“I will do that uncle, and I will also ask her why she won’t talk to you. I know that she talks to the morden and the drakenhawks. Maybe she just didn’t like the way you smelled,” she said with a giggle. “You were pretty ripe when you showed up here last night.”
“Yes, maybe she’ll feel differently now that I’m clean and have fresh clothing on. I think all of us are going through a lot of change right now. I’m not sure why, but you seem to be the catalyst that is triggering it in many different areas. And speaking of change, your uncle and Clayre were certainly stretched over the course of our journey to Urafiki, and I think they will continue to be during the time they are living with the Amarani.”
He then told her about her uncle and Clayre and how they had been affected by the many experiences and changes in their lives.
“Even though I was honest with you when I told you that your uncle was healing well and was hoping to be able to travel to Findara in a few months time, what you don’t know is the challenges that his anxiety gave us while we were trying to get him to safety. One of our biggest challenges with him was when Kierra lost touch with you and couldn’t let us know for sure if you were still alive. He was so full of anxiety that the healers were afraid that it would bring on a heart attack or another illness. One of the main reasons that we kept traveling at the pace we did, was that he insisted that I leave him and go join you. We definitely hit some rough patches in our relationship when I refused.”
“But they are both alright now, aren’t they? And why did you say living with the Amarani would stretch them?”
“Most people find the Amarani very different in both appearance and values than other races. Their appearance is very unique. They are a very tall, and sometimes a very large people. A male Amarani can often reach a height of more than seven feet and the women normally measure well over six feet tall. That is tall, even to elves. They also dress very differently from us. By our standards they wear very little and what they do wear is often made of some sort of animal skin. They also enjoy wearing jewelry made up of objects that have significance to them; a tooth from a fierce predator, a bone from an enemy or an ancestor, or a braid of hair from a defeated foe.
The skin of the Amarani people is also very different. Just like you and I seem strange to others because of our extremely pale skin, the Amarani can seem strange as well because theirs is a rich mahogany. The shade of their skin varies, just like the skin of the people in your village, with some being paler while others are darker in color.
The Amarani view their hair as their crowning glory and would never consider cutting it, on themselves or their morden. Their hair is almost always a light shade of gold, like the winter wheat you see growing in the fields in early summer. The men wear it pulled tightly up in a top knot and it flows loose from there, often to their waist or below. The women fix their hair in varying styles; some wear it up, some wear it in braids, and others wear it loose and flowing. It is an unspoken law among the Amarani to never cut their hair.
The Amarani are not just fierce to behold, they are mighty warriors as well. The first time I met Hodari, it took me quite a while to believe that he wouldn’t turn on me at any moment. At the same time, they are a very loving people who cherish family and friendship. One of the reasons I had no fear in leaving your uncle and Clayre with them was that they will tend to them as one of their own and will guard them with their lives if need be.
The Amarani are a very old race of people and were the original breeders of the morden. They have always kept the breed pure, never inbreeding or over breeding them. Once they realized that the morden were sentient, they encouraged them to establish their own society and have worked hard to learn more about them. My grandfather discovered the Amarani and the morden while out patrolling our side of the border between us. A friendship was established immediately. The chief elder of the Amarani generously gifted my grandfather with a pair of morden, which started the herd that exists in Findara today.”
Hearing the news about her uncle overwhelmed Elwyn with joy, and she had to fight to hold back her tears. She could definitely see how living among the Amarani might be an adjustment for them both, especially for Clayre who had never been away from her village. She had every confidence that Clayre would find some way to make herself useful, and that any strangeness she felt about the Amarani’s appearance and abilities would fade quickly until it had no significance at all. She, herself, was a perfect example of Clayre’s ability to do just that. She was also sure that Rhys would adjust. From reading her mother’s diary she knew that his background lent itself to dealing and adapting to the many different races in the Known Lands. Besides, her uncle was curious, and that curiosity would cause him to want to know everything he could as soon as he was well enough to do so. Elwyn felt a huge sense of relief that Ayron had taken them where he did, and was very grateful to him for getting them there safely.
Elwyn, deciding to give her uncle a break from talking, began to share some of the experiences she had during her journey to Kren with him.
“Our first night was uneventful, but by the second, the woodlands were closing in and neither Thane nor I felt good about stopping.”
“Why did you make the decision to camp if you both felt that uncomfortable?”
“We thought about riding on through the night, but Keroc had not had any food, except for the jerky I fed him earlier that afternoon, since the last time you sent him to hunt. Neither Thane nor I knew much about how to care for a drakenhawk and we were afraid that Keroc would get sick or injure himself if he didn’t eat. I could sense that he was hungry and tired from flying scout and standing watch, so I felt that we should stop and Thane agreed. After all, he was a member of our group and we needed to learn to care for and support each other.”
“I hear what you are saying and I think that, under the circumstances and given the information you had, you made a logical choice. I think that you should learn from this experience though. Sometimes doing the logical thing is not necessarily the right choice. Keroc needs to learn to tap into all of your feelings. If he had and realized how nervous the two of you were about stopping, he would probably have encouraged you to ride on. He also needs to learn to ask if he can travel on the pommel of your saddle when he begins to tire.
As you learn more about drakenhawks, you will come to realize that the young ones do not yet know their own strengths or limitations. When I patrol with Keroc, I make him ride on the pommel of my saddle to rest after each of his scouting flights. That way, I conserve his energy, he requires less food, and gets adequate rest. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to pass all this knowledge along to you or Thane. There was no way for either of you to know how to care for and support him. I feel that part of the tragedy that struck you two has to be laid at my feet, Elwyn. Do not take on the entire burden yourself.
“Oh uncle, I was so unprepared when the first shadow squad struck. I was confused. I heard Gemma acting strangely in the field and went to see what was wrong. I realized we were under attack as an arrow passed within inches of my shoulder. I did my best to help Thane, as did Raffe, Gemma and Keroc, but Thane still died, sacrificing his life for me. I keep going over that battle in my mind wondering if I could have done something to prevent his death. I should have called out to Keroc, I should have made sure the man I shot was really dead, and I shouldn’t have hesitated to take the lives of those hideous killers. I still feel heartsick when I think about Thane’s death.”
“Elwyn, learning to be a soldier is much different than learning to hunt. The difference is that most of the time, the enemy has a face and a life outside of the fight being fought. A soldier has to learn to get past this and not look at the enemy with humane eyes. It is a hard thing to do, so don’t beat yourself up for hesitating. You only met Keroc two days before you were attacked. For someone who didn’t even realize his race existence until recently, you are the quickest study I have ever seen. The fact that you didn’t automatically think to
call him was because you are not life-bonded with him, nor was Thane. And when it comes to the assassin’s archers, they fooled us also. I had no idea that they feign injury and even death to be in a position to attack later in the battle, or disappear into the shadows so they can form another team and attack again.
Above all, please remember that Thane was a soldier and the greatest honor a soldier can have is to die for his country or his people. Thane’s mother is dead and his father, who is also a soldier, will be happy to know that his son died courageously and in defense of the next ruler of Silvendil.”
At this point Keroc began to bob his head and hop from one foot to another. Ayron said that Keroc agreed with him and that she should not feel bad about what had happened to either of them.
“Elwyn, it is alright to grieve someone that you have come to know as a friend or a companion, but to try to take on the responsibility of someone else’s sacrifice is wrong. Both Thane and Keroc chose to do what they did, knowing the possible consequences. I hope you can see that this is not your burden to bear.”
Not completely sure that she agreed with her uncle’s assessment, she began speaking to him about her other two brushes with the assassins as she continued on her journey to Kren.
“I took Thane’s advice and attempted to ride straight through to Kren without stopping, except to get water and to let the Gemma and Raffe rest for short periods of time. The first squad tried to ambush me just after nightfall. I shot at two of them and Gemma ran one down. We kept moving quickly and the mist closed in before I could see just how much damage we did. Just before dawn, when a dim light began to filter through the trees, I saw three of them waiting on the road ahead of me. I shot one, fought one, and the morden took care of the third. I noticed one of them was wounded so it may have been the group that attacked us earlier, giving it another go. This time, I got down from Gemma and slit the throats of each one to make sure that they couldn’t attack me again.
I have to tell you, that without the information on the shadow squads and the fighting strategies that I learned from Thane, I doubt I would have made it to Kren alive. Of course the companions were instrumental in helping me not lose my sanity with all that was happening to me. Also, Kierra, the drakenhawk queen, was both comforting and informative during my travels. She kept me going when I felt frightened and alone.”
Elwyn also shared with him that she had just begun to understand the complexities of the relationships between the companions and other races, as well as the companions with each other. Ayron was shocked to hear that the drakenhawks communicated with the morden, and that both the morden and the drakenhawks could communicate with each other over long distances. What she found really fascinating was a fact that she had not yet shared with Ayron; the werecats were able to communicate with all of them as well. She wanted to wait until they had caught up on each other’s adventures and to share the last part of hers with him.
“I have to admit that the last part of my journey was probably even more traumatizing than the first. I was so totally exhausted when I finally saw the village that I could barely hang on to Gemma. As I drew near to the village, my heart sank when I realized that my safe haven was completely abandoned and verging on collapse. I guess what bothered me the most was the nagging sense of danger that kept tickling at the hair on the back of my neck. I will admit that I was able to get some rest while I waited for you in Kren and regain some of the energy I expended on the way there. It gave the companions a chance to rest and recuperate as well. The down side of staying in the deserted village was that I had no idea if another shadow squad would find me and decide to strike while I was there.”
“I have a feeling that, if the assassins knew that you were staying in Kren, they probably just assumed that there were villagers there and stayed outside the area waiting for you to leave. After all,” Ayron said with a laugh. “Who in the world would stay in a deserted village alone if they knew assassins were after them? And no one in their right mind enters Wheryn...it’s a death sentence.”
They both realized that the sheer improbability of the situation was probably what saved Elwyn’s life. Both Ayron and Elwyn felt a bit restless from sitting and got up and took a leisurely walk to where the morden were grazing. It was hard to believe how many hours they had already talked and had barely scratched the surface of what they needed and wanted to discuss with each other. Ayron checked Gerrack’s wounds and praised Elwyn again for her ability to treat them. On the way back to the campsite, they stopped and picked up some more wood for the fire and water for tea. When they got back, Ayron built up the fire, while Elwyn put some deer meat and potatoes on to roast. Ayron made them each a mug of hot tea, and they started their discussions again.
Ayron started the conversation by telling Elwyn something he did know about; her father, Lord Azavon.
“Your father is a very dedicated ruler and has a passion for all the races that live in Silvendil. He throws himself into ruling our nation with his whole heart. Sometimes, though, I think he does it because he still struggles with so much grief. He has never been able to get past the death of your mother and the death of the child they both wanted so much. When Azavon heard of Rhianna’s death, it was as if something in him died as well. He continues to struggle with a terrible sense of guilt, because he was told she committed suicide and he blames himself for not realizing that she was so unhappy.”
“I understand a grief so strong that it can consume a person. My uncle Rhys sounds much like my father. Within a few weeks time he lost the two people he loved more than anything else in the world. He has never been able to get past the death of his wife Alesia and their unborn child. And, I believe that most of the hope for a bright future died in him as he also had to watch his twin sister die before his eyes. He has never been able to talk about Alesia or my mother since that time, so he stays stuck in that terrible sinkhole of grief for his losses, and guilt because he couldn’t do anything to save either of them.
I hope that when my father learns that my mother didn’t commit suicide, it will help him to get some closure and to move on. Having read my mother’s diary while I was in Kren, I can tell him that she was full of life until she passed on. The diary, even toward the end, was not about lying down and dying, but about living and loving.”
As she talked, tears filled Ayron’s eyes, for he had loved Rhianna as well and had always wondered why he had not been able to sense that she was so unhappy. He and Azavon were both shocked when they returned from Grimsfyne to find that she had committed suicide only days before their return.
“I hope that when we get to Findara, my father will read the diary. It should certainly, in my mother’s own words, free him from feeling any guilt. While I was in Kren, I read the entire diary, hoping that I would find answers to some of my own questions, and I have. I definitely have a much more positive view of both you and my father, as you were two of the three people that my mother trusted with her life.
I have to be honest with you though, the diary also planted some concerns in my mind. I am now well aware that my mother’s enemies might still be in Findara and will probably be less than thrilled to find out that she lived long enough to have me.”
“I agree with you, Elwyn. Your uncle brought up some of the same concerns with me before I left to join you. He and I both hope, as we travel north together, we can try to put the pieces together and figure out who our enemies are.”
Elwyn did bring up her concern about Lady Alysan and how cruel she had been to her mother. Ayron was shocked that his sister had openly behaved that badly toward Rhianna.
“I know my sister didn’t particularly like your mother. I don’t think that it had anything to do with her as a person; I think it was just because she was a human. For some reason she has always been very concerned about keeping our family’s bloodlines pure and openly disapproved of Azavon’s marriage. She became even more obsessed after our father died. When she heard that Rhianna was pregnant, she felt sure that th
e people of Silvendil would never accept their child as the next ruler.
She has lived a very politically correct, but empty life. She married an elf who was the son of one of the cabinet ministers, not for love, but because it was a sound political decision. I know that her marriage has not been a happy one, but she did her duty and produced a son. To be honest, I feel sorry for her. I suppose I could be wrong, but as misguided as my sisters views might be, I do not believe that she would have been part of a conspiracy against your mother. I don’t think she could bring herself to commit treason.”
Ayron felt that he and Elwyn would have to explore the dynamics surrounding his sister a bit more before they arrived in Findara. For all he knew, his sister thought that her son Remi would be the next ruler of Silvendil. Lord Azavon never remarried, he was a bachelor with no desire to rule, so that left Alysan. He didn’t think his sister wanted to rule, but she might have a very strong desire to see her son on the throne. If that was so, Ayron could see how Elwyn’s presence might definitely displease her. Not to mention, there was also a definite possibility that her husband and his family would also be unhappy. They would see their chances to have their bloodline infused into the next ruler and any future heirs lost. And there was also the influence they might be able to exert over the throne of Silvendil. All of those dreams and plans would quickly disappear as soon as Elwyn appeared and took her place as Azavon’s daughter and heir.
Elwyn and Ayron were both shocked to notice it was nearing dusk. They both spent some time seeing to the morden. Gerrack’s wounds seemed to be healing nicely and Ayron thanked Elwyn again for seeing to him earlier that day. Ayron dug out the food that Zuri, Hodari’s wife, sent along with him. He had not eaten much of it and, to Elwyn, it looked like a feast. There were dumplings, salted meats, and even some dried fruit. She also sent along a generous supply of tea and several small bags of dried herbs that could be added to their meals as they cooked. Ayron put on another pot of water for tea, while Elwyn set about steaming some dumplings to go along with the roasted deer meat and potatoes. While dinner finished cooking, Ayron and Elwyn began to discuss the werecats and their request for help from Silvendil.
Origin Page 31
