by Zora Marie
“You two are welcome to stay here on your way back if you like. My Father may not be in his right mind, but the rest of us are.”
“Thank you, we might take you up on that.” Zelia turned on her heel and headed for Raven before things could be dragged out any longer.
“I take it things went… well?” There was a hint of amusement in Raven’s tone. She clearly already knew the answer as she settled down for Zelia to climb on. “You alright?”
“I’m fine, just frustrated.”
“You know I know better than that. What troubles you?”
“King Gregory’s behavior. I need to talk with Koin, he has more experience with human royals.”
The moment Donequen settled behind Zelia, Raven took off.
“Hey! A bit of warning please?” Donequen yelled as he clung to Zelia.
“Sorry,” Zelia said. “So, do you trust him?”
“Who? Robert? He seems nice enough.”
Zelia handed the sealed letter to him over her shoulder. “Hold onto this until we see Koin, please. My armor doesn’t exactly have pockets.”
“Why are you wearing the armor anyways?”
“Have you not read the runes on it?”
“No… why?”
“Yargo sent it to me right before the battle for The Hold, it helps with fatigue and injuries.”
“That explains why you passed out like you did. Those spells have a limit and when you hit them, they hit back.”
Zelia couldn’t help but think of how horrible the timing of her collapse had been with Linithion having just lost her father. Then she had just not been there for her, not in a way that counted anyways.
“Zelia,” Raven’s tone was that of a mother comforting her child. “Stop thinking that way, it does no good.”
“But I should have been there for her. I promised I would be.”
“I understand your pain and worries, but it does no good to blame yourself for things that you could not control. Besides, we cannot change the past, only the future. Keep your mind on the task at hand, on how we can help Linithion through this.”
Zelia shut her eyes against the wind and did her best to focus her mind in the here and now. On the tasks laid before them. On what she had to do for them all to survive.
26
The sky was filled with the light of stars when they finally found Koin camped along the river’s edge with some other Elves. They had flown over sparse forests and snowy pastures dotted with horses, sheep, and cattle all day before reaching the river that flowed down from Elyluma. The trip had been quiet and the wind frigid. She couldn’t feel her face, even though she hunkered down close enough to Raven’s neck to feel her warmth.
Koin stirred a pot of soup over the fire and only glanced up at them as they landed. “I wondered how long it would take you to get here.”
“Well, you did have a head start and a shorter trip.” Zelia slid from Raven’s back. “Do you need anything?”
“No. I’ll go catch dinner and be…” Raven trailed off and Zelia turned to find that Koin held up a string of fish.
“We had time and I heard you like fish.”
“Thank you, Koin.” Raven’s voice was almost a purr in Zelia’s head.
Zelia relayed the message and Koin laid the fish in front of Raven before pulling the string from them. “Enjoy. You earned them.” Koin patted Raven’s muzzle, then returned to the pot at the fire. “I suppose the two of you are hungry as well.”
“Of course.” Zelia followed Koin to stand by the fire.
“Hm. Once upon a time, I would have made you shoot three bullseyes in a row before dinner, but you did just ride all day.” He handed her a bowl of soup.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, dear.” He turned back to the fire, and paused. Zelia tried, and failed to hold back her grin as he slowly turned back to stare at her hand. “I take it you have something to share.” He raised his gaze to meet hers.
“Hm. Nope, I don’t think so.”
“Oh, so you just wear a silver ring for no reason then?”
“Oh, that,” Zelia teased. “Yes, Linithion and I are betrothed.”
“And when were you going to mention this?”
“Linithion wanted to see how long it took you to notice, and what your reaction would be.”
“Yes, well, I may be getting old, but I’m not too old to notice you wearing a ring. Especially since you’ve never been one for jewelry. I take it that means you won’t be coming home then.”
“I’m afraid not. I love Elyluma, but Linithion cannot leave the Drakeon Empire without a ruler. So, my home is wherever she and Raven are now.”
“I understand.”
There was a distant look in Koin’s eyes and Zelia knew he thought of her aunt, his mate. He had gone so long without her. Zelia handed Donequen her bowl and hugged Koin.
“I’m glad you chose to stay with us. I don’t know where I would be without you.”
Koin’s embrace was warm and soothing as he held her tight. “You and Alrindel didn’t give me much choice, so… Besides, my young Elves needed their weapons master.”
“That we did, still do.”
“Oh really?” Koin asked as he scooped another bowl of soup for her.
“I could use someone to help me retrain this body, someone who would make it a little fun.” She took the bowl from Koin and noted how he studied the way she held her spoon at a different angle than before.
“You really are having to start over, aren’t you?”
“Yes. It hasn’t affected my ability to control my magic or any other thought-based action, but physical actions...” she shrugged.
“Then I’ll speak with Eleanor about coming to help you after we handle things here.”
“Speaking of things here.” Donequen pulled the letter from a pocket in his riding leathers.
“From King Gregory?”
Zelia sighed. “Yes, it’s for Prince Eadwulf, but Gregory is acting strangely. I don’t think he trusts me anymore.”
“Well, let’s find out then.” Koin pulled a knife from his boot and set its tip in the fire.
“Isn’t it dishonest to break into a sealed letter?” Donequen asked.
“Yes, but the humans would do no different. We can’t afford to give this letter to Eadwulf if Gregory has turned against us. We can’t afford to be fighting amongst ourselves right now.” Koin pulled the blade from the fire and held his hand over it to check the temperature. After a moment, he took the letter from Donequen and gently pried the seal loose. Koin read the letter and the longer he looked at it, the more troubled he seemed to become.
“What is it?” She didn’t really care to know the exact contents, she wanted to be able to honestly say she had not read it. But the way Koin’s brow knit as he read said enough about its contents.
“Pattron, would you come here?” Koin asked.
The Elf slid down from where he sat in a tree. “What is it?”
“Those markings,” Koin pointed to a spot on the letter, “are they part of one of their codes?”
Pattron took the letter from Koin and held it closer to him. “It’s hard to tell in this light.”
“Here.” Donequen pulled the pendant from around his neck.
Zelia couldn’t help but step away from them as Donequen muttered the familiar spell, and made his stone glow blue like the tip of Asenten’s staff. For just a moment she saw that blue light reflect off stone rather than snow. No matter how much she tried to let go of that part of her past there would always be something that would remind her of it, something to take her back to the cave.
“Yeah. It’s one of their newer ones though. I wouldn’t trust this one.” Pattron handed the letter back to Koin and returned to his place in the tree.
“I’ll keep it and see if we can’t decipher it later. Eat and get some rest. We’ll see if we can’t find Prince Eadwulf out patrolling in the morning.” Koin tucked the letter away.
Zelia st
irred to a familiar melody the next morning. It was from a song Koin and Aunt Leena sang to her when she was little. Raven shifted her wing and Zelia stretched as the cold morning air hit her. She was reluctant to leave the warm cocoon Raven’s side and wing had made for her, but they needed to get going. The sky was just beginning to lighten with the coming day and both Koin and Donequen were busily packing their things.
“Donequen?” Zelia asked in a hushed whisper. “Would you mind riding Koin’s horse for a while this morning? I want to take Koin up to watch the sunrise. Please?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Thank you,” she whispered and went to join Koin as he packed the few belongings he brought with him on his horse.
“So, I was thinking about how to find Prince Eadwulf outside the castle last night,” Koin said.
“Yeah? What did you come up with?” Zelia asked.
“I realized that we wouldn’t need to look for him, not with Raven around. Just be careful as he’ll likely try to shoot her down. I would suggest picking a village to land near and make yourself as visible as possible, so we can talk.”
“Then how about you come with me on Raven? I’ve never been the greatest at talking with royals, even though I apparently am one.”
“You always were a royal, we just didn’t make a big deal out of it.” Koin cinched down the tie on his bedroll. “And doesn’t Donequen want to ride with you?”
“I’d actually prefer to stay closer to the ground for a while, if you don’t mind,” Donequen said, stroking the horse’s forelock.
“A bit tired of flying, are we?” Koin teased. “Pattron will be riding alongside you. He patrolled these woods until the current King here decided he didn’t want our help, so he won’t let you get lost.”
“Good, because I have no idea where I’m going other than south.”
“Thanks,” Zelia said as she passed Donequen on the way back to Raven.
“Pattron, Donequen will be riding with you. Meet us at that first outer village. It should be close enough that Prince Eadwulf will notice us land there,” Koin said.
Pattron nodded his acknowledgement and mounted his horse. Donequen raised a brow at Zelia as though to say “this should be fun,” before mounting Koin’s horse. She knew he was teasing as he didn’t talk much around others either. Even the flight there had been quiet.
Koin swung himself on behind her, the smoothness of his motions reminding her of all the years he had spent trying to train her to use blades. She had learned, but it had taken her ages to stop tripping over her own feet. The only things that kept her from injuring herself were Koin’s reflexes and keen ability to predict where she would stumble.
“Koin,” Zelia drawled, “did you ever watch my energy while training me?”
Raven took off and once the rush of wind eased as Raven glided, Koin said, “Well, you did accuse me of predicting the future once. But I only watch energy while training to make sure clumsy little ones don’t hurt themselves.”
“Um hm…” Zelia said, unable to argue with his logic given she had been the clumsiest of Koin’s students. Out of curiosity though, she made her energy get up and walk out to the tip of Raven’s wing.
“Try not to give him a heart attack, please,” Raven said.
“I see you’ve been learning to manipulate your energy.”
“Yeah, but I only know a grand total of two rune spells. There hasn’t been enough time to learn anything else.”
“Honestly, as long as you can shield and break shields you should be fine. It’s generally easier to beat them with other forms of magic than their own. Besides, their magic isn’t the best for the world itself, as you probably discovered when you went there.”
“Yeah, everything just felt wrong there.”
Koin sighed and she glanced over her shoulder to see him staring at the far horizon. The sky was turning a beautiful shade of pink and purple, the clouds shining as though trimmed in golden lace.
“I thought you’d like the view.”
“Dawn was always Leena’s favorite time of day. I like to think she still watches them with me each morning. You and Alrindel kept me going after she passed, but after you died,” Koin’s voice cracked. “I tried to attack Asenten and the others for what they did to you. They should have known better than to force your powers like they did. I knew in my soul that you weren’t gone, but I let the others convince me you were. Then when Eleanor finally sent me looking for you,” his voice shook as he trailed off.
An image rose to the surface of her memories. An image of Koin burning alive in front of her, in her flame. He’d tried not to scream, but he had. It had just been a dream, a foreshadow of something she’d changed, but she would never forget his scream or the way he tried to attack Asenten to his dying breath. She leaned back against him, a silent offer and plea for him to hug her, to remind her that he was really there. That he was still alive and she hadn’t really done those things to him.
She forced herself to take a calming breath as he hugged her tight. Forced her voice not to shake as she said, “There’s nothing you could have done. Besides, I wouldn’t be who I am without the past.”
“Still, I hate to see how it still affects you, like last night. I can’t help but wonder if I could have prevented some of it.”
Zelia tensed. She hadn’t realized anyone had noticed her move away as Donequen did that spell.
“I am glad you’re coping better than you were.”
“It helps that I’m not being tormented by Xander in the present, and not being in pain all the time helps, too. I used to think the pain helped ground me in the present, but really it was just trapping me.”
“Pain is never the answer. You have to learn to enjoy the good things in spite of the past. That’s what you and Alrindel reminded me of after Leena passed.”
Zelia rubbed the ring on her index finger, it was a physical reminder of all the promises her betrothal to Linithion implied. Their betrothal wasn’t just a promise to marry or to be there for each other in this life and every one after. It was a promise to find joy even in the darkest of times, and to persevere no matter what the realms threw at them.
“Your ring, it isn’t new is it?”
“No. Starling and Loboran gave them to us, they were theirs. I don’t think I would have had the courage to ask her right now if Loboran hadn’t pushed me too.”
“You were worried about upsetting her?”
“Yes. She and Erolith were so close. I hated to make her think of how he wouldn’t get to be there. He even gave us his blessing before he made me leave him.”
“Erolith knew what he was doing. Don’t let his decision weigh on you. Raven, we’re headed for that batch of smoke over there, that should be the village.”
“You should listen to Koin, and I figured that was where we were headed. Should I circle a couple times to draw attention?”
“Just make them wide circles so we don’t scare the villagers too much,” Zelia spoke aloud so Koin would know the plan too.
“We’ll start off higher up then… and if you’re up for a bit of a trick we could do a barrel roll, so they’ll see I have riders.”
“Uh, I think I’ll pass on that until I have a harness.”
Raven’s chuckle hummed through Zelia’s head with a warm and happy tone to it. “Hm, yes, that’s probably best when not above water, but trick riding can help strengthen the bond between rider and dragon.”
“Why didn’t you say that when we first met? I would have been more willing to try death defying feats back then.”
“Oh, so find a mate and suddenly you’re no fun?” Raven teased. “But I wouldn’t want you doing them without a harness. We’ll work with Linithion and a leather worker to design one for trick riding and fighting when we get back.”
27
Raven made lazy circles around the village as they spiraled down. As they neared the ground, Koin leaned out over Raven’s side with an arrow nocked in case he needed to deflect a
n attack. Either of them could have drawn a shield around them, but they didn’t dare risk drawing the attention of the Fenari. Besides, a village of this size was unlikely to have many archers. Or at least ones that could hit anything.
A villager shrieked far below and Zelia cringed as she recalled the last time she’d heard a woman scream like that.
“We knew they would do this,” Raven reminded. “Just don’t lose sight of why we are doing this. Scaring them now is better than burying them later.”
“I know…”
“There’s a group of riders coming out from the castle, should we go ahead and land?”
Zelia turned to look at the small group riding out in the distance. “Yes. Just be careful.”
The snap of a poorly made bow made Zelia turn just in time to see Koin deflect the arrow with one of his own. She had always hated his ability to do that growing up, but she couldn’t help but be grateful for it now. She doubted the villager’s arrow would have done anything, but she was glad to play it safe. Raven landed so close to the forest’s edge that bare branches brushed Zelia’s shoulder.
“I hate to rush you, but…”
Koin was already sliding from Raven’s back as a group of villagers charged towards them with makeshift weapons. Zelia couldn’t help but feel bare without her sword and bow, even when only faced with scythes and pitchforks. She wouldn’t have used the weapons, but they were still comforting to have. She pulled her staff from its holster and extended it with a flick of her wrist before she slid down Raven’s back to stand beside Koin.
Koin glanced at her and must have read something in her features, as he slung his bow over his shoulder and stepped out in front of Zelia and Raven. “We don’t want any trouble.” Koin held his hands out in front of him. “We apologize for scaring you, but we’re here to assess the situation with the recent attacks.”
“On a dragon?” a villager asked.
“Elves aren’t welcome here,” another yelled.
Zelia sighed and stepped forward. As much as she hated royals, a bunch of angry villagers might be worse. “You will not speak to my kin that way. I do not know if you have heard of me this far from the castle, but I’m sure you’ve heard rumors of the phoenix of The Hold. I come from speaking with King Gregory about ways to help protect all of Coridale’s people. The need for haste has brought me by dragon to collect news and speak with King Eadwine. Please do not fear Raven, she will not harm you.”
