The Red Glaive

Cypress Grove sat next to Grigos Lake. Thick forests of white cypress trees made up most of the territory but beneath the canopy the soil was rich. So the first order of business when the Baron Donavan Finch was granted the land was to clear out space to make use of that soil. It must of been the unluckiest of accidental happenings when the gold finch was discovered to still reside within cypress tress. The small black and yellow birds were believed to carry magic so the Baron ceased his indiscriminate cutting to allow the birds to thrive.

The gold finches did their work and the land remained fertile. Seasons came and went, the Baron’s daughters grew and left, but the trees remained. The trees and Aeria Finch, Baron Donavan Finch’s middle daughter.

Aeria was bound to Cypress Grove like the trees whose roots spread deep into the land. She firmly believed that one day she would rule in her father’s place.

So when her father met with his farmers that afternoon, Aeria made it a point to serve the drinks as an act of good faith to both her father and her Madame.

The Baron’s Counts gathered in the big room where the table was large enough to sit all five of them. Each Count represented a plot of the Baron’s land in which they governed over.

The Madame Salver had tortured Aeria with countless hours of heraldry lessons to teach her the names and faces of all her Lords, Barons and Counts but Aeria could never retain the endless lists of people she probably would never meet. She tried to focus on her father’s Counts whenever she did have lessons but in person they were hard to distinguish.

Of all five she could distinguish Patton Ney for his red hair - a trait he had passed on to his seven children - and Chayne Folly who had gotten excessively drunk one year during the Winter Solstice and tried to kiss Madame Salver thinking she was on of Aeria’s sisters. All the rest escaped her.

“It won’t do.” Ney had said. Aeria stood idly against the wall behind her father hugging the dish tray over her chest. If Madame Salver had been in the same room, she would scold her for holding it incorrectly but she couldn’t focus on etiquette when the her father’s counts brought such worrisome news. “We will have enough for this year if we harvest early but that will only push our dilemma to the following year.” Ney said. “And it’ll be that much worse then.”

“What of the fishery?” Donavan Finch said to a man sitting to his right. Delmar, his name was Delmar, Aeria remembered.

“This winter has been a cruel one.” Delmar said. “The lake has yet to thaw.” This year the winter had come early and was leaving late. Years like that were always difficult.

“The frost already took more than half of what we planted.” Folly said. “The rest is sure to perish by the week’s end.”

“Can’t you just harvest it before that?!” someone down the table had exclaimed.


“I will not put my farmers to work this maddening cold!” Folly said his eyes snapping to the Count who had spoken. “They will freeze to death without proper wear!” He said eyeing the man sitting across from him.

“Maybe I’d have more wool and leather if my herd wasn’t starving!” The count defended. “I wouldn’t want to get to makin’ more calfs on an empty stomach.”

“We can’t spare the grain on your cattle when people are starving!” Folly shouted back.

And so they argued like they always did in times of hardships. It was much more often lately. The winter had been harsh, and the nights longer than normal. Dark things lurked in the night, yet somehow they always managed to pull through.

Aeria left the wall and went to her father’s side careful not to knock over the cane which rested against his chair. “Papa.” she called softly as the others argued. “I can fix the crops.” she said. Magic, she could use her magic to help them.

While all the sisters had inherited their magic affinity from their mother Aeria could heal living things. She could make small cuts and scrapes vanish, maybe make someone with a cold feel slightly better, or even make a withered flower bloom once again. Madame Salver had said she could do this because she was born under a blood mood. All sorts of unnatural and magical things occurred during a blood moon so the instructed her it was best to hide this ability. Madame Salver was worried Aeria her healing would make her even stranger to any potential suitors she had instructed her to keep it a secret to outsiders.

“You will do no such thing.” The Baron said firmly. The counts stopped bickering on hearing their old Baron speak.

“I can do it,” Aeria affirmed though she wasn’t sure if she could heal a whole field on her own. It was crucial though, and people’s lives depended on it. “Just let me try.”

“No.” The Baron said fire in his eyes. The Counts looked at each other nervously. They had known to fear those eyes, and had known to dread the argument that was coming. But all Aeria saw in those eyes were a challenge.

“You can’t stop me from trying!” Aeria flared standing over her father. He hated magic, her healing magic most of all, and only allowed it because Madame Salver convinced him that a proper lady should know a little magic. “I’m not going to turn my back on the people who need me like you have!” Immediately she wished she could take her words back when her father shot up from his seat. But Aeria wouldn’t take her words back, not in front of all the Counts. Now it was he that towered over her a seething tower of quiet indignation.

A long time ago, he had been a Glaive, the sword of the King. Served in the wars against Aestus, defended the people from uncountable monsters of the night. Now he sat retired the meager estate given to him as a reward with roomful of squabbling counts, his last defiant daughter, and not a single idea of how to make things better.

“Silence!” The Baron said his voice calm yet booming. “You were so adamant on playing hostess this evening and you deceived me into believing that was all you wanted! ” his voice filled with a coldness that reminded everyone who he was and all the things he did to achieve that. “I have ruined you by allowing you run wild. No more!” Aeria shrank, she had never felt so small. “Get out of my sight.”

The tray table clanged against the wooden floor where Aeria dropped it and raced out of the room before anyone could see her frustrated tears.