by Rick Brown
I smiled. “Ribs, I can do.”
Chapter 30
(Ryan)
Once everyone left for the caverns, I made a sandwich and returned to the library. Though I enjoyed traveling with my friends, I desperately wanted some time alone with these new books.
Opening the library door, I was greeted by its dark interior. I had forgotten the crystals were lit by Lee’s magic. I was going to miss the bright light the crystals supplied. Going back downstairs, I gathered some candles and brought them back to the library. I chose a desk by a bright window and settled in.
Luckily, Farloc found an Elf to Human dictionary to help with translating. Finding the elven words for politics and council, I had searched over the library, reading anything I could find on these topics. I was hoping to find something that could help Lee with next week’s meeting.
Some things were well documented. There was one book that covered argument after argument from the council. Everything from treaties with Alsselya to grain purchases from Tiber. It seemed the elves could and did debate everything. One elf took the floor for three days over something as trivial as where the stones for a cobble street could be collected.
Every few hours I would take a break, and go practice my sword drills. While I liked to complain about the lessons, I was secretly thrilled to be getting them. Even though Barad and Brianna pushed me hard, I understood the realities of our situation. Often it was kill or be killed. Sometimes, I was struck with sadness over the Dommerian’s I killed at the mining camp, but I knew they would have killed me had I not acted, but it still made me feel dirty.
Going back to the library, I lit a candle as it started to grow dark. The book I read had more details about trade with Alsselya, which I enjoyed. I liked anything about Alsselya. This book was from King Neifer, Lee’s great-great-great uncle, or something like that. I wasn’t really sure how many generations passed while they lived in Vaelin. I made a mental note on what commodities traded well between the two kingdoms. Someday maybe that could be renewed.
I found a comfortable chair in the corner of the library and slept there. No reason to go to my room, when all I cherished was in here.
The next morning, I chose a different book and started again. While I doubted I could speak much of it with any coherency, I was now able to read a few pages in elvish before having to check the dictionary.
Eventually, hunger forced me to leave the library. While the library always seemed like a warm, fuzzy hug, the rest of the empty tower felt lonely. I gathered my food and returned quickly to my books.
I was shocked to see that I was losing sunlight. Another day had passed without my noticing. I went back to my room, but only to collect a blanket. It had been cold in the library the previous night.
When I woke the next morning, I was starting to feel very alone. I had not seen another soul since everyone left three days ago. Throwing on my jacket, I went out to explore the city. I followed the delicious scent of fresh baked bread to a baker’s shop.
“Good morning,” the shopkeeper greeted in elvish.
“Hello,” I replied. “Your bread smells good.”
The shopkeeper laughed, “Your elvish is horrendous.”
“Sorry, I’ve learned by reading,” I replied. “They aren’t all pronounced the way I think they are.”
“Well, then we shall practice. What would you like?”
“Whatever is hot and fresh,” I replied.
“Here, this one is made with honey,” he said, pulling out a loaf. I thanked him and paid for the bread. The baker pulled out some butter and we sat at a table as I enjoyed the bread. He helped correct some of my issues pronouncing the elvish words.
Returning back to the tower, I picked up my sword and once again went through the routines. Had I not known better, I would have believed the sword was built for me and not Lord Breen. Everything about it felt right. As my arm tired, I returned upstairs to my books.
I woke the next morning and decided it was past time for a bath. Without a magic user in the house, I was forced to heat water downstairs, and carry it up to warm the bath. After a few trips like that, I was even more in need of a bath.
The bath felt wonderful, and I soaked until the water became too cold to stay any longer. Draining the water, I put on some fresh clothes and went downstairs to see what food was left. I grabbed some cheese and what remained of my honey-bread. I was about to return to the library when a strange elf charged through the tower door.
“Are you Ryan?” the stranger asked.
“That’s right, who are you?” I said, as I inched closer to my sword.
“I am Zarcharus. King Eberon saved my life, and I wish to return my debt. My father has learned of King Eberon’s absence and has called the council to meet on whether or not to offer him Alynon’s Tear. You must go and speak on Alsselya’s behalf.”
“Me? I can’t speak before the council!” I blurted in a panic, my sword forgotten. “I’m just an administrator!”
“Councilor Nenelin sent me, he said if you don’t come, there will be no voice for Alsselya. King Eberon’s request will be denied.”
I tried to think of another solution, any solution other than this. I felt sick just considering the idea of speaking in front of those councilmen. “There’s not time to consider, we must go now!” Zarcharus demanded.
I started to follow him, “Don’t forget your sword, it may help garner some respect,” he said, as he waved toward my blade. Strapping it on was now second nature to me, which was good since my mind could not form a coherent thought.
I blindly followed the broad back of Zarcharus as he led me through the streets of Illiner. My mind kept screaming no, no, no… “I can’t even speak Elvish!” I complained.
Zarcharus stopped and stared at me bewildered. “You’re speaking it now.” I stood, stunned by what he said. Had we really been speaking elvish? I had been reading nothing else for days. Could I really have been speaking it without even realizing?
Zarcharus grabbed my arm and started pulling me with him. “We haven’t time for these games. They will vote regardless of whether or not you are there.”
Zarcharus wove his way through the buildings and trees, stopping before an old tower near the center of Illiner. “This is the Councilor’s Tower. It is where they meet. I’m afraid I cannot go in with you. I am in enough trouble as it is. Please, do what you can to save this for King Eberon.”
I stood before the door with my feet glued to the ground. I can’t go in there! Finally, Zarcharus grabbed me and shook me by the shoulders.
He stopped and stared me in the eyes. “Don’t be afraid of failure, for it cannot get any worse than it is right now.”
I nodded, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
The inside of the council chambers was a massive room. There were rows of pews that were currently filled with elves, some were even standing along the back walls, filling the room. Above, there was a balcony that circled the room, and it also appeared to be overflowing. All the elves were facing the front of the room. Against the wall there were a row of twelve chairs, eleven of which were filled, presumably, with the Elven Council. In an open area between the Council chairs and the audience, stood Councilmen Nenelin, who turned to look as the door closed loudly behind me.
“Ahh... Master Albright. I’m so glad you are here. I was starting to lose my voice,” He stated, which was met with some laughter among the elves watching.
“I, Council member Nenelin, release the floor to Master Ryan Albright of Alsselya,” the elf announced as he motioned me forward. I only made it a few steps before a roaring voice called out. “I object! This is neither an elf, nor a dignitary. It is just some human. Why should we council members give him our time?”
There was a murmuring amongst the crowd at his outburst. “I’m sorry, Councilor Belkor. I thought this was a hearing on the appeal from Alsselya. Is it not?” Nenelin asked as he looked around. “For if it is what I thought, then it would seem appropri
ate that one of King Eberon’s office would attend the meeting. Maybe I am mistaken, maybe the topic changed to pigs while I was napping.” That brought more laughter.
“I would like to hear what the Alsselyian representative has to say,” a councilwoman noted.
“Here, here,” another agreed. Councilor Belkor leaned back in his chair, arms crossed in frustration.
“Fine, I’ll hear the human,” he stated with a wave of his hand.
Councilor Nenelin once again waved me forward. It took me a moment to unfreeze my feet and continue forward, passing the last pew and entering the open area between the crowd and the councilmembers. Nenelin smiled at me, and then took his seat with the other councilors.
I stood frozen as everyone in the chamber stared at me. I couldn’t help but glance up into the balcony, and all the elves staring down at me. I had to catch myself as I felt the room starting to spin. Easy Ryan! Gods, don’t let me faint!
Councilor Belkor stood from his chair, “Well, apparently we have a human mute,” he stated, making the crowd laugh. “I’ve had enough of the farce! I demand a vote.”
“I’ve not yielded the floor,” I stammered, just barely above a whisper.
“What was that?” The councilor demanded.
“I’ve not yielded the floor,” I forced myself to say louder. “Per the fourth article in the council’s dictates, the floor is mine as long as I hold it.”
“Don’t quote elven law at me!” Belkor roared. “You are a human, and have no rights here.”
“Belkor’s right!” another councilor stood up. “Let’s stop these games and move on.”
“One moment,” Councilor Nenelin called out. “Henlen, you are the council’s clerk. What does the fourth article state?”
A short, older elf shuffled forward, wiping sweat away from this forehead. “Ah let’s see,” he said as he opened a book, flipping through its pages. “Umm… Here we go. ‘Once proffered the floor, the speaker may hold until they choose to yield or go more than five minutes without speaking.’” The elf adjusted his glasses and smiled up to the council. Proud that he found the article in question. I had the feeling he was not called upon very often.
Nenelin smiled, “Well, Councilor Belkor. It doesn’t appear there is any stipulation that the speaker must be elven.”
Belkor stared at Nenelin, hatred in his eyes. There was a buzz in the crowd, as they watch the two councilors faced off. Belkor finally broke his gaze from Nenelin. “As you wish, Councilor. Let’s allow the human to talk.”
Once again, all eyes turn towards me. In that moment, I realized I didn’t have to say anything useful. I just must talk until Lee came back. Oh gods, they could be days!
I shook myself, “Thank you, Councilmembers. I would like to remind this council of the close ties our peoples have had over the centuries. In fact, in the fall, four centuries ago, grain prices were reduced due to famine in Illiner…” I started. I hoped the council enjoyed their ancient meeting notes, because I was about to start quoting them, verbatim.
Chapter 31
(Abigail)
I followed Barad blindly as we walked back to the camp. The smell of burnt flesh still lingered in my nose. You did what you had to do, I reminded myself. I thought of those poor elves, sacrificed to that horrible god to harden myself. They would have done it to all the prisoners, had we not come.
When living at my uncle’s estate, my biggest concern was if Cookie would catch me stealing carrots for Dreamer. Now, I was walking away from a battle where I had killed people, a lot of people. I covered my face as I tried to block out the memories. I felt Barad’s arm around me as I stood there.
“It’s ok. You only did what you had to do. Those men were evil. You heard how they bragged about what they would do to Lee. Do you think they would have been nicer to the rest of us?” he reassured.
I nodded, everything he said was true, and it was just going to take some time to get over it emotionally. “Thanks, Barad,” I said, giving him a hug. “This is all so new to me.”
“Just don’t forget, you’re among friends. Don’t think you’re the first to struggle with this. I’ll let you in on a secret. Even after our years of training, Lee was a mess after his first battle.”
I smiled at the thought. “Thanks, but I know you’re kidding.”
Barad gave me his big grin. “No, it’s true. When his squad returned, I couldn’t find him. I thought he was dead, until I looked in his tent. There he was sitting on the ground crying. My first mission was the next day. I’ll tell you what, seeing the kid who was top of your class crying in the dark does not instill a lot of confidence.”
“So, how did you do?” I asked, happy for the distraction.”
Barad shrugged. “The next day, I did the exact same thing as Lee did. One of the officers took pity and snuck us some ale. Too bad we don’t have any right now, because that’s what you really need.”
I scrunched my nose, “Ale? Can we do wine instead?”
He laughed. “As soon as we are back in Illiner, you can count on it.”
Doctor Yorlin rushed out as we approached, giving me a hug. “Is everyone ok?”
“All good guys are alive, thank you very much,” Barad answered. “The elven prisoners look a little roughed up, but I don’t believe they have any serious injuries. We’ve come to escort you down.”
The doctor ran back and grabbed her medical bag. “Let’s go,” She ordered.
I remembered my role as soldier as we walked back down the mountain, keeping my eye open for any would-be attackers.
“Good gods!” Yorlin exclaimed as she took in the battle scene. “Is this what every battle looks like?” She asked me.
“I don’t know, it was my first,” I admitted.
“They all look a lot like this, maybe a few less burned bodies, and a few more gutted by sword,” Barad answered. “Also, this battle has one important hallmark. All the dead belong to Dommeran. Back in the day, it was our friends’ bodies mixed in with the enemies.”
The priests, Lenux, Orlik, and Whilhoit were stacking bodies on a pyre as Farloc and Lee attended the elves. “How are they?” the doctor asked as she knelt before her patients.
“This one’s in pain, but we aren’t sure why. The others have some minor injuries that I’ve been trying to fix,” Lee answered.
Doctor Yorlin nodded and sat down in front of the one Lee identified. She pulled up the elves shirt, exposing a bruised side. She waved Lee over, “I believe he’s bleeding internally right here,” she stated motioning over the darkest area of the bruise. “Can you look inside and see if you spot anything?”
Lee gently rested his hand over the indicated spot, closing his eyes. Looking closely, there was a faint glow around his hand. “There it is. It’s a blood vessel. I think it’s leaking into the surrounding tissue. One moment… There, it’s closed,” Lee said removing his hand. “I don’t know what to do about the blood though.”
That’s fine, so long as it’s stopped, the body will heal itself.”
“Why does that patient have glazed eyes?” she asked.
After that the doctor and Lee jumped from patient to patient as she advised him what to look for. Eventually, she was satisfied that they were all out of danger.
The others returned from disposing of the dead, and started helping the injured elves to stand. “I’m sorry,” Lee apologized. “It’s best that we don’t wait here. I’d like to get everyone back to Illiner.”
There was a cheer from the elves with that news. Barad and Father Yagen helped the ones that had trouble making it up the mountain. Lee pushed hard, but no one seemed any worse the wear. We passed our camp from the night before, and made it all the way back to the camp outside of the caverns just as it was becoming too dark to travel.
“Good news, our food is still here,” Barad announced as he dug the rations out from behind the rocks. I helped him pass out the food to the injured. They all gratefully dug into what was probably their first meal in da
ys. Lee created his bubble above us and once again heated the air so we wouldn’t freeze.
“So, what happened on that tower after you and Lenux climbed to the top?” I heard Barad asked Brianna.
“Nothing at first, it was going just according to plan. The towers crenulations had toppled over some time in the past, but the roof was still intact. Lenux took a dagger and jammed it into the hatchway that accessed the roof, so we weren’t expecting any uninvited guests.”
“That should have worked,” Lenux complained.
“But it didn’t,” Bri reminded. “Anyway, we started picking off anyone that was isolated or left to go to the latrine. I think we were up to eight kills before someone spotted a body.”
Lee whistled. “That’s pretty good, considering the tight quarters of the courtyard. “
Bri blushed at the compliment. “I credit the new bows. We were able to hit targets that we just would not have even considered before. Anyway, as soon as the shouting started, I saw the attack you and Abi did,” She said as she nodded to me. “That was incredible. Even if they were expecting us to attack, I bet they didn’t foresee that. Those priests came running out, trying to order the troops into some sort of defense, but I’m not sure how one defends against that.
“Anyway, we didn’t have a good angle on those priests, so we shot anyone they talked to instead. That’s when one of them sent that fireball up that you spotted.”
“That was a close one,” Lenux added. We barely ducked down in time.”
“Unfortunately, the priest now knew they had us on top of the tower. He must have sent someone after us before you two killed him, because it was only moments later that soldiers started banging on the trapdoor. Lenux kept watch while I started poking my dagger threw the opening’s around the hatch, trying to keep them back.”
“That’s when I saw the priests were having trouble protecting the prisoners,” Lenux said. “Luckily, Lee spotted my waving around and went to help.”
“Thank Alynon for that!” Father Yagen agreed. “We were getting into some serious trouble.”