by Candy Rae
This was not the first ship that arrived at the harbour, another had come the previous day and also full of noisy, excited passengers.
The ship from Vadath had brought Rilla with Zawlei, Julia with Alyei and Niaill with Taraya. With them had come Danal, Grainne and two of their children, Delia and Aline. Danal’s Asya had come with Inalei and their three ltsctas, Talaya, Danei and Padei. The last member of the excited party was Jilsei.
Jilsei, who had been Philip Ross’s mount during the mission to find the power-core had expressed a desire to see Philip again. They had become close during that time and had not seen each other since. Rilla and Zawlei were there so that she could see her triplet sister. Danal and his family had come because he, like Jilsei wanted to see Philip again. He had heard that Philip was ill. Grainne had insisted she join the party because she too wanted to see Philip. She also wanted to meet Elliot, the King who had abolished slavery.
Julia and Alyei had been invited because they had been Susyc at the time of the Dglai War. She wanted to meet Elliot and discuss how their two countries could work together to eradicate the pirates who now that the slave trade had been abolished in Murdoch had extended their depredations. She also wanted first hand information about how Elliot was coping with the Larg.
Niaill and Taraya were there because the first idea had been theirs.
The hotel where they were to stay was not the largest nor was it the most expensive but it was big enough to accommodate them all and had one advantage over the others. It was situated by itself, on the island’s southern tip.
The Vadathians disembarked chatting to each other and made their way to the hotel, taking over most of the ground floor rooms (so that the Lind would not have to climb up and down the parquet steps).
They settled down to wait the arrival of their southern friends.
The Murdoch party had set out from Fort the previous month. They had made of their journey a kind of mini progress through the kingdom.
Zilla insisted that the number of servants they took with them to the hotel were kept to a minimum and Elliot agreed with her. This was a holiday and not a state visit.
On board the Tala were only eight servants, three ladies-maids, three valet-footmen plus a nursery maid and the Royal Governess.
King Elliot and Queen Zilla had with them their five children, ranging from the twelve year old Hilla to Ian, age five. Duke Robain and Duchess Susan had five children with them, Robain, age ten was the eldest and the youngest was little Philip, aged one and a half.
The Lord Marshall, Baron Philip Ross and his wife Baroness Anne were accompanied by their youngest son, the seventeen year old Kellen David Ross, a young man very like what his father had been at the same age and the unofficial royal bodyguard appointed for the duration of the holiday.
With the three families came Duncin and Stasya, Vadathian Ambassador at the Court of Murdoch and Robain’s brother Liam.
* * * * *
Rilla, Danal and Niaill were growing impatient.
“Is that the ship?” asked Rilla, jumping up and down in excitement. It was a hot day and the rest had elected to remain under the shade of the trees in the hotel gardens.
“I can’t wait to see Zilla again,” continued the happy Rilla.
“I can imagine,” replied Niaill, looking at her flushed face. “I wonder if she and the others have changed?”
“Sure to have,” pronounced Danal. “Fourteen years! Elliot was little more than a boy when I saw him last. Time and responsibilities are bound to have changed him. He’s probably as fat as an egg-heavy Lai!”
“Do you recognise anyone on deck?” cried Rilla.
“I think I can see Philip,” answered Danal. “Look, that grey haired man at the end. Must be Philip.” Danal began to wave and the figure at the taffrail waved back.
The Tala drew closer. Rilla, Danal and Niaill began to recognise more than just Philip.
“The tall man dressed in grey, that’s Robain,” announced Danal, “and that must be his wife standing beside him.”
“And there is Zilla,” interrupted Rilla. “Elliot is beside her, look, can you see? He’s plumper than I remember.”
“Age,” explained Niall with a sigh, “it comes to us all.”
The Tala docked and loud were the cries of welcome and greeting from shore to ship and ship to shore. The gangway was swung over and made fast. The three on the quay watched the jostling on the deck.
It appeared that everyone on board wanted to be the first to disembark. Niaill could hear the pleading cries of the children demanding to be let go but it was Elliot and Zilla who led the way on to dry land and Rilla rushed towards her. The two women fell into each other’s arms as Elliot looked on with an indulgent smile. Robain and Susan descended next then Philip and his wife and son. Liam Hallam followed, instantly recognisable as Robain’s brother by his looks.
Then came Duncin and Stasya, Stasya limping down the gangway with due care for the uneven struts of wood that criss-crossed it.
The ten children, with their nursemaid and governess followed Stasya.
Elliot, a delighted smile on his face stepped forward to make his greetings to Niaill and Danal.
“Well met by sunlight,” he said, deliberately misquoting one of the ancient literary masters.
The quay resounded with cries about how everyone had changed during the intervening years.
Then the visitors from Murdoch followed their Vadathian friends out of the quay area and along the leafy track towards the hotel.
In the gardens the others were waiting and the ensuing noise rivalled that of the noise on the quay.
There were introductions to be made for those meeting for the first time. Grainne for instance knew none of the new arrivals bar Philip and the wives of Robain and Philip knew none of the northerners at all although Susan dimly recognised both Rilla and Niaill from her brother’s wedding.
Amongst it all were the Lind who were almost as excited by the occasion as the humans. Even Philip, in obvious pain and looking very frail was talking in an animated voice with Jilsei.
Then there were the children, the royal and ducal children who had to meet the daughters of Danal and Grainne.
The latter soon departed to the flower garden, ushered there by the stern faced royal governess and were joined by the three ltsctas of Asya and Inalei. Soon a great game of rough and tumble began, accompanied by squeals of merriment and the anxious cries of the governess who was wondering how she was to cope during the days ahead.
Elliot declared in a loud voice that this was a holiday and that he was going to forget all about being a king.
“No titles here,” he cried and ran to the flower garden where he joined in the tumbling game with the children.
The governess shrugged her shoulders and sat down abruptly on the grass. Asya’s ltscta Padei had a lot to do with her ‘inadvertent’ fall although he afterwards claimed that he had not.
It set the tone for the holiday. The ‘young ladies’ from Murdoch became as young hoydens, even Hilla, twelve and the eldest going as far as to forget her royal station and incipient womanhood. By the end of the holiday anything less like a princess of the blood would have been hard to imagine. The governess complained about it to whoever would listen ever after.
Tales were told and old friends were remembered. It was a happy time, of sun filled days of play and chatter. Even the ailing Philip Ross enjoyed himself in his quiet way. He was glad to see Danal and Grainne again but more pleased to see Jilsei. The two of them spent many a long bell under the trees. Incidentally, Jilsei returned with Philip to Murdoch and was with his friend when Philip died later in the year.
* * * * *
Niaill and Taraya were on tender-hooks during the first half of the vacation and great was the speculation about the reason for this. This inner excitement they couldn’t hide although they tried hard.
The reason why became abundantly clear when on the eleventh day the excited ex-Guildmaster Annert riding an equally excit
ed Haru flew in.
Annert was an old man but his rheumy eyes fairly sparkled.
Haru did not stay in the hotel as there were no rooms big enough for him to fit into.
He spent the ten days and nights under the trees in the gardens. Sometimes he sat with the Lind. Sometimes he sat with the human adults. More often than not he could be seen with the children and the ltsctas (who all found his tail an irresistible temptation).
Everyone who wanted to he took flying on his back, all but the very youngest. Most of the time he sat telling stories about the history of their planet and before.
Haru was fond of children.
“They are our future,” he told Niaill during one of their quiet moments together after the children had been rounded up and sent to bed. “Our planet is in their hands, fore-talons and paws. All that has happened, all that we have done, has been for them.”
* * * * *
We will leave them as they sit under the allst trees in the gardens, as the sunset falls and makes shadows, contemplating the future of all who inhabit Planet Wolf; Human, Larg, Lind, Lai and Dglai.
* * * * *
CHARACTERS, GLOSSARY & APPENDICES
(For extract lists of characters from the Noble and Royal Houses of the Kingdom of Murdoch : Refer to Appendices)
LIST of CHARACTERS
Alfei*: Male Lind, Vada First Ryzck (Human: Deby) (Destiny, Victory)
Alfreda: Little girl at school with the Grey Sisters and friend of Jill (Victory)
Aline: Younger sister of Robain, captured by slavers and taken to the southern continent (Destiny, Victory)
Allstrom: Elderly Baron of Murdoch (Victory)
Alshya*: Male Lind (Human: Weaponsmaster Jilmis) (Destiny, Victory)
Alun*: Vadeln (Lind: Radya) (Destiny, Victory)
Alyei*: Male Lind of pack Gainsya, Susa of the Vada (Human: Julia) (Destiny, Victory)
Anavdr: Male Larg, friend and pack-mate of Zaoaldavdr (Destiny, Victory)
Anders: Head Councillor of Argyll (see Horatio) and father of Julean, the rejected suitor for Rilla Talansdochter’s hand in marriage (Destiny, Victory)
Angus: Professor of Mathematics at the University of Stewarton and considered to have one of the finest analytical minds in the country. Part of the team under Guildmaster Annert de Gras who is deciphering the technical print-outs found under the floor of the Old Guildhouse (Destiny, Victory)
Aniku: Lai, relative and junior of Velku and very inquisitive (Victory)
Anne Cocteau: Daughter-Heir of the Duchy of Cocteau and cousin of Isobel Cocteau, the betrothed of Prince-Heir Elliot. Mother of Pierre (b600), Anne (b602) and Mark (b605) (Destiny, Victory)
Anne Fullarton: Kellessa - a lady-in-waiting at the royal court
Annert de Gras: Guildmaster of the Technicians Guild of Argyll based at Stewarton. Leader of the team under Guildmaster Annert de Gras who is deciphering the technical print-outs found under the floor of the Old Guildhouse (Destiny, Victory)
Annette van Buren: Friend of Isobel from the Ducal House of van Buren and who entered the Order of Grey Nuns. Name in religion is Coenberg (Destiny, Victory)
Ansell Hallam: Youngest brother of Robain and an officer in the Argyllian navy (Destiny, Victory)
Asya*: Female Lind and Avuzdel (Human: Danal) (Destiny, Victory)
Avdr: Larg and Kohortangan of the kohorts to the south (Victory)
Balei: Male Lind from Lindar Dusnnei and with a dull red stripe pattern and who carried Robain from Stewarton and Vada (Destiny, Victory)
Baltei: Male Lind, Avuzdel (Victory)
Bellahouston: Garda Major commanding the Academie at Settlement (Destiny, Victory)
Berni: Vadeln serving with the Vada, in the First Ryzck (Lind: Dansya) (Destiny, Victory)
Beth Baker: Original fiancé of Prince-Heir Elliot from the Ducal House of South Baker and who died in a carriage accident on the way to her wedding (Destiny)
Blunder: Little black pony on who all Zanda and Talon’s children learned how to ride (Victory)
Breguswið: Reverend Mother of the Order of Grey Nuns where Isobel Cocteau received her education (Destiny, Victory)
Brent: Brother of the Armsmaster at the Citadel and one of the overseers who works at the ore mines in the Duchy of Sahara (Victory)
Brion*: Ryzcka vadeln serving with the Vada, in the Fifty-first Ryzck (Lind: Quindya) (Destiny, Victory)
Brisnei: Male Lind of rtath Hanei, and commander of the third ryz of Lindar Hanei (Victory)
Bruce Johnson Jones: Officer Commanding the Garda with the rank of Field Marshall (Destiny, Victory)
Charles*: Vada Cadet, fourth year (Lind: Wlya)(Destiny, Victory)
Chizu: Male Lai and part of the delegation to the Gtrathlin (Destiny, Victory)
Coenberg: Sister of the Order of Grey Nuns and name in religion of Annette van Buren (Destiny, Victory)
Cynwise: Sister of the Order of Grey Nuns and name in religion of Isobel’s cousin Jessica Cocteau (Destiny, Victory)
Dahlson: Garda Captain who teaches tactical history at the Academie (Destiny)
Danal*: Older brother of Niaill, Vada, and member of the Avuzdel. He was a part of the protective shield that guarded Prince-Heir Elliot during his tour of the north and led the hunt for the print-outs hidden by Tara and Kolyei. He with his Lind Asya is leader of the eight who are searching the desert for the power-core (Lind: Asya) (Destiny, Victory)
Danei*: Male Lind, Vada Cadet (Human: Shona) (Destiny, Victory)
Danny: Boy from the town ship of Brindal in the Duchy of Cocteau (Victory)
Dansya*: Female Lind, Vada First Ryzck (Human: Berni) (Destiny, Victory)
Danya*: Female Lind, Vada Thirty-first Ryzck (Human: Markion) (Destiny, Victory)
Davanya*: Female Lind, Vada Cadet, her human is one of the boys whom Niaill and the First Ryzck rescued from bandits (Human: Hans) (Destiny, Victory)
Davin*: Ryzcka and second in command of the Vada under Julia and Aleyei (Lind: Razdya) (Destiny, Victory)
Deby*: Vadeln serving with the Vada, in the First Ryzck (Lind: Alfei) (Destiny, Victory)
Denei: Male Lind and member of the Avuzdel and a member of the mission south to find the power-core (Destiny, Victory)
Derek Merriman: Kellen of the Kingdom of Murdoch and one of the companions to Prince-Heir Elliot who accompanied him on his tour of the north and also a member of the mission south to find the power-core. Brother of Kellessa Lucy Merriman (Destiny, Victory)
Destry: Battle mare (Victory)
Dolvin Annson: Garda Officer Trainee, year-mate and friend of Hilla (Destiny, Victory)
Duncin*: Elderly host of the Supply Station not far from Dunetown and friend of Robain (Lind: Stasya) (Destiny, Victory)
Dusik*: Ryzcka of the Fifty-first Ryzck (Destiny, Victory)
Dwk: One of the senior slaves at the royal ore mines in the Duchy of Sahara (Victory)
Eanfled: Sister of the Order of Grey Nuns where Isobel received her education (Destiny, Victory)
Earcongota: Sister of the Order of Grey Nuns where Isobel received her education and who looks after the young schoolgirls who are being educated at the convent (Destiny, Victory)
Elliot: Prince-Heir of the Kingdom of Murdoch (Destiny, Victory)
Estelle: Elder sister of Isobel Cocteau and married to Baron Brentwood of Symington (Destiny, Victory)
Fastia*: Vada Weaponsecond (Lind: Xlei) (Destiny, Victory)
Flynn: Elderly slave servant at the Citadel at Fort (Victory)
Grainne: Escaped slave who lives in the desert (Victory)
Gsendei: Male Lind, Susa of the Avuzdel of Lind (Destiny, Victory)
Han: Slave kitchen boy at the Cocteau manor (Victory)
Hanei: Male Lind, Elda of rtath Hanei and commander of the second ryz of Lindar Hanei (Destiny, Victory)
Hansei: Male Lind, Susalai of the Avuzdel (Destiny, Victory)
Hansel*: Retired Ryzcka of the Eighteenth Ryzck (Lind: Inya) (Destiny, Victory)
Hansel (Ha
ns)*: Young boy from Rocksprings captured by the bandits rescued by Niaill and the First Ryzck and adopted by Niaill (Lind: Davanya) (Destiny, Victory)
Harrisdochter: Senior nurse of the Garda (Victory)
Haru: Male Lai and leader of the delegation to the Gtrathlin (Destiny, Victory)
Hereswald: Elderly Sister of the Order of Grey Nuns where Isobel received her education (Destiny, Victory)
Hilla: Eldest triplet daughter of Talan and Zanda and who began Garda officer training at the end of AL 606 (Destiny, Victory)
Horatio Anders: Head Councillor of Argyll after the elections in AL 607 (Destiny, Victory)
Ilya: Female Lind of rtath Hanei (Victory)
Ilyei: Male Lind and Elda of rtath Ilyei (Destiny, Victory)
Inalei: Male Lind, Avuzdel and based at the domta of the Gtrathlin, he has volunteered to go south with the other seven to hunt out the power-core (Destiny, Victory)
Inya*: Female Lind, late of the Eighteenth Ryzck (Human: Hansel) (Destiny, Victory)
Isobel Cocteau: Margravessa. Betrothed of Elliot, sister of James and daughter of Count James Cocteau (Destiny, Victory)
James Cocteau: Count, friend and companion to Elliot, brother of Isobel (Destiny, Victory)
Jeannie: Research Assistant of Professor Angus and part of the team under Guildmaster Annert de Gras who is deciphering the technical print-outs found under the floor of the Old Guildhouse (Destiny, Victory)
Jen Durand: Garda Officer Trainee and friend of Hilla, also sister of Mander Durand, an officer friend of Robain (Destiny, Victory)
Jennifer Cocteau: Cousin by marriage of Isobel and married to Margrave Mark Cocteau (Destiny, Victory)
Jessica Cocteau: Friend and relative of Isobel from the Ducal House of Cocteau, who shared Isobel’s education with the Grey Sisters and who entered the order at fourteen. Her name in religion is Cynwise (Destiny, Victory)
Jhonas: Journeyman technician and year mate of Tala who is part of the team under Guildmaster Annert de Gras who is deciphering the technical print-outs found under the floor of the Old Guildhouse (Destiny, Victory)