by RG Long
“Silence please!” Chief Rark said. She held up a hand and looked over them.
They were motley crew to be sure. A man, three women, two elves, a dwarf, and a girl.
The only nation that had such diversity that chief Rark was aware of was the Court of Three. And she wanted nothing to do with their radical ideas or their hatred of the Skrilx.
“I do not know who you are,” she said as she surveyed the group. “And I do not know how I can believe you if you were to tell me about yourselves. I distrust most humans because of how they have treated my people. I have no desire to gain the friendship of elves or dwarves either. What I do desire is that the Skrilx who live on this island be left at peace.”
The older man who had flown in on Firag’s back stepped forward.
“We mean you no harm,” he said. “And we make no threats. We are not ambassadors for any country or nation who would seek to do you harm or your ruin what peace you have found here. We are strangers to this land as well. Only two of our numbers are from Redact. One is an airship pilot who we believe has gone to Rerial. We wish to rejoin him. The other is a Skrilx who I believe this young one here knows.”
“Rerial?” Rark asked, aghast. “I cannot let you return to that nation! They are worse than the Court of Three! They are the ones who exiled us to this island and the reason our once great empire fell! I could never allow you to go back to them to tell them we thrive as a people! They would undo us!”
The old man shook his head.
“We are not the ones who would undo you and your people,” he said. “We have striven to seek peace wherever we go and keep those who would seek out violence from continuing it.”
Rark folded her arms.
“Have you now?” She said. “And have your exploits proven fruitful? Have you stopped violence in your wake?”
The group began to look around at each other. Rark was hoping that they might be able to tell her that they had successfully brought warring nations to peace and stopped genocides from happening. That’s what had occurred to her people: a genocide. If they were such a group who could prevent such things from happening, she may lend them an ear.
The blonde-haired elf stepped forward.
“I am Serinde from Irradan. I was a citizen of the Empire of Enoth and saw great wars fought there in the name of conquest and expansion. These friends that I have come to respect and love fought to bring about the downfall of the power crazed emperor who tried to rule the continent with bloodshed and fear.”
“I’m from Ladis,” the red marked girl said. “My name is Alma. Two countries who warred over religions and territory fought until there was hardly anything left. These people had no reason to help or to seek peace for us, but they took me in and helped me and my uncle. They saved my life more than once.”
“Bah,” said the dwarf. Rark had never seen one in real life before. She looked down at the little person with curiosity and suspicion. “I owe my life to these friends and can vouch that there would have been a genocide on Ruyn if it weren’t for them. The men who sought to kill all elves and dwarves and other beings other than themselves on the continent surely would have succeeded if it weren’t for them.”
The rest of the strange group murmured their agreement.
Chief Rark still held her hands in the air.
“This is on the word of those who just showed up at our doorstep unannounced and unwelcome. I still do not know if I can fully trust you and let you leave us to reunite with someone you say dwells in the land of our enemies.”
The old man, who was perhaps the leader of the group, stepped forward again.
“Have you considered peace with Rerial?”
Rark scoffed and the other Skrilx around her moved uneasily. The man continued.
“Yes. It’s been a generation since the wrongs enacted upon your people were played out. The minds of men can change. I’ve seen it before. There is a new king who sits on the throne. I have heard he does not share the same bloodlust as his father. Perhaps now may be the time that men and Skrilx can obtain peace together.”
Chief Rark looked at her people. The very idea of it was making them finger their weapons and stomp at the ground.
“What madness is peace with Rerial?” she asked. “We cannot have peace with those who annihilated us. You say there’s only been one generation since these wrongs were enacted upon us. Do you know how many generations were wiped out because of those same sins? Four! If we were to wait for ten generations out of respect and honor for the dead, it would not be long enough! Peace! Ha!”
The other Skrilx who had heard the old man’s suggestion of peace also were balking along with the chief. They muttered and fingered their weapons. Perhaps they thought the same thing Rark did.
Peace? With the nation that eradicated their parents? Grandparents and elders? It could never be. Not in Rark’s lifetime. Nor in the lifetime of any who stood around them.
All around the chief’s hut, other Skrilx were beginning to show their anger at the idea of peace.
Then the dark-haired elf stepped forward. Unlike the other elf with long flowing blonde braids, her hair was cut short. She looked commanding and Rark took note of her.
“I once considered peace impossible,” she said. “I am a general for an elven nation long fallen to goblin warriors. I thought peace was a dream. Something that they wrote of in fairytales, not something to be attained in our day and age.”
The Skrilx stopped their rustling and looked to see who this strange elf was.
“My name is Wisym. I am the product of war and exile and violence. But I have also seen glimmers of peace. I’ve seen what battle can do to a nation. I have watch brother turn on brother and seen entire countries burned to the ground.”
This was the experience of every Skrilx who stood in earshot, minus Jos and Grolla and the youngest of their kind.
They all craned to hear her words.
“Peace is not a dream,” she said. “It is hard won, but it is a reality. And those who would give up on it as a possibility are dooming themselves to more violence and bloodshed. Before you scoff at peace, consider it a reality that is possible. If not for you, then for your younglings.”
She looked at Jos and Grolla, who stood still as the attention of the Circle fell on them. The clearing was quiet. Hardly anyone moved. Rark folded her arms. How could she possibly believe these strangers?
Little Grolla step forward and looked up at the tall domineering elf. She bowed her head gently and then asked a question.
“You said you knew another Skrilx. Someone who was with you.”
The elf name Wisym nodded.
“We know two, she said. A warrior named Urt who I do not believe ever lived here in Redact. And a scholar named Galp. He told us he was young he was taken from here and has studied both your culture and...”
She hesitated for just a moment in her answer.
“He has studied your culture as well as others in his absence from you. We had hoped to have been able to bring him here.”
Rark saw Grolla nod.
“I would like that very much,” she said. “I’ve grown up hearing his name.”
“Really? How is that so little one?” the elf asked.
Rark saw Grolla look over her shoulder and the chief nodded her permission.
“He’s my uncle.”
43: Secrets and Shadows
Elise looked at her brother and wondered. How in the world could she explain to him all that they had spent a lifetime learning? And how could she possibly summarize last six years without going into the detail of their lives?
She shook her head.
He was supposed to be her brother. Her closest friend and dearest ally. They had endured so much. They had planned for so much. It really was like the Ealrin she had grown up with was dead and the one who sat in front of her was a false copy. A statue of her brother brought to life but with no memories or experiences that they shared.
She quickly drummed he
r fingers over her thumb. A nervous habit the older Ealrin would have been able to pick up on.
“You have to understand,” she started in with. “Rerial was not a kingdom to be proud of.”
She hated how difficult this was. It would take days to get through all the stories. Weeks to explain everything in its delicate intricacy. It was necessary that he not leave this room without many important pieces of information.
“I’ve seen many nations not worthy of being proud of,” Ealrin said.
“I told you not to interrupt,” Elise said. She had meant it. She knew trying to formulate her thoughts I was going to be a difficult process if he kept on asking questions.
“Rerial was not a nation you would have wanted to defend or fight for. The king was corrupt in every way. He used war to line his pockets. And his Lords lined their own in their quest to please him.”
“He was an evil man and most everyone in Rerial knew it,” Tucker said he pounded his fist on the table. “And most everyone he ruled played by his game because it lines their pockets to. I hated the whole lot of them. Men who saw fit to disgrace their own name for a bit of coin.”
Tucker spat as he finished the last sentence.
Elise nodded.
“Turns out there are more people in the city who were interested in getting rich than people who wanted a chance to do something right.”
Ealrin’s face was a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
“That’s what you did,” she said that she noted that he had looked up for a minute. Though he still didn’t meet her eyes. “You wanted to do something right.”
“You saw the king for what he was. A greedy warmonger. We were trying to form an alliance in order to unseat the king and put a proper ruler in place. We feared his son would be just as greedy as he was. What proof did we have otherwise?”
“Is he?” Ealrin asked.
Elise shook her head.
“Stop interrupting and I’ll get there. I promise. I’ll answer all your questions. But you’ve got a let me talk first.”
Ealrin nodded at that.
“It was all staged and planned out,” Elise said. “It took years of speaking with people. Years of trying to find out which lord and lady in the city cared about being a nation we were proud of. Not some wild radicals like the Court of Three.”
“Rerial has a dark past,” Tucker said. “it was one we wanted to be done with. To put behind us and start new. But with the genocide of the Skrilx and the service of the greed to our king, we want to the new era. And we found people who are willing to partner with us. They were willing to help us.”
Elise sat back in her chair. Ealrin had not met her eyes since they have begun talking. She figured it was a lot for him to take it. If she tried to put herself in his shoes. To lose everything and then get it back. To return to a father who had missed him. A father who is glad to see him now.
A father who had been just a greedy for war as the king.
“Every airship Rerial made was designed for war,” she said. “There was a reason father made it that way. They were all designed to fight. All designed to kill as many people as possible. To reject the magic of the Court of Three and instill fear and those who would follow them. The fleet was meant to help Rerial rule the continent.”
“We planned to steal as many airships as we could in one swoop. To put ourselves in command of an arsenal that would challenge the power of Rerial. Force the king to step down. Force our own leaders into power.”
“A coup,” Ealrin said.
Elise allowed this interruption.
“A rebellion,” she agreed. “One without much bloodshed. Just a shift of power. If we could help it, we would have made the king step down and put our own system in place.”
“The plan would have worked,” Tucker said as he pounded his fist on the table. “If it weren’t for those bloody dragons.”
“Dragons?” Ealrin asked.
“The day we were supposed to take command of the arsenal, you flew out on your airship as we had planned. You had all the pilots of the other airships that we needed. You were to take them to the hanger from a hidden port. You carried on your ship the man we would have had as a leader. Our new ruler. Not a king but a council of rulers to rule with one leader as the head.
Elise shook her head.
“But we were attacked that day. A dragon came and assaulted Rerial. They put up such a fierce attack that most of our airships for mobilized to attack. They were no longer able to be stolen. All of them were commanded by faithful pilots. Faithful to the king of Rerial. And your airship, the one with most of the men and women who had aligned themselves to our cause as well as our future ruler, were chased by the dragon off of the continent. That’s when we lost you.”
“And when we lost any hope of a new future,” Tucker finished.
Elise thought that was enough to go on for time being. They were many details they had left out.
Love lost. Friendships made. Families destroyed.
And a father who suspected nothing. That was key. Though his own children had been involved from the very beginning, Lord Evan did not know that both Elise and Ealrin had planned to rise up against him. He only mourned the loss of his son on that fateful day. He never knew how great his loss would have been that day had their plans succeed.
Ealrin studied the floor with scrutiny. Elise looked at Tucker, who shook his head slowly. They were silent as they waited for Ealrin to speak.
“We were going to betray our own family?” he asked after what seemed like a terribly long time.
Elise nodded.
“You’ve only been back a few weeks be, Ealrin. You’ve only been able to see father at a time of peace. When war was all he knew, all I knew of him was that he wanted to line his pockets.”
Ealrin look stung by these words. She couldn’t blame him. Imagine finding out the father you thought cared for family and country only truly cared for coin.
“He became Commodore for his strategy and his ability for sure,” she said. “But he is as ruthless a man as any. You’ve not seen him in battle or in the pursuit of money. He wasn’t always like this. Before mother...”
No, she thought to herself.
There was enough pain in the story without bringing up their mother.
“So on the airship that crashed on Ruyn?” Ealrin asked. “Everyone who was a rebel.. Or loyal to you cause was on it? Even someone you would have appointed the new ruler over Rerial?”
“I drink to Lord Sollinad every day,” Tucker said mimicking raising a glass. “He would’ve been a good ruler.”
“And it’s our cause,” Elise said. “Your cause. You were every bit as devoted to it as the rest of us. More so. You were loyal to Lord Sollinad and knew him to be a good man.”
“And are you loyal to Belfast?” Ealrin asked. “Is he a king you are proud to serve?”
Elise leaned forward. This was where she knew her own prejudices were working against her. From afar, it appeared that King Belfast was different.
From afar.
“So far he has made every effort to find peace,” she said with measure.
She was glad to be able to reveal this to her brother. But it was difficult. She was still wary of Belfast. And perhaps if she was honest, with their father.
“Belfast has sought out peace where King Beltrame would have desired war,” she said. “He does not seem to take bribes as his father did, so I have no knowledge of a secret rebellion against him. Not from our former friends at least. Most of our spies and informants perished the day of the dragon attack.
Ealrin shook his head.
“How can the country I call home have so much corruption in it?” he asked.
“It’s not your fault son,” Tucker said. “You were trying to do the right thing.”
“Overthrowing a king?” Ealrin asked. “Is inciting a rebellion the right thing? How many more would’ve died if we were successful that day? How many would we have been put to death before
we could’ve claimed victory?”
Ealrin rose to his feet.
“I’ve seen most of the continents of Gilia in my travels,” he said. “I’ve watched power-hungry kings and rulers devour nations in their quest for glory. I’ve seen rebellions come up against them and the bloodshed that they cause.”
Elise tried her best to remain calm, but this was her brother in anger. That was not something she had seen very often before he went missing. She didn’t like it.
“I’ve known death,” he said. “For all the violence and the battles I’ve seen, I would trade it all for a chance at peace. How can I know what you are doing now is worth me not telling father or King Belfast for that matter what you had planned to do? What you might still be planning to do?”
Elise stood up as well.
“You tell father,” she said. “And you will hang with us from the gallows.”
“We are lucky word of our rebellion did not get out,” Tucker said. “The king died in that attack. A dragon destroyed his airship with him on board. Had you survived with an airship intact, that would’ve been the day we could’ve taken the throne and made our country proud again.”
Ealrin looked from Tucker to Elise.
“That might have been the least bloody rebellion of history,” Tucker said, trying to calm them both down, Elise knew. “The king was dead, but so was our rebellion. But you survived. And so did Belfast.”
“How did I survive?”
Ealrin looked in pain as he said it.
“Is that why you missed me?” he said, turning back to Elise. “Because I lost you the opportunity for glory? Did you mourn my going at all?”
Elise felt his words like a dagger.
“I spent every day if I wondering if I had a family. Someone who wished I was with them. I did not know your face but I longed to know if you even existed. Did I come home only to spoil your memories of an unsuccessful coup?”
“Ealrin!” Tucker shouted.
Elise could see the tears welling up in her eyes as they blurred her vision. She could feel one running down her cheek.
