The king’s library was nearly as large as the council chambers, with every wall completely filled with shelf after shelf of leather bound tomes. Rows of lamps were positioned in the middle of the room between two long mahogany tables, and there was a large desk to the far right.
“Lousis loves this room,” mused Selena. “His passion for books rivals even that of my son.”
They took their places behind the desk, with Aaliyah choosing to stand to the right of the queen. When the door opened, two guards escorted the three elves inside.
The middle elf was a tall female with long, sleek black hair similar to Aaliyah’s. Her features were similar too, though a little less angular and delicate. Her eyes were azure and sparkled in the lamplight. She wore a flowing green dress tied at the waist by a white sash. Her two male companions, one with honey blond hair and ice blue eyes, the other with auburn hair and eyes of deep violet, both wore white satin tunics with intricate, black threaded embroidery. Each carried a small dagger and a leather pouch on his belt.
Selena got to her feet as the trio approached. “You are most welcome to my city. I am Selena, Queen of Althetas. I regret that my husband, King Lousis, is not here to greet you as well. But sadly, he still fights in the east.”
All three elves bowed in unison.
“I am Estrella, but this I am sure you already know.” She gestured to the blond elf. “This is Bruhintu, brother of Nehrutu, and on my other side, Lhasari, who is a cousin of Mohanisi. I thought it appropriate that they should join us.”
Selena bowed and smiled warmly. “You are indeed most welcome.” She turned her attention to Lhasari. “I wish your cousin was here, but he is with my husband.”
This drew a look of displeasure from the elf.
“And my brother?” asked Bruhintu.
“He is with Darshan,” Aaliyah answered, quickly adding: “Or as you know him – Shivis Mol.”
“And where is Shivis Mol now?” asked Estrella, her eyes fixed firmly on Aaliyah.
“The answer to that will take much explanation,” she replied coldly. “If you would sit, I will tell you everything that has transpired.”
The three elves sat on the chairs offered.
“First of all, it would be best if you know the story from its very beginning,” Aaliyah continued. “And that would be best told by Queen Selena.”
Selena nodded and began the tale, first of all telling them everything she knew about the Dark Knight. For more than two hours she explained all the events leading up to the war, including a background of the first Great War. Mention of this brought uncomfortable glances from the elves, but she ignored them and pressed on.
“And that is what has brought us to this present state of affairs,” she finally concluded.
“Interesting,” remarked Estrella impassively. “And what can you add to this story, Aaliyah?”
“Much,” she replied. “But that will take at least as long to tell as did the queen’s part. Perhaps you should take repast first.”
“No,” insisted Estrella. “I would hear what you have to say now.”
Aaliyah bowed and folded her hands in front of her. “As you wish.”
She spoke in detail of her time with Darshan, and of the part they had played in the war. When she mentioned her bonding with Nehrutu, both Estrella and Bruhintu’s eyes widened.
“It seems you have been through much,” Estrella said, once Aaliyah’s tale had ended. She turned to Selena. “I would speak to Aaliyah alone.”
A heavy frown formed on Selena's face. She leaned forward in a forceful posture. “I realize that you are Aaliyah’s kin. But I was unaware you are not accustomed to displaying civility. You have docked in my harbor for days and we have not harassed you. You have been welcomed into my city, and my home. And now you have been entrusted with knowledge reserved for only the trusted few among us. Yet you presume to order me about as if I were a simple servant.” She rose to her feet, her eyes unblinking. “You will address me as Your Highness. I am the Queen of Althetas and deserve courtesy. Do you understand?”
Estrella bowed her head, though her expression remained unreadable. “I apologize if I have been discourteous. It was not my intent. But the events that have led us here, combined with hearing what you and Aaliyah have told us, has robbed me of all else but my purpose.” She stood and bowed again. “Please, Your Highness. I would like to speak to my sister privately.”
Selena’s eyes shot to Aaliyah.
“Yes,” she affirmed. “Estrella is my sister.”
“I should have guessed,” said Selena. “Very well. If you wish to talk alone, I could show Bruhintu and Lhasari around the manor. Your kin have taken much pleasure in the art my house boasts. Perhaps you will too.”
Both elves stood and bowed respectfully in acceptance of her offer. Once Selena had led them from the room, the two women sat, Aaliyah behind the desk and Estrella opposite.
“What have you done, sister,” scolded Estrella.
“Only what I knew to be right.”
“You were sent here to bond with Shivis Mol. Not to get involved in the wars and politics of this savage world.”
“I have already told you what has happened since we arrived,” she retorted. “I was unable to bond with Darshan. He loved another. As did I.”
Estrella’s face darkened. “Yes. Nehrutu. I should have never allowed him to go with you. His feelings for you have clearly influenced your objectivity.”
“You are wrong. My feelings for him had only been set aside out of a sense of duty. They were always as strong as his were for me. All we have done is complete a bond that should never have been ignored in the first place.”
Estrella shook her head. “You have shamed yourself. And you have endangered our people.”
Aaliyah sniffed. “Our people were already in danger. We were just unaware of it. I involved myself because there was a need. This world will not suffer isolation now that the barrier is down. We fight not only to save this land, but our own as well.”
“Nonsense. What power could conquer us? Only the gods themselves possess such strength. You have allowed the fear that pervades the people here to infect you.” Estrella clicked her tongue. “I pity you, dear sister.”
Her smug, arrogant manner caused Aaliyah's anger to rise. “And you, dear sister, speak from ignorance.”
“You see?” she chided. “Your rage comes out so easily now. Your passions govern your actions. No longer can you control yourself…and no longer can you be trusted it seems.”
“That is not for you to say,” she countered. “My loyalty has never been in question. And though you are my sister, do not presume to know my heart…or my motives.”
“Are you not bonded to Nehrutu? Are you not engaged in a war that is not your own? Have you accomplished even a single task assigned you?” A hint of suppressed anger burned in Estrella's eyes. “And where are your ships?” She held out her hand before Aaliyah could reply. “Do not even bother to try and justify the death of so many of our kin. Or that you allowed those who survived to march off to certain death with the husband of this human queen. I am sorry, sister, but you are not worthy of the position you have been given.”
She rose gracefully to her feet and turned her back before speaking again. “You may have wondered why I bothered to come here.”
“I have,” Aaliyah admitted. “Your work with the builders was only just beginning when I left. I am greatly surprised that you would abandon it.”
“I came because I love you,” she replied. Her tone was suddenly tender and kind. “You are my family. And now that mother is gone, my only family. When I was told of your encounter with Shivis Mol and the conflict ravaging this land, I knew I had to come to your aid.”
“Then aid me,” Aaliyah said. “Why berate and insult me?”
“I am aiding you.” Her voice dropped to a mere whisper. “You are to board my ship immediately and return home.”
Aaliyah sprang up from her chair. “I wi
ll not! You have no authority over me.”
Estrella turned to face her sister again. There was both sadness and pity in her expression. “I am afraid that I do. I was sent by the elders to ascertain the situation and deal with it as I see fit. And given your current condition, I have no other choice. You will return home, and I will ensure that the bond between the elf Kaylia and Shivis Mol is broken.”
Aaliyah let out a scornful laugh. “So that you may bond to him yourself?”
“If I can.”
“Then you are a fool. You do not wield the power to sever their bond. And even if you did, Darshan would never join himself to you.”
“Perhaps not,” she said. “But I will try, nonetheless. And if that means the death of his current mate…” The idea of killing one of her own kind was clearly upsetting to her, and the final few words stuck in her throat for a moment. “Then so be it.”
“None of this matters,” Aaliyah told her. “You will never be able to get close to her. And I will not leave.”
“I am truly sorry, but there will be no more debate. As we speak, a team of elves await my command to force your compliance, though I do hope you will come willingly. And, as far as the elf Kaylia is concerned, the human named Jacob gave us all the information we required. Believe me when I say that I did not enjoy playing on his trust, but it was necessary. And though the people here imagined we have been idle aboard our ships, we have not. I sent scouts out to gather the rest of what I needed to know. Long before you arrived, I knew that you had failed and that another had bonded with Darshan.” She reached out and touched Aaliyah’s hand. “No matter. That has already been attended to. By now she is either dead - the bond broken - or both.”
Aaliyah recoiled at her touch. “You have no idea what you have done. Darshan will....”
The door to the library suddenly burst open, causing the two women to spin around. Approaching them with long, confident strides was Kaylia, her eyes ablaze with unyielding intent.
“Darshan will not need to know of your stupidity,” she said, her voice booming off the walls and startling Estrella. “And before you ask...yes, I am Kaylia, unorem of Darshan and mother to his child. And you are an arrogant fool who is lucky I am not the untempered youth I once was. Otherwise, I would burn you to ashes for what you tried to do.”
Aaliyah's face lit up. “How did you know? How did you escape?”
Kaylia’s furious gaze never left Estrella. “It was not I who needed to escape.”
Estrella's look of surprise quickly faded, to be replaced by an imperious smirk. “So, you evaded my people, only to deliver yourself to me. And you think to call me a fool?”
“I did not evade your people,” Kaylia corrected. “I allowed them to live. That they were my kin and thought they were doing right was the only thing that saved them.” She took hold of Aaliyah’s hand. “And what saves you now is that you are Aaliyah's sister. She is as a sister to me as well, so I will confine my wrath.”
Kaylia looked deep into Aaliyah's eyes. “Are you all right?”
She smiled and nodded. “Though for a moment, I feared that you had been killed.”
“Those she sent did not possess the power to harm me.”
“But how did you know they were coming?” Aaliyah asked.
The corners of Kaylia's mouth turned up into a tiny smile. Pride washed over her entire aspect. “Jayden told me.”
Aaliyah gasped, then laughed loudly for several seconds. After calming herself, she looked at her sister. “Forgive me, Estrella. But you really should do as Kaylia says.”
Estrella closed her eyes, but they quickly shot open again, filled with frustration.
“You will not summon your people to come here,” cautioned Kaylia. “I will not allow it. It would only result in needless deaths.”
Estrella’s face turned red with fury. “Just because you are able to block my connection to my kin, that does not mean you have the strength to prevent me from doing what I came here to do.”
“I can do more than that,” Kaylia warned. “I can trap your spirit, and the spirits of all your people, should you threaten me or those whom I love again.”
Estrella snickered. “You lie. No elf possesses the power of the spirit.”
“You think not? Aaliyah does. Nehrutu and Mohanisi as well. All of them have learned to use the flow of the spirit.”
Estrella looked to Aaliyah. “Is this true? Have you achieved such power?”
Aaliyah nodded.
“How is this possible?”
Kaylia’s face softened. “Through the same love that you would seek to destroy. You are so like Aaliyah was when she arrived on these shores. And had I not been so immature, I would have known what to do when we first met.” Suddenly, the room lit up with a million tiny lights, and the tinkling of bells and laughter filled their hearts with unrestrained bliss.
“Behold – the spirit of this world,” Kaylia continued. “It has been denied to you for far too long. Its beauty and majesty has been just out of reach. But no longer.”
She paused to smile at Estrella. “You did not come here because you need the power of Darshan. Nor have you come to enlighten your kin. Though your powers are great and your spirit a match, you are really no different to the elves…or even the humans....of this land. And soon you will see that. And when you do, you will know the joy that both your sister and I feel when we imagine the future.”
For a while, Estrella was unable to speak. She reached out to touch the lights with her fingertips, a tiny laugh escaping her lips each time. “How is this done?” she asked finally.
Kaylia took both of her hands. “Through love. Nothing else can bring you to this place. And you have it within you. We all do. It is the one thing all people, be they human or elf, have in common. But unlike humans, we are fortunate enough to be able to see it manifested.”
Kaylia drew Estrella’s spirit into her own. “Can you feel it now?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
Kaylia let the flow slowly subside and helped Estrella into her chair. She and Aaliyah then sat close beside her.
After a few minutes, Estrella looked up at Kaylia, her face awash with regret. “Can you ever forgive my ignorance?”
“Of course,” she replied. “Think no more about it. We are all guilty of ignorance at some point. And as I said. Aaliyah is as a sister to me. So I will think of you in the same way.”
“And you, Aaliyah. Can you...?”
“There is nothing to forgive. I love you, and I know that you acted because of your love for me – and for our people.”
“So what should I do now?” Estrella asked. “If the battle is already joined, we can be of no help to Darshan, or to King Lousis. What use can we serve?”
“War has ravaged this land,” answered Kaylia. “Your people have skills that are desperately needed and would be most welcome.”
“You shall have all that I can provide,” Estrella assured her.
“The queen and Jacob will know where you are most needed,” Aaliyah said.
“Then I will see to it at once.”
“Not yet.” Aaliyah gently squeezed her sister's arm. “We have some time, and I have missed you dearly. Will you sit with me and talk for a while?”
Estrella gave her a loving smile. “Yes. I would like that.” She looked to Kaylia, who was about to rise. “And you should stay too.”
“You must forgive me,” she said. “But I left my son in Valshara and am anxious to return to him.”
Estrella nodded understandingly. “Of course.”
After exchanging embraces with the two of them, Kaylia left the room.
“I did not want to ask her,” said Estrella, once they were alone. “But are you certain that Darshan will prevail?”
Aaliyah smiled. “Certain? No. But I do have faith.”
Chapter Sixteen
King Lousis wiped away the blood dribbling down his face and steeled himself to face a fresh wave of attackers. Never before had
he seen the armies of Angrääl moving with such alacrity and precision. The enemy’s constantly repeated battle cry of “Never to Kratis” rolled across the field like ominous claps of thunder.
Their first battle had gone well. Mohanisi had been absolutely correct about the enemy's location, also their relatively few numbers. In less than a day they'd had them on their heels and in full retreat. This new and unexpected engagement however, was something completely different.
Whereas before they had easily outnumbered the enemy, this time it appeared as if the Reborn King had sent every soldier he had out to fight. Even so, with the elves easily able to navigate such obstacles, the rocky terrain should have given an advantage to Lousis' men. Only it wasn't working out that way. The positioning and adjustments of the enemy was uncanny.
“Fall back, Your Highness,” shouted one of his guards. “They’re coming again.”
But Lousis knew there could be no retreat. He could hear the clashing of steel close behind him. Their right side had collapsed and they had been flanked. To go back would only put him in greater danger.
“Then let them come!” he yelled.
It was almost with a feeling of relief when he saw that the soldiers bearing down on them were clad in the typical armor of Angrääl. The native barbarians also fighting for the Reborn King wore animal skins and carried giant axes or swords as long as a man. Their savagery had already gained them a fearsome reputation.
His guard took the brunt of the assault. The sound of steel clashing on steel, together with the crazed shouting of the combatants, combined to create a deafening demonic symphony. Hard as Lousis' guard fought, it wasn't long before two enemy soldiers slipped through the line and ran straight for the king.
He gripped his sword and broadened his stance. The first attacker to reach him swung his blade in a high arc, threatening to split him in twain. But it was a clumsy movement. Lousis had time to step aside and ram his shoulder into the man, sending him stumbling to the ground. Without hesitation, the king then crouched low and was just in time to thrust his sword straight into the second onrushing attacker’s gullet.
The Godling Chronicles : Bundle - Books 4-6 Page 86
