With a tug on his arm, Arillia brought him up short. “What ails you?” Such trusting eyes she turned on him, eyes of palest gray. She knew him well, but he thought she did not guess he used her company as a balm. In her presence, he found ease for the worries that tormented his rest.
Her gaze probed his, but he glanced away, out the tall window behind her to the fieldstone paths that cut through the lush sward to the inner garden.
Ah, the garden. They’d often whiled away entire afternoons gathering the roses that nodded beneath twisting strongwood branches. Side by side, they’d dropped bright petals into the silken waters of the pool and watched the water cascade in glinting ribbons from the tiered fountain.
Elcon pushed away his memories and looked down into Arillia’s troubled face. “Naught but shadows.”
Her expression registered her disbelief, but he offered nothing more. For Shae’s safety, he couldn’t claim her as his sister. And how could he explain to Arillia the feeling of doom that weighted him?
And yet, when he looked into the cool depths of her eyes, he could almost persuade himself she understood. The thought should draw him to her, but it only made him uneasy. Perhaps he and Arillia shouldn’t spend so much time together.
“As you please, Elcon.” Irritation edged her voice. “It’s clear you mean to keep your thoughts private.” Arillia stepped closer to the fire and gazed into its depths as silence stretched between them. “But I still wish—”
Elcon took her by the elbow. “Forgive me. I must return you to your parents.”
Her eyes widened, but as he pushed her through the crowd toward the dais, she didn’t resist. His perfunctory bow to her parents included Arillia. He caught the glint of tears trembling on her lashes and hesitated, but then hurried across the great hall. Arillia, and all the confusing emotions surrounding her, would have to wait.
By the time he reached the main archway, Weilton, the second guardian of Rivenn, had joined him. In Kai’s absence, Weilton had assumed his duties as Elcon’s personal guard. Elcon answered the question in Weilton’s light gray eyes. “I saw from the window a company of wingabeasts approaching from the south. Kai and Shae return.”
****
Kai sent Flecht into a spiral and touched down beside his companions on the arched bridge outside Torindan’s barbican. Although they could have flown into Torindan, protocol and good sense called for the guardians to land their wingabeasts outside all strongholds, even their own, and obtain entrance in the usual manner.
“Who goes there?” A guard called from the parapet above the barbican.
“Kai of Whellein and a company of weary travelers, all friends of Torindan.”
With a rasp and screech of metal, the drawbridge lowered over the moat’s dark waters and the barbican’s timbered metal doors swung open.
As they passed beneath the iron fangs of the portcullis, Aerlic drew his silver wingabeast, Argalent, abreast of Kai. Just behind, Emmerich rode Ruescht while Guaron and Dorann brought up the rear. They had barely passed through when the doors thudded shut and the bar clanged back into its rests. Chains clanked, and the portcullis dropped with a squeal and a thump, sealing them into the treacherous “walls of death.”
Fletch’s hooves clattered on the wooden floorboards and rang when they found trapdoors above pits. As Kai guided his wingabeast onward, bars of light penetrating through arrow slits in the outer walls fell over him. With much clanking and screeching, a second portcullis gave way, and they emerged before the inner gatehouse.
Kai, blinking in the sudden light, answered another round of salutations. A small drawbridge lowered across a second channel of the moat. More doors opened, and they passed beneath twin turrets into a short corridor.
Footsteps, light and fleet, approached from the outer bailey. With his eyes adjusting again to dimness, Kai halted Fletch and his companions gathered around him. Two figures entered by the archway from the outer bailey. “Kai. You return.”
Kai’s vision cleared, but he’d already recognized Elcon’s voice.
One of the guardroom doors along the corridor flung open and Craelin, First Guardian of Rivenn, stepped out, the lines around his eyes crinkling from the force of his smile. Beside him strode Eathnor, dressed in the green and gold of the high guard.
Kai dismounted and bowed before Elcon. “I’ve returned, but without Shae.”
“Rise.”
Kai obeyed.
Elcon looked him over. “You’re too thin, and I’ll warrant, weary. You look like a strong wind would knock you over. Still, I’m glad to see you. Has Shae stayed behind with her sister in Graelinn?”
Kai swallowed his surprise at Elcon’s response. “Forgive me, but I should explain in private.”
“Tell me where she is.”
Kai flinched. “She remains within the gateway of Gilead Riann.”
Elcon’s eyes narrowed. “What madness is this?”
“Only the truth, I promise. Shae went through the gateway of her own will.”
“Why would she do such a thing?”
“So that Shraen Brael could enter Elderland.”
“The DawnKing of prophecy has entered Elderland? But where is Shae?”
Craelin stepped forward. “If I may suggest, whatever news Kai brings might better be given in private, Lof Shraen.”
Elcon opened his mouth as if to speak but closed it again. “Yes. Yes, of course.” His glance slid past Kai and landed on Emmerich, just dismounting. “Tell me, Kai, why you ride with this Elder. Has he strayed from his path so far it brings him among the Kindren?”
Emmerich lifted his head. “I know well my path, Elcon, Shraen of Rivenn, Lof Shraen of Faeraven. I follow it to you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That is the simple truth.”
Elcon paced before Emmerich, his gaze a challenge. “Who are you?”
Emmerich stood without flinching. “Are you certain you wish to know?”
Elcon stared at him, but then looked to Kai. “Bring him to my meeting chamber, and we’ll discuss these matters at length.” At the archway to the outer bailey, Elcon shot a final piercing glance at Emmerich. “I look forward to that conversation.”
Elcon went through the archway with Weilton behind him. In the small silence that followed his departure, Kai drew his hands into fists at his side. After all they had suffered and sacrificed, would Elcon now reject Emmerich?
“Are you all well?” Craelin said near Kai’s ear.
Kai considered the question. “Well enough. We sustained injuries besides the ones you knew, but most have healed. Some take longer than others.” And some never heal. “How did you and Eathnor fare on your return to Torindan?”
A smile lit Craelin’s face. “Well enough, also. We reached Torindan in advance of Freaer’s charge and just managed to take away a small group of messengers. We rode like the wind to summon the loyal Shraens of Faeraven but had to dodge welke riders to save our own lives.”
“Ah.” An image of dark riders pursuing through the mists of morning came to Kai. “We had a bit of trouble with them ourselves.”
“If not for Eathnor’s skill as a tracker we would not have survived to spread the alert.”
Kai nodded to Eathnor. “Well done. And so you have joined the ranks of the guardians. I commend Craelin’s choice in you.”
Eathnor clasped Kai’s hand. “Thank you. I hope to prove myself worthy of the company I keep.”
Dorann dismounted in one leap, and the two brothers gazed upon one another with eyes that shone. At last, Eathnor dipped his head. “You’ve healed.”
Dorann put a hand to his once-blackened eye as a slow smile spread across his face. “In truth, I’d forgotten it.” He took in the garb his brother now wore as part of the lof stapp. “Green suits you.”
Eathnor laughed. “That it does.”
With Eathnor beside him, Dorann led his dark gray wingabeast, Sharten, through the archway into the outer bailey, where the stables lay.
>
“Welcome back.”
At Craelin’s greeting, Kai smiled for the first time since entering Torindan. But he also felt like weeping. “Thank you. I’m glad to see you.”
The bright blue eyes nested more deeply in Craelin’s face. “And I, you.”
Kai cleared his throat. “We should hurry, although I dread facing Elcon again.” With slumped shoulders, he led Fletch after the others into the outer bailey, where smoke hung heavy and the stench of charred meat fouled the air. Dogs snarled and yipped, fighting over a bit of offal thrown to them. A scarred wooden door hung open in a doorway, through which emitted the clash and clang of cooking.
With Craelin keeping pace beside him, Kai took the side path to the stables, which squatted across the sward from the kitchens. Waiting for a groomsman at the stable door, he breathed in the heavy scent of hay. Thudding hooves, soft whickerings, and calming voices drifted to him. A lump formed in his throat. He’d forgotten what it meant to come home.
Craelin touched his arm. “Give it time, Kai. None but a fool would think you gave less than your all for Elcon or Shae.”
Kai wanted to shout that his all hadn’t been enough. He’d failed Shae, and he had failed Elcon.
2
Reunion
“You’re weary, Lof Shraen. Come and rest by the fire.” The steward of Rivenn, in a blue-cushioned chair which contrasted with his russet surcoat, waited in Elcon’s outer chamber.
Elcon frowned. He’d not summoned Benisch.
The steward arose, the chair creaking beneath his girth, and executed a bow.
Elcon inclined his head to acknowledge the belated gesture and then took a stance before the flames in the hearth. He would deal with Benisch later. Other matters occupied his mind at present. As dried pitch ignited, the burning logs snapped and sizzled. Heat radiated to him. He held out his hands as if he might wrest life itself from the fire. His focus shifted inward and, instead of the flames before him, he saw the rounded eyes of the Elder youth, looking as if they saw all Elcon was and would ever be.
Standing turned to pacing. Elcon started when he came across Benisch, still waiting where he’d made his bow. In truth, he’d forgotten the steward’s presence. “Did you need something?” he rapped out.
“I?” Benisch gave a small smile and coughed. “Not I, but perhaps you might do with something to eat or drink?”
“I want nothing.” He paced to the fire and clasped his hands behind him as he watched its flames claw the air. “But if I do Anders can tend me.”
“Perhaps—” Benisch hesitated with delicacy. “Perhaps a listening ear?”
“What?” He looked away from the flames. “No. Benisch, I thank you, but really I don’t see—”
“I received word of a strange Elder brought to Torindan by Kai.”
Benisch’s quick knowledge of the affairs within Torindan had served Elcon on more than one occasion, but now it irritated. He raised his brows. “Do you intend to gossip, then?”
Benisch sniffed. “I overheard another speak of it.”
Elcon repressed a smile. “I’ve a mind to leave you wondering as penance for eavesdropping, but it won’t hurt for you to know. Yes, Kai brings an Elder upon his return from…an errand.” Benisch opened his mouth to speak again, but Elcon forestalled him with a raised hand. “I know little more than you do at present.”
“This comes at an awkward time.” As Benisch moved closer, he clicked and jingled.
Diverted, Elcon angled a look at Benisch’s feet. The toes of his slippers curled upward, each ending in a tiny golden bell.
Benisch cleared his throat. “Your youth does not benefit you, Lof Shraen. You should be more circumspect. You have yet to secure Faeraven, and allowing an Elder within Torindan’s gates will bring ill favor in some quarters.”
“I’ll not let the thoughts of others guide me.” His words, meant to ring with boldness, sounded plaintive even in Elcon’s own ears.
“Better their thoughts than their armies.” Having delivered himself of this verdict, Benisch said no more, but stood with hands clasped docilely before him. The jewels in his many rings flashed in the light of the chamber’s torches, already lit against the growing darkness. “Shall I have a footbath brought to ease you?”
Elcon would have laughed at Benisch’s puppyish expression if his eagerness to please hadn’t been such an irritant. “Thank you, no.” He waved his hand in dismissal. “Really, Benisch, I need nothing but privacy now. Pray, consider your duties for the day at an end.”
Benisch looked as though he would argue but instead nodded and swept from the room.
Alone save for his servant Anders, who would remain discreetly closeted unless summoned, Elcon sat in the chair Benisch had vacated and let his fingers curl against the smooth wood of the armrests. Leaning his head back, he released a long sigh.
An image flashed behind his closed lids.
He opened his eyes to stare at the vaulted and gilded ceiling. Why did the face of the Elder youth haunt him?
He pushed aside an uneasy emotion he refused to name and set his thoughts instead on Shae. Why had she not returned? Surely Kai would have kept her from harm. After all, Kai had known and loved Shae long before Elcon had even learned his sister lived. He pushed off the arms of the chair to rise. Odd that resting his body only meant he exhausted himself in thought, whereas movement wearied his body but eased his mind. He strode to the side door connecting to the servant chambers, summoned Anders, and ordered food and drink for those who would soon arrive in his meeting chamber.
Kai came first, and as he entered, Elcon noted the sadness that mantled him. Whatever had happened on the journey did not sit well. Kai met his glance, but his own slid away. He seemed distracted, little able to give attention to even simple matters.
Elcon indicated the benches before the fire. “Make yourself comfortable. The others have not yet arrived.”
Kai obeyed, seating himself on one of the benches, but his posture remained stiff.
Elcon’s conscience smote him at the harsh words he’d spoken earlier. He took a steadying breath, raked a hand through his hair, and then joined Kai on the bench. “Tell me about Shae.”
Kai spread his hands. “She’s gone. She went through Gilead Riann to allow the DawnKing to enter Elderland.”
Elcon shifted forward on the bench. “You said as much earlier, but I don’t understand. Where is this DawnKing?”
“You’ve already spoken with him.”
Elcon’s brows shot up, and his eyes widened. “Not…surely not—”
Kai nodded. “I speak of Emmerich, the Elder who rode with us. He is Shraen Brael, the DawnKing we seek.”
Elcon found his feet. “It’s not possible! Must the Kindren look to a youth—and one of the Elder nation, at that, for deliverance?”
“I know it’s hard to acknowledge. I can barely credit it myself, yet I saw Emmerich waiting within the gateway of Gilead Riann with my own eyes.”
“I’m not sure I believe this, but I’ll agree to listen to all you say this night.” Elcon seated himself again and crossed his arms. “But first, has harm come to Shae?”
“I don’t believe she suffers, although we all did in reaching the Caverns of Caerric Daeft. Misfortune reduced our number until only two of us, Dorann and myself, remained to guard Shae. Welkes attacked us in Laesh Ebain, and we became separated.
“I found and helped her, at least for a time. Dorann followed also, at great sacrifice, and came upon me lost in the cavern without a lamp. Shae went on alone, for time grew short, and she could see by an inner light.
“Dorann and I found Shae standing on the natural bridge that spans Lohen Keil, the Well of Light below Gilead Riann. Freaer tried to lure her away, but Emmerich called from within the gateway. Shae wavered, but in the end, sang the death song as she crossed into Lohen Keil and changed places with Emmerich. He stepped out as she went in.”
“She sang the Mael Lido? Why?”
Kai’s long eyes gl
eamed. “To ensure her own safe passage to Shaenn Raven. When she passed through Gilead Riann, Shae gave her life with all her heart. The gateway closed after she entered. Emmerich tells me she wants for nothing in the land beyond, and I—I somehow know she’s well. I grieve for her, but I’m certain that, if she had it to do again, Shae would make the same choice.”
“I hope she has no cause for regret.”
“Her song carried far and wide and brought healing to many.”
A tap came at the door. Aerlic and Emmerich entered together, followed by Craelin, Eathnor, and Dorann.
Craelin made his bow, echoed at once by his companions. “Guaron remains behind with the wingabeasts but will join us after they settle in.”
Elcon inclined his head. “Let’s go through to my meeting chamber. Sit you down at my table. I’ve ordered food and drink.” He spoke to Craelin but could not prevent his gaze from straying to Emmerich. Freshly washed, the Elder youth looked even younger than he had upon first acquaintance. He must be no more than fourteen summers.
They ranged around the massive slab of strongwood set on sturdy trestles that dominated the center of his meeting chamber. Elcon took his place in the elaborate carven chair at the table’s head. Silence reigned for a time as they examined one another.
Anders appeared at the door and admitted servants bearing steaming platters piled high with meats and tubers, fruit pastries, and chilled tankards of cider. Elcon plucked an apple from a passing tray, biting into its crisp, cool flesh and letting its sweetness soothe his tongue. “Tell me everything that happened after I left you.”
Kai carried the weight of the narrative, with others chiming in various details although Dorann spoke little. The story unfolded for Elcon in bits and pieces. The small band had navigated the canyons of Doreinn Ravein to spend a harrowing night at Paiad Burein. They’d resisted the terrible beauty of the Smallwood of Syllid Mueric only to meet peril in the ruins of Braeth.
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