The next morning, Silver awoke to a knock at his front door. After the haunting voice had finally left him in peace, the man had slept hard. By the time Silver had been roused, the beat at the door had grown faster and more boisterous.
"I know you are in there!" someone yelled through the weathered wood of the entrance. Silver could not tell if he was angry or just anxious.
"Hold your horses! I am coming," the dark-haired man yelled with a sleepy slur. He stumbled out of bed with a groan. Even the lumpy mattress was an improvement over the hard ground he was accustomed to.
Silver donned his cloak, pulled the hood over his head to conceal his face, and dragged himself to the door. He swung the door inward and grunted as a plump, middle-aged man stood in the doorway with a fifteen-year-old boy standing behind him.
"Silver?" The question hung in the air. Silver flinched slightly, which gave the man courage to go on. "Yes! It is you!" the man exclaimed. "I knew it!" He threw his arms wide to embrace Silver. Instinctively, the cloaked man evaded him so fast that the visitor barely saw him move. The man backed up quickly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I am, uh, still as enthusiastic as ever."
"I suppose you should come in," Silver responded flatly.
The two guests entered the house and were directed to the square table. The boy remained standing, but the man took a seat. Silver slid seamlessly into the chair across from him. His movements reminded the older visitor of a prowling cougar.
"So Conall, what brings you to my humble dwelling?" Silver's pleasant question held the slightest hint of irony. From Conall's uncomfortable shifting, he knew the answer. The man was here for business not pleasantries. But the older man would likely take his sweet time getting there.
As expected, Conall cleared his throat and ignored the question. He motioned toward the boy. "You remember my son, Gilbert. He has grown quite a bit since you were last around. Has he not?"
Silver looked at the tall boy. It had been a few years since he had last seen him, and the baby fat of childhood was gone from from Gilbert's handsome face to reveal his youthful vigor. His intelligent hazel eyes were trained squarely on the void beneath the cloak's hood.
"Indeed he is nearly a man now. Hello, Gilbert. How are you?" Silver nodded in the young man's direction.
With a respectful half nod, Gilbert stood straight and answered, "I am doing fine, sir. I cannot complain." It seemed since he was asked no more, he would say no more. He was a boy of few words. It was not a trait that he had inherited from his father.
Silver leveled his gaze on the large man before him. Even though Conall could not see the face of the man across the table, he could feel his accusing glare.
The owner of the house folded his hands on the table gently and spoke evenly. "You have found me very quickly, mayor. I might accuse you of spying on me." Silver tapped a single finger on the wooden surface impatiently. It was not much, but it was enough to unsettle the nerves of Conall.
He held up his hands in defense as beads of sweat formed on his bald head. "No, no. I would never presume to spy on you, Silver. Uh, someone in the tavern recognized you."
'Must have been Lily. I doubt anyone else gave me a second look except...' Silver blinked tightly to clear his head and refocus. He leaned back in his chair as another thought crossed his mind. "Surprised you weren't at the inn to see me yourself. Don't you still own the place?"
Conall looked embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously once again. A red mark was beginning to appear on his skin from the friction.
"Katherine runs that side of things these days. My wife has an excellent head for business, so it was only natural that she would take over the inn and the tavern. The place needs a little, uh, attention these days, but that is not her fault. She understands being mayor is my full time job, even if it does not pay in monetary terms." Conall redirected the conversation back to a safer subject: Gilbert. He beamed a fatherly smile on the tall, lean boy. "Gilbert looks just like me, eh? He is going to get a job as a royal guard in a year or so. He could be a great asset to us…" Conall's voice trailed off as he realized that he had gotten ahead of himself.
Silver was quick to jump. "Us? Whatever do you mean?" The man smirked beneath his hood.
Conall struggled to form his words. "It is just that, uh, since you are back… We had a town meeting last night. We were, uh, kind of hoping you are back to stay…" His fragmented speech was all that Silver needed, but his last words put the plum in the pudding. "Are you...are you here to stay?"
The hooded man let out a deep sigh. "I am back to be the town of Rynnlee's Guardian, if that is what you are asking. I am just not sure that you want me back." In truth, Silver had not expected to be welcomed back at all or at least only reluctantly. In his wildest dreams he had not thought he would receive so earnest a plea.
Conall's brow knitted and his muscles tensed. "Not want you back? Are you joking? We have been living in squalor since you left three long years ago. We need you."
Silver's body tensed. His voice was barely audible. "But I abandoned you… all of you. How could you want me back?"
"We know that you left for, uh, a good reason. And then someone or something must have kept you from us…There were rumors, of course."
Silver glanced toward the far room. The door was still cracked. 'She needed me,' Silver thought bitterly, 'and I have abandoned her also.'
Unaware of his musings, Conall continued, "But you are back now and, uh, of course we want you! No one can forget the things you did for us. You stole to keep bread on our tables, and you risked your life to keep others from taking advantage of our town. We welcome you home."
'Home? Ha! My home was with her. This is not home, at least not anymore.' Silver took on a light tone in spite of his grim inward thoughts. "If you need me, I will stay." He nodded and held out his hand.
"Thank you," Conall said as he jumped up from the table. He grabbed Silver's forearm and shook it vigorously. "If you need anything, all your old men are here. They would never follow me into the arms of danger like they would for you; I am afraid I am no fearless leader. Perhaps we can recruit some new men to join our ranks. I cannot believe our legendary figure has returned!" Conall's enthusiasm was overwhelming, but not unfamiliar. With a flourish, he motioned towards his son and headed for the door. "I must, uh, tell the village. Yeah! We must celebrate!"
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The following day indeed began a great celebration. When Silver left his house, he found the outside covered in a gaudy display of flowers. He had heard the murmurings of the townspeople outside before daybreak, but he had decided to ignore their happy whispers. Now he knew what they had been up to.
'Don't they have better things to do with their time? It is a sweet thought though. I will give them that.' Silver was both repulsed and touched by their kindness.
A morning parade put on by the children was followed by a noonday feast. A makeshift table had been erected which ran down the main street of the village. Every villager from miles around came to join the table, and each was more boisterous and merry than the last. It seemed like every calf in the country had been butchered for this festival. Fruit lined the tables.
'This must be their entire winter store. They should not have wasted it on me!'
Silver sat at the feast with his seat facing the inn. The Guardian noticed that a new coat of paint had been hastily applied to the main structure and the missing boards in the stable had been recently replaced. He wondered momentarily how much influence Katherine had applied on her husband to have the tasks accomplished so quickly.
He nearly leaned over to ask Conall, who was sitting on his left, about it when something caught his eye. Turning his gaze, Silver could see Sage pouring a glass from a cask of wine. The ease of her movement as she walked away with two full cups made Silver lose sight of everything else.
'How does she do that with her hips?' he asked himself, mesmerized.
Sage turned and beamed a smile toward Silver. She glided over toward the empty chair to his right and forced a wine cup into his hand.
"A drink for the hero?"