by Duncan Lay
‘And what would you do, if you could choose?’
‘A good question. I should say Sendatsu without thinking about it, for I always thought we would be together. And yet, when the moment came, he put his father above me. Sometimes I wonder why I still love him. Aroaril knows he makes it hard enough.’
‘Then Gaibun?’
Asami made a face. ‘He listens to me, is happy to talk and we have always been friends. But there is something missing. Everyone says he is better looking than Sendatsu but I look at him and my heart does not beat faster, nor do I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach.’
Rhiannon seemed about to say something, then closed her mouth.
‘What is it?’ Asami asked.
‘Nothing.’ Rhiannon smiled. ‘How did you marry Gaibun when you love Sendatsu?’
Asami sighed. ‘You know, nobody has dared to ask me that question. It is hard to explain. Sendatsu had already married and it had been made clear to me that there was no chance I could ever marry him. Of the others I could have married, Gaibun was perhaps the most obvious. We were friends, after all. I thought it better to share my life with someone I liked, rather than someone I did not know — or hated. I love Sendatsu but could not imagine what it was like for Kayiko to marry him and know his heart was elsewhere. I thought, if I gave it enough time, I would come to love Gaibun. But he could not wait. When he tried to force me to his bed before I was ready, I had to use magic on him. He swiftly got the idea to leave me alone but, instead of giving me space and the time I needed, he walked away and began finding mistresses.’
‘So, you have never —’
Asami gasped. ‘You humans are very forward!’
‘We are both human,’ Rhiannon reminded her.
Asami smiled. ‘I am sorry. Sometimes things slip out and I forget the truth. When you have been told a lie often enough, sometimes it becomes a kind of truth.’
‘So, have you?’
‘Rhiannon!’
They laughed together for a few moments.
‘Sendatsu and I came close. Very close. But sex before marriage is a terrible crime in our culture. I stopped Gaibun — and then he stayed away from me. We have talked more in the last few moons, since this all began, than we have in all the years we were married. And I did not look elsewhere either. That always disgusted me, back from when I was young. The other elfmaids only wanted to talk about who they could marry, how they could raise their family’s standing, seeing it not as love but a way of life. I hated that, so spent more time with Sendatsu and Gaibun. I was never going to act like those elfmaids and take other lovers.’
‘And you weren’t tempted by Sendatsu?’
‘So many questions! Yes, I was. But it would have torn apart Sendatsu and Gaibun, as well as our entire clan. I could not be so selfish. Besides, for the first few years, Sendatsu was married to Kayiko, and then had his children with him always. And let’s not forget, he was the one who agreed to go along with his father and give me up for Kayiko, who he barely knew, let alone loved. I loved him, and yet resented him as well.’
‘And now?’
‘We shall see! Things have not grown easier, although he has grown stronger. Strong enough to go against his father, something I never thought I would see. Perhaps we can be together — but there is still Gaibun. He is known almost as well for his pride as he is for his honour.’
‘But shouldn’t love always win out?’
Asami laughed. ‘I can see you have listened to too many of the songs you performed for your king! I just have to look around Dokuzen to see that is not true. Perhaps for the lower classes, as well as the traders and the ordinary warriors, perhaps they can marry for love. But the clan leaders determine who marries whom — and love very rarely comes into it.’
‘That is so sad.’ Rhiannon sighed.
‘Enough about me.’ Asami waved. ‘What about you? That Huw, he never takes his eyes off you.’
Rhiannon’s face darkened. ‘I do not know if we will be together. I was going to Walk The Tree with him — but I did not know the truth then, did not know myself. He lied to me. Simple as that. He was my first friend, I trusted him beyond everything — and he threw all that in my face. I told him that he must not hold out hope for me. Perhaps we shall be together but I need to learn more about magic, more about myself first. I am not ready to be just another wife, another mother. If for no other reason than because my skills are too important to the people. I cannot risk dying in childbirth until I have found others with magic, made sure the rest of these lands have magic once again.’
‘So we both feel the same! The magic is strong within us, we have more power than the warriors and yet they want us to sit at home, play at being a wife and mother.’
‘Sometimes it feels like the fate of the world rests on our shoulders,’ Rhiannon confessed, ‘yet nobody else can see.’
‘I can. Together, we can make a difference.’
19
The Elfarans used their magic wisely at first, learning with and from the Velsh, who had magic of their own. But the Velsh were fascinated by the Elfarans and the way they looked — the ears they had inherited from their forefathers and the golden skin and almond-shaped eyes from the Nipponese.
Sendatsu’s song
Huw sat at the long table and gazed around at his fellow Velshmen, getting back a few nods of encouragement from his supporters. This was it, the start of his gamble that would either win over the opposition and ensure there would be a Vales — or when his people lost their chance for survival.
He looked down at his hands, saw they were shaking and closed them into fists. He had performed so many times that one more should seem like nothing — except this one really counted. At stake was not just his dinner for the night but the future of his people. He looked at the plans in front of him, a mixture of elven paper and the traditional Velsh scraped and chalked lambskins. Rhiannon’s handwriting caught his eye and calmed him a little. He pushed himself to his feet.
‘There is no elven army coming to save us,’ he admitted right away, which threw the headmen into an uproar.
‘Why are we here then? You promised us elves and you give us nothing!’ Griff of Merthyr was the first to speak.
‘I cannot give you elves — but I can give you magic.’ Huw pinned all his hopes on that. ‘We do not want the elves, nor do we need the elves. The elves would do us more harm than good!’
That silenced them, giving Huw enough time to keep talking.
‘Inside this book —’ and here he waved Sendatsu’s book at them ‘— is the truth about elves and humans. There is no such thing as elves! It is all a lie! They are men, just like us. They hid away because they wanted to keep the knowledge and the magic for themselves. Only a few days’ journey from here is the remains of a Velsh church to Aroaril, surrounded by the unmarked graves of men and women. Men and women killed by the so-called elves! They were murdered because they had magic, they worshipped Aroaril and because they had the knowledge the elves wanted to keep for themselves!’
He gazed at the headmen, who were staring back at him like so many stunned sheep. With nothing to lose, he pressed onwards.
‘We found out the truth in Dokuzen. All we have been taught is a lie and the elves are not to be trusted. They murdered our people before, they could do so again if they think we are a threat to them. We do not want them, nor do we need them. Instead I offer the best from Dokuzen, without the treachery. There are a handful of elves who are like us, who understand the wrongs done to our people three hundred years ago. Rhiannon is learning magic from one of them and will return to us in a moon or so, ready to go out and find and train others with magical power. Sendatsu, who helped me create the dragons, and another elf warrior called Gaibun, have come here to show us how to fight like they do. If we join together, I can promise you a country where there is magic, where we worship Aroaril and live better than any humans since the so-called elves left these lands three hundred years ago. That is what I offer
you. Human magic, not something borrowed from those so-called elves but from within our communities. Magic, knowledge and safety. That is what Vales will mean.’
‘So the elves cannot lead us to a golden future, as you promised?’
‘The elves would rather lead us to an early grave. We shall make our own golden future. Join with me and you will receive magic from humans,’ Huw declared.
He could see the doubt on faces and took a deep breath.
‘You need to make your choice now,’ he told them. ‘On this side there will be safety from the Forlish, an army of elven-trained Dragon Warriors to protect us, healing magic and the magic that will change all our lives. Or —’ and here he pointed at the far wall ‘— you can stand over there and have nothing, live in mud and misery until the Forlish arrive and kill you, rape your wives and sell your children into slavery. Choose now.’
He held his breath but it was not much of a choice — no man in his right mind would give up what he was offering and there was no time for others to come up with an alternative. The ones who wanted to argue some of the points were swept away in the rush. The headmen whose villages he had saved, men like Kelyn, Dafyd and Llewellyn, leaped up and stood behind Huw, followed swiftly by the headmen of Rheged villages, eager for anything that might improve their life. The ones who were slowest to their feet were headmen from Powys, which had the wealth and was the furthest from the danger of the Forlish attack. But none felt strong enough to walk away from the rest.
‘Good.’ Huw surveyed the headmen. ‘We are all agreed there should be a Vales. Now we just need to work out the details.’
Of course it was not as easy as that. Each morning, before they talked, Huw led them in singing ‘Land of My Fathers’, then the Velsh flag was raised and a squad of dragons marched through the meeting hall, showing their new-found skills. It got the headmen in the right mood.
But there was a core group of opposition, which seemed to coalesce around the headman of Merthyr, Griff. Most of these men were from Powys but a handful were from Gwent and there was even two from Rheged, although Huw suspected they were just disagreeable, rather than against his plan for a good reason.
At first they opposed everything Huw suggested. He began by trying to work through each issue but that proved unworkable. After talking for an entire day just about the flag, and the way the dragon looked, he realised this was never going to work. Appeals to their better nature, to the Forlish threat, were going nowhere. Besides, his heart was not really in it. These were ideas he and Rhiannon had written down and worked on together. He was sure that if she was by his side, then these grumpy old headmen would swiftly change their tune. Nobody could resist her smile, let alone her arguments. When he spoke they just muttered into their beards.
But a dinner with Sendatsu, Gaibun and his biggest supporters — Kelyn, Dafyd of Crumlin, Aled of Brynmawr and Llewellyn of Catsfield — changed things.
‘What are we going to try to get agreement on tomorrow?’ Dafyd asked.
‘The site of the Velsh capital. It has to be in Gwent. Powys will act like Gwent and Rheged are not even part of the same country if the capital is there, while Rheged is too close to Forland and too rugged to put it there.’ Huw shrugged. ‘I’m thinking we need to build a new settlement, not take over one. That way nobody can say it is favouritism.’
‘Well, you know Griff and his cronies will fight for it to be in Powys,’ Aled warned. ‘Even if the ones from Gwent and Rheged don’t want it there. Especially the Rheged boyos. If you told them it was raining, they would disagree and say they’re dry at the moment.’
‘I don’t understand why they can’t appreciate what we are trying to do. Recreating the glory days, the days when the elves walked among us!’ Dafyd grumbled.
Huw sighed. Even among his supporters, persuading people that elves were not good and kind and wonderful was proving a struggle.
‘The real problem we have is that Griff has managed to bring them all together. Some might have agreed with us on things like the flag but he’s convinced them to stick together and oppose everything,’ Kelyn muttered.
‘Maybe we should just march the dragons in there and have them sign it at swordpoint,’ Llewellyn suggested.
Huw shook his head. ‘We can’t force them. We are only as strong as our weakest part.’
‘In Dokuzen, the clan leaders and Elder Elf have no reluctance in using fear and threats to get what they want. It is very effective,’ Gaibun announced.
‘We could threaten not to let them sell their goods,’ Llewellyn offered.
‘Why don’t you speak to each one, one at a time? If they are scared, you can change their minds,’ Mai piped up from the end of the table.
Everyone looked at her. Mai and Cheijun had been playing with Sendatsu, the three of them taking little part in the discussion, beyond making them all laugh when the two children tried to say Llewellyn’s name and became stuck on the rolling Ls.
‘Were you talking to them, or me?’ Sendatsu asked.
‘To Huw, and Gaibun, and Roowelly.’ Mai nodded.
‘Sorry, I know you were discussing something important.’ Sendatsu smiled. ‘I’ll keep them quiet …’
‘No,’ Huw said thoughtfully. ‘She is right. We have to work on them one at a time. Together they oppose everything but if I can solve their concerns, they will leave Griff.’
‘Out of the mouth of babes, eh?’ Llewellyn said. ‘There’s wisdom for you!’
‘Well, who do you want to see first?’ Aled wiped his mouth with his hands, then his hands through his beard. ‘Keeps my clothes clean,’ he explained as everyone looked inquisitively at him. ‘Couldn’t bring many with me.’
‘I think it’s worth a try.’ Kelyn got the conversation back on track.
‘That is a smart little girl you have there. Are all elven children like that?’ Aled asked.
‘No, they aren’t,’ Gaibun mused. ‘She is something different.’
‘Well, thank the stars above she is on our side!’ Llewellyn chuckled.
So Huw began talking to each headman, thrashing out deals with them one by one. Many were uneasy at the idea of change. They were happy enough to form a Great Council, as their forefathers had done in times past, during the Great Dry and Great Flood. But the idea of keeping that working all the time, of taking one more step, had them nervous and upset. Some were worried about paying taxes, others about their young men all wanting to go off and become dragons, while others had concerns about where the capital was and even Huw’s idea they should all speak Velsh again, the language he had discovered in the back of Sumiko’s translation book. It was not complete but it was close, and he hoped to begin teaching the children soon. As his father used to say, a country without a language of its own was a land without a heart.
With a combination of persuasion, flattery and, on occasion, threats, he overcame them all. None could match the fire of his arguments, nor the steel of his conviction.
He worked from before dawn to well after dark, slowly whittling away the opposition to his plans. Not only was it thrilling to watch things come together but it even helped him sleep. He was so tired, his thoughts and dreams were not haunted by losing Rhiannon. Although it was always there, the slight taint in everything he did. It would all taste so much sweeter if only she was beside him.
As Huw gained the support of each headman, he instructed them not to give away their change of heart to Griff, to keep working with him in public — and pretend to have rebuffed Huw’s approaches.
‘I shall give you the signal when it is time to join me,’ he told them, hoping they would stick with their word.
It was a risk but he hoped having them all reveal as having changed sides at the last moment would stop Griff from fighting back. After all, he needed to be part of Vales. Huw did wonder if he was trying to be too clever by half, if these men were playing him for a fool and laughing about it back with Griff. But they all seemed genuine enough and he had to press on and hope.
Finally the time had come and he was ready to spring his trap on Griff. He stood, his hands balled into fists, and nodded towards the door where a squad of dragons, led not by the usual Cadel or Bowen but this time by an expressionless Gaibun, took up position along the back wall.
‘I would like to welcome Gaibun, an elf of Dokuzen, to our discussion this morning. Truly, this is the signal we have been waiting for,’ he said significantly, looking at the men seated near a glowering Griff.
‘Finally we come to the issue that will define Vales, a country where we help each other, rather than turn away from people in need. The wealth of Vales is to the north, while the south, Rheged, struggles to survive. If every village were to give one part in ten of their gold earned and goods grown each year, then have that shared out equally, it will be much fairer and the wealth will be spread around.’
Griff jumped to his feet. ‘This is outrageous! Why should we give the sweat of our brow to those who have done nothing? Those fools in Rheged will get to sit back during spring and summer, doing nothing, knowing that they will dine through the winter on the food we grew!’
He looked around at his supporters, expecting the usual torrent of agreement — but now none would meet his eye.
‘Come, my friends, tell this fool why it cannot work!’ He nudged his neighbour, who happened to be one of the Rheged headmen so recently labelled a fool.
‘If you think we do no work in Rheged, I invite you to come down and live with us,’ the man told Griff sourly, ‘then you can enjoy a life like ours.’
