Both Ayron and Elwyn continued riding together in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Neither of them was able to relax as they rode. Even though the drakenhawks reported no sign of danger as they flew ahead of them, both Ayron and Elwyn had a strong feeling they might be attacked again before they reached Findara.
Chapter 45 – The Bonding
Ayron and Elwyn rode steadily north for the next three hours, not stopping to rest or to refresh themselves. As the temperature rose, chasing the morning chill from the air, they removed their cloaks, folded them, and placed them in their saddlebags. Elwyn took notice of the new cloak that Ayron purchased for himself in Sylreth. His cloak was a forest green like hers, but only contained the coat of arms for Silvendil, embroidered on the right side. She asked him if the placement of the embroidery made a difference. He told her that the left side, closest to the heart was reserved for the mother’s coat of arms, while the right side was reserved for the coat of arms representing the father’s family. Because his parent’s families were both descended from the House of Aleanathem, he only needed the one on his cloak. Elwyn, on the other hand was descended from two houses; the House of Aimergin, on her mother’s side, and the House of Aleanathem, on her father’s side. That is why he had both coats of arms embroidered on her cloak.
Elwyn was both shocked and shaken from her thoughts when suddenly a beautiful cobalt blue drakenhawk flew toward them and landed lightly on the pommel of her saddle. Kierra nodded to Ayron, who was trying hard not to stare, and gently greeted Elwyn. She apologized for her sudden appearance, but said that she was concerned after hearing Toruk’s forebodings and the appearance of a drakenhawk not from Findara. What concerned her even more was her inability to sense its presence. She flew out early to meet them because she wanted to see for herself that they were both alright. She knew it was a stressful day for them both.
Elwyn had a hard time tearing her eyes from those of Kierra. They were a beautiful deep rich blue in contrast to the somewhat lighter blue of the scales covering her skin. When she finally managed, she noticed that the deep blue ridges on her head formed a crown that sparkled like sapphires. Her talons and the tip of her tail, along with the other crests on her body were also the same sparkling shade of sapphire blue. To Elwyn, Kierra was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen; a true study in artistry. Kierra thanked her for her compliments and said that she also found Elwyn incredibly lovely, almost ethereal in appearance.
She let Elwyn know that she sent yesterday’s image of her to Kormir’s drakenhawk Krill, who in turned passed it along to her uncle, who was learning to communicate with him. Kierra said that Rhys wept like a baby at how beautiful she appeared, and said that he’d never realized just how much she resembled her mother. She also told Elwyn that Rhys seemed to be healing quickly and that Clayre had made friends with the local Amarani healer. The two of them were spending lots of time exchanging information and healing techniques with each other.
Elwyn was ecstatically happy to hear about Rhys and Clayre and, for the first time, felt a real sense of peace about Ayron’s decision to leave them at Amarni with the Amarani until Rhys was strong enough to travel. She turned to Ayron to see his reaction to the information and found him sitting still on Gerrack with a very disgruntled look on his face. She suddenly realized that Kierra was communicating with her alone. Shocked, she quickly filled him in on the news from Amarni. She turned back to Kierra with a quizzical expression. Kierra then let her know that there was no longer an emergency, and unless her life were in danger, it was time for the drakenhawks to go back to following the traditions that had served them for so long. The thought of that made Elwyn very unhappy, as she’d enjoyed their group sessions very much. She wasn’t sure that, just because it was tradition, it was wise to continue as they had in the past, but she also knew that now was not the time for her to have that discussion. Elwyn felt a bit better when Kierra informed her that she had made an exception for Keroc, since he was so young and because she saved his life.
Kierra then turned to face Elwyn and said in a gently into her mind.
“I, Kierra queen of the drakenhawk nation choose you Elwyn Daughter of Rhianna of the House of Aimergin and of Azavon of the House of Aleanathem, ruler of all Silvendil to bond with for the rest of our lives. I promise to always honor that bond and all it represents.”
Elwyn was very quiet for a few moments. She turned and looked at Ayron, as if for courage and then replied,
“I Elwyn, daughter of Rhianna of the House of Aimergin and of Azavon of the House of Aleanathem, ruler of all Silvendil accept your request Kierra, queen of the drakenhawk nation, to bond with you for the rest of our lives. I promise to always honor that bond and all it represents.”
Elwyn turned to Ayron and saw the tears rolling down his cheeks. She knew that Kierra had included him in their bonding so that he could hear everything that was said. Kierra then said to them both.
“Elwyn, we have formed a life-bond this day, and Ayron will serve as witness if any person should try to challenge it.”
Kierra then told them that she planned to stay with them for the rest of the trip to Findara, both to act as an extra warrior if they were attacked again, and to let anyone seeing them know that they were under her protection. Kierra then told Elwyn that, because they were life-bonded, she would be able to continue exchanging thoughts with Toruk and the rest of her personal guard. In reality, they were now her guard as well. This new pleased Elwyn very much. As they rode along, Kierra spoke with them about the events taking place at the royal manor. She, with Elwyn’s permission, allowed Ayron to be a part of their conversation, so that Elwyn didn’t have to repeat everything.
Kierra told them that everyone at the manor having contact with Lord Azavon noticed a change. Just the fact that he hadn’t visited his wife’s grave since he saw the image of Elwyn and spoke with Lady Silvenna was enough to get tongues wagging. She said that many of the servants and the family were surprised that he no longer seemed so burdened down with grief. She added that although there was a lot of talk about why the sudden change, no one that she knew of had any idea why; including his sister Alysan.
“I never thought to have you tell him to keep up with his normal routines, so that no one would notice any change in him. That was probably too much to expect though, given the circumstances,” said Ayron looking troubled.
“Well, we know that someone at the manor knows that I am alive and heading there, or we wouldn’t have been attacked at the cabin. My guess is that the people involved are now aware that Lord Azavon knows of my existence. I’m sure that they have been watching him for a sign, since the original assassination attempt in Tarlon,” said Elwyn shrugging her shoulders. “They were bound to figure it out. Ayron, you were very wise not to contact him any earlier.”
“I agree,” said Kierra, flapping her wings in anger. “If you’d told Azavon as soon as you discovered Elwyn, they might have murdered him and placed Remi on the throne before you even got here. If he had already been selected the next ruler by the council, nothing you said would change anything.”
Elwyn was a bit startled. Kierra impressed those thoughts upon their minds so strongly that it almost felt as if she was saying the words aloud. Kierra also let them know, she felt that by hesitating to take action, the conspirators had lost a window of opportunity and knowing that, they would be watching Lord Azavon very closely. She felt certain that they would definitely have someone show up in the meadow to watch the reunion between father and daughter. She added that she was very interested to know who it was and to see if the person had companions, because then she would have someplace to start her own investigation into possible companion involvement. She explained that she had the drakenhawks patrolling the area around the meadow in case the observer wasn’t brave enough to reveal him or herself. After going over a few more details, they once again began riding toward Findara.
Within minutes, Elwyn felt the hair on the back of her neck stan
d up and just knew there was trouble ahead. Kierra, riding on the pommel of her saddle, agreed with her. They both felt that it was just a matter of time. Elwyn shared her feelings with Ayron, who was also on edge. Within moments, Toruk contacted her saying that there was a large group of men waiting a few minutes ahead and that they were on both sides of the road. He also mentioned that Keroc was the first to spot them. Elwyn quickly informed Ayron. They decided that they should repeat the strategy they used for the attack at the cabin. Ayron would move ahead with the drakenhawk guard, Raffe, and Keroc while Elwyn would stand on Gemma’s saddle a distance behind the fighting firing arrows at them. Elwyn was very happy she’d retrieved all of her arrows from the last assassination attempt. She tried to convince Kierra to stay back with her, knowing that the drakenhawk queen should not be putting her life in jeopardy. Kierra would have none of it though, and explained to her that she was actually tougher than her male counterparts; made that way so she could protect the young. She assured Elwyn that she would be fine, and reminded her that there was little chance that these assassins would have poison tipped weapons.
“I know, Kierra. But you are so brilliant that you make a very easy target,” said Elwyn with a worried look.
“Calm your fears, Elwyn. I’m also incredibly fast.”
Kierra flew off to join the other drakenhawks and Ayron, riding Gerrack, pulled ahead with Raffe, explaining the situation to the morden as he rode. Elwyn pulled her bow and nocked an arrow as Gemma walked slowly forward.
Within seconds, men came pouring out of the woods on both sides of the road. Elwyn found this attack to be much more challenging than the earlier one. She was forced to aim and fire her arrows on alternating sides of the road to try to stem the tide of men that were flooding out from the woods. The drakenhawks came diving from the sky, tearing out the throats of assassin after assassin. Elwyn ran out of arrows before long and jumped down from Gemma to join the fight on the ground. As she approached the largest group of men, she saw that Ayron was surrounded by five of the assassins. Elwyn threw her dagger at one of them while pulling her sword to engage another. Gemma knocked a third to the ground and stomped on his chest with her hooves. The fight continued for a long while and was not as easily won as the previous attack had been. The men and elves in this group of assassins were better organized and better armed than the attackers at the cabin and had two black drakenhawks fighting along with them. Elwyn lost count of how many men and elves fell under her sword in the fight. She just kept looking for another assassin to take on until she realized that there were no more. Even after all the assassins were dead or gone, the drakenhawks took to the skies to look for any fighters that might have tried to escape. All of them agreed that there should be no one left to report back to the conspirators. Toruk went to find Kamir, who had engaged and killed one of the enemy drakenhawks. Keroc and Ayron went with Gerrack and Raffe to retrieve the body. Kierra and Elwyn waited and wondered about the second drakenhawk that escaped during the fight.
While they waited for the others to return, Elwyn insisted on retrieving her arrows again. It did not matter to her that they were less than an hour from Findara. She was not taking any chances. What had begun as a day of exploration and anticipation had turned into one that would stand out in her mind because of the number of people she’d killed. She was also feeling extremely tired and was more than a little grumpy because her new white tunic had a rather large blood stain on it and the soles of her new boots were caked with blood as well. When they were all together again, she asked Toruk to locate a small stream or pond so that she could clean the blood from her new shoes and tunic. He did so and within a few minutes they were all in a small sheltered clearing by the side of a stream, a short distance from where the fight had taken place.
They decided to take some time to relax and unwind while they were there. Kierra let Elwyn know that Kamir had been injured in the fight with the enemy drakenhawk. Kamir had flown with her as one of her protectors since the Wheryn and she had come to love his gentle demeanor. Elwyn went directly to him and cleaned his wound with a soft cloth and some cool water. Kamir had been sliced on his leg by the talon of one of the enemy drakenhawks. It was a deep but clean wound. Elwyn told him that she would do her best to repair it so that he could fly, but made him promise that he would see her later in the day so that she could stitch the wound up properly. She packed the wound with some ointment she kept in her saddlebags so that it wouldn’t become infected, and then pulled the edges of the wound together the best she could. She put three strips of sticky plaster across the edges to keep the deep laceration from splitting open, and then bound the wound with a soft linen bandage. After she finished, Kamir turned to faced her and bowed, thanking her silently for her kindness.
As soon as she finished repairing Kamir’s wound, Elwyn returned to the creek and cleaned both her tunic and shoes with water from the stream. She noticed that Ayron was doing the same. They all went over to examine the body of the drakenhawk who’d been killed. Kierra noticed that the ridges on its head were arranged differently, but at first glance he looked just like another drakenhawk from Findara. The body would be examined in more detail when they returned to the city. The group then took a few more minutes to just rest before resuming their travels.
“It is getting late, and I’m really worried that my brother will get impatient and start heading down the road to meet us,” said Ayron with a worried look. “I hope that Lady Silvenna impressed upon him just how important it was that he waits, until Torjon lets him know we are there, before he rides out into the meadow.”
Kierra mentioned that Torjon had already been in contact with her, letting her know that Lord Azavon was worried because they were late. She said she instructed him to inform Lord Azavon that they had run into a bit of trouble, but had handled it and were about to resume traveling toward Findara. She also said that she tried to impress upon Torjon just how important it was that he and Lord Azavon not come to meet them. She explained that she sent him some images of the battle and told him that the drakenhawk scouts could not be certain that there were no more assassins waiting. She also told Torjon that a lone rider would have little chance against them, even with his companions fighting at his side.
“We’d better get underway again,” Elwyn said walking from the steam toward where Gemma was grazing, flapping the side of her tunic in the air like a fan.
Kierra agreed, letting both Elwyn and Ayron know that the drakenhawks scouting ahead had seen nothing more that could threaten them; at least so far. She also let them know that the drakenhawks that were scouting the area where they were to meet Lord Azavon had seen no sign of anyone waiting in either the meadow or the trees surround it. They all breathed a sigh of relief because that meant that Lord Azavon was also waiting until Torjon informed him that they were approaching before he left the manor. Kierra added that she felt whoever was planning to spy on their meeting was probably watching Lord Azavon and would not make a move until he did
“I bet he is out in the stable with Raven all saddled and waiting to go,” Ayron said with a smile. “He’s probably also trying to figure out how to convince his body guard to let him go riding alone today. Such a thing just isn’t done.”
“Well if that is the most difficult challenge he faces today, he should consider himself a very lucky man. I for one am getting extremely nervous about meeting him. The closer we get to Findara, the more nervous I get.”
“Hey, after fighting off a large group of assassins today, how difficult could it be to meet your father,” said Ayron laughing. “You’ll have him wrapped around your little finger in no time.”
“Well I don’t know about wrapping him around my little finger. I would just like these butterflies in my stomach to stop fluttering and making me feel so nervous.”
“Remember that I will be with you,” said Kierra to Elwyn in a whisper meant for her alone. “I will stay with you until we are close to your father, and then I will fly back to Drakenrea
ch, our place of rest. I need to make some arrangements if I am to be at your side in the manor and I thought that you could use some time alone with your father. Elwyn, our bond allows us to reach each other with a single thought. No matter where you are, if I live, I can hear you and you me.”
As the discussions died down, Ayron and Elwyn mounted their morden and resumed traveling towards Findara. Elwyn was very nervous and had trouble relaxing, even after trying the relaxation techniques that Rhys taught her. She was worried that her father might not like her or that he would be disappointed that she lived and her mother didn’t. From time to time, both Ayron and Kierra tried to reassure her, but their words of encouragement were drowned out by her own fears. She was also nervous about having to live in a royal manor. Elwyn always valued her time alone in the woods. When she heard that her father could never go anywhere without an armed escort, she worried she would be treated in the same manner. Her mind continued to race until, before she knew it, they were at the entrance to the meadow where she was to meet her father. Kierra sent word to Torjon that they had arrived. Then slowly, Ayron and Elwyn made their way into the center of the meadow and waited.
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