by GJ Kelly
“I do not think, lady Elayeen,” Rak asserted, “That the bonds of respect and friendship, and the high esteem in which the ninety-five are held, are as fragile as you seem to believe. Please, do not hasten any decision which does not need to be made here and now. Allow the Rangers to do their work, and allow us to do ours. In the kinder light of a new day, we can discuss in greater detail matters which may not seem of such great importance as they do today.”
There was a long pause while Elayeen considered the wisdom of Rak’s words. All around her, expectant expressions, except from Valin and Meeya, whose appearance remained dark and determined. She knew she would have to leave, and she knew that nothing Lord Rak of Tarn could possibly say would change her mind. But it was past noon, and it would take time and preparation before she could ride out for the safety and anonymity of the plains.
“Very well, lord Rak. I will gladly continue to accept the warmth and hospitality of your hearth. But Valin and Meeya shall, I daresay, require to be nearer now than the barracks at Major Sarek’s headquarters.”
“Of course,” Rak smiled while Merrin heaved a quiet sigh of relief, “And they are of course welcome here as always.”
“By your leave, my lord, I shall return to the investigations?”
“Of course, Sarek, thank you. Keep me apprised of your findings.”
Sarek saluted, bowed to the ladies, and left, a blast of cold air from the hall rushing in when he took his leave by the front door.
“I should prepare lunch…” Merrin began, trailing off and gazing around the small living-room. “And we now have more guests, I should attend to the spare room and have the fire there lit…”
“Merrin…” Rak soothed.
“No, I must, you must all think me a poor hostess indeed… there is so much to do…”
Elayeen stood, moving slowly, seeing the anger flooding out from Merrin’s expression, shock and horror at the morning’s events pouring in to replace it.
“By your leave, my lord, I would speak alone with my friends in the kitchen for a while?”
“Of course,” Rak said hurriedly, gratitude shining from his eyes while Elayeen, Meeya, and Valin discreetly left the room and closed the door behind them.
Once in the warmth of the kitchen, doors closed and Valin eyeing the garden warily through the window, Elayeen sat at the table, Meeya standing watchfully by the fireplace, covering the back door as well as the door to the hallway.
For a few moments, the silence was broken only by the crackling of the fire. Elayeen studied her fingers, scrubbed clean of blood and grime, then held her hands before her, fingers spread wide. They were rock steady. Finally she clasped her hands together on the table in front of her and drew a breath before speaking, in elvish.
“I did not imagine they would strike so soon. I had thought we might have until summer, or at least until late spring.”
“Survivors from the battle would have carried word of your whereabouts with them to their homelands. It’s perhaps not surprising that such words would find their way to the Toorseneth. I have failed in my duty, miThalin. We have all failed in our duty to keep you safe.”
“Valin, your first duty now is to the oath you made to Gawain. The thalangard oaths you swore in respect of Elvendere’s Crown are no longer binding on any of us. The oath of the Kindred Rangers is to keep all lands safe from the darkness, not to serve as my personal bodyguard.”
“Even so, miThalin…”
“No, Valin. No more. I understand your anger and I understand that you feel you have failed me. I do, I really do. But feelings of anger and failure are of no help to me now and I need you to abandon them. G’wain is not here, and I need my friends more than I need sullen or sheepish warriors.”
Valin took a breath, and let it out slowly, and nodded. But still his eyes flicked to the vista without the kitchen window, watching for movement, watching for any sign of hostility.
“Do you really mean to leave, Leeny?” Meeya said, softly.
“Yes. I must. I had no idea the Toorsencreed’s arm was so long. I had no idea they could move against me so quickly. I underestimated their reach, and their power.”
“Where shall we go?”
“Nowhere. Anywhere. I learned so much from G’wain. Now I have to use that knowledge. When he and I rode for Raheen with Allazar, we made the journey from Ferdan clear to Jarn without seeing anyone, and succeeded in avoiding all habitation. I may have to do so again. The ancient Sight cannot see into the hearts of men. We cannot tell spies from friends.”
“What do you mean, I? You said I may have to do so again. You will not leave without us, Leeny.”
“Under no circumstances!” Valin asserted fiercely, and then looked distinctly sheepish for his outburst.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Elayeen announced softly. “It must be made well known that I have left Threlland, when the time comes. Beyond that, I mean to take advantage of the vast tracts of wilderness between the settlements here in the east. If our enemies know I am no longer in Threlland, the threat to these lands diminishes. If they do not know where I am, the threat to me diminishes likewise.”
“Perhaps lord Rak is correct, miThalin. Perhaps the attack upon you this morning is pressing you to a hasty decision when there is no need for speedy action.”
“Do you doubt my judgement then, Valin?”
“It is not my place so to do, miThalin. But perhaps I doubt the necessity for a hasty departure. How many more assassins does the Toorseneth have at its disposal, here in the east? How much silver do they and their agents possess to hire such killers? And when word spreads as word does that both assassins were promptly despatched by yourself and a lady of Threlland, how many others might be found willing to take such risks for a handful of silver?”
“Next time it might simply be an arrow from a distance. Or a dark wizard on the wing wreaking havoc and destruction upon the town. There is so much more than just my life to consider, Valin. You and Meeya both know that.”
“Thal-Gawain would not have you alone and running on the open plains, Leeny. He’d have you safe and warm and well-guarded.”
“G’wain knows nothing of the Shimaneth Issilene Merionell but the dawntime tale I told him. If he did, he would not have left for Calhaneth. If he did, he would understand better than we the threat we face. There is a darkness in him, which gives him insight into darker deeds and the minds of those who do them. He would not risk the lives of his friends by remaining here.”
“You should have told him about the Shi’ell.”
“I couldn’t, Meeya,” Elayeen sighed. “Even if I had been able to tell him, I do not know that I would have. His journey to Calhaneth is important. The success of his quest may be as vital to the survival of these lands as was victory at Far-gor. He has his duty, I have mine. Though… I do wish I could have shared both with him.”
“You cannot simply ride out onto the plains and hope to remain undiscovered, miThalin. What would you eat, that dwarven muck Thal-Gawain likes so much? The wild rabbits so enjoyed by the wizard Allazar?”
“Yes, if necessary. Needs must when Morloch drives, Valin, and we are being driven, if not by Morloch, then by his agents.”
“Not if we stand, and here. Lord Rak has offered to close Tarn, and make of the entire town a well-guarded sanctuary. It is an offer you should consider before fleeing in blind haste to the plains of Juria in deep midwinter.”
“Mihoth is right, Leeny. So is lord Rak. Don’t rush to a decision we might all regret when the first heavy snow falls. At least admit to yourself that the attack upon you might yet affect your judgement, and badly. Even now, lady Merrin will be weeping in her husband’s arms, trembling with the shock and horror of fighting for her life, and the taking of one. Would you trust her judgement this day?”
“I am no stranger to death, Meeya.”
“No, miThalin, you are not,” Valin agreed, “Death is one thing you have witnessed a great deal of since you placed yourself at T
hal-Gawain’s side. But he was raised a horse-king of Raheen, trained and readied for battle as were the thalangard who stood with him, and with you, at Far-gor. You were not raised thus, nor prepared thus.”
Elayeen felt a small bubble of anger forming deep within her. “Are you suggesting that because a Thallanhall corrupted by Toorsencreed intended my life to be spent serving as the prize for some provincial governor or feckless lordling, and never to be anything more than a gift for the sake of political expedience, I must now whimper and tremble for the snuffing of some vakin muck-born murderer’s miserable light?”
“No, miThalin. I am merely suggesting that you were doubtless raised as was lady Merrin, with gentler expectations for your life than have been realised in recent times. That you are well able to defend yourself is obvious, and always has been. That Thal-Gawain’s judgement is more to be trusted than yours in the aftermath of a fight to the death is likewise obvious; he has been trained for just such events, you have not. You have told us that you need friends more than sullen and sheepish warriors. As a friend, though it is not my place to claim such an honour, I beg you, do not rush to any decision this day.”
Elayeen held Valin’s gaze for a moment, considering his words. She remembered her first night in Ferdan, after a pitched battle on the plains, she and Gawain and Allazar fighting for their lives against Black Riders and Morlochmen, she for the first time. She remembered, too, Gan’s charge out from the forest with his squadron of thalangard, and how many of them had died that day, for her. And how she’d wept in Gawain’s arms that night, in Ferdan, and trembled when the shock finally set in…
“Very well. But you should know it was always my intention to leave Tarn, in the spring. I still mean to leave, and soon, but I shall refrain from announcing that decision today. In the meantime, you should both consider the preparations necessary for us to embark on a prolonged journey far from all habitation.”
“Very well, miThalin.”
oOo
4. Compulsions
“Major Sarek is continuing his investigations,” Rak announced, “But as yet we still do not know whether the two would-be assassins were already within our borders or arrived recently in the chaos that ensued after the battle.” He leaned back in his chair, sipping breakfast wine at the table in the kitchen. The meal had been a frugal one, lady Merrin still in her room with Travak, not yet ready to present herself to the world following the shock of events the previous day.
Elayeen regarded the diplomat with a critical eye, keenly aware of the affront to dwarven honour the attack at the Point represented.
“With all the victory celebrations,” Valin said softly, “An army of assassins could have mingled with the crowds in every town in the eastern lands, and no-one the wiser.”
“The fault is ours,” Elayeen asserted, and her tone brooked no argument from Valin or Meeya. “Our friends knew nothing of the scale of the threat to me from the Toorseneth, a threat which we ourselves grossly underestimated.”
“My apologies, my lord,” Valin’s head dipped a little, “I intended no offence.”
“None was taken, Serre Valin, though your point was well made. Major Sarek has made his feelings more than clear on a number of occasions, insisting we not let down our guard. It appears he was right so to do, and his requests for an increase in numbers for his Rangers will likely draw a more favourable response from his Majesty when Crownmount hears of yesterday’s events. Gawain is about the business of restoring something of Threlland’s honour, and we gave our word to keep his lady safe in his absence. We have failed, and he scarcely more than a week from our borders.”
“You must not judge yourselves too harshly, lord Rak,” Elayeen sighed. “We knew that our enemies in Elvendere would strike at us, we simply did not appreciate the extent of their influence in these lands. We all grew up behind borders closed to the world; it is hard for us to imagine that elves could have such influence outside our forest realm after such prolonged isolation.”
“It is hard for us to imagine the same thing, lady Elayeen. First, our lands were deceived by Morloch and infiltrated by his Ramoth cult. Then we were betrayed by wizards of the D’ith allied with Morloch. And now it seems a powerful elven faction has its spies lurking unseen among us and has done for perhaps a thousand years, and they too are working to serve Morloch’s interests, if not Morloch himself. Each threat we discover seems more insidious than the last.”
“You are a diplomat, lord Rak, and know better than most the workings of all lands east of the great forest. Tell me, what is the likely reaction to this news in the council chambers of Callodon and Juria? In Mornland and Arrun, and here, too, in Threlland?”
“Lady Elayeen,” Rak said softly, a knowing smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. “I shall not be drawn into providing you with reasons to flee the safety of my house or of Tarn, nor indeed of Threlland.”
Elayeen acknowledged Rak’s perspicacity with a faint smile of her own. “Yet you will admit the possibility of disaster for the ninety-five and myself, should the world’s opinion of elves be swayed from an honourable respect to suspicion and outright enmity. It would not take an enemy practiced in politics very long so to do.”
“I will admit the possibility, but refute any probability. I do not know the strength of your enemies nor the strength of their will. I do know the strength of your friends and allies here in Threlland, and I know that dwarves, being perhaps the most obdurate of the kindred races, will not be persuaded against you or against those who stood alongside General Karn in the front lines of Far-gor. I fear you have even less understanding of us than does your husband and king if you believe otherwise.”
“Yet still I mean to leave this land before Gawain’s return, and always did.”
“And you did not tell him this?”
“No. I could not. Had I done so, he would have remained here with me.”
“Is this part of the unknown duty you have mentioned?”
Elayeen nodded, and noted the sudden sadness in Rak’s eyes. The Lord of Tarn sighed, and folded his hands on the table before him.
“Is there nothing I can say then, to dissuade you from this course of action?”
“No. Eem siennes… I am sorry. But I cannot be here come summer, and now that my enemies know I am here, I cannot remain until spring as I had hoped.”
“If this unspoken duty of yours is driving you to abandon the warmth and relative safety of Threlland, then so be it. I have witnessed its power; since it is strong enough to drive a wedge between you and your heart, then what chance do any words of mine have against it? But please, lady Elayeen, do not use as an excuse your belief that our friendship and alliance is so weak it cannot withstand malicious rumours, or such lies as may be spread by this Toorsen faction of Elvendere. That really would cause offence.”
Elayeen nodded, and felt a little guilty. “I am sorry, lord Rak. It is true elves know little of your ways and customs, and that is another of our failings, too. But you must also believe that it is also for the sake of our friendship and alliance that I must leave, and soon. And when I do, for my safety and for yours, it must be made well known that I have done so.”
“Do you mean to draw your enemies to you, then?”
“No. I mean to draw them away from my friends, and to waste their time in a futile search for me. These lands are vast, and I know only too well how easy it is for three travellers to journey their length with neither sight nor sound of others.”
“Yes, that is true. This time, though, you will be in the company of Sarek’s entire force of Rangers, and of your own, I shouldn’t wonder.”
Elayeen took a sip of breakfast wine. It was cooling quickly in spite of the warmth in the kitchen. “No. I shall have but Valin and Meeya with me.”
Rak’s features remained perfectly inscrutable. “And do you seriously believe that Eryk of Threlland will permit you to leave with so small an escort?”
“Am I a prisoner here, then?”
“Not yet,” Rak muttered, “But Eryk has yet to hear of the attempt on yours and Merrin’s lives. When he does, you may expect an invitation to inspect the vaults of Crownmount you believe so inadequate for your protection.”
“Then I must leave the sooner, to spare his Majesty’s disappointment at my declining such an invitation.”
She took another sip of wine and watched Rak over the rim of her cup, noting the glances he flicked towards Valin and Meeya. But they were thalangard, and had years of training, and when the diplomat found nothing in their countenance to comfort him, he turned his full attention back to her.
“And still you will explain nothing of this duty which compels you to abandon the advice of all who have your best interests closest to their hearts?”
“I cannot.”
“And will you leave nothing for Gawain? How are we to appease his anger and relieve his confusion when he returns and finds you gone?”
“He will find me. And when he does, he will understand.”
“You seem very sure.”
Elayeen felt butterflies stretching their wings in the pit of her stomach, and tried hard to maintain her resolve. But Valin had been right. She was not born and raised for leadership. Leadership had been Gan’s destiny, not hers. Never had it been hers.
“No,” she sighed, at last. “No I’m not sure of anything at all, except the need for me to leave. I must remain true to my duty, and I cannot do that and remain here in Threlland. G’wain will understand. It is my understanding of him and the strength of his light and his character which will help to guide me along the path I know I must take.”
“And have you decided when you are leaving?”
“Not to the very day, no. But soon. New Year approaches, perhaps that would be as good a time as any other. G’wain by then should have passed clear of Juria’s Hall, he and his quest will be abroad in the wide open spaces which I hope will serve me as well as they do him. It is a long way from Juria to Calhaneth, and should anyone attempt to send word of my departure to him, it is unlikely the message will arrive in time to divert him from his purpose. The Orb of Arristanas must be destroyed. G’wain must not be recalled on my account.”
