“Because you relate to these elves in some way. I saw that one who claims to be an ambassador at the hunt. He would only talk to you. He failed to acknowledge anyone else’s presence, even his host’s. Why did he speak to you, above all others?”
“He spoke to Lord Auriel,” Vinet said.
Ellil sniffed. “Lord Auriel, whom none of us have ever heard of before. And he’s now steward. Very convenient.”
Vinet frowned. Lord Auriel was an enigma, intimidating and far too perfect, certainly, but Ellil made it sound like he wasn’t to be trusted. Then again, why is he to be trusted? It’s not every day a mysterious noble appears and announces he’s to be the kingdom’s steward.
She shoved that doubt aside. “If the king has appointed Lord Auriel to be steward then I see no reason to doubt his judgment,” she stated. “After all, His Majesty appointed us to the Council, didn’t he?”
Ellil frowned. Vinet wasn’t entirely convinced by her own words, but to question a king always neared treason. And after what had happened to the last council, she didn’t want to run that risk.
“Look, your radiance,” she said instead. “Think of the Faithful’s presence here as an opportunity, like the expedition into the southern badlands. Some folk have never seen Mazda’s light, despite it being in all four corners of the world. Now is your… our, chance to show them.” She hoped he wouldn’t notice her slip of the tongue.
Ellil’s expression was still dark. He regarded her closely.
“You’ve heard of the cultists in the south-east, have you not? Or have you arrived too recently for that?”
Vinet’s attention focused. “Cultists? No, I haven’t heard.”
Ellil shook his head. “I thought you’d be first to know, considering they bear the mark of the one who tried to assassinate you.”
Vinet stared at him. “The teardrop surrounded by thorns?” she demanded.
Ellil nodded. “Do you still trust these elves now? These cultists are ravaging the southern border where the elves came from. Something will have to be done.”
Vinet swallowed. She could hear the truth of Ellil’s words. “The Faithful are not the Unfaithful,” she managed. “They are not the same.”
“We will see.” Ellil sniffed. He eyed her carefully. “You still fear Manyu’s darkness, don’t you, child? You pray for Mazda to protect you?”
Vinet felt an involuntary shiver down her spine. She’d had another nightmare that very night. She needed no reminders of Manyu, although it wasn’t Mazda who protected her.
Something in her expression appeared to satisfy Ellil, at least. He nodded decisively. “Then you, at least, have not been corrupted by those heathens. Stay well away from them, my child.” He rose. “Mazda guide you.”
Vinet stared after him as he left the room. That had been an unexpected and unpleasant visit.
“Bloody priests.”
She glanced up at Gwyn and smiled. Ellil had, of course, completely ignored Gwyn’s presence in the room.
Vinet paused, considering. “I think I shall take a walk down to the embassy. Do you want to accompany me?”
Gwyn smiled. “Always, Vinet.”
It was only a short walk to the Faithful embassy. Now that she knew what it was, it looked even more like the image of an elven dwelling of legend, though that could have been just her imagination.
An older elf woman was at a desk just inside. When Vinet gave her name, she was waved straight in to an office. Gwyn was asked to wait outside. Vinet looked at Gwyn for approval before walking inside. Gwyn shrugged. If they couldn’t trust the Faithful, then they were in far more trouble than she alone could deal with.
In contrast to the elegance of the outside, the office was sparse. No chairs, desks, or tapestries, or any other kinds of decorations, only a few cushions on the floor, set in a circle around a curious flower. Vinet assumed it was a flower, at least. It had alternating red and yellow petals, and the center was formed of seeds, shaped as an amber eye.
Kinaevan sat across from the flower. He didn’t acknowledge her entrance as he stared at the flower, his eyes slightly glazed.
Vinet hesitated. She had just been waved in. What if the elf woman outside hadn’t known Kinaevan was busy? Kinaevan showed no signs of moving. She hesitated a moment longer, then finally whispered, “Father?”
There was a quiet rush of air, and the light in the room seemed to brighten. Kinaevan looked up from the flower. His face was tired, but he smiled broadly at her. “Welcome, welcome, my daughter!” He stood up in a fluid motion and moved to embrace her.
Vinet closed her eyes and savored the feeling of comfort and security she had never known.
She pulled back and smiled. “It is good to see you, Father,” she said. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting? Were you using the Sight?”
He smiled, though it seemed weak. “Yes, though not of my own desire.” A shudder ran through him, as if he were cold. Vinet frowned. Although Manyu’s Rise was well on its way, it was still quite warm.
“Sometimes the duties of an Eye are demanding. I would not have it any other way, however.”
Vinet sobered. "Your visions are not always voluntary, then?" She asked. If they weren’t, that would explain so much.
Kinaevan didn’t answer. He sat down on a cushion and patted on another, gesturing her to sit next to him. The flower seemed to move towards him, attracted to him like a sunflower to the sun. "Are your visions always voluntary, daughter?"
She shook her head slowly as she sat down next to him. “No,” she said. “I can call them, sometimes. But they’re unpredictable, and rarely clear. And I can never predict the dreams.” She shuddered.
His eyes sharpened, and he leaned in and snatched her hand. “You have visions in dream? How many? How often?”
Vinet jerked. She hadn’t been expecting his intensity. “I don’t always remember them,” she said. “They’re… they’re not very pleasant.” She took a deep breath. He has to know. Maybe he could help. “They started recently. After I had a bit of an… accident.”
“The Labyrinth?”
Vinet looked up to meet his eyes. “So you were there,” she whispered. He had been there. He had saved her.
“That was not pleasant, but the Lady assisted me. Please tell me what happened to you in there. The Sight in that place is very,” he paused, “unfamiliar.”
She looked down as the words came pouring out of her. She hadn’t been able to tell anyone except Gwyn, who could do nothing except sympathize.
“I was trying to speak with a lady who’d given me a magical book. I wanted some information. I made a mistake and ended up in the labyrinth. There were mirrors, with different reflections of myself. And…” she swallowed. “There was a skull surrounded by eyes. It chased me.” She closed her eyes. Those simple words did nothing to convey the horror she had felt. “That’s when I heard your voice. You guided me through the mirror.” She opened her eyes again and took a deep breath. Out of the corner of her eye, the flower seemed to draw her gaze. “The lady I spoke to, AeresThonEsia, said it was a mark of Manyu. And that I had been marked.”
As her gaze strayed to the flower, the room went dark in a flash. No! Not now! She didn’t want another vision!
Deep woods. No light anywhere. Dark barked trees barely indistinguishable from each other. The air was close, oppressing, old.
“Daughter!” The voice was sharp, a command. “Lady, no. She is not…” Vinet struggled, but the voice faded. She looked around, shuddering at the sight. No, it wasn’t her. The woods were shuddering! She heard a distant yelling. Elven? It sounded familiar, so familiar…
With a sudden jolt, she found herself in Kinaevan’s office again. The flower was focused on Kinaevan, like it was staring at him. He stared back. The seeds had changed color. Instead of the warm amber, they were now black with a red center. The petals seemed to be dancing.
Kinaevan was shivering and sweating as he stared at the flower. Vinet stared at him, almost in a panic. �
��Father?” she whispered. She reached out hesitantly to touch his hand. She didn’t dare look at the flower again.
The room darkened, and for a moment Vinet thought she was still in the vision. Dark trees emerged from the walls, choking the light and air. Then Kinaevan’s hand shot forward and covered the flower. There was a sharp flash of light, and a smell, almost like a burn.
The room calmed. As Kinaevan removed his hand from the flower, Vinet saw that it was now closed. No eye stared at them anymore.
She watched as her father took a few deep breaths. His eyes, which had been so focused and intent, returned to normal. He still had his hand tightly closed.
She stared, not knowing what to do. “Is everything all right?”
“It is now.” Kinaevan stood up in a fluid motion. “Might we leave this place, take a walk in the city?”
Vinet nodded and got to her feet as well. They passed Gwyn on their way out. Kinaevan said nothing as she fell into step behind them.
Vinet remained silent for a time. What had just happened? It had felt like another vision, but her father had been far too worried for it to have just been that. She glanced at him. He was avoiding every tree, every blade of grass. Their path was taking them right down the middle of the street.
Changing the subject would be better for now, she decided. “Father? Can I ask you something?”
Kinaevan smiled at her. “Of course, daughter.”
She smiled back, slightly reassured. “It’s about the Unfaithful,” she said. “Have you heard of the cultists in the southeast?”
Kinaevan’s brow furrowed. "I have heard of no cultists, but the Faithful have been busy deterring the threat from Mount Halon. What about these concerns you?"
Vinet took a breath. "The cultists are using the same mark as the Unfaithful. The teardrop surrounded by thorns."
Kinaevan sighed and lowered his eyes. "Then the disease has spread further than we thought. It was from the corruption of Mount Halon that our own people became the Unfaithful. It seems that this has now happened to your own. For that I am sorry."
He still seemed distracted, but Vinet wanted to ask him about what had happened. She needed that information. “Where is Mount Halon? How did this corruption start?”
He sighed again. "Mount Halon is situated, in your knowledge, to the southeast of the most southern Tigrian border. It is a dark place, a focus point. From there the Corruption started, akin to a burden we Faithful bore before. This time, however, it is less strong, and we are far more prepared than we were."
“We’ve had our warning signs,” she said. “It is where we saw the… the symbol I saw in the Labyrinth.” She did not want to elaborate any more on that. She found herself returning to the occurrence within the embassy. “What just happened? Am I… did this mark…”
“The Lady called you.” Kinaevan’s voice was flat. He stopped walking and turned to face her. “But it is far too soon.”
Vinet stopped as well. “I…” The Lady called me? What did that even mean? “How did she call me? And why is it too soon? It seemed,” she paused, searching for words. “Dangerous yes, but yet there was something… familiar.”
Kinaevan shook his head. “The flower. It is a focus. My focus, but it seems you can use it as well. What do you generally use?”
Vinet blinked. A focus? “A focus for the Sight?” she ventured.
Kinaevan nodded. “You must have something to ground yourself. The danger otherwise is far too great.”
She shivered. She did not need more danger. “There is a book,” she said. “The Lady I met in the center of the Labyrinth gave it to me. She called it The Book of Truths.”
Her father’s eyes widened. “She gave it you? Then continue using it. But it is not the only thing that can focus. I use flowers, trees. Perhaps you can one day as well.” He sighed. “You cannot control the Sight. Not yet. The Lady is not herself of late, more impatient. The Trial would have taken you entire, and I could not allow that to happen.” He embraced her. “Not when you have just been returned to me, not before Niara knows her true heritage from her true mother.”
She winced. “You do not approve that I kept it secret.”
“No.” Her father pushed away and took a hold of her shoulders. His expression was sincere, but there was no harshness. "I know your reasons, but I do not have to agree with them. The sooner she knows, the better for her."
She met his gaze. She wanted to tell Niara, but how could she justify that? “If I tell her about me, she would learn about you. What happens if, in her childish enthusiasm, she lets slip our relationship?” She felt her voice break. “I want to tell her. She is the light of my life. But there is more than my love for my daughter resting on this.” Her future, Niara’s future, the future of Ninaeva.
“What is greater than love for a daughter?” His eyes met hers, still steady.
Vinet’s breath caught in her throat at the implied sentiment. She looked down and swallowed. “I will think on it,” she promised.
“That is all I ask. I know your burdens are great.” He turned away. As his hands dropped from her shoulder, she noticed a harsh eye scar scorched into his right hand.
She grabbed it. “Are you alright?” she demanded.
He removed her hand. “I will survive. I must.”
Vinet regarded him for a moment. He seemed so strong, and yet, at the same time, so old and full of cares. She couldn’t stand to think of him bearing this alone.
“Tell me if I can do anything to help,” she whispered. “I know I have duties, but yours do not seem to be any lighter. I can help.”
Kinaevan smiled. “Forgive me, daughter.” He turned back to her, opening his hand. The scorch was indeed an eye, but it had been the flower that had burned him. The individual marks were the seeds.
Vinet swallowed, trying to throttle her guilt. If she had not been caught by the flower, he would never have had to interfere and burn himself.
"Make yourself strong. Practice the Sight, but be gentle in your beginning. Find a focus, like your book. Were I the one who had trained you, I would have you concentrate on the young trees, the maple and yew would have been good to you."
The book. She shuddered. While it was powerful, it was too unpredictable for her. She would try the trees, as her father suggested. She smiled. “There is nothing to forgive, Father. I will practice. Will you… be careful?” She swallowed, aware of the hypocrisy of her statement. “The path you walk does not seem easy. I do not want to lose you.”
He smiled and patted her arm. "I've walked this path since your birth and have prepared for it since my own. The Sight will not take me until the Lady wills it. My love to you, daughter." He embraced her again before turning to walk back to the embassy.
Vinet stared after him for a time. Gwyn stepped up next to her, looking after Kinaevan as well.
“Well, that was interesting,” she said.
Vinet shook herself. “Yes, it was.” She looked at Gwyn. “Well, back home, I suppose. We have work to do.”
Gwyn laughed. “As always. What’s on the agenda for today?”
Vinet forced a smile, her heart tight. “Well, we need to introduce Niara to her new bodyguard.” She took a deep breath, making a split-second decision. She had wanted to do this for so long, and with her father pushing… “And she needs to learn the truth about her mother.”
**********
“Niara, this is your new bodyguard.”
Niara looked at Evalynna, who smiled at her. Niara transferred her gaze to Vinet. “Is this because I ran away at the hunt?” she asked, her voice slightly subdued.
“No. Well, a bit,’’ Vinet suppressed a smile. ‘‘But you’re not in trouble, dearest. Your adventure just made me realize that you’re old enough to need one now.”
Niara’s eyes widened. “I’m old enough?” she asked.
Vinet couldn’t suppress a laugh this time as she leaned down to lift Niara into her arms. “Yes, you little minx. If you’re going to go runni
ng off by yourself, you need someone to watch over you.’’ She winked at her daughter. ‘‘After all, that’s why I have Gwyn.”
“Oh!” Niara seemed to find that a perfectly acceptable comparison. She looked at Evalynna. “So, you’re my Gwyn?”
Evalynna laughed. “If you like, yes, though my name is Evalynna.”
“Evalynna,” Niara beamed. “I’m Niara. I like you!”
Evalynna laughed. “Well, I like you too.”
Vinet smiled in relief. “Evalynna, Gwyn will show you to your new quarters. She’ll give you a detailed description of your duties, as well.”
Evalynna straightened and saluted her. “Of course, Lady Vinet. Thank you for trusting me with this.”
Vinet smiled as Evalynna left the room, leaving her alone with Niara.
She walked over to the chair next to the fire and sat Niara down on her lap. “So, you like Evalynna?” she asked.
Niara nodded happily. “Will she play with me?” she asked.
Vinet smiled again. “I should think so,” she said. “Evalynna has six younger siblings.”
Niara shifted in her lap. “Will I ever have siblings?” she asked.
Vinet bit her lip. “Maybe someday,” she stroked her hair. Why was this so difficult? Why couldn’t she just come right out and tell Niara she was her mother? “Would you like to hear a story?” She asked.
“A story! I love stories!” Niara squirmed around in her lap to look eagerly up at Vinet.
She chuckled at Niara’s enthusiasm. “Once, not too long ago, there was a young lady who lived at Ilhelm Castle. She was a very free-spirited young woman, who loved to read, to laugh, and to dance. Does that sound familiar?”
Niara nodded. “Those are things I like to do!”
Vinet felt her heart tighten. “Well, one day, this young woman met a very charming minstrel. They danced together, he made her laugh, and he told her stories about lands far away that she’d never seen. He told stories of dragons and elves and of magic. They enjoyed each other’s company a great deal, but he was a minstrel, and left Ilhelm after only a week or so.”
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