“DORRY!!”
No sooner had they entered the hall and his brother was ambushed. Pounced on by two warriors, Dorian struggled to keep himself up right while his two assailants heaved and huffed as they tried to drag him to the floor. Declan would have helped but between the huffs, puffs, yelps of pain, and cursing, there were fits of laughter. Finally Dorian was able to kick free from one of his attackers before roughly turning and taking the other up over his head and throwing him down on his partner with an “oof”.
The two soldiers got to their feet with great big identical smiles on identical faces. “Almost had you, Dorry.” The one to Declan’s left said.
“Getting old.” The other one told Dorian.
Their attention turned to Declan and their smiles faded to looks of curiosity. “Who are you?” they asked in perfect unison with matching sneers.
“Courtesies.” Dorian reminded them sharply. “This…This is your brother, Declan, Son of Durin. Dec, meet the twins, Dorin and Darin.” he pointed first to the one on the right and then the left.
Brothers? They were still pups, there was no way they were older than, what…eighteen? If they were even that old, and yet they were familiar and there was no denying the eyes, his father’s eyes, their fathers eyes, or the tattoo that each one had going the length of their left arm. The history of their clan’s founding, tattooed on each descendant of Durin once they had their first change since the dawn of the clan.
The young wolves and Declan studied each other for a moment, no one being quite sure what to make of the other and then they were embracing. He pulled each of his young brother’s close and squeezed like he was seeing them after a long time, not for the first time.
“It’s good to see you approve so fully of Dashing & Daring.” Dorian clearly held back a laugh when introducing the twins with these titles. For their part the two pups didn’t seem to have an ounce of embarrassment between them.
“Wait, Dashing & Daring?” Declan asked, unable to believe what he had heard. “And which one of you is which?” Declan asked, very much not holding back his laughter and he moved his head rapidly between the two twins.
“It don’t work like that.” Dorian said.
“What do you mean? How’s it work then?” Declan asked
“It’s not that one of them is especially good looking and the other is overly brave. They are both equally daring and equally dashing. It's like a band name or something. You can’t have Dashing & Daring without them both.” Dorian explained the best he could. The twins were beginning to get irritated at their older brothers taking approximately thirty-seconds of knowing they existed before making fun of them.
“A band? What do you play?” Declan asked.
“The flute.” Dorian answered, right away with a snigger and then he and Declan doubled over in laughter while the twins huffed and puffed. Was it that funny of a joke? No but to share a joke together after twenty years at the expense of younger siblings you weren’t even aware of, well the situation was just so absurd the was no other reasonable response other than laughter.
Declan was wiping tears from the corners of his eyes and his cheeks as he tried to pull himself together when suddenly.
He caught a scent. Her scent. His legs began to move on their own taking him to where the scent was coming from, one of the twins put a hand lightly on his shoulder to get his attention or to stop him from leaving, Declan couldn’t have said as he pushed past and continued walking to a group of women on the other side of the room. The world that existed in his periphery went dark and the only thing he could see was her. She looked older than he thought she would, her dark black hair had gone gray and she wore it much shorter than the last time he saw her but she was no less beautiful standing there in a simple pale blue-gray gown.
His pace quickened and he saw her tilt her head up just slightly like she had noticed his scent now too, her head turned and her brilliant emerald eyes fell on him. It took every ounce of strength he had and more that he didn’t know about to not drop to his knees on the spot.
He was running now and so was she. When they reached each other she threw her arms around his neck and he pulled her into the biggest hug he had ever given anyone lifting her from the ground, sure that he would never put her back down but he did. She took his face in her hands and they looked at each other eye to eye for the first time in far far too long.
A noise somewhere between a giggle and a sob burst from his mouth and he embraced her again. For the first time in twenty years, Declan felt safe.
For the first time in twenty years, Declan was hugging his mother.
No sooner had they entered the hall and his brother was ambushed. Pounced on by two warriors, Dorian struggled to keep himself up right while his two assailants heaved and huffed as they tried to drag him to the floor. Declan would have helped but between the huffs, puffs, yelps of pain, and cursing, there were fits of laughter. Finally Dorian was able to kick free from one of his attackers before roughly turning and taking the other up over his head and throwing him down on his partner with an “oof”.
The two soldiers got to their feet with great big identical smiles on identical faces. “Almost had you, Dorry.” The one to Declan’s left said.
“Getting old.” The other one told Dorian.
Their attention turned to Declan and their smiles faded to looks of curiosity. “Who are you?” they asked in perfect unison with matching sneers.
“Courtesies.” Dorian reminded them sharply. “This…This is your brother, Declan, Son of Durin. Dec, meet the twins, Dorin and Darin.” he pointed first to the one on the right and then the left.
Brothers? They were still pups, there was no way they were older than, what…eighteen? If they were even that old, and yet they were familiar and there was no denying the eyes, his father’s eyes, their fathers eyes, or the tattoo that each one had going the length of their left arm. The history of their clan’s founding, tattooed on each descendant of Durin once they had their first change since the dawn of the clan.
The young wolves and Declan studied each other for a moment, no one being quite sure what to make of the other and then they were embracing. He pulled each of his young brother’s close and squeezed like he was seeing them after a long time, not for the first time.
“It’s good to see you approve so fully of Dashing & Daring.” Dorian clearly held back a laugh when introducing the twins with these titles. For their part the two pups didn’t seem to have an ounce of embarrassment between them.
“Wait, Dashing & Daring?” Declan asked, unable to believe what he had heard. “And which one of you is which?” Declan asked, very much not holding back his laughter and he moved his head rapidly between the two twins.
“It don’t work like that.” Dorian said.
“What do you mean? How’s it work then?” Declan asked
“It’s not that one of them is especially good looking and the other is overly brave. They are both equally daring and equally dashing. It's like a band name or something. You can’t have Dashing & Daring without them both.” Dorian explained the best he could. The twins were beginning to get irritated at their older brothers taking approximately thirty-seconds of knowing they existed before making fun of them.
“A band? What do you play?” Declan asked.
“The flute.” Dorian answered, right away with a snigger and then he and Declan doubled over in laughter while the twins huffed and puffed. Was it that funny of a joke? No but to share a joke together after twenty years at the expense of younger siblings you weren’t even aware of, well the situation was just so absurd the was no other reasonable response other than laughter.
Declan was wiping tears from the corners of his eyes and his cheeks as he tried to pull himself together when suddenly.
He caught a scent. Her scent. His legs began to move on their own taking him to where the scent was coming from, one of the twins put a hand lightly on his shoulder to get his attention or to stop him from leaving, Declan couldn’t have said as he pushed past and continued walking to a group of women on the other side of the room. The world that existed in his periphery went dark and the only thing he could see was her. She looked older than he thought she would, her dark black hair had gone gray and she wore it much shorter than the last time he saw her but she was no less beautiful standing there in a simple pale blue-gray gown.
His pace quickened and he saw her tilt her head up just slightly like she had noticed his scent now too, her head turned and her brilliant emerald eyes fell on him. It took every ounce of strength he had and more that he didn’t know about to not drop to his knees on the spot.
He was running now and so was she. When they reached each other she threw her arms around his neck and he pulled her into the biggest hug he had ever given anyone lifting her from the ground, sure that he would never put her back down but he did. She took his face in her hands and they looked at each other eye to eye for the first time in far far too long.
A noise somewhere between a giggle and a sob burst from his mouth and he embraced her again. For the first time in twenty years, Declan felt safe.
For the first time in twenty years, Declan was hugging his mother.
