by Nicole Burr
“No, I’ve just been taught the names of all of the foremost people who live or work in The King’s Hold, including the eldest son’s most trusted attendant,” Esra replied shyly.
“I’m most impressed. Then again I’m not entirely surprised, considering you’ve been studying with Cane.”
“Aye.”
They were quiet a moment as Cailean left the room and returned a moment later with a tray full of handsome silver goblets. Prince Bronnen approached the woodless Fire burning in the hearth, studying the dancing flames that gave off heat and light but required no kindling. “I still can’t get used to this, this place of magick. I mean, I’ve often thought of it, the Stronghold and its Keepers, what it would be like. But I have to admit it’s better than I could have imagined.”
“You’ll have to excuse my fancifulness, sometimes I think too much aloud,” he apologized, sitting across from them and taking a goblet. “I’d love to think that this is just a friendly visit from two gracious Keepers, but I must say I am curious. To what do I owe the presence of such beautiful and influential guests?”
“Well, we’d like to think it is fer both friendship and business,” Nadia spoke with ease as her form flickered slightly. Although Esra had decided to wear a more simple dress of pale blue, Nadia had chosen a dazzling dress of lavender, which was a perfect complement to her dark skin and long, flowing curls. She was stunning with little effort, as usual.
“We have a proposal to make, yer Highness, if I may be so bold.” Esra leaned forward eagerly, setting the half empty silver goblet on the tray. “Something we think will address the concerns ye have about an army.”
“It is no secret that my father has left me in a difficult position to help the Council, if I may be so bold. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, although I’m not sure how much good it would do at this late hour.”
“Baelin, Arland and Fynn, the others of our Assembly, are meeting with Zakai as we speak. We are proposing an exchange of services to accomplish two goals fer both races.”
“Indeed?” Prince Bronnen raised one eyebrow questioningly. “Please then, continue.”
“The Unni are fierce warriors, as ye know,” Nadia explained. “They train their people from a young age and are known fer their skill at instruction as well as battle. We would like ye to consider allowing some of the Unni commanders to help train a Human army. Ye have the necessary supplies to outfit an army and ye can recruit the people, especially after news of Kiran Brae reaches the rest of LeVara, but the problem is organization. Ye need skilled soldiers and commanders accomplished in the way of battle tactics, defensive and offensive maneuvers, not a jumbled array of people with weapons they have little understanding in. And we’ve seen firsthand in Wilspry that the Unni are more than capable of accomplishing this.”
“You’re right. I admit it is tempting to think that they would be willing to help. They are beyond skilled in all aspects of war. Getting people to follow an Unni commander, however, may be a bit of a challenge. But the bigger question is, what would the Unni want in return?”
“Stone workers.”
“Stone workers?” There was such a mixture of surprise and confusion on the Prince’s face that Esra had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. “What could they possibly want with stone workers? Do they not prefer the craft of wood?”
“Yes, but as ye know the main concern of Zakai is that he is in constant battle with the Valkor’s to the south, and he worries that sending warriors north will leave his people vulnerable. We would like to ask ye to send stone workers so that we can build a protective wall along the border of Shadow Glenn.”
Prince Bronnen was silent for a moment as he took in this information. “I see. But won’t this take a very long time? A wall that large would take years to complete. I do not have that many stone workers in the Kingdom, so I fear it will not be an effective means of protection, at least not right away.”
“That’s exactly what I thought,” Esra admitted. “Until they told me that Humi, the Keeper of Speed, and Prion, the Keeper of Growth would be there to help. All ye need do is send as many stone workers as possible. Humi will be able to set stone at speeds beyond what ye could imagine, she will be worth a hundred workers. They just need to tell her what needs to be done. And after a short section of the wall has been set and finished, Prion will use his powers to grow it to ten times its height and width.”
“Unbelievable,” he whistled, rocking back in his seat. “That is the craziest, most absurd plan I have ever heard in all my time as Prince. I absolutely love it. We would get one of the best trained armies the Human realm has ever seen and the Unni get a permanent solution to their Valkor problem. I do have one concern though that keeps me from fully agreeing, and I do think it will pose a significant threat to your plan. How to get Humans to allow themselves to be trained by an Unni and how the Unni would feel about training us. Not to mention there would be a group of Humans they don’t know in their forest. These are two groups of peoples that have not mingled in generations. It will not be an easy task to introduce one another.”
Esra had known that this would be a problem; her Assembly had already discussed it over dinner. She tried to picture the people of Sorley being told that the army of the King would be trained by eight foot tall Unni commanders. There would be apprehension and fear if they were fortunate, but a few would be downright offended. “Ye can leave that to us. Arland, our Keeper of Charm, will be able to help ease those tensions, and there is another Keeper, Lara. She is a good friend of mine and an expert at the art of Tranquility. We also have plenty other spells of influence magick that will help. With any luck after everyone gets acquainted it won’t continue to be a problem, the focus will be on Tallen. People just need the opportunity and time to get used to the idea of it.”
Prince Bronnen stood up and began to pace back and forth, stroking his chin with a pained expression. Esra thought back on all they had said and wanted it to be enough, for she knew she could not leave until he agreed. Many lives depended on it. Suddenly the Prince stopped his pacing and turned to face them. “I hope you’re right, Esra, Keeper of Peace. If the Unni-se will agree to it, then I think we have a deal.”
XLII
Things had gone similarly well for Baelin and the others. Zakai had voiced many of the same concerns but in the end had agreed to the exchange. He could not deny that such a wall would be the greatest thing to happen to his people in generations. Even if there were some of his people that didn’t like working with Humans, it was a small price to pay for freedom from a lifetime of senseless battle. They also brought in Prion to show an example of his “skills”. The twenty pound carrot now sat prominently on the Unni-se’s bedside table. In a show of good faith, Zakai designated Mox and Shova from his own personal guard to be the first two commanders to train the Humans. Hadvi would remain at the Stronghold and help with the development of strategy. His wife and child were to be sent for so that they could have their own dwelling here. Hopefully this would begin to rebuild the relationship between the Keepers and Unnis.
As Cane performed a sight spell to communicate with Hadvi’s wife in Shadow Glenn, Hadvi admitted he was concerned that she would not agree to such a drastic move. But she graciously accepted the challenge and set about to pack so that she could leave as soon as possible. The look on Hadvi’s face when he found he would soon be reunited with his wife and infant daughter Pixa was irreplaceable.
“Things are really looking up fer the first time since I’ve started this treacherous journey,” Esra said hopefully to Nadia. “Or been kidnapped into starting it, anyway.”
There was no denying the thorn that remained in the side of her Assembly, the small barb that could be the undoing of all this progress. The Elders. Tomorrow was the last day of the War Council and the final vote, but Esra’s Assembly had come no closer to finding an answer to the riddle of converting Isak or Danya. Arland and Nadia had spoken with Kered the night before and although he expressed
support for their cause he was just as certain that the other two would vote against it. Everyone seethed that Linae could not be an official Elder yet.
“It’s no use,” Esra moaned in resignation as her group sat in the Dining Hall during supper, eating little. “They’re too stubborn.”
“I agree,” Fynn smashed an enormous Grape into a pulpy mess on the table with his fist. “Maybe we can capture one of them and hide them in a closet, claim they were eaten by a Brengard. Heck, maybe we can even really feed them te one. Although I feel like that would be offensive towards the poor Animal. Either way they’ll have te let Linae vote.”
“We need a better plan than kidnapping, tempting as it is,” Baelin sighed. “We still have one day. Come on, think. All we need te do is convince one of them, not both.”
“But how can we? Danya and Isak claim that they cannot ‘in good conscience’ commit their people to slaughter in an uncertain battle. Obviously we’ve gone beyond the point of trying to reason with them. Cane talked about how arrogant they are, how they are more concerned with having power and prestige than making the right choices.”
“Maybe we can use that te our advantage,” Baelin said slowly.
“What do ye mean?”
“Well, they’re both overly concerned with appearances and praise. Maybe we can convince each of them that the other is going te turn on them tomorrow. That they will vote te support the cause so that they alone will be the ones who receive all the recognition and power. Then they can go home and tell the Elves that they are the reason the races united, that history is being made.”
“But won’t they lose certain powers by joining us? They would have to share decisions with others regarding the war.”
“They will, but if they feel they were betrayed and would lose out on doing something popular, jealously will be their only concern.”
“So how do we pull this off?” Nadia shimmered darkly.
“We go te each of them separately. Convince Danya and Isak that we have learned that the other one has secretly decided te vote with Kered, that we are there as a ‘friend’ te let them know. That the opinion the other has been voicing all along was just a trick te get the other te look weak so they can claim all the glory.”
“Do you think that would work? That they would be so foolish?”
“I don’t know but at least we can try and use their arrogance against themselves. Does anyone have a better idea?”
“Arland,” Esra turned to her friend, “do ye think ye can make them dream something about this as well? Maybe make what we’re saying into a reality in their head. Play a scene where the other person votes with Kered against them and receives all sorts of praise and power. I remember how real that dream ye gave to me felt. It was very powerful.”
“Great idea, Es, the Bracelet of Dreams,” Fynn bounced up and down in his chair vigorously. “It seems so silly, but then again we are proving te be masters of the impossible. We just won’t tell Cane the specifics of it all. If anyone ever found out we used magick te sway a Council Member, even an idiot one, we’ll have our britches te pay. This might actually work. And we only need one of them te believe it.”
“Let’s do the same thing as before,” Nadia suggested. “Send a woman to Isak and a man to Danya. Should we go in groups again?”
“No, I think it better that someone goes alone,” Baelin asserted. “Make it seem like we are taking a big chance te go and tell them, that it’s our secret. And we don’t want te give the impression that our Assembly is conspiring against them, they might get suspicious.”
“Then I think I should go,” Nadia offered. “I can make up a story about how I was using my stealth when I ‘accidentally’ stumbled upon Danya talking with Kered about voting together.”
“That’s good. And Arland, maybe ye can go te Danya. Use some of yer charm te help the situation a bit. We can work on the dream bit later.”
As her Assembly dispersed, Esra felt more at peace than she had in the last couple of days, even after hearing that Zakai and Prince Bronnen had joined with them. Maybe this plan was crazy, but it was something. And like Baelin said, they only needed one of them to believe it.
She waited up all night, knowing that Nadia and Arland had made sure that the “secret informant” trips had happened well beyond the guise of darkness and any spying eyes. It also gave them less time to think things through and more of an opportunity for their anger to gain impulsive momentum. Hopefully, by the time they fell into a restless sleep, Arland’s dream would be the final straw to their jealous frenzy.
“How did it go?” Esra bolted upright in her bed and staggered to the entrance of her bedroom at the first creak of the front door.
“I figured ye’d still be up,” Nadia chuckled, shimmering towards Esra’s room and taking a seat at the desk. “I actually think it went fairly well, Isak seemed pretty upset. That slithering snake of a woman dare betray me, was the way he put it.”
“What about Arland, did ye see him?”
“No. Let’s see if he’s done.”
Esra sent a Tur message and a short moment later a reply appeared on her arm.
Went well. She didn’t believe me at first, her pride I believe. But then her face got so red I thought she may burst into flames right before me. She didn’t say much, but I know she was beyond angry.
They both laughed at the picture of the short, plump Elf woman’s face growing redder than a Huckfly as Nadia sent back a message describing her encounter.
“And they both should be having some very interesting and vivid dreams tonight, don’t forget.”
“Aye. Do ye think that they will suspect Arland? Could he get in trouble?”
“Not likely. They have no idea that’s one of his Gifts, and even if they did there’s no way to prove he had anything to do with it. Besides, they will probably be so focused on each other that a dream will be the least of their worries by tomorrow.”
“Well, I suppose we’ve done all we can, haven’t we,” Esra sighed.
“Aye, that we have.” Nadia patted her shoulder reassuringly and shimmered towards the door. “Whatever happens tomorrow, I’m proud of all our Assembly has accomplished. Everything the races have accomplished. At least fer now we have three of the races and the Keepers standing together against Tallen. We’ll figure everything out one way or another. We have to. The future of the Kingdom depends on it.”
XLIII
Esra awoke in the early afternoon, both surprised and grateful that she had been able to sleep so long. Nadia had risen just before her and they both headed towards the Dining Hall for some noonmeal-breakfast, followed directly by a trip to the Library to meet her Assembly. Esra was attempting to read up on the history of the Stronghold, but after reading the same paragraph five times she defeatedly put down the book and began to pace back and forth. Everyone was on edge, speaking little and lounging about in nervous contemplation. Even her calm blacksmith friend seemed a little uneasy.
When it was finally time to walk together to the Great Hall, Esra was almost sick with fear. They marched in silence up the long, low stairs and through the Naduri River doors. The Council was still in session, so they took a seat next to each other on the marble benches in the foyer. The space slowly filled with other Keepers, all anxious to hear the results of the vote.
Long minutes passed and still no one spoke. Everyone seemed lost in their own world of reverie, the air hanging thick with tension. It seemed to Esra that the Council would never leave their room, that they would be waiting outside forever. When the heavy wooden doors finally swung open, everyone sat up with a start, eyes wide in anticipation.
Zakai and the Daughter swept past so quickly that Esra couldn’t even catch a glimpse of their faces. The rest of the Council members exited the hall slowly, speaking in low, tired tones. Danya and Isak seemed slightly bewildered, wandering in silence as if they had just been hit by Nadia’s Necklace of Stunning. Esra caught sight of her father as Adonis lurched towards them,
a grin spreading to his rosy cheeks.
“The vote passed,” he said breathlessly. “It was unanimous!”
A great gust of air left Esra’s lungs as she deflated back into her seat. The dread that had been slowly building in her chest finally released and she felt noticeably lighter. Talitha joined her husband with a look of contained excitement. The vote had passed. The races would unite in a war against Tallen.
“Jumping jig,” she muttered, standing to give her mother and father a strong hug. Cane swept over to where they were gathered and took her hand in a rare show of affection.
“Both Danya and Isak voted in favor of an alliance. I’m not sure how ye did it, but ye did. Then again, I don’t think I want to know. No, I don’t. Please don’t tell me.”
“Well, we didn’t threaten them if that’s what yer thinking,” Esra laughed. “Not that we weren’t tempted, believe me. We just outwitted them.”
“I’m very glad to hear that. Tomorrow we begin to make preparations fer the defense of LeVara and determine the details of our strategy. Prince Bronnen will be sending his first attendant Cailean back to The King’s Hold by Skycatcher to gather as many stoneworkers as possible. The Prince remains behind to assist in the defense planning. Mox and Shova will also be leaving immediately fer Fira Nadim to enlist more commanders to train the Humans. Although he is needed here, Zakai will go with them since he feels it is greatly important to tell his people this news in person, and I must say I agree. The Daughter will return to Ember Isle to prepare her army of women warriors and Pura beasts. The Elders will send their attendants back with all haste to The Veiled City. Isak and Danya have volunteered to join them, although this is certainly fer the attention they will receive upon arrival. Linae and Kered will remain at the Stronghold.”
“I can’t believe it,” Esra whispered in astonishment. “This is really happening. The races are uniting. We are going to war.”