The Broken Rose

by Jeremy Forsyth

  “Some of the Tragedies of Beauty,” I told her.

  Alardia closed the door behind her and gasped. The Tragedies of Beauty was an ancient prophecy that had foretold the deaths of certain Daughters of Alepion who were born of the Rareshade Tree, the family who had long ago ruled the Realm.

  To be a Daughter of Alepion was to be a daughter of an Elder and Lady of the Moon. It was their title from birth. And it was the famous Rennalla the Loved, who had been the last of the Rareshades to rule Alepion, that the prophecy concerned; for she only had daughters and every one of them had met a tragic end.

  “The reign of the Loved is my favourite of our histories,” Alardia told me now, somewhat sadly, for Rennalla’s was a terribly heart-breaking story, one filled with love and romance, yet unfortunate circumstances and great tragedy. “Do you ever wonder if she truly loved the Unfailing?”

  I was too busy examining the contents of our place to reply at once, but when I did, Alardia was unsatisfied. “What do you mean you don’t know? Surely you must believe she did or she didn’t?”

  I gave her my full attention. “I like to believe she did. Who doesn’t?”

  Alardia approved. “Indeed no one that I know!” Her expression suddenly lightened, her body swirling. “I hope in Adonai’s name that I find someone like the Unfailing. Someone strong, loyal and utterly devoted to me.”

  While she swooned, I was struck by a very important enquiry. I pointed to the only door that was closed right in front of me and asked Alardia if that room was where the other person slept.

  Alardia grew serious again. She came forward and nodded. “Yes. Her name is Nendia. She seems, uhm, nice.” She gave me a dubious look. “The elvess is from the Nunes.”

  We both smiled mischievously at one another, but I was the first to hoot. “So, no Nune jests while we are staying here?”

  Alardia burst into laughter. “Definitely not. Follow me.”

  She led us into her bedroom and when she closed the door behind me, I dropped my bag, took off my slippers and threw myself onto the bed. The comfort of the bed caused a groan of relief to sound from my lips.

  “What a day you must have had,” observed Alardia.

  I rolled onto my back, lifted my head slightly and looked at her standing there studying me with a sympathetic expression.

  “It was,” I said. “An ordeal of a day if ever there was one.”

  Alardia came to the bed, saying, “well, let us get to sleep, for tomorrow is going to be better.” She lay beside me, the both of us staring at the ceiling.“Nendia and I want to wake early to explore the city. What do you say?”

  “I say yes!”

  I woke up the next morning to the sound of rain and the gentle snoring of Alardia who was sprawled out on her side of the bed. I shifted my body and stretched out my legs, my toes sticking out from the blanket on the other side and when my senses returned, I delicately turned on my side so that I faced the window; the closed curtains making it hard to distinguish the time of the morning.

  I thought it early, for the world outside seemed grey, yet every day was grey here in Asher Rise; morning and afternoon. Seeing as I was still feeling wrecked from fatigue and that Alardia was still asleep, I decided to lay there for a while in silence. But it wasn’t long until I felt Alardia stir next to me.

  “Fair morning,” came her croaky voice.

  “Morning.”

  I watched her give off a great yawn and once done, her eyes blinked rapidly against sleepiness before she gradually sat up on her pillow, her eyes set to mine. I noticed her mouth begin to curve.

  “I am happy to see that I wasn’t abducted in the night to be given off to some Dead God alter.”

  I smiled at that, feeling very content. “Don’t speak too soon,” I jested. I began to stretch my body and I too emitted a big yawn.“What time do you think it is?”

  “I don’t know. But that rain doesn’t make me want to visit the city just yet.”

  “I don’t expect it to stop any time soon.”

  “What possessed the Elder to have the Karnaea in Asher Rise? In Evennal, for that matter? Everything is so compact here. I don’t even know where the Karnaea is to be held.”

  “Beyond the Higher Wall,” I told her, knowing my answer to be true.

  “The Higher Wall?”

  “Yes. Evennal’s second curtain wall, which encircles the Greathouse. The grounds there are large.”

  “So, you have been here before?”

  “Yes,” I admitted, “But I don’t like it here. As you said: everything is too compact.”

  “And muddy… And colourless.”

  I turned over to face her, my tone sardonic when saying, “It’s Asher Rise.”

  Alardia rolled her eyes and then she rolled on her side, her back facing me. “Well either way,” she yawned.“If the rain continues and the sun keeps hiding, this year’s Liberation Day will be bleak indeed.”

  “Maybe the sun will come out when the Elder does?”

  Alardia laughed. “And when do you think that will be? The Karnaea is tomorrow and we have yet to hear whether he is in the city or not.”

  I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling, thankful we were not in any rush to get out of bed. “It’s the Karnaea. The Elder wouldn’t miss it. He has just come back from campaign against the Sun Elves.”

  Alardia turned to look at me and very soberly asked, “Did you read what the Headlines reported about the Destroyer, back when the Elder was still fighting in the Middle Islands? Apparently the Blademaster defeated that Highborn who killed the Brave.”

  The Brave was one of the Rareshade elders of old and easily one of the most celebrated in Alepion history. He, just like Elder Dayane, had sought to take the Middle Islands from the Sun Elves of Kaan Fulas, but unlike Elder Dayane, the Brave had failed; dying in single combat against the Son of the Father. Since then, Alepion and its allies have hated the Sun Elves - Its ruler and his heir, especially.

  “I read about it,” I admitted. “But according to that article, the Destroyer is said to have spared the Son’s life.”

  “I wonder why he did that?” Alardia then turned her back to me again, laying on her side, eventually coming up with an answer to her own query. “Because he is a blademaster and blademasters are filled with the love of Adonai that you and I and all the rest of us ordinary folk, will never understand.”

  Just then, the door to our room burst open and I saw an elvess intrude. She was of fair skin, slender and sleek, her long straight and dark hair so perfectly brushed past her shoulders that it shone. She was dressed as if ready to go outside… She also looked very much like a Nune-elf; proud and conceited, completely inconsiderate to anyone besides herself.

  “Wake up!” she demanded, coming to a halt suddenly when she unexpectedly saw that I was in the bed too. “Oh.”

  Alardia sat up, her back against the backboard of the bed. “Nendia, this is Stasanda. Stasanda, this is Nendia.”

  “Hello,” I said.

  “Are you staying with us?” she asked, imperiously.

  I nodded slowly.

  “Yes, she is,” answered Alardia, who added, “she can sleep with me and we will split the cost of the room three ways.”

  Decisively, the elvess nodded. “Good.” Coming forward and throwing a Headline issue on the bed, right between myself and Alardia, the elvess complained with lucid outrage. “Look at what the Deacon of Asher Rise has done!”

  Chapter 4

  So,” said Tegerian, biting off a chunk of apple which he had found at breakfast. “The Karnaea has been moved two days from now?”

  The three of us went quickly down the stairs; Lardian simultaneously throwing on his rain-coat whilst I folded this morning’s Headline and tucked it beneath my arm, wanting to continue the read once I gained the chance. At the moment, we were hurrying to the centre of the city where the Deacon of Asher Rise’s Greathouse was and it was essential that we arrived before midday.

  “That’s what the H
eadline said,” I answered.

  We came to the front door of the Inn and because of the rain outside, I hesitated to pull it open. I looked at my friends. “You two ready?”

  I concentrated on Lardian; his hood was now drawn up, his hands folded in his armpits, his expression a foretaste of what he was expecting to endure outside. As for Tegerian; his hood was up too, but he looked as cheerful and content as an elf in summer, his mouth moving as he chewed his apple.

  “Get on with it,” he urged.

  I pulled the door open and immediately the three of us were met by the chilliness of the morning, the warmth of the Inn having abandoned us once our feet crossed the threshold.

  The street ahead was filled with Moon Elves from all over the Realm and the three of us joined the tide while sleet, dainty and pestering rain continued to pour.

  “People do not look happy,” observed Lardian solemnly.

  “Are we happy?” responded Tegerian, tossing the core of his apple on the ground, inches away from one of the elves in the crowed. The elf struck Tegerian with a glare of displeasure, while Tegerian laughed bashfully, offering apologies.

  “The Karnaea is not for another two days,” I pointed out, ignoring Tegerian’s inconsideration for others. “And we’re about to see the Elder. Of course we’re not happy.”

  That amused Tegerian. “I heard a fellow back there express his excitement to see the Elder.”

  “You are probably the only one on the street who does not think much of the Great Servants, Jay,” said Lardian, head bowed, voice low and shoulders hunched up against the cold.

  The Great Servants was just another title that followed those who ruled. In my mind, it was the more presumptuous of the lot, an insinuation that he or she who wore it, was greater than the rest of us.

  “And yet here Jay is,” hooted Tegerian, smacking Lardian on the back. “Out in the rain, venturing on a tedious trek to a city centre he won’t even enjoy visiting.”

  “Speak for yourself, Teegs,” I said, trying to conceal how foul my mood had suddenly become. “Seeing Evennal’s Greathouse up close is enough to get me to brave the sight of any elder, especially our current one. And besides, there are so many people out, you never know who we might see or meet.”

  My eyes searched the heads before us. I knew what they wanted to find, or rather, who they wanted to find. Stasanda was the real reason I was so eager to join this morning’s mission to the city centre.

  As soon as I had read in this morning’s Headline that last night, the Elder of the Moon Elves had arrived in Evennal, using the Portals of Blydran and that he was to appear on the balcony of the Greathouse at midday today, I knew I wanted to be there outside the gates when he did; for if most of the city was going to be there then surely Stasanda would too.

  “Does the Headline say anything about the Destroyer?” asked Tegerian, adding, “Will he appear with the Elder?”

  I nodded absentmindedly without looking at him, for my search for Stasanda amidst the people was still in motion.

  “Well?” asked Tegerian, shoving me for my deficient reply. “Did it say if he was to appear with the Elder or not?”

  “Of course he will,” mused Lardian. “He is a blademaster. He goes wherever the Elder’s goes.”

  “I don’t care for your opinion, Lardian,” came Tegerian. “What I want, is information from a more creditable source. Jay?”

  “The Destroyer is said to appear too, yes,” I said, still not truly as interested in accommodating Tegerian’s curiosity as I was in spotting Stasanda. Yet I knew that if I didn’t, his nagging would not cease.

  “And what else? What else did the Headline report?”

  I at last looked at Tegerian, deciding my search, for now, was in vain. Irritated by this revelation and by Tegerian’s insistent nagging, I answered with clear impatience.

  “The Deacon of Asher Rise postponed the Karnaea due to the weather! The Elder arrived in the city last night through the portal! His presence is reported to appear on one of the Greathouse’s balconies at midday today!” I caught my breath, said, “That was all I had time to read before I came to make sure you two were ready to leave.”

  “And what will the Deacon do if in two days the weather has remained the same?” asked Tegerian, his tone deriding. “Does he forget what land his city is in and that Liberation Day will not wait for the sun? In fact, hand over that Headline, Jay,” he demanded. “I would read it all myself.”

  If it would get him to keep quiet for a time, I would do so gladly. “Now,” he said, when handed the issue.“Let us see what those damned mindfinders have to say,” referring to the elves who reported the news each morning, being ones who could as well, enter the minds of animals.

  The streets twisted; colliding and intertwining. The three of us didn’t need to follow street signs for direction, for it appeared as if the crowd knew where it was that they were headed and so we just followed, conscious of mud puddles and slippery stones on the pavement and, while my eyes searched again for a dark-beauty, Tegerian conveyed more from the Headline’s morning news.

  “There are more protesters massing in Gathe,” he told us.“The Elder is being criticized by the Mindfinders for his harsh policies towards the elves there, are reproaching him for his aversion towards them.” Tegerian looked up at us and asked,“What do you two think?”

  “About the Elder’s policies on Gathe, or the Order of Nallara’s opinion of them?” I asked, referring to the order from where the mindfinders operate out of.

  “Both.”

  “Well, the Gatheians did invade our land,” Lardian pointed out, adding,“And they killed the Elder’s father,” sounding doubtful all of a sudden. “Though I would imagine that the Elder would have let that one go, by now?” after which he sarcastically added,“What does the Salin say about forgiveness?”

  Tegerian laughed and stuck his nose back into the Headline, crying out after a while and elbowing Lardian in the side so as to gain his attention.

  “Get this. The Nune-elves of the capital are said to be complaining because the Karnaea is being held here instead of there.”

  “Arrogant little forskers,” commented Lardian.

  The term forsker was the Realm’s latest and perhaps most potent curse word to date, deriving from the word forsake and inspired by those who forsook the Elder’s late father at the Battle of the Nesvalor River.

  Tegerian read on. “Our economy has been flourishing greatly since the Elder’s occupation of the Middle Islands. The blue elves are apparently quite supportive of their new Moon Elf ruler.” Tegerian looked up, looking confused. “That surprises me. Don’t they love the Sun? Isn’t the Father of the Sun meant to be some great leader that his people worship?”

  “His people,” emphasised Lardian. “His. Only the Sun loves the Father. For it is only the Sun that the Father shows preference towards. Those blue elves were treated by the Father as now the Gatheians are by the Elder.”

  Tegerian laughed. “Well at least one can understand the Elder’s reasons. What excuse does the Father of the Sun have?”

  Lardian shrugged. “Does it really matter now? The blue elves have a new ruler and are no longer under the yoke of the Sun.” He jerked his head, “Check the prophet section. What are people prophesying today?”

  I too wanted to know, for besides what headlines the Headline featured as its top story, I usually went straight for the prophet column before anything else. So many elves all about the realm claimed to have the power of foresight and because of this, the Mindfinders dedicated a section at the back of each Headline, to those elves who were bold enough to speak of what they claimed to have seen.

  Tegerian found the page and took a moment to read, sniggering before at last, he quirked up;

  “Apparently the Golden Moon is to end at the hands of a fierce giant.”

  I frowned at that. “What does that even mean?” I asked, looking at him.

  “Who knows? But according to this fellow…” Tegeria
n brought the issue forward, squinting his eyes at the text, “This… Navorder Tenwinds… who is quoted here to have dreamt it all, the age of the Golden Elders will be ended by a fierce giant.” He looked up at us in question, a dubious expression on his face.

  Lardian however waved the entire prophecy away, displaying a look of annoyance and impatience.

  “Read another one,” he said.

  Tegerian returned his gaze, reading now; “There will apparently be a skirmish one day within a tower; a tower that will be surrounded by sand. It appears that of this particular confrontation, there will be a, uh, black warrior.”

  “A black warrior?” I scoffed.

  Tegerian sniggered. “I love this column. There are so many absurd things to read about.”

  While Tegerian mocked, I remained sceptical of what he had read so far, while on the other hand, Lardian looked very intent - forgetful it seemed - of the cold and pestering weather that even now, remained relentless.

  “Go on,” Lardian urged.

  Tegerian gave me a comical look at our friend’s expense but did what Lardian asked none the less.

  “This one here, this Salune Silverfeather, claims that she saw a dark hallway; its walls decorated with great frames of gold, holding together portraits and scenes that she describes as quite outlandish. In the hallway, she sees an elvess. Then she sees two----” Tegerian looked at both of us, his smile blatantly deriding. “Monsters! She sees two monsters!” Tegerian waved the issue in the air in outrage, complaining now, “And these elves even receive coin from the Mindfinders for such nonsense!”

  “You should claim to possess the gift of prophecy too, Teegs,” I jeered.

  Lardian laughed. “Then he could earn coin enough to leave his parents’ home.”

  I laughed the loudest and didn’t stop until my attention was suddenly drawn upwards; above the rooftops of Evennal’s more modest housing; for just now, the peaks of the city’s Greathouse rose to the sky.

  The sight of the Deacon’s seat caused a stir about the people, ripples of excitement beginning to mount through the crowds; for the Elder of the Moon Elves, as well as the Destroyer, were about to be glimpsed.