With Ember finally freed from her confinement in the main meeting hall of the village, it stood to reason that she would have been brought into Joss' house, since it was his son who had adamantly insisted on protecting her to the hilt if it came to it. And if Brona was right, it was his grandchild Ember was carrying. She hadn't been mistreated, aside from being confined in the first place, but the sooner the village learned to treat her as just one of them, the better it would be for all of them. It was for this reason, among others, that Brona had chosen to accompany her brother to visit the newly-freed captive just hours after the council meeting that had set them all on a new path.
It had been Mahon's testimony before the council that had ultimately freed Ember, though Mahon believed she would have been freed eventually. Cailin was only one voice among many, and both Joss and Uther held as much sway in the village as he did. At least, that's what Mahon kept telling himself. Now that he had unburdened himself by sharing his own experiences in the valley, he was hoping the villagers would remember him and believe him and come to trust him as one of them. If they were going to defeat Marka, they were going to need someone to lead them - someone who knew the valley - and that someone seemed to be him.
Whether they remembered him or not, there was a good deal of respect in the eyes of those they encountered on their way through the village. Brona couldn't help teasing Mahon about it. "You're their hero," she murmured mischievously as she drew him to one of the many houses set away from the main road. "Shame you're taken, you could have had your pick of the girls around here."
"I'm not a hero, Brona," he disagreed with a small frown half-hidden behind a shaggy beard. No more than Uther or Ethan, anyway. He didn't feel he'd done anything to deserve being called a hero; he'd only done what he thought was right. "I don't want anyone but Nem," he told her further, oblivious to the women who had been looking their way as they passed through the village.
His little sister rolled her eyes, laughing. "You still don't have much of a sense of humor, do you?" she teased him fondly, raising her hand to knock on the door as they paused. "Or maybe I'm just too sophisticated for you to understand anymore. What do you think?" She raised her brows at him, eyes twinkling with amusement as she grinned.
"I think I came back to find my little sister all grown up," he replied, just as seriously as ever. It wasn't that he didn't have a sense of humor so much, as that he just had to find it again. Fifteen years in captivity didn't do much to encourage a sense of humor.
"I'm not that grown up," she protested, but didn't have much of a chance to say more as the door beside her was opened up. Joss glanced between them, a wry smile on his face. "Might have figured you'd want a look for yourself," he nodded to Mahon. "C'mon in. They might have stopped kissing long enough to breathe by now."
Mahon grunted in reply, rather than roll his eyes. The more he saw Ethan and Ember together, the more he missed Nemone, but he was glad he was able to get the couple to safety. He just had to hold out a few more months, and all of this would be over, for better or worse. He waited to let his sister step inside first, hoping not to have to witness a lovefest while they were there. "Promised Nem I'd take good care of her," he explained to Joss, assuming Uther had filled in any blanks in his story already.
Laughing at both of them, Brona stepped past Joss easily, not at all embarrassed to be the one to break up the young lovers as she swept into the main room to greet Ember and Ethan warmly. Joss simply nodded back to Mahon. "Family looks after family," was all he said, but it was clear that he had definitely taken Ember under his protection. He jerked his head for Mahon to follow his sister. "Come in."
"Thanks," he replied as he stepped inside, remembering the very rusty manners his parents had taught him. "I appreciate you standing up for me today," he told the older man, though in truth, it had been Ember he had really been standing up for. Mahon had only been the catalyst in getting her freed. It had taken more voices than one to get it done.
"It takes more than one voice to get through to Cailin," Joss shrugged. "He's a good man, but he's got more reason than most to hate the valley. Took his father, his uncle, and all three of his sons. He wants to believe they're all evil. Makes it easier to understand how and why they do what they do."
"They're not all evil," Mahon reiterated again,though it was unnecessary. All one had to do was get to know Ember to know that or hear Uther talk of Gia. There were still plenty who were, enough that they'd need an army to defeat them, but there was a growing number of women who were tired of Marka's tyranny. "Killing them all isn't the solution," he added, though he assumed Joss already knew that. "It makes us no better than they are." Even as much as he wanted to kill Marka.
"Aye, we're not them," Joss agreed, pausing in the doorway to the main room. "Select few of them in power need to go, but it's got to be quick and clean. We don't maim, we don't torture, and we don't threaten children." A muscle ticked in his jaw as he spoke; That recollection of Mahon's had made a deep impression.
"It will be quick. I promise you that," he told him, just as he had assured Ember. Whether she hated Marka or not, she was still her mother, and he wouldn't make her watch while her mother was mistreated, even if she deserved it. So long as Mahon got there first, he would keep his word.
"Hopefully before she knows she is a grandmother," Joss added. "Her abiding ambition, so I gather, is to have a surviving female heir. To know she came close in the moments before her death ....not even I would do that to her."
"You talk as if the woman actually cared," Mahon pointed out, which he was convinced she did not. As far as he was concerned, Marka didn't have a maternal bone in her entire body, but he was not there to discuss it. "How is Ember?" he asked, changing the subject before Joss could argue with him.
To his credit, Joss did not try to argue his own view, knowing that Mahon had experienced the valley in a way he never would. He looked through the doorway, to where Brona had inserted herself into Ethan and Ember's conversation as though she had been there all along, smiling a little to see his son's chosen mate beginning to relax. "She's wary," he told Mahon quietly. "Afraid of us, I think. She accepts what we plan to do to her mother, but I doubt she is at peace with it." He looked at Mahon thoughtfully. "How does she seem, to you?"
"Gia has been more mother to her than Marka will ever be," Mahon pointed out, lowering his voice so that the trio in the next room wouldn't overhear him. The look on his face was proof of what Ember meant to him. It seemed she had gotten under his skin somehow over the last few weeks, and he could not deny how much she meant to Gia and Nemone. She was family, after all. "Wary is as good a word as any. She'll be safe here with you and Ethan. Once the villagers come to know her, they'll see she's nothing like her mother. And she's a skilled healer. That should help."
"No one will raise a hand to her," Joss assured him. "I can't be certain there won't be harsh words, though. She's the first woman from the valley to set foot here; there will be a lot of blame assigned to her, purely for what she comes from. It's good that she has you and Brona to speak for her, as well as us."
It had been Mahon's testimony before the council that had ultimately freed Ember, though Mahon believed she would have been freed eventually. Cailin was only one voice among many, and both Joss and Uther held as much sway in the village as he did. At least, that's what Mahon kept telling himself. Now that he had unburdened himself by sharing his own experiences in the valley, he was hoping the villagers would remember him and believe him and come to trust him as one of them. If they were going to defeat Marka, they were going to need someone to lead them - someone who knew the valley - and that someone seemed to be him.
Whether they remembered him or not, there was a good deal of respect in the eyes of those they encountered on their way through the village. Brona couldn't help teasing Mahon about it. "You're their hero," she murmured mischievously as she drew him to one of the many houses set away from the main road. "Shame you're taken, you could have had your pick of the girls around here."
"I'm not a hero, Brona," he disagreed with a small frown half-hidden behind a shaggy beard. No more than Uther or Ethan, anyway. He didn't feel he'd done anything to deserve being called a hero; he'd only done what he thought was right. "I don't want anyone but Nem," he told her further, oblivious to the women who had been looking their way as they passed through the village.
His little sister rolled her eyes, laughing. "You still don't have much of a sense of humor, do you?" she teased him fondly, raising her hand to knock on the door as they paused. "Or maybe I'm just too sophisticated for you to understand anymore. What do you think?" She raised her brows at him, eyes twinkling with amusement as she grinned.
"I think I came back to find my little sister all grown up," he replied, just as seriously as ever. It wasn't that he didn't have a sense of humor so much, as that he just had to find it again. Fifteen years in captivity didn't do much to encourage a sense of humor.
"I'm not that grown up," she protested, but didn't have much of a chance to say more as the door beside her was opened up. Joss glanced between them, a wry smile on his face. "Might have figured you'd want a look for yourself," he nodded to Mahon. "C'mon in. They might have stopped kissing long enough to breathe by now."
Mahon grunted in reply, rather than roll his eyes. The more he saw Ethan and Ember together, the more he missed Nemone, but he was glad he was able to get the couple to safety. He just had to hold out a few more months, and all of this would be over, for better or worse. He waited to let his sister step inside first, hoping not to have to witness a lovefest while they were there. "Promised Nem I'd take good care of her," he explained to Joss, assuming Uther had filled in any blanks in his story already.
Laughing at both of them, Brona stepped past Joss easily, not at all embarrassed to be the one to break up the young lovers as she swept into the main room to greet Ember and Ethan warmly. Joss simply nodded back to Mahon. "Family looks after family," was all he said, but it was clear that he had definitely taken Ember under his protection. He jerked his head for Mahon to follow his sister. "Come in."
"Thanks," he replied as he stepped inside, remembering the very rusty manners his parents had taught him. "I appreciate you standing up for me today," he told the older man, though in truth, it had been Ember he had really been standing up for. Mahon had only been the catalyst in getting her freed. It had taken more voices than one to get it done.
"It takes more than one voice to get through to Cailin," Joss shrugged. "He's a good man, but he's got more reason than most to hate the valley. Took his father, his uncle, and all three of his sons. He wants to believe they're all evil. Makes it easier to understand how and why they do what they do."
"They're not all evil," Mahon reiterated again,though it was unnecessary. All one had to do was get to know Ember to know that or hear Uther talk of Gia. There were still plenty who were, enough that they'd need an army to defeat them, but there was a growing number of women who were tired of Marka's tyranny. "Killing them all isn't the solution," he added, though he assumed Joss already knew that. "It makes us no better than they are." Even as much as he wanted to kill Marka.
"Aye, we're not them," Joss agreed, pausing in the doorway to the main room. "Select few of them in power need to go, but it's got to be quick and clean. We don't maim, we don't torture, and we don't threaten children." A muscle ticked in his jaw as he spoke; That recollection of Mahon's had made a deep impression.
"It will be quick. I promise you that," he told him, just as he had assured Ember. Whether she hated Marka or not, she was still her mother, and he wouldn't make her watch while her mother was mistreated, even if she deserved it. So long as Mahon got there first, he would keep his word.
"Hopefully before she knows she is a grandmother," Joss added. "Her abiding ambition, so I gather, is to have a surviving female heir. To know she came close in the moments before her death ....not even I would do that to her."
"You talk as if the woman actually cared," Mahon pointed out, which he was convinced she did not. As far as he was concerned, Marka didn't have a maternal bone in her entire body, but he was not there to discuss it. "How is Ember?" he asked, changing the subject before Joss could argue with him.
To his credit, Joss did not try to argue his own view, knowing that Mahon had experienced the valley in a way he never would. He looked through the doorway, to where Brona had inserted herself into Ethan and Ember's conversation as though she had been there all along, smiling a little to see his son's chosen mate beginning to relax. "She's wary," he told Mahon quietly. "Afraid of us, I think. She accepts what we plan to do to her mother, but I doubt she is at peace with it." He looked at Mahon thoughtfully. "How does she seem, to you?"
"Gia has been more mother to her than Marka will ever be," Mahon pointed out, lowering his voice so that the trio in the next room wouldn't overhear him. The look on his face was proof of what Ember meant to him. It seemed she had gotten under his skin somehow over the last few weeks, and he could not deny how much she meant to Gia and Nemone. She was family, after all. "Wary is as good a word as any. She'll be safe here with you and Ethan. Once the villagers come to know her, they'll see she's nothing like her mother. And she's a skilled healer. That should help."
"No one will raise a hand to her," Joss assured him. "I can't be certain there won't be harsh words, though. She's the first woman from the valley to set foot here; there will be a lot of blame assigned to her, purely for what she comes from. It's good that she has you and Brona to speak for her, as well as us."