who understands the role of the keeper. Not accepting you of course, but then again you don’t actually understand yet due to the way in which you were trained.”



“And you can bypass the training?”



“Bypass? No not bypass. More of an assist really. Should something come up that you have to deal with before the training fully kicks in. I never really understood the method of training a keeper. They say it is so that the new keeper comes to the position fresh and without all of the old baggage of the previous keeper but I think it is somewhat ridiculous.”



“I see,” Jamie said. He stood and placed his empty plate on the tea cart. Terrell followed suit with his still full one. “That is a very generous offer.”



“Albe would have wanted it that way.”



“Of course.” Jamie began leading Terrell towards the front door. He opened it and thanked Terrell once again for his offer. Terrell stepped out onto the porch.



“Until next time, Keeper James.” Terrell said. Jamie inclined his head but did not offer his own farewell. Terrell turned and strode off the porch and into the woods. Jamie had to fight hard to resist the urge to follow him.

“He is heading east,” Jamie said to himself as he closed the door. Jamie glanced at the hall clock. Visitors had eaten the day away and he now had a little less than half an hour before his expected tea time visitor. Jamie retrieved the tea cart from the parlor and wheeled it back into the kitchen.



“I would have come for it,” Del told him as he rolled the cart to a stop.



“No trouble,” Jamie replied. He picked up his empty plate and loaded it down with sandwiches to quiet the rumbling in his belly. “What did you think of the last guest?” he asked.



“Seemed all right,” Del said with a shrug. “Why?”



“I had a dream last night about the destruction of the first house and he was in it.” Jamie reached for his sketch book and flipped the pages. He held out the picture to Del.



“Huh,” Del replied, his brow furrowed.



“He didn’t exactly have a hero’s role.” Jamie took a bite and chewed slowly. “He also didn’t seem to like that you were here.”



“Really?” Del asked. “Huh. Well as long as he ate the sandwiches no harm should come from him.”



“What did you put in them?” Jamie said looking at the sandwich in his hand. Del laughed.



“I didn’t add anything to them. I didn’t have to. The bread was baked in your hearth. The vegetables were grown in your garden. It’s an old law. None can eat of the fruits of your land, the bread of your hearth or the meat and salt of your table and then bring harm to your house.” Del’s voice was matter of fact and Jamie assumed it was some sort of fey tradition. His eyes drifted to Terrell’s uneaten sandwiches.



“And if he didn’t eat anything?” Jamie asked.



“Then I would definitely keep an eye on him.” Del replied.