by Timothy Bond
"That cannot be, Your Majesty.” Rozlynn pulled back her hand and smoothed the sleeve of her dress. "A mother's love cannot be matched by a maid or a teacher at Court. A mother's love is unique in the world, and anyone who grows up not knowing that love, suffers even if they know it not."
Leondis looked at Rozlynn with a slightly furrowed brow, but relaxed when he saw that she was not making sport of him, but truly feeling the loss that she was certain he felt.
"I assure you, Lady Rozlynn, I have suffered not for the love of a mother. My father was a deeply devoted man, who made sure that I wanted for nothing, including the care of women and a well-rounded education."
"Still, it somewhat explains your attitude toward women," Rozlynn interrupted, "and in turn, your attitude toward your future Queen."
"What do you mean?" he replied, nonplussed.
"Simply that you treat all women as property," Rozlynn said a little more loudly than she intended, "and that goes for your approach to selecting your Queen as well. You want only to own a Queen, and not to have a Queen of the Realm. Do you see your future Queen as an equal in power? Do you see her as an advisor in all things related to the Kingdom? Do you see her as someone whose trust and love you must earn, or simply one who will come at your beck-and-call, at any hour, to service your carnal needs?"
No one spoke to Leondis like this, not even a woman he was considering as his future Queen. The more Rozlynn spoke, the more red in the face the King became.
"You overstep your bounds, Lady Rozlynn," he said at last, controlling his temper, but just barely.
"Perhaps it is you who overestimate your own," she replied. Without waiting for leave from the King, she daintily dabbed the corner of her mouth with a silken napkin, pushed her chair back from the table, and announced to Drianna that it was time to go.
"Wait!" the King ordered.
"Thank you for the lovely dinner, Your Majesty.” She bowed slightly to the King, ignoring the order. She turned and taking Drianna's arm in her own, walked calmly though quickly to the exit.
Minister Nolan looked to the King for guidance, who stood motionless on the dais behind his seat at the table. The musicians still played, though most of the guests no longer danced. Lord Randolf and the Lady Anne were still arm in arm; however, they too stopped the dance and simply stared after the Lady Rozlynn as she left the room.
* * *
"Would you mind explaining your behavior just now?" Drianna demanded of Rozlynn as they rode from the castle grounds in the ornate carriage.
"I would have thought that by now, you of all people would understand what it is I do," the Princess replied.
"Enlighten me, please. I see a woman who is not going to be chosen as Queen, and who seems to be very pleased with herself at the prospects."
"Quite the opposite is true, Drianna, and in your short-sightedness, you still don't see it. I will explain. You and I both know that before I can bear Leondis' child, I must activate the final spell. It not only will cause the King to fall madly in love with me, desiring me over all other women, but according to your own words, it will allow me to conceive The Children of the Prophecy—the ultimate goal of this union after all. Without that magical assistance, there is virtually no chance of Elf breeding with human. Is that not correct?"
"That is correct, yes," the sorceress agreed.
"Would not the people find it strange, if I walked in and Leondis immediately became so enthralled with me that he could see no other, could be with no other, and immediately afterward, I was with child? This is a man, who from a very young age became intimately familiar with as many maidens as would grace his bed. Could I simply step in, an unknown Lady from nowhere, and change him overnight?"
"I'm not sure I understand," Drianna replied.
"I know, and that's why we are doing this my way," Rozlynn said again. "Leondis must work to get me to accept his proposal. I cannot be seen to be too anxious, or too eager to be Queen. It is a balancing act, I know, but in the end, he must want me as an equal, a Queen of the Realm, and not simply as a woman to bear him an Heir. I am to live this life as well, Drianna, and I will not simply be a broodmare for the King."
"You play a dangerous game, Princess."
"Perhaps," Rozlynn replied, settling back in her seat. "I do believe I know men however, and Leondis will not run away from me quite yet."
Twelve
"My sister is being irresponsible, irrational, impulsive, immature, irritating and, and—"
"Irresistible?" Rendil offered.
"Illogical!" Queen Lilliene nearly screamed.
The wizard sat in the throne room in Kalystra, in conference with the King and Queen of the Elves as well as a number of their advisors.
"Did you know that after she went through the Change, neither Lynntania nor I can scry her anymore? It's as if she is no longer even an Elf!"
"Lilliene," King Theinial said soothingly, "you knew this was coming, and there was nothing any of us could do to stop her. The Prophecy has consumed her thoughts for decades, and she believed strongly in the signs."
"The signs, the signs. Is that all anyone can say?" Lilliene was in the Elven capital city for the first time in nearly fifty years. She preferred to stay in Alpenvail, however to meet with anyone from outside the hidden valley, she needed to come down from the secret mountain retreat. This time of year, the passes were sometimes blocked by snow, and as that was the case now, she would be stuck here either until an early melt-off or until spring. She was not pleased, but neither was King Theinial to have his wife living in the city with him again. It was much more peaceful when she was not around.
"I think we need to get past this," Rendil was saying, "and start to discuss the next steps. If she should be successful in marrying Leondis and having a child, or even more telling, twins, then we can only assume The Prophecy is in play and the time for action approaches."
"So many conditions must be met for this to occur, Wizard, I do not think we need be preparing now," Theinial stated. "Even if Rozlynn manages to have a child with the human King, that is no guarantee it has anything to do with The Prophecy. Elves and humans have interbred many times over the centuries without prophetic results."
"Have they, Your Majesty?" Rendil asked pointedly. "I know of only a few, and each time another stage of The Prophecy could be seen as coming to conclusion. You remember Easal, of course?"
"Yes, of course I remember Easal," Theinial admitted, "but that was hardly conclusive."
"As I recall," Rendil continued, "the Prophecy path as deciphered by Drianna was something like, 'The last Elf to sit as a Watcher, will turn out to be a half-blood, putting an end to the vigil forever.' Given that Easal was the last Elven Watcher assigned to the Keep, and the circumstances around his death, he certainly ended The Watchers forever."
"Father," Princess Lynntania spoke for the first time in the meeting. "I don't believe everyone here knows how Easal died. I think it's important in this discussion that all know the real truth."
The King sighed and looked around the room at those assembled. As much as he did not want to discuss this, if he was to get proper advice from those present, his daughter was correct.
"You may tell the tale, Lynn, but please be brief."
"Thank you, Father.” The Princess stood and addressed the room. "Easal was a gifted seer who came to us from one of the trading families living in the south. I think most of you know—even if we don't discuss it—that we have been trading goods with the humans both around the lake and in the area known as the Free Cities, since The Breaking. Our isolation has never been complete, but we are discreet and limit that contact."
"Is that relevant, Lynntania?" the King asked.
"I believe it is, Father, please bear with me," she replied. "The reason I bring this up is Easal's family was from a small group who lived in Ramon Tor before The Breaking. They stayed even after it was totally destroyed at the end of the First Age. The Waste, as we call it today, is a harsh place, but som
e Elves still live there and trade with us as well as the humans in the cities of Al-Ashal and Al-Fikri to the South.
"At any rate, Easal's mother was an Elf, but his biological father was a human. His mother was raped and became pregnant. Although these births are rare, they do happen occasionally. His Elven father refused to acknowledge the boy, and in an act of desperation, his mother brought him here to be raised by a foster family. As he grew, he displayed a talent for prophecy, but kept that hidden, as he was afraid to be chastised for yet another difference. We only found this out later, after his death.
"When he was still quite young, he requested to be assigned to the Watcher's Keep. The Council eagerly granted his request. The assignment, as you might imagine, was not one that many Elves were interested in taking.
"Not long after accepting the duty post, Easal killed the human and Dwarf who served as Watchers, then leaped from the rift canyon rim to his death. Why he did this was never discovered, but eventually, a Prophecy journal was found among his possessions. He apparently had nightly prophetic dreams that haunted him his whole life."
"Princess?" one of the advisors asked. "Why did this end the duty of the Watchers? There were several Watchers from every race stationed at the Keep at any one time."
"When Easal took his life," Lynntania explained, "he apparently took the only key to the tower with him. No one could enter the actual Keep again, and as such, the task of Watching could no longer be accomplished. The key was never recovered, and neither was Easal's body."
"Could not the door be opened by force?"
"No," Rendil answered. "The door to the Watcher's Keep is magically sealed by the power of the Triadine itself. It cannot be opened by any means we currently possess. Perhaps if we were to reassemble the ancient talisman—"
"Absolutely not!" The objection came from King Theinial. "That weapon will not be rebuilt under any circumstances!"
"There is one circumstance that may require us to do so, Your Majesty," the wizard replied.
"Though that may yet come to pass," Theinial admitted, "we will not use that weapon to open the Keep. The Dark Wizard remained inactive for centuries while we kept watch. There is no reason to believe he is not still simply living out his life in the total isolation of his mountain prison."
"The end of the Watchers, by one of half-blood, was one of the key signs of The Prophecy that led Princess Rozlynn down her current path," Rendil explained, bringing together the ends of the story. "If she is correct, and her current action results in the birth of another half-breed child, or even more critical, half-breed twins, then I think it is safe to say she was correct, and The Prophecy is in full motion."
"You believe we are again approaching the End Days, Wizard?" Laurentis asked. The white-haired Elf was acknowledged by all to be the oldest living Elf. He stayed out of all politics in the Elven Kingdom and spent his life in quiet service to the Goddess Phayle, mother of all creation. His presence here only served to underline the importance of this meeting.
"I do believe that Princess Rozlynn and the Sorceress Drianna may have interpreted the signs correctly," the wizard replied, "and that we are now on the final path that could lead to another major conflict with the Dark Wizard. Whether that is really the End Days, well, that will depend on which fork the path takes."
The room started to buzz as disbelief mixed with denial and disapproval made the rounds. Rendil sat back and said nothing more, simply watching the Elven advisors make first one argument and then another over what should be done. He had witnessed an event like this more than once in his lifetime, and there would be no easy answers coming from this group.
Laurentis slowly rose from his seat, and speaking a quiet word to the King, excused himself to the temple to pray. Rendil would meet up with him later, for special insight that only the ancient Elf could provide.
"We will not make a decision tonight," King Theinial announced. "This group will come together again tomorrow at mid-day and finish discussing what role the Elves will play in the event that Princess Rozlynn gives birth to half-breed children. For now, this discussion is over."
* * *
"You believe it's true, Wizard?" Princess Lynntania sat cross-legged on the floor of Rendil's quarters, looking up at the wizard pacing the room.
"It is true, Princess," Rendil replied. "The only question is what are we going to do when the children are born."
"The only question?"
"The first major question would be a better way to put it, I suppose."
"Obviously, they need to be taken away from the humans and raised by the Elves," Lynntania said, very matter-of-factly.
"That won't work, Princess," Rendil replied, turning away from the window to look down on the Princess. "The children must grow up as humans. They must represent the humans at the end, and not the Elves. Even though they are of half-blood, they must think of themselves as human first, and not Elves."
"Did that come from The Prophecy as well?" Lynntania asked, puzzled.
"Very clearly, yes."
"If the human King is not likely to lend assistance to our effort, how can we possibly allow the children to be raised in his household?"
"I did not say the children should be raised as royalty," Rendil explained, "only that they need to be raised by humans."
"So you are suggesting that we take the children away from my Aunt and give them to another family to raise?"
"I'm suggesting that they be raised by someone other than King Leondis," Rendil replied, not answering the Princess' question completely.
Thirteen
"If you are not more quiet, Your Majesty, we will never get close enough to the boar for a kill.” Randolf walked behind Leondis, who crashed through the brush like a stampeding herd of elk chased by a pack of wolves.
"What's that you say?" The King turned to look at Randolf, a hunting spear held loosely in one hand.
"I say you do not appear to be into the hunt today, Your Highness," Randolf replied. "That was the third time we came close to the boar, only to scare him away and not get an opportunity for the kill. The dogs will corner him again, but as they tire, I fear for their safety if we keep driving the boar without taking him soon."
Leondis stared blankly at Lord Randolf as if he did not even hear what the man was saying, before turning and tossing his spear to a servant. "Enough hunting for today! Bring me my horse!"
Both the King and Randolf's mounts were made ready, and the men were off toward the capital. They were hunting a half a day's ride to the southeast, below the granite quarry at Boring, where the population of wild boar were known to be plentiful.
"Send a couple of archers with the dog handlers," Randolf informed the Master of the Hunt. "See if you can bring back at least one animal for the King's table tonight."
"Yes, my Lord," the man replied knowingly. Leondis would be happier this evening if there were boar on the table, even though his own attempts to kill an animal were unsuccessful.
Randolf caught up with the King and his personal guard as they rode back toward Solenta.
"What is on your mind, Sire?" he asked knowingly.
"It's that blasted woman, what else?" he barked in reply. "I've heard nothing from her in more than two weeks."
"Have you considered going to see her, Your Highness?"
"What? Me go to see her? Of course not!"
"You might consider it, Sire, if indeed you are really serious about making her your Queen.” Randolf knew he was on shaky ground but he had never seen his friend so unsettled, not even after the death of his father.
"The King does not go crawling to any woman!" Leondis insisted. "Why should I go to see her? She is the one who should be coming to see me, begging my forgiveness for walking out on the event that I threw in her honor!"
"Was it truly in her honor, Your Majesty?" Randolf asked warily. "Or were you showing off your prize to the nobles in the Kingdom?"
The King started to speak and the words seemed to catch in his thr
oat. Though no one other than Randolf could get away with speaking to him this way, in this case, he may have pushed a little too hard.
Finally, Leondis managed to speak, his voice low and threatening. "You overstep your bounds, Lord Randolf."
"As your friend and advisor, Leondis," Randolf said carefully, "I may not have said enough. As just one of your nobles, Your Majesty, I have said too much. It is up to you to determine how you wish to take my words."
Without waiting for the King to reply, in an act that might prove his undoing, Lord Randolf kicked his horse hard and jumped out in front of the procession heading back to the capital. He would not be able to push his horse like this for long, but he would not ride alongside or even behind a monarch who would not recognize when he was wrong.
To Randolf's great surprise, Leondis came up right alongside him on his black warhorse, driving the animal hard. The King glanced toward his friend as he passed by, a twisted grin on his face. Randolf understood and rose to the challenge, urging his own stallion to take up the chase.
At breakneck speed, the two men raced up the road with the King's Elite in haphazard pursuit. No one was able to match the extreme to which the King and his closest friend pushed their animals. Several hard minutes of riding later, the road dipped into a low area with a shallow reed-filled swamp on both sides. Randolf slowed his horse, knowing that the road was rough in places and not wanting to risk the bay. Leondis, however, kept on at a breakneck pace, leaving Randolf behind by a dozen lengths in the blink of an eye.
Not willing to let his friend simply win by default, Randolf again kicked his mount forward to the chase. While he closed the distance only slightly, the pounding hooves of both horses threw large quantities of wet dirt into the air behind both men as they put the swamp behind them.
Finally, Leondis eased off on his horse, the animal starting to show signs of tiring. Randolf rode up alongside and matched the slower pace, the mounts snorting and huffing with the exertion of the race. The men were laughing nearly uncontrollably. No guards could be seen on the road behind. The two were as alone as when they were boys playing in the fields around Solenta.
