Fanfic Time: My Baby Now (9)

Things changed so fast that Aldiirn was pretty much permanently dizzy. Or it could be the altitude of the castle grounds. The messy politicking had spread out over half the winter, during which Valiant -better known as that asshole- attempted to block everything Kosh wanted. Which included the wedding and Aldiirn's adoption.

Well. The finalisation of the adoption.

"I'm still the Earl until the official crowning," that asshole grumbled. "I can forbid that halfbreed's insertion by edict if I have to."

"Fine," said Kosh, "Then I'm hiring him as my herald." It was telling that he already had the note cards already written. Which he handed to Aldiirn in one smooth motion. "He'll go with me everywhere I go and announce me to every room I enter. Nice loud voice, Junge. So the whole hall can hear."

Aldiirn did his best, surprising himself with his own volume. He would later learn that Kosh assisted with a little Thaumaturgy. "Announcing his lordship, the Viscount and Earl-in-Waiting, Kormwind Arachis Felbourne Whitekeep, ninth of the name! Trueborn and firstborn son of the ex Earl Valiant Stormwight Hallow--"

"All right! All right!" That asshole could clearly picture an entire winter's worth of that happening every day. "Fine! I'll endorse the devil-cursed fucking adoption."

That was only the starting lesson in what Kosh called Zen and the Art of Being a Little Shit. Alongside the more usual lessons in the Art of Shadows. They were all important lessons. How to hide in plain sight. How to let people assume. How to tell the truth but leave enough gaps so that it might as well be lying. Some things need not be mentioned, after all.

And the first lesson Kosh had learned about being an outcast: "The first Tiefling I met passed on this wisdom to me: there's two ways to go when the world's decided to hate you because of how you look. You either roll in it, and be worse than everything they say you are, or try your heart and soul out in showing them otherwise. I found a third option - Say what they're thinking of saying and throw it in their faces, and then do what I believe to be the right thing anyway. Fuck their opinion."

There were other snippets of wisdom, such as, "It's always ethical to steal from the Zhents. They're rotten slavers. People who value coin above people deserve to have neither." Or, "Be careful what you promise, people might hold you to your word."

For someone who swore a binding oath of honesty and forthrightness, Kosh was a very devious fellow. The other surprising factor was that he was a devotee of Tyr, the god of justice. Apprently, so he could punch the deity in the nose for "not doing his fucking job."

He was a complicated man. But he was also a parent from skin to bone and beyond. With a strong tendency to worry and fuss.

Even at the celebratory feasts, Kosh made sure Aldiirn's meals were thoroughly vegetarian, and sought the scientific explanation as to why meat made him sick. Nobody'd looked for a reason, before. Nobody'd worried about consequences from those reasons.

Nobody bothered to ask if he wanted a job he was clearly needed for.

Aldiirn was in the middle of learning more mainstream topics when Kosh appeared in the classroom doorway. The Tiefling's face said bad news, and Aldiirn reflexively reverted to Alean Micaror Survival Tactics. Be small, don't make eye contact, and brace for the pain.

He was still getting used to the concept that that sort of thing was no longer necessary.

Kosh carefully knelt in Aldiirn's eyeline. "You're safe, liebchen. It's not a problem about you. It's a problem that may need you. If you're willing."

A ruler. A lord of the land... was on his knees for Aldiirn.

His adopted father was asking for his help.

Aldiirn summoned voice enough to murmur, "What's happened?"

"Miners in the Barony of Paron have... well. They accidentally broke through into some poor soul's bathroom. On one hand, Whitekeep has a new connection to the Underdark, but... eh. None of the Drow down there know a word of the surface tongues. You, liebe, are the nearest person I could ask. Will you help?"

Not, you will help. Not, you are doing this or else. It was, do you want to?

How could he not?

Aldiirn would do this with his doll in one fist and his flute in the other. Terrified out of his wits, but reassured that Kosh would have one comforting hand on Aldiirn's shoulder.

It was incredibly telling that the first words from the new ambassador were, "I will not harm you nor your family, little one."