“Yes, I suppose,” Lumene agreed. “Good bye, and don’t go anywhere today!” she directed Silas, then left the room.
“You’re never going to last, are you?” Forna asked when the two visitors were gone. “You certainly don’t seem like you’re ever going to learn.
“Don’t go off cheating on this princess. And by cheating, I don’t mean chasing after women – I mean don’t go chasing L’Anvien too quickly. Take time to make Lumene happy. She loves you, and how many times are you going to find someone as smart and beautiful as her who is going to love you?” Forna asked ruthlessly. “She’s a princess, and she had to be a serious person – you should respect all that she is responsible for. Think about the village elders of Brigamme; would you upset them or bend their rules?”
“I’m not going to do anything to start another battle, really. I just want to talk to Kestrel. The gods said he and I would work together, so I’d like to know him a little better,” Silas protested. “And yes, you’re right, she takes her role as princess seriously. I haven’t had to think about that before, when all I had to focus on was fighting L’Anvien, but I do see it now.”
He thought back to the days after he and Lumene had led a chase through the mountains and come back to face a battle that Lumene’s rebel followers had won. He had seen Lumene change from being his passive traveling companion to proactively taking charge of the rebels and making decisions. It had been a startling metamorphosis. And it had been a prelude to what he was seeing now, and feeling impact his own life.
“Alright,” Forna closed the conversation. “That’s settled. So, you want to take me to the armory now? I haven’t been there in the whole time I’ve been in this palace watching after you,” she said.
The pair found their way to the armory, and were soon padded and practicing. Silas needed only a few minutes to recover nearly all his highly-honed skills, while Forna charmed the male officers at the armory by needing much instruction.
The cousins finished their work out when the members of the palace guard departed for their evening meal.
Silas and Forna were both invited to the dinner with the queen the following night. Much to Silas’s surprise, a dozen people were invited to sit for the meal.
“It’s quite exciting to be at such an intimate event,” Silas heard one dowager tell another as they prepared to sit down at the long table. Silas was seated in the center, while the Queen and Princess sat at either end.
Silas looked across the table in bewilderment at Forna, as he examined the number of spoons and forks that were lined up in front of him. She motioned with her eyes for him to observe the others around him, and he cautiously did so, while listening to the two elderly women on either side of him attempt to make chitchat with him. Neither knew who he was or what he had accomplished to be invited to such a gathering, while the two laughed over incidents in their youth, when they had grown up with the Queen as a young girl.
“We never got caught for throwing all the palace flags in the fountain one night. The head steward was furious! He thought Crayol, the queen’s brother, had done it! Crayol got sent to army camp for a month as punishment during the ball season, and missed all the dances!” the ladies laughed, making Silas smile at the thought of the young Queen pulling pranks.
When the women asked Silas what his title was, he stuttered before telling the truth. “I don’t have a title,” he admitted. “I come from a small village in the mountains on the mainland, and no one there had a title. I am a Tracker and a Speaker though,” he thought the two Guild memberships might seem relevant, without getting into the more extraordinary, though true, claims he could make.
“A commoner!” the women were astonished at the idea of his attendance, and told him at great length about what an honor it was for him to be in attendance at such a small gathering with the royal family.
“Silas,” the table grew silent, as the Queen raised her voice to speak to him. “I understand your health is much improved,” she mentioned, as he stared at her intently, wanting to make sure that he heard everything she said correctly. “And I understand you had the same extraordinary healing experience that my daughter experienced once upon a time when she had an incident in the mountains.
“Do you really believe that this magic spring water can cure any illness of any type?” the Queen asked.
The women on either side stared at him, shocked that the Queen would speak to him.
“It seems to have the power to help every ailment I’ve ever known of, your majesty,” he answered deferentially. “If you feel ill, I could arrange to have some of the water delivered to you as soon as you request,” he recollected a set of yet unopened water skins that were still in his room, left from when he had been trying to heal his severed foot.
“Yes, please have something delivered for my physician to administer,” the Queen spoke in a polite voice, and then turned to the man beside her and opened a conversation with him.
“You’re most honored!” one of his neighbors insisted. “The Queen spoke directly to you, a commoner!”
Silas looked over at Forna, who rolled her eyes, then responded to a question from an officer of the palace guard who sat next to her.
The meal seemed to be an extraordinary long and tedious affair to Silas, who never felt more relief than when the Queen stood and made her departure, accompanied by Lumene. Silas said good night to his neighbors, then got out of the dining room as quickly as possible.
Forna caught up to him quickly, and they walked back to their room, exchanging comments.
“That was awful!” Silas exclaimed. “I thought I was supposed to have dinner with the Queen! Not with those two old ladies!”
“Those women were astonished that I was a commoner,” Silas commented. “It made me understand Lumene’s concerns about me being a commoner a little better.”
“The Guard officer next to me said that the butler mixed up a couple of events. There was supposed to be a small event in the palace, and our dinner with the Queen was supposed to be separate, but the butler put them together as one dinner,” Forna told him.
“Well, whatever made it happen, I’m glad it’s over. I’ll have to send a skin of water to the Queen. I’m not sure her physician will know what to do with it though,” Silas considered.
“Maybe you could have an imp deliver it personally,” Forna said brightly. “That might help get his attention.”
Silas smiled at the thought.
Soon after they were back in their room, Silas climbing into his bed as Forna used the pallet set up for her, there was a knock at the door.
“Silas,” Jade stepped through the doorway, “Lumene asked if you could come visit her down the hall.”
Silas wrapped a robe around himself and joined Jade.
“I heard that was a disaster!” Jade clutched Silas’s hand in hers as they walked. “The Princess is furious!”
Lumene told him as much herself, moments later.
“That idiot butler! Mother should have sent him away when we expelled the Ivaric forces,” she fumed when Silas joined her in her suite. “That was supposed to be so much more. Mother knows it didn’t go well, and she’s sorry she couldn’t get to know you. Perhaps we’ll try again?” the princess asked hopefully.
“If you feel it’s the right thing to do, we’ll try again. And I’ll give you a skin of water for your mother. Maybe that will make her feel so good she’ll give me a title!” Silas answered brightly, making Lumene laugh and hug him.
“Maybe there’s a way to take care of this commoner matter,” Forna said speculatively when Silas re-entered the room later. “As if being the person who single-handedly defeated Ivaric in battle after battle isn’t better than any tired old title of nobility! I’ll figure out a way to fix this,” she murmured, before rolling over to go to sleep.
Silas left their room the next morning to go to the armory again, but Forna demurred joining him. “I’d like to go visit Sloeleen,” she replied. “I haven’t seen
her in a couple of days.”
The following day, Silas called the imps in the late afternoon.
“Could you take me directly to the home of Kestrel the elf?” Silas asked.
“You mean after we go to the spring of wonderful dreams?” Odare tried to clarify.
“Before or after,” Silas agreed.
“We know Kestrel-friend’s home very well,” the imps bragged.
“He has a market to sell mushrooms!” Stillwater exclaimed. “We give the traders tiny rocks from our river, and they give us mushrooms! It is the most outrageous way to steal – sometimes I think I liked the old ways better, when we just pulled pranks and stole little things from the elves of the Marches. It seems too easy this way,” he ruminated.
There was an eventual agreement to deliver Silas to the Elven kingdom the following day.
Chapter 33
Silas stood and looked around in amazement when the imps delivered him to the front gates of the manor where Kestrel lived. He was on a village street, facing a wooden gate that stood open, with a guard standing at casual ease.
The guard spoke to him in the elvish language, a language Silas didn’t understand.
“He says,” Stillwater helpfully began to translate, “That a friend of the imps must be a good person, even if you are a human, though really, humans aren’t so bad, once you get to know them. He wants to know if you’re here to see the Lord of the Western Marches.”
“I’m here to see Kestrel. Is that his title?” Silas asked Stillwater, while facing the elven guard.
Stillwater took matters into his own hands and began a conversation with the guard, who soon invited Silas to enter. They crossed a grassy yard, and strode up to a large door, where Stillwater told Silas to open and enter.
Stillwater called loudly as soon as the small group was inside the entry hall, and an elven maid came hurrying forward. She asked a question, which Stillwater answered once again, and the young lady led them into a small study, where Silas sat politely as the imps circled slowly around the room, talking to one another in elvish.
“Hello Silas, I remember meeting you at the healing spring,” Kestrel’s wife entered the room, carrying a tray with a pitcher and two cups.
Silas remembered the human woman, who had been at the spring when he’d awoken from his earlier extended healing at the spring, when he’d needed to recover from the battle that destroyed the Ivaric invasion fleet. She was Kestrel’s wife, a striking human woman who was married to an elf and lived among the elves.
“My lady, it’s good to see you again,” Silas stood quickly.
“My name’s Gail, you probably don’t remember – we hardly saw each other at the spring,” she graciously reintroduced herself as she took a seat and motioned for Silas to do the same.
“Hello imps, one and all,” she looked overhead. “It’s good to have our neighbors visiting. I think we’ve finished adding to the market place now, so on the next market day I hope you’ll find everything to your satisfaction,” she informed them.
“We are always happy to trade white pebbles for nourishing mushrooms,” Odare replied. “And your efforts make it easier and easier all the time. We are in your debt!”
“Kestrel will be down in just a moment,” Gail advised them. “I’m sure he’ll be surprised by such a momentous visit. He wasn’t expecting you, was he?” she asked.
“No, I’ve just asked the imps to help me drop in, uninvited, and if this is a bad time, I understand,” Silas apologized.
“It’s not a bad time at all,” Kestrel himself spoke from the doorway, and Silas stood again.
“It’s quite a pleasant surprise to have a visitor who comes from some place so far away that we don’t even know where we are in relationship to one another,” the elf said as he motioned for Silas to sit, then took a seat next to Gail.
“Silas friend is closer to figuring out the locations of the lands,” Stillwater blurted out.
“Are you?” Kestrel asked with interest. “How exciting. It must be quite a mental challenge. How are you doing it?”
Silas started to look at Stillwater, surprised and embarrassed by the imp’s claim, but Stillwater spoke up.
“Silas has determined that we have about eight or nine hours difference between our lands. When it is morning here – as it is now – it is already afternoon in his land. So he is far, far to the east of here,” Stillwater explained.
“That’s good logic,” Kestrel complimented Silas, who looked up at Stillwater in amazement. While Silas had deciphered the differences in the times of sunrise and sunset, it hadn’t occurred to him that it was also a measurement of distance in such a direct and obvious way. The imp had given the matter more thought than Silas had. Imps were perhaps not as simple as they seemed.
“Have you heard from Kai recently?” Silas asked the question directly, after being thrown off balance by Stillwater’s unexpected comment.
“Not recently,” Kestrel replied. “There was a time when I seemed to hear from her every time I turned around,” he grinned. “It’s one of the rewards – and challenges – that comes with being a champion of the gods.”
“Kestrel,” a melodious female voice suddenly filled the room, coming from no visible source. “Ask your imp friends to bring you and Silas to my temple in Hydrotaz. I will speak with you there.”
The room was silent, as even the imps held still, absorbing the power of the voice of the deity speaking to them.
“Kestrel friend, may we take you and Silas friend to Hydrotaz?” Stillwater asked. Before Kestrel even answered, Stillwater began to silently summon more imps.
Kestrel rose to his feet and looked at Gail. “I wasn’t expecting this, any of this, my love, honestly. I’ll be back as quickly as I can,” he told her as they locked hands together.
“Will this take long?” Gail looked at Silas and asked.
“I don’t know,” he shook his head in bewilderment. “I didn’t expect anything like this.
“I’m sorry to disrupt your schedule,” he added.
Kestrel released Gail’s hands, and thumped Silas’s back. “If we thought you were manipulating the gods to arrange things, we’d have handled your visit differently,” he laughed, as the new set of imps appeared in the room.
The two men were quickly surrounded by imps, and then disappeared from the room.
“That was fast,” Gail murmured to herself before she took a sip of water. “But when a goddess calls you, I suppose it’s a good idea to respond quickly.”
Chapter 34
The two groups of imps took the two travelers to two slightly different places.
Kestrel was taken inside the Eastern Forest embassy in Hydrotaz, while Silas was placed outside the embassy, in a small yard between the embassy’s street side walls and its building walls.
The imps who had deposited Silas in place were unfamiliar to him.
He looked around and saw no one else in the yard with him.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” he asked the imps as he looked up at them.
“You – intruder – leave at once or suffer,” an elven guard suddenly appeared nearby and threatened Silas; the guard spoke the human language fairly well for an elf but had a less than perfect command.
“I don’t mean to cause trouble,” Silas held his hands in front of him and stepped slowly backwards. “Is this Hydro,” he paused, uncertain of the exact name that he had heard Kai mention.
“Leave now, or I’ll attack,” the guard threatened, pulling a long knife from his belt and stepping forward.
“Where did the other imps put Kestrel?” Silas called up to his carriers.
“Very close by; perhaps inside?” one of the imps replied. “none of us have been here before, so we may not have read the directions correctly.”
“Leave now!” the guard insisted.
“I’m trying,” Silas barked back at the guard. He took another step backwards, trying to show that he wasn’t going to attack.
“Hey! Look! There’s magic in the elven embassy!” a passerby on the street shouted.
“Magical powers? Is it the Viathins? Have they returned to attack us again?” another voice shouted.
The guard threw his knife at Silas, and he threw with all his might, sure that he could force the knife to penetrate the inexplicable blue shield and then harm the strange menace that had breached the walls of the embassy.
The knife struck Silas’s dome and deflected straight up into the air.
“Stop! Everyone stop!” a woman’s voice called suddenly from a window in the embassy building.
“That is where you should be,” one of the imps noted. “Up where the loud one is.”
Silas looked up, and saw an elven woman looking down from the upper floor window. She was a woman with exotic good looks, Silas thought. Her eyebrows and short hair gave her a look of mysterious and unknowable depth and intrigue.
“Are you Silas?” she asked. “Kestrel said to find you.”
“I’m Silas. I was supposed to travel here with Kestrel, but my imps put me down in the wrong place,” Silas answered.
An immediate chorus of indignant chatter commenced from the imps.
“Millfloe, he is an invited guest. Show him into the embassy and up to my calling room,” Lucretia, the ambassador to Hydrotaz, commanded the guard.
Silas waved in appreciation to Lucretia, who pulled her head back into the embassy, then he looked at Millfloe the guard, and cautiously released his grip on his energy, letting his blue shield evaporate away.
“Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?” the guard complained. “And where did my knife go?”
As he asked the question, the knife returned from its deflected throw up into the air, and it landed on the lawn between the two combatants.
“There it is,” Silas couldn’t help himself. He felt the guard had been hasty in escalating the confrontation between the two, when it hadn’t needed to be a confrontation at all.
Foundations Broken and Built Page 31
