A Marriage of Friends

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “I could have, I suppose, but I didn’t. It was more fun to meet and watch all those people. Humans are a little different from elves; I find it fascinating just to watch them,” she explained patiently. “But it’s fun to be back here with you now,” she mollified him slightly. “What do you want to do?”

  “Let’s go hunting for mushrooms,” he answered eagerly. “There will be another market in two days, so we need to find a big batch.” And the two of them left without further conversation.

  “We’re glad to have you back, my lord,” Whyte told Kestrel. “We didn’t have a translator at the last market, so things were a bit awkward at times.”

  Kestrel and his steward went over the management of the estate. The next day the human traders from Hydrotaz arrived, and were pleased to have Kestrel translate for them, with a successful market held the following day. Although the weather was stormy, Kestrel projected a glowing blue energy roof above the entire square where the market was held, allowing all the buyers and sellers to carry out their business in comfort, to their amazement, adding the story of the market to the increasing lore about Oaktown and the Marches as the most extraordinary place in the Inner Seas.

  Kestrel went to the healing spring with the imps on a regular basis, filling water skins with the magical waters to be used for improving the health of the communities in his domain, while granting the imps the pleasure of soaking in the waters.

  “I don’t know if I should go to Uniontown right now,” Kestrel told Stillwater during one early trip to the spring. He explained the complicated issues related to Lark and himself.

  “You should perhaps not go there too quickly, though if you want to go, we will carry you, of course,” the imp said.

  “You say you will travel to the human cities soon?” Stillwater asked. “Perhaps you should make such a journey, then simply go on from there to Uniontown. That way you can be there soon, but not so soon that you look like you’re kept on the Lark girl’s leash to be pulled in.”

  A month later, Kestrel and Putienne left Oaktown again, to run to Hydrotaz for another wedding. They intended to run to Hydrotaz, then accompany the bridal party to Graylee, where the wedding would be held. From there, the imps would bring Putienne back to Oaktown, while Kestrel would take Stillwater’s advice and go to Uniontown, where he hoped to be received as a returning hero and a potential suitor for Lark.

  Kestrel and Putienne ran to Hydrotaz, spending the first night of their journey at the village inn where Kestrel was a known and welcome visitor after so many visits. They each carried several water skins from the healing spring, water that Kestrel intended to offer as a unique wedding gift that would bring comfort to the newlyweds.

  The following morning they arrived in Hydrotaz, and paid a visit to the Eastern Forest embassy.

  “Things are going better in Center Trunk,” Giardell reported. “Hampus is receiving more cooperation since your visit, and the reconstruction is keeping everyone employed.”

  After the friendly visit, Kestrel and Putienne, along with Lucretia and Giardell, all went to the palace, where they ate dinner with Ferris and Graysen.

  “Her highness is too high strung right now to be a good dinner companion,” Greyson explained politely. “Every conversation is a checklist of the last fifty things that have been done to prepare for the wedding!”

  “Things will calm down after the wedding is over; at least, that’s our prayer,” Ferris told them with a grin.

  “We sent troops to the estate of countess Aster, by the way. The real countess was still there, and had no idea that someone had used her name and pretended to be her,” Greyson told Kestrel.

  That night, unable to sleep, Kestrel left the palace and went to Kai’s temple to seek comfort and guidance. He had spent much of the journey in unspoken turmoil, debating whether he had waited too long to go to Uniontown to seek a reunion with Lark. He thought about the joyous time the two of them had spent together in Seafare, and felt certain that they would enjoy a better time together in Uniontown than their last spell together had been in Lark’s home city.

  “Help me please to know that I am handling this right,” he prayed softly as he knelt at the railing that surrounded Kai’s statute.

  A hooded man came and knelt next to him, to Kestrel’s annoyance. The temple was otherwise empty in the middle of the night, and the man could have picked any spot yards away from Kestrel’s quiet meditation.

  “I think you are handling things properly,” the man whispered. He reached up, pulled his hood back and turned to look at Kestrel, who reacted in shock.

  It was his father, Morph. The elven god was inside the temple to the human goddess.

  “What are you doing here?” Kestrel hissed, his tone a mixture of disbelief, curiosity, and disapproval.

  “I’m here as a father, to counsel you,” Morph said placidly. “Don’t worry, Kai doesn’t mind me being here. She finds me entertaining, and useful from time to time.

  “I was just saying that you don’t need to rush to Uniontown. This is the right pace for you to tread. You’ll find the journey can lead to the perfect outcome for you, Kestrel, if you don’t try to run too fast,” the god said.

  “That’s ironic, coming from you,” Kestrel told his father, still unnerved by the god’s sudden appearance.

  “Touché,” Morph smiled gently. “But it is the truth nonetheless. Go on to Uniontown after your event in Graylee, but don’t go too fast, and don’t be upset by what appears to have gone wrong. There will be a time when it may look bleak, but if you just listen to your heart, be gracious – as you always are – and do what seems right, we’ll all vouch for you,” Morph told him, and then disappeared.

  Kestrel slumped forward, leaning on the railing, as he felt complete confusion engulf his soul. He was confused by the message, confused by the messenger, and confused by the place of delivery. He knelt in silence, waiting for clarification to come – either from his own intuition, or from Morph, or from Kai – from anywhere, but no further enlightenment descended upon him, so after a few minutes he rose to his feet and walked back to the palace and returned to his bedroom, where he eventually found uneasy slumbers overcome his cascading thoughts.

  The next morning, his eyes carrying dark bags, he joined the rest of the sizable Hydrotaz cortege in riding through the gates of the palace and then through the city, in a company that was more colorful and chivalrous than any large group Kestrel had ever ridden with. He watched in amusement as many of the young men of the court who were a part of the entourage carefully approached Putienne, riding alongside her to chat with her, or even sing to her, but always picking the side of her that was furthest from him.

  The journey became more interesting the following day, when thunderstorms rose in the western sky ahead of the parade of riders, and Yulia herself rode back to Kestrel’s location to personally ask him if he could protect the colorful retinue from the wind and the rain that approached.

  “For you, my princess, I will endeavor to do my best,” he bowed in his saddle with a grin, then began to consider the task. Protection from the rain was simple, but protection from the wind was another matter; his shields had always allowed air to flow through, and he didn’t figure out a solution, a way to alter his use of energy to provide the needed protection until after a few bonnets had been blown off the heads of the ladies of the court.

  He strained to maintain the protection, for the shield against the western wind required more energy than his usual shield. He decided to end his protection against the wind after the front of the storm had passed by, and merely kept the entourage dry for the rest of the day.

  After his display of glowing blue power, the next day a trio of Yulia’s ladies at court rode alongside him, and he soon found Putienne’s amused eyes watching him awkwardly handle the flirtatious give-and-take that the courtiers were so practiced at. Though it shouldn’t have, the unexpected exposure of countess Aster as a sorceress had made Kestrel unusually skittish about mee
ting new human noblewomen.

  Philip and a regiment of his palace guard, resplendent in colorful, ceremonial uniforms, were waiting for Yulia at the border between their two nations, and escorted them to a planned campsite for the evening, replete with large tents already pitched, and an orchestra that played tunes for dancing by the light of the cooking fires and lanterns. It was a beautiful spectacle, and Kestrel retreated away from the dance floor to stand among the guards and staff, safe from notice by the ladies of the court, as he watched Yulia and Philip and Putienne all dance through the night.

  The next day the whole group rode together into Graylee city, and Kestrel created a glowing blue tunnel of energy over the main boulevard of the city, and he added glowing jewels to the tops of the towers of the palace, making the city residents cheer and applaud. During the next three days, Kestrel took Putienne around the city, incidentally showing off her beauty to the residents of Graylee, and correcting the confusion of the servants from the palace who had seen the Viathin that had been an imitation of Moorin during Kestrel’s earlier period in the city.

  He introduced Putty to Margo, when she arrived to join in the celebration of her brother’s marriage.

  “Huff doesn’t like to come to Graylee. The city’s too big and the people are too worldly, he says,” Margo tried to explain why she had traveled without her husband. She blushed as she told Kestrel the story though, and he wondered whether there was some other truth behind the arrival of the woman and her two small children. “This is the first time I’ve come to the palace since Philip became king,” she said, leading to explanations for Putienne about the times they had been on the palace grounds as prisoners, set free through Kestrel’s heroics.

  Later on the same day that Margo arrived, a Uniontown vessel arrived at the docks. Upon hearing the news, Kestrel excused himself from the parlor where he and the others were visiting, and he hurried down to the docks, without regard for exposing himself as an elf among the common people of Graylee in the streets; for them, the appearance of an elf was still an extremely unusual sight. Despite the occasional disparaging comments he heard, he arrived at the docks and stood behind the welcoming contingent of officials waiting for the passengers to disembark.

  Lucius appeared first, standing on deck waiting for the others in his party to appear. Moments later, after several bearers carrying luggage appeared, Gail also arrived on the deck, and the two of them began to descend the walk to the dock. Halfway down, Gail spotted Kestrel; she waved energetically, then stopped and blushed, and lowered her hand to place it on Lucius’s arm as they walked down to the dock as Kestrel pressed his way forward to greet them.

  “Kestrel, thank you for greeting us!” Lucius laughed. “Are you at every great event in the Inner Seas kingdoms?” he asked.

  “I’ve been at a lot of them lately, and fortunately they’ve all been celebrations,” Kestrel agreed warmly.

  “You’ll have to come to Uniontown in another month for the next celebration,” Lucius spoke energetically, as Gail stood quietly, her eyes on Kestrel.

  “Gail and I are going to be married! The negotiations with Duchess Tyle are done and agreed to, and we can celebrate the beginning of starting a new dynasty,” Lucius said proudly.

  Gail’s eyes were clouded, but after a moment she spoke. “Thank you for everything you’ve done Kestrel. I would still be living on the estate in the country without your help. And now I’m able to travel the world, to get out and see new places and meet such extraordinary people.”

  “And be married once again,” Lucius pointed out.

  “The even better news,” he added, as they began to walk towards the Graylee palace, “is that it will be a double wedding. Lark is going to marry Carmon at the same time.”

  He saw the surprise on Kestrel face, a shock that Kestrel couldn’t hide.

  “We didn’t bring Lark on this trip, just to make sure she didn’t see you and start to have doubts once again,” he grinned, and slapped Kestrel on the back. “Carmon’s family pledged to give her a palace of her very own in the country, and she was thrilled with the offer, so she accepted his proposal.

  “But I was afraid that if she saw you again here at this wedding, she’d change her mind again, like she almost did after seeing you in Seafare. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about Gail being so flighty,” he smiled and squeezed the hand of his own fiancée.

  After a moment of silence, Kestrel found his voice. “I wish you all the very best. You’re all good people, though I can’t call Lark flighty after I saw her stand up so well in the battles against the Viathins.”

  “She’s not flighty,” Lucius graciously agreed, and they spoke no more until they and their escort reached the palace, where Kestrel introduced them to Philip and Yulia once again. Kestrel parted from the Uniontown guests for the rest of the day, and spent the evening in the armory, practicing his work with the sword and the staff, trying to wear himself out so that he’d be too tired to care or think about the announced weddings in Uniontown.

  The following day, the couples from Seafare arrived as well, and that night there was a large banquet of all the attending leaders of the Inner Seas nations. The elves of the Northern Forest did not attend, for they had few ties to the traditionally anti-elf nation of Graylee, leaving Wren and Putienne and Kestrel as the only participants displaying elven heritage.

  Picco had brought Merea along, and Kestrel took his daughter the next day, touring Graylee with the baby and Putienne as they visited more of the places Kestrel remembered around the city. He took them to the home that Philip’s family had occupied when Kestrel had first visited Graylee, and introduced the remaining staff member there to Putienne and to Merea. The servants adored the baby, the offspring of Picco and Kestrel, who were both former favorite residents of the house, and they showered the visitors with food and favors until it was time to return to the palace.

  That night was the last before the wedding, and Kestrel took Picco to the small dinner that Philip held. The five friends who had lived in the house together – Philip and Margo, Creata and Picco, and Kestrel – were joined in the small dining room atop a tower by their chosen companions – Yulia, Wren, and Ruelin. Kestrel and Margo were paired together, and Kestrel thought wistfully about the days long past, when his heart would have been aflutter with the intimacy of being Margo’s dinner companion.

  The conversation was filled with memories of moments Kestrel had lived through. Yulia told of Kestrel’s arrival to rescue her and Greyson from the Yellow Palace, just before her execution, when she had slugged him in confusion after he carried her to freedom, making the group laugh.

  Margo recollected the berserk attack Kestrel had launched on the occupants of her home, when he had been invisible as he had avenged the murder of her parents, while Philip told of Kestrel rescuing the group from that very palace.

  It was a warm-hearted evening, and they all parted in good spirits, relaxed before the memorable wedding that was to take place the next day. Kestrel walked Margo to her room, and stood talking with her for several minutes.

  “I took Putienne and Merea to your family house in the city,” he told her as they talked further about the past.

  “There was a time when I think that may have been the happiest period of my life. We were all such good friends,” Margo sighed. She stepped up and kissed Kestrel’s cheek. “Good night Kestrel. It’s so good to see you again,” she ended the intimate moment, and turned into her room.

  Kestrel wished that he and Putienne had shared a room, so that he could talk to her about the embrace of warm memories, but she was in her own room in the spacious Graylee palace, so he slept alone that night, and dreamed about the past.

  The next day was full of ceremonies, and Kestrel took Putienne with him to the events at the temples to Growelf and Kai, and then they returned to the palace for the wedding itself in the afternoon.

  “You’ve had fun with all your friends, haven’t you?” Putienne asked Kestrel as they sat c
lose to one another in the crowded ballroom where the wedding was to be performed.

  “I have. They’re all moving forward with their lives, and it’s been heartwarming to watch,” he said.

  “Will it be heartwarming to watch my wedding too?” Putienne asked.

  Kestrel coughed and choked at the unexpected question.

  “Who, um, who are you going to marry?” he asked cautiously.

  “Well, I think I have two choices,” Putienne answered. “I can go up into the wilderness and find a nice yeti to be my mate, or I can wait for Remy to ask me to marry him. After seeing these weddings, I think I’d like for him to hurry though.”

  “He’ll find the courage in his own time,” Kestrel told her. “And when he does, I’ll do something nice for your wedding, like this,” he told her, as he spotted Yulia and Philip at the doorway, ready to enter the ceremony together and walk down the aisle. “Watch,” he instructed.

  Kestrel closed his eyes, and broadcast his energy upward to the ceiling, making it glow in a vibrant yellow color, then he extended the energy down the walls, making them glow in green. The floor suddenly turned his own natural blue color, and the mixture of colors and lights made the attendees gasp in wonder.

  “Kestrel! Thank you!” Yulia’s voice called out musically, as she and Philip entered the enchanted setting. They proceeded to reach the priests, who carried out the ceremony that united the couple as man and wife.

  “Kestrel, you made the wedding brilliant!” Ruelin told him later, as they milled about together with the other attendees, in the reception where the Philip and Yulia were greeting and thanking their guests.

  “Thank you Kestrel! That will make them remember our wedding for the rest of their lives,” Philip told him soon after. Others also came to express their admiration and to ask for further demonstrations of light tricks, and Kestrel went to bed that night tired and worn out from interacting with so many individuals.