Juraviel winced a bit at that last statement, further confirmation that the Doc’alfar’s contempt for humans was nearly absolute. He pushed past his emotions, though, and did as instructed, relating his tale from the battle with the goblins south and east of Andur’Blough Inninness - whose whereabouts he had no intention of disclosing - to the night of his and Brynn’s capture.
King Eltiraaz listened intently to his every word, sometimes tilting his head to the side, as if he wanted to ask a question. But he remained silent and patient throughout the tale.
„Long have we known that our kin, the Tylwyn Tou, remained in the northland,“ Eltiraaz said after Juraviel had finished. His voice was both regal and melodic, a great baritone that seemed strange to Juraviel, coming out of so diminutive a creature. „Yet no less is our surprise in seeing one, in seeing you, walk into our lands. Know that you are the very first of our lost brethren to look upon Tymwyvenne.“
„I am truly honored, King Eltiraaz.“ Juraviel thought it appropriate to bow at that solemn moment.
The King of the Doc’alfar nodded, then looked to Lozan Duk.
„King Eltiraaz wishes to know why you were in the company of a human,“ Lozan Duk asked.
Juraviel looked from the king to the other male, curious as to why Eltiraaz had not simply asked him himself. „Brynn Dharielle is a ranger,“ he explained. „Trained by the Touel’alfar. It is a practice that we have employed for centuries - taking in human orphans who show promise and training them in the ways of the Touel’alfar, that they might serve as eyes and ears for my Lady Dasslerond in the wider human world.“
„Why not just kill every human who wanders into your domain?“ Caz-j Juraviel noted, in all seriousness. „They are lesser creatures,
ireat, should be eliminated.“
«W view them more highly than do you, perhaps,“ the Touel’alfar
id trying to remain civil, knowing that Brynn’s life might be on the line
!C“X’e have come to see the humans as valuable allies at times, if often a
bit troublesome.“ ^
„More than troublesome, said Lazzira.
„Rangers are not like other humans,“ Juraviel stated clearly, aiming the ds at King Eltiraaz. „They understand much more about the world than their clumsy kin. They are expert warriors, and with the temperament and instilled discipline to use their fighting prowess wisely. They are friends to the natural world, friends to jthe Touel’alfar, and surely no ranger would be a threat or enemy to the Doc’alfar.“ x
„How do you know?“ asked Eltiraak
Turaviel started to echo the question, but caught himself, understanding it and replied, „Rangers who do not show the proper temperament and judgment are not allowed back out into the wide world.“
„And your companion has passed these tests?“ Eltiraaz asked.
„Brynn is as fine a ranger as has ever walked out of Andur’Blough Innin-ness and Caer’alfar.“
„Then why does she need the company of Belli’mar Juraviel?“
The Touel’alfar took a deep breath and considered the question, and considered how much he should reveal to Eltiraaz and the others. He had already spoken the name of his valley, his Lady, and his city, and sensed that he should trust these kin somewhat, but how might they feel about a human heading through their lands on her way to begin a war?
„Brynn Dharielle was selected among the To-gai-ru of the wild steppes south of the great mountains,“ he explained.
„We know of the To-gai-ru,“ Eltiraaz replied.
„Then you know that they are not like their kinfolk,“ Juraviel said. „They are more attuned to the land and to - “
„A few of our soldiers are of To-gai-ru descent,“ Cazzira said, and her grim tone reminded Juraviel of the type of „soldier“ to which she was referring. He looked at her, wondering how deep her enmity truly ran, and was taken in again by those exotic eyes of hers, shining icy orbs layered in emotion and thought.
e shook off his revulsion and focused on an interesting question: how had ^any To-gai-ru come to the land of the Doc’alfar? And how did the
c alfar know of Brynn’s people? True, the To-gai-ru settled the land only lundred miles or so south of this region, but on the other side of suppos-c% impassable mountains. Or perhaps, not so impassable?
t how to bring the conversation to that point, to where he could even i to hope that these captors would allow him and Brynn to go free at alone tell them of a possible way through the mountains?
„Have you found no redeeming qualities in the To-gai-ru?“ he dared to ask. „Are they no more than the other humans to you?“
„Should we look, Belli’mar Juraviel?“ King Eltiraaz asked. „Is it your word to us that the To-gai-ru can be better trusted by our people? Do you believe, perhaps, that we have erred in judging them so harshly?“
Juraviel saw the potential trap, particularly in that last question, but he knew that he had to hold fast to his principles, both for his own heart and for any chance that he might find in getting past those fierce people. „I believe that you should look, if that is what you desire,“ he said. „It is my word to you that the To-gai-ru are more attuned to the ways of both the Tyl-wyn Tou and Tylwyn Doc, if the Tylwyn Doc hold at all to the old ways of our people.“
„More, perhaps, than the Tylwyn Tou, Belli’mar Juraviel,“ King Eltiraaz replied, „if the Tylwyn Tou have come to befriend the humans.“
Juraviel conceded the point without any countering statement at all, for indeed, during the old times when the races of elves were united, they had no contact with anyone who was not of the People.
„I would not say that you have erred, King Eltiraaz. That is not a judgment for me to make. In my own land, we preserve our secrecy with equal ferocity; a human who cannot be trusted is treated in the same manner in which we would deal with a goblin who wandered onto our land. Well, perhaps not as harshly as that - we would kill the human more quickly and mercifully.
„But not a To-gai-ru,“ he quickly added, though he had no idea if he was speaking the truth or not, since no To-gai-ru had ever wandered anywhere near to Andur’Blough Inninness, except for those taken in as rangers-in-training, of course. He felt that his reasoning was sound, though, and so he continued. „My Lady Dasslerond would hold back on the killing blow against a To-gai-ru until the intruder’s intent could be discerned.“
„By then, it is often too late,“ Cazzira remarked.
„Too late for what? We fear no threat from anything short of an invading army.“
That set all three of the Doc’alfar back on their heels a bit, Juraviel noted.
„Perhaps your clan is more numerous than our own,“ King Eltiraaz said after a short pause and a glance at his two kinfolk. „We are not numerous, and thus we take threats against our land more seriously.“
„Or you are more quick to judge intrusion as threat,“ Juraviel dared to say, and Cazzira at his side sucked in her breath sharply. Juraviel started to modify the statement, to make it seem less an accusation, but he stopped himself short, letting King Eltiraaz weigh the words.
„Perhaps we must be,“ the king said a short while later. „And I doubt not that we will hold on to our ways, Belli’mar Juraviel. They have served us well through these centuries, have kept Tymwyvenne alive. I care not enough for the clumsy and bumbling humans to risk a single Tylwyn Doc to destroy the entire human race to safeguard my people, ‘ Twould do so, without hesitation.“ kat of a Tylwyn Tou who inadvertently wandered onto your land, ltiraaz? Would such an unfortunate - or perhaps fortunate - Cousin be similarly executed, or would the King of the Doc’alfar that preserving the life of a relative was worth the risk to his people?“ Eltiraaz stood up out of his throne, his gaze set grimly and sternly
onjuraviel. „Is there a threat to my people, Belli’mar Juraviel?“ uraviel squared his shoulders and matched the king’s unblinking gaze in
^A long, long silence ensued, the two/standing there, El
tiraaz a step higher than Turaviel, and thus, looking dowri at hirn But in truth, that height difference did nothing to diminish Juraviel in th;s contest of wills.
Finally, after several minutes of the loclted stares, Eltiraaz turned to each of the others, left and right, then declared, „There is no threat.“
Turaviel held firm his gaze and/determined posture, though in truth, he wanted to blow a long and deep sigh. So he was not to die there, it seemed. But that wasn’t enough.
„And what of Brynn Dharielle?“ he asked. „She is To-gai-ru, and even more than that, much more than that, she is a ranger, trained by my people in the ways of the Tylwyn Tou. She sees the world as a Tylwyn Tou sees the world, and is more kin and friend to my people than to her own.“ „So you say,“ Lozan Duk put in.
Juraviel looked at him, and he only shrugged in reply, as if his words were spoken in all simplicity and honesty.
„I do say,“ Juraviel answered, and he turned again to face Eltiraaz directly. „Brynn Dharielle is no threat to you or your people. Indeed, she is, or would be, a friend to Tymwyvenne, if you choose to allow it.“ „I need no humans for friends, Belli’mar Juraviel.“
Juraviel nodded and conceded the point. „She is my friend,“ he said then, and somberly. „I ask of you, King Eltiraaz, to allow my friend to leave with me. On my word, she is no threat.“
1 have not yet said that you could leave,“ the King of the Tylwyn Doc reminded.
Juraviel did blow that sigh, and he nodded.
Soon after, he was back in the small room of peat with Brynn, sitting there silently in the soft light of the glowing torch. Brynn had immediately started to ask him about his visit with the king when he had first returned, Juraviel had waved the question away, not wanting to discuss any of For the first time in his long life, Belli’mar Juraviel felt perfectly helpless m determining his fate, and he did not like the feeling at all.
- rest of that day passed, and the next, and the only contact came from *e zombie waiter delivering their food.
the second day after his visit with Eltiraaz, though, Juraviel was
summoned again from the peat cave, escorted again by Lozan Duk and Cazzira to the same throne room, where King Eltiraaz sat waiting.
„I have considered your words, Belli’mar Juraviel,“ the king greeted „And I find that I believe you.“
Juraviel did not reply or make any sign at all, not sure exactly what that meant.
„I will have your word that, once you have left here, you will not disclose the location of Tymwyvenne.“
„I will not.“
„And I will have, from you, the location of Caer’alfar,“ King Eltiraaz went on.
Juraviel rocked back on his heels, chewing his lip as he considered the request. „King Eltiraaz, I am similarly sworn to secrecy by Lady Dasslerond,“ he answered.
Beside him, Cazzira and Lozan Duk bristled.
„But this is not equal footing,“ King Eltiraaz replied. „Now you, a member of Tylwyn Tou, know of Tymwyvenne, but none of us know of Caer’alfar.“
„King Eltiraaz, if one of your people wandered to our lands and was captured, you would not expect, nor accept, that your subject would betray the location of Tymwyvenne, even at the cost of his or her own life.“
„And do you accept similar consequences for yourself and for Brynn?“ the king came back without hesitation, his voice rising more than Juraviel had previously heard.
„I do, if that is your judgment,“ Juraviel answered just as quickly. „If that is your decision, then I damn the fates, and not King Eltiraaz and his people, in bringing me here. But I do argue against such a course. Perhaps there will come of this a rejoining of our peoples, or at least a growing understanding of each other. A distant alliance, long overdue.“
King Eltiraaz stared at him sternly for some time, then broke into a sudden, tension-breaking burst of laughter. „You would willingly die, and without judgment, I believe.“
„I would!“
„And that sincerity makes me believe you even more, Belli’mar Juraviel, friend of Tymwyvenne. Nay, we will not kill you, or hold you any longer as our prisoner. Though I would be pleased if you would remain for some time as my guest.“
„And I would be pleased to do so, King Eltiraaz of Tymwyvenne,“ Juraviel answered formally, and with a bow. „But not alone, and not while my companion, my friend, sits in a prison of peat. You say that you believe me, and well you should. But I’ll not accept anything from you - not my own freedom, not your invitation - without a free Brynn Dharielle at my side.“
„And if we kill her? Are we then enemies?“
Juraviel took a deep breath. „We are,“ he declared, and he couldn’t believe the words as they came out of his own mouth! How could he take when so much might be at stake for the TouePalfar? Surely, j friendship could blossom into something wonderful for his „‘ ‘en that, was he acting in the best interest of Caer’alfar - and did ‘r’e the right to act in any other way? - by so protecting Brynn? ^rl’dn’t honestly know, and he found that he didn’t honestly care. and bring the human woman,“ King Eltiraaz instructed Cazzira and f°Duk „Allow her to bathe and feed her well. It seems that perhaps have made two new friends this day.“
T took all the willpower Belli’mar Juraviel could muster to remain upright at that wonderful moment.
„You are not the first human permitted to/fraik through our lands,“ King Eltiraaz said to Brynn when she - fresh frota her bath and with her clothes wonderfully cleaned - and Juraviel met with the Kmg of Tymwyvenne later
on that day.
„Before you continue, I demand to know vAiat happened to Diredusk!“ the young ranger demanded.
King Eltiraaz sat back, his expression turning stern, his eyes narrowing and focusing on Brynn. Juraviel put his hand on her arm, squeezing tightly in an attempt to silence her.
„Her horse, good King Eltiraaz,“ he explained. „When we were taken, Brynn had her horse with her, a beautiful creature.“
Eltiraaz relaxed visibly, and so did Juraviel.
„What happened to him?“ the stubborn Brynn demanded, and Juraviel squeezed even more tightly, thinking that his companion might be throwing it all away, pushing too hard when they were obviously in no position to demand anything.
But again, King Eltiraaz’s expression only softened. „You have enough concern for that creature - Diredusk, you name him - to speak in this manner to me?“
‘I do.“ There wasn’t a hint of anything other than grim determination in Brynn’s voice.
‘And if your insolence costs you my patience?“
„If you have harmed Diredusk, then I want not your patience, King Eltiraaz. If you have harmed Diredusk, then - “
Itiraaz held up his hand, but it was his smile that stopped her more than my hand gesture. „We of the Tylwyn Doc do no harm to our fellow creates of Ga’na’Tyl. Your horse, Diredusk, is running free in the fields to the ast, among his own kind. Free, I say, and where he belongs.“
Brynn breathed a huge sigh of relief, and so did Juraviel.
You do not wish him recaptured?“ Eltiraaz asked. rynn looked up at him, and it was obvious that the king was testing her „My concern was for Diredusk, not for myself,“ she answered. „If he running free and safe, then I am satisfied.“
King Eltiraaz smiled, warmly. „Once, many years ago, a man crossed through our lands, coming from the north, and it was the decision of King Tez’nezin that he not be hindered,“ he went on with the tale he had been relating when Brynn had interrupted. „King Tez’nezin, my predecessor to the throne, was rumored to have gone out to the man for a secret meet
ing, though what he discerned that allowed him to change his policies
long-standing policies of the Tylwyn Doc against humans - I cannot say.
„That human was To-gai-ru, like Brynn Dharielle, seeking a way home over the mountains or under them. Whether or not he succeeded in returning to the land south of the mountai
ns, I cannot say.“
„What was his name?“ a ve^y curious Belli’mar Juraviel asked. „And when was this? A century ago?“
„His name I do not know, and it was much longer in the past. Three centuries, at least, perhaps four. The years, the decades, do all seem the same.“
Juraviel sat back and considered the words. A To-gai-ru coming through this region from the north would be a rare thing indeed, especially centuries before, when Honce-the-Bear and Behren were avowed enemies, and To-gai was not even known to the humans north of the mountains. But there had been other To-gai-ru rangers, several over the centuries, and none before Brynn had left Andur’Blough Inninness with an elvish escort, though all of them had been assigned back in their ancient homeland. Was it possible that the human Eltiraaz now spoke of had been one of the To-gai-ru rangers? Emhem Dal, perhaps? Or Salman Anick Zo?
Intrigued, Juraviel rubbed a hand over his chin.
„Did he find a way over the mountains, at least?“ Brynn asked. „Or did he start on a path that he hoped would take him home?“
„No,“ King Eltiraaz replied, and Brynn’s hopeful smile disappeared, though it brightened again as the King of Tymwyvenne continued. „Not over the mountains. That human was guided to a way known to the Tylwyn Doc as the Path of Starless Night.“
„Under the mountains,“ Juraviel reasoned, and King Eltiraaz nodded.
„And will you take me and Juraviel to the entrance to this Path of Starless Night?“ Brynn asked eagerly, seeming oblivious to the frown worn by the Doc’alfar King.
Juraviel caught that look, though, and he understood that this ominously named underground passageway likely lived up to some grim reputation!
„What say you, Belli’mar Juraviel?“ King Eltiraaz asked. „Do you wish to head to this path, a dark road indeed?“
Juraviel looked to Brynn, and her eagerness prodded him into agreeing to a choice that he feared he would later regret. „We do. If this Path of Starless Night can save us a journey all the way to the sea to the east, then perhaps it is worth the try.“
King Eltiraaz sat back and nodded, his expression grave. „Perhaps, then, all have to worry less that you will betray us to the Tylwyn looked to Brynn again, but she held her determined expression. Juravie ^ Belli’mar Juraviel tell his Lady Dasslerond about us?“ Fl ‘ aaz went on. „When finally you walk the ways of your homeland what will you say?“
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