by T J Trapp
Alec stood still, processing this. Finally, he asked, “What about the nomads?”
Erin snorted. “Either you or I killed all the ones who used me. They aren’t the issue. But if one of them were alive, my consort would be expected to lead a war party to bring back the offender’s head.”
Her former lover, Leonder, was dead. That leaves me, Alec realized. I am the issue.
“Yes, my dear Wizard,” she said aloud, sensing his thoughts. “That just leaves you.”
Alec stood there, holding her hands in his, looking into the dark pools of her eyes, love for her pouring out from his very being. For the first time in a very long while, he knew what he wanted, and where he belonged.
“I want to be with you. I don’t know your customs,” he said softly. “What should we do?”
“When we reach Theland, my people will see you. I cannot deny I know you because Mother ’s ring will show the truth. If you were to run, hunters would search for you until they found you and brought you back. Then they would probably make me disembowel you in a particularly gruesome manner to show my distance from the past events and my fealty to my consort. That only leaves two options.” She stepped back from him and slowly drew her sword, holding it menacingly before him in a fighting stance.
“You have only two choices, my Dear Wizard,” she said sternly. “You must either decide to become my consort, or I will have to behead you,” she said. Then she could hold her pretense no longer and began to giggle, sheathing her sword and falling into his arms.
Alec laughed too, amused by her mock fierceness, and stroked her hair. Sensing where Erin wanted this to go, he asked, “As I said, I do not know your customs. Is there some process we need to go through?
“Usually what happens is that if two people decide they are willing, a match-maker works with both families, and a consort arrangement is reached. Once the agreement is reached the two people formally bond to finalize the relationship. Sometime afterward often there is a big feast or ceremony to make sure both families come together in the union.”
“And what happens when one is an outsider, like me?”
“It happens so rarely that I don’t know. In fact, I don’t remember it ever happening before.”
“What about Leonder?” Alec asked. “I can’t replace what he meant to you.”
Erin looked at him. “I don’t want you to replace what Leonder meant to me. I will always remember and have him in my mind, but I want to spend the rest of our lives bonded together. If Leonder were alive, you would be his idol. You are all the things he wanted to be. I think Leonder acted from the beyond and sent you to rescue me, and take care of me.”
Alec held her close, moved by her acceptance and acknowledgment that her past love for Leonder was, indeed, in the past. Thoughts and emotions swirled in his head, colliding and cementing with his new reality in this strange world of five moons. His past, also, now seemed to be merely his past, and not something he would ever regain as his future. Her world had become his world, alien as it was.
Finally, he said, “In my world, we have customs, too. When a man and a woman agree to be together – to consort – usually he gives her a gift. A gift to show his love and faithfulness to her.”
Erin pulled back and looked at him with surprise. “The man? Gives a gift to the woman?”
“I know what I need to do,” he answered her, with a small smile threading his lips. “Give me a few minutes to get ready.” With that, he left her and went behind their wagon out of her view. I have wanted to try this ever since my college girlfriend, he thought. I hope it works.
Erin was sifting through her thoughts, and doubts, about this sudden, unexpected turn of events. I haven’t known him that long, she thought. He didn’t accept my invitation to be my consort. Maybe he thinks I am too skinny. Maybe he just wanted to untie the drung so that he can flee without me. She fingered the hilt of her sword, the first gift that he had made for her. What would his next gift be? Another sword? Some kind of staff? A ball of light?
After several minutes, which seemed like a short eternity to her, he came back around the wagon. She could see that he held something in his closed hand, something small. Not a sword. She again reached for the hilt of her special sword.
Alec stood before her. “You can put your sword away,” he said gently. “I do not want you to behead me.”
Then he knelt on one knee before her and took her hand. “Erin, this is how we do it back home.”
She wasn’t sure what to expect next. But, then he said simply, “Erin, will you marry me?”
She could feel that his heart was pounding, and her ring told her that his heart was true.
“If you consent to marry me, I will consent to be your consort, and with these two rings we will seal our bond.” With that, he opened his hand and showed her what he had made – two rings with a set of large diamonds on one and a single row of small diamonds on the other.
Erin, feeling the solemnity of the moment, even though she did not understand his customs and said “Yes. I will.” Then Alec put the ring with the large diamonds on her finger and the other ring on his finger.
“They look nice alongside my family’s rings,” Erin said softly, looking at the four rings on their two hands. Alec fed dark energy into tiny focal points in the diamonds on both rings, and they glowed with a light of their own.
“They are beautiful – I have never seen anything like this,” said Erin. She wrapped her arms around him and held him close.
Alec grinned. “I have always wanted to make a diamond wedding ring for my wife – consort – ever since I started working with dark energy. At home, I wouldn’t be able to make it glow, but here with all the background energy, you and I can make it do that.”
Then Alec turned serious. “Will this work?” he asked. “Will this show that I have agreed to be your consort?”
Erin started to say ‘yes,’ then realized she was still wearing the ring and Alec would sense her feelings and know the truth. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “Before I was getting ready to leave on his journey, there was an undercurrent of things happening at home. Political things. I thought my father would explain them, but he died before he could tell me very much.”
“Okay,” he said, trying to sound reassuring. “We’ll figure things out as we go. You will have to help me – I don’t know your customs, and I was never very good at social etiquette.”
The next morning dawned with a bright sun; brighter than any day before, it seemed to Alec. He was next to the woman he wanted to be with. They were close to reaching her home. He still wanted to figure out where he was, but he was no longer concerned about when – or whether – he got back to his world. Curled up with Erin seemed like home. Life certainly seemed good.
13 – Coming Home
“We are only two days from home,” said Erin, pointing to a stone cairn. “That marker is the border of Theland.”
The countryside had continued to change as they rode along the trail. The high mountains to their left had given way to low hills; then they entered a wide tree-covered valley running between two mountain ranges.
Erin gestured. “This valley runs through the center of Theland. My land stretches between those two sets of mountains.”
The land seemed fertile, with fields of well-tended crops. The faint trace they had followed across the Grasslands had widened into a regular road, running through woodlands, alongside the fields, and passing the occasional house or cluster of buildings. Wagons, riders, and people on foot passed by, travelling in both directions.
Alec thought about this land. It wasn’t that different than where he had grown up. He could live here if they would have him.
Erin was soaking in the view, the sounds, and scents. It was her land, and she was home. She felt both joy and relief, returning to land she thought she might never see again; yet marred with sadness that she was returning without her brother. Occasionally a rider passed by who recognized Erin. In that way
, she knew the news of her return would be carried to her home, and to her mother, in advance of her arrival.
On their second afternoon in Theland, they were within a few hours of Freeland City, Erin’s home. They were trying to decide whether to travel on and arrive at her mother’s home late in the evening, or spend one more night in their wagon and reach the city tomorrow morning. The decision was taken from them when a rider galloped up to them.
“Greetings to you, Princess Erin, and to your escort.”
“And greetings to you, as well,” Erin replied.
“I bring sad tidings,” the messenger continued. “Your mother, our Queen Therin, has heard with great delight the news of your imminent arrival. However, your mother is very ill. She may not survive the night. She bids you please come quickly.”
“Ride back to my mother and tell her that, indeed, we will come as quickly as we are able,” Erin replied, her lip quivering. “Where is she?”
“As you wish. The Queen is at her Residence,” said the rider, and sped off.
Alec clucked to the drungs to quicken their pace. He wanted to hold Erin tightly to comfort her but sensed that she needed her peace to come to grips with this unwelcome news. They were quiet on the rest of the journey. The drungs were tired this late in the day but sensed the urgency of this part of the trip and pulled hard until the end.
At dusk they entered Freeland City, the largest city Alec had seen in this land. Alec was lost in the spectacle of the place. It was neat and well maintained with many large walled estates. They pulled up to one of the estates and the guard opened the gates and let their wagon in. Erin directed them around to one side. They dismounted from the wagon and entered a large compound that reminded Alec of a palace. “This is the Residence,” said Erin. “It is my home. I grew up here.”
They went through the door and into a grand receiving room. Alec looked around the room in wonder, but Erin strode purposefully towards a side door. She walked through a sitting room and into a bedroom, Alec following in her tracks.
“Mother,” she cried, running the last few steps towards a figure reclining on a couch-like bed, flanked by a few attendants around her.
“My Erin! Daughter, it is wonderful to have you home!” The woman raised up on an elbow and opened her arms to enfold the sobbing Erin. “It is so good to see you. I wasn’t sure I would ever lay my eyes upon you again.”
“What is wrong, Mother?”
The woman shook her head slowly. “The healers don’t know. But I am getting weaker and weaker. Every night it is questionable whether I can make it through the night … and who is this?” she said, noticing Alec for the first time.
Erin grabbed Alec’s arm and led him to her mother’s bed. “Mother, this is Alec. Alec is my Consort! He is a Great Wizard and a Great Warrior. If it weren’t for him, I would be dead several times over!”
Her mother reached out and took Alec’s hand. “Greetings,” she said. “I am Therin, Queen of this realm. If Erin has chosen you, then you must be a just man.” She looked at him a moment, appraising him, then asked, “Will you take good care of my daughter?”
“To the best of my ability,” he said.
“I can see that you speak the truth.” Alec noticed that she wore a ring like Erin’s.
Then she shook her head sadly and said, “I have done you a great wrong, my daughter. If I die tonight, you might be able to rectify the wrong.” She sighed. “If I live through the night, then I have done you wrong.” She sank back on her pillows.
“Mother, no!”
“Let me die,” she whispered. “It is enough to see you back and hold you once more.”
Alec gently nudged Erin’s arm. I might be able to help, and give her some healing, to ease her pain, thought Alec.
Can you save her? Erin thought back.
I don’t know, but I can try. It might work.
“Mother, Alec can help. He can make you feel better,” Erin said, pleadingly, her dark eyes searching her mother’s face.
The Queen looked at them. “No, let me pass without help. If you try and fail, they will blame you for my death. If you succeed … then I have wronged you, Erin, and it will certainly mean the death of Alec.”
“No Mother, you can’t die on me! Not so soon after I lost my father and brother.” Erin broke down and sobbed.
Alec came up to the Queen. “Take my hand and let’s see what I can do,” he said quietly.
“You would try, knowing it means your death?” the Queen said.
“I would try because it is the right thing to do. We will face tomorrow, tomorrow.” Alec reached for her hand. “You know the old saying, ‘tomorrow never comes.’”
Alec took the Queen’s hand and pulled dark energy through his medallion. He fed the energy through his being and bathed both the Queen and himself in dark energy. As the energy flowed into her body, the Queen sank back on her pillows, her eyes closed. Her handmaidens moved forward, uncertain as to what this tall stranger was doing.
“It’s all right,” Erin said to them, and they stepped back to their appointed positions.
Alec held her hand for hours, feeding dark energy into her body. Sometime in the night, Erin took his hand and helped him. Alec knew that something felt right when Erin helped.
✽✽✽
The next morning dawned dimly in the Queen’s chamber. Alec and Erin had found a corner to sleep in between sessions of flushing dark energy through Erin’s mother, and one of the attendants had brought pillows and blankets for them. The Queen woke first, and saw Erin and her Wizard curled together in the heap of blankets in the corner. How good to be young, she thought.
The Queen stretched and sat up. She hadn’t felt this good in years. She got out of bed carefully. She was a little unstable from lying in her bed for several days, but everything else felt good. An attendant quietly appeared and led her away to dress and perform her morning rituals.
A short time later the Queen was back with two servants and a tray of food.
“Wake up! Even lovebirds cannot sleep forever,” she said. With the sound of her voice, the two sat up.
“Mother! How are you?”
“Whatever your Wizard did worked. I haven’t felt so good in ages. Even my back hurts less than it did. Thank you, Wizard.”
“Alec,” he said, correcting her. “You are most welcome.”
“Where are you from, Wizard?” she said, ignoring his name. “And how did you meet my daughter?” Alec and Erin told her a short version of their events while they ate.
“And you, Mother? How have you fared since I last saw you?”
“Not so well,” the Queen answered.
“What is the matter – is there a problem with the Council?” Erin asked. The Council is often at odds with my Mother, and is led by a bully named Brun, she thought to Alec.
“Let me tell you of my folly, said the Queen, sighing. “Even before you left, the Council was concerned about my status as a widow, and Brun was pushing me to consort with him. Then after you were gone, a peddler came around, bringing news of your brother Devin’s death and the loss of your caravan. Everyone on the Council thought you were dead as well. But I knew you were not dead. If you had died I would have sensed your death just like I sensed your brother Devin’s death, long before the peddler brought the news.
“Brun continued to insist that the Queen must have a consort in order to rule. ‘The people will not feel safe if the queen does not have a consort,’ he said; after all, The Book of Queens states that the Queen should have a Consort who is a warrior who can work with the Queen to protect our people.
“I knew he was right, but I was still mourning the death of your father. Since I am past child-bearing age, he insisted we consort and that his daughter be in the line of succession after you. He said that would prevent uncertainty amongst our people.”
The Queen paused and looked at Erin. “I resisted his demands until he hinted that he had taken your younger brother Colin as a hostage and woul
d kill him if I did not consort! I knew he could do that kind of vicious action! I was so distraught that I didn’t even feel for the truth with my ring. I could not stand to lose my last son, so I agreed.”
The Queen looked at her hands and twisted the ring on her finger. She hesitated before plunging on with her story. “Brun bonded with me on the floor of my audience chamber with my retainers all watching. I was so shocked and embarrassed that I didn’t protest. Since agreement and bonding are the only requirements to consort, Brun quickly informed the Council and the public that he was my Consort.”
The Queen snorted. “Brun has been very uninterested in me since that first bonding. He only wanted the power of being my Consort and of having his daughter, Amelia, as heir. I do not like her. She is shallow and stupid, and not suitable to take my place as Queen, but she is a direct descendent of the Original Five.”
“The Original Five?” asked Alec.
“I am sorry, I forgot that you do not know our history. Theland was first settled five hundred years ago by five clutches of elves who wanted a different life away from the rest of the elves. They established this place, and named it Freeland City, to commemorate their new order. Each clutch had a set of rings with them. Erin and I are direct descendants of Lian, the First Elf Mother. Brun’s daughter is a direct descendent of another original elf, Gwyn, and a merchant’s wife here in the City is also a direct descendent of the Original Five. The other two elf lines have died out.
“Only the descendants on the Original Five can use the elven rings to sense truth. Some like, Erin, are very strong in their abilities. Others, like Amelia, are much weaker in their abilities. In fact, I don’t think Amelia can use the rings at all.
“A few days after Brun and I consorted, Colin returned from his trip in the mountains. Brun lied to me – he had not captured Colin and was not holding him hostage! But by then I was consorted.” She gave a deep sigh. “I feel that I have let your father down,” the Queen said sadly, “and you and Colin as well.” Erin gently touched her mother’s arm.
