by Ronald Long
The slamming of a door ended the conversation.
Blume waited to hear if both of the elves, she was assuming they were, had left when the door slammed. She was surprised to hear a third voice.
"Do you think he'll be convinced, Master Cedric?"
"No," the deep voice replied. "I think he will be disposed of."
"But he survived the first attempt, my Lord," the new voice said.
The one name Cedric laughed. It was a deep and mirthless sound. Unlike the voice of the emperor, Blume wanted this to stop as soon as she heard it. The noise chilled her.
"It's only a matter of time," he said. "I will ensure that he is dealt with."
Blume heard a door close and assumed that the second pair of voices was now gone.
"Seems like these elves don't have it all together either," she whispered to Jurgon, who was now sitting cross-legged on the ground, munching on the rest of his bread.
"Nope," he said astutely.
Not that Blume knew what to do with what she had just heard. Two elves were at odds about what the emperor claimed to be a threat. The first seemed like an elf that did not want to act unjustly. The second, the deep-voiced Cedric, had apparently bought into what the emperor was saying.
The elf that had left first was in danger. Apparently, he had survived some attempt on his life and was going to face another.
And he sounded like someone who was important to the elves of Enoth. Blume was at a loss at what to do. It wasn't like she knew any of these elves or could talk to them about what she might do with this information.
But wait. She did know one elf.
Dilinor.
She made a mental note about what she had heard and told herself that she would tell him the first chance she got. The first point of business, however, was getting out of this tunnel. She was just about to give up on finding her way through the wooden panel and waiting for Jurgon to recover his strength, when the door swung open on its own, pushing Blume up against the wall along with the halfling.
The dark silhouette of someone passed by on the other side of the door and down into the depths of the tunnel, a soft blue light following them.
Blume didn't hesitate or attempt to see who had passed through the secret door. Instead, she grabbed Jurgon's hand and led them through the door before it shut back with a thud.
***
Blume stood on the wall facing the elven tents as she pondered the speech and what she had heard afterwards. Part of her had said she should go straight to Ealrin and Holve to let them know what she had overheard. The crowds fighting their way back down towards the lower parts of Lone Peak, however, persuaded her to come out to walk along the outer wall and put her thoughts together.
She enjoyed this part of the city. From here she could see the fields that supplied Lone Peak with its food and the animal farms that lay outside the protective city walls as well.
From here she could see the winding road that led down from the top of the cliffs into the valley below where she had ridden her horse, Snowy, so often.
Since the elves had come, she had not ridden as much as she used to. Between the feeling that she was being watched by the fox creatures no matter where she rode, and her renewed interest in studying magic, she hadn't found the drive within her to ride again. She looked out over the tents that lined the road and, as she expected, found most of them empty.
The elves had stayed behind in the amphitheater for some sort of ceremony or festival or something. Blume had been surprised to see only the men and women of Darrion filing out of the stadium, while all the elves remained seated in place. As she looked out over the deserted tents, with banners and loose door flaps waving in the air, she considered the words of the emperor again.
A threat from the woods.
Needed resources being hoarded.
A city already burnt to the ground.
It all sounded familiar.
She was beginning to rethink all of the same arguments that had been used against dwarves and elves by the crazed men of Ruyn, when she saw movement on the main road in the middle of the tents. Four figures were moving towards Lone Peak at a hurried pace, one with dark short hair wearing light armor, and another with blonde long braids and pointed ears.
Teresa and Wisym were home.
Blume felt her heart lift at the sight of these two women she hadn't realized she had missed until she saw them walking up the road. The lifted feeling, however, was replaced with a sudden dread as she made out whom the other two who followed them must be.
From this vantage point, Blume could see the features of each: a tall, lanky looking male elf and a large, intimidating female. Both looked as if they had plucked up the contents of the nearest forest and used it for clothing.
Blume had never seen a Wood Walker elf, but if she had ever tried to picture them in her mind's eye, these two would fit the image perfectly.
And that meant she had to get them out of sight as soon as possible.
Chapter 35:
An Abundance of Judgment
“I know what the blasted emperor said,” Teresa exclaimed as she pounded her fist on the table. “It's not true!”
The majority of their group had gathered together in the cramped dining area of the coffee shop. The shutters were closed and candles were lit, even though it was midday.
Wisym thought it best not to show off their new guests after what Blume had told them at the city gate. She was still amazed at their luck.
Since most of the guard hadn't been to the meeting yet, they didn't know about the supposed dangers of the Wood Walkers, and, since a good number of Lone Peak residents had never seen one before, they were able to slip their two guests under cloaks and escort them to the coffee shop without much trouble.
If there had been many more Enoth elves about, however, their fortunes would have been much worse.
Wisym had been surprised to find the city of Lone Peak overrun by elves from the south. When they had seen the convoy of ships a week ago, she had not known that they would all be converging on the same spot.
Eren had, surprisingly, surmised that they would.
What was even more surprising, however, was the ferocity with which Teresa defended the Wood Walkers. Wisym had gotten the impression that the princess didn't like the elves they had traveled with all that much. She scowled at their lack of modesty. She scoffed at their unflinching protection of nature. She even declared their unwillingness to kill animals for food and let elves in their own family suffer as insane.
But now, here she stood, beating her fists on the table in defense of the very elves she appeared to have nothing in common with.
The princess had surprised Wisym before. She guessed this would not be the last time.
"Besides the fact that they are horrible fighters, and would never use fire to burn anything except for dead branches they scoured off the ground, nearly every single wood elf in the south was at the very same gathering we were sent to spy on."
Teresa was making her case for the innocence of the Wood Walkers, and so far had a pretty convincing argument.
The rumor was that the elves had burned down the city for no reason at all and were on the verge of attacking both Darrion in the north and Enoth in the south. After getting to know them, the notion of the Wood Walker elves attacking anything seemed ridiculous.
In fact, they were the ones being attacked. Not by elves or men yet, but by the relentless attacks of the foxes.
They had seen two small skirmishes with the beasts since the day they saw the ships leave the river and enter the sea. The Wrents attacked without warning and were expert in stealth, even by elf standards.
Wisym was quite sure that if the men and elves surrounded the Wood Walkers' territory and attacked at the same time, the effects would be catastrophic. No less than genocide.
But why?
That was a question Wisym kept returning to time and time again. Why would the elves from the south seek to destroy the Wood Walk
ers? From what she knew of them, they had cities with vast wealth, peace on every corner of their empire, and were knowledgeable about many of the great mysteries of the continent.
So why seek out the woods?
Wisym listened to Teresa go over again the facts that proved the Wood Walkers' innocence.
Holve had heard enough.
"I believe you, Teresa," he said with his hands in the air. "But I'm not the one you need to convince."
***
The air inside the nobles' castle felt dark and heavy compared to the outer brightness springtime in Lone Peak had offered. Wisym had only once been inside the Room of Houses, the place from which the elected representative of each noble house ruled Darrion.
Since that time, there had been two major changes.
The first was that when they come as a group seeking permission to access Lone Peak's famous library, they had sat before the council of nobles who had deliberated for a few short minutes before granting them permission. Apparently, Holve was a good friend of the current ruling Noble, Max Condor. That Noble was no longer in his chair in the middle highest point.
Since her and Teresa's excursion into the woods, there had apparently been another election. Instead of the red and silver bird of prey that had dominated the chamber before, the green and yellow bear was now the main banner on display.
The middle seat was not occupied with the plump and pleasant Max, but the short, squinty-eyed figure of Robert. To Robert's left sat a woman Wisym had never seen before wearing the red and silver colors of her house. To Robert's right was a younger man named Cecil draped in blue and brown, the colors represented in the banner above him. A great serpent like fish coiled around the banner.
The House of Nobles had certainly changed, not just in appearance, but in atmosphere.
The other addition, which Wisym had not expected, was the presence of three male elves dressed in orange robes. One held a banner that depicted a comet. The other held a large ancient tome. The one in the middle, the tallest of them all stood staring at their company, hands folded together and looking curious but displeased.
"Welcome, Holve Bravestead, traveler from Ruyn and guest in Lone Peak," came the deep voice from the center elf. "What brings you to the House of Nobles today?"
For a moment, Holve simply considered the elf before speaking.
"Had it been an audience with you or the elves of Enoth, I would have requested it. As such, my business is with the Nobles of Darrion."
Wisym wasn't sure, but she thought she saw the deep voiced elf turn up a scowl at Holve. She glanced over to see if the older man had registered this as well. No concern or care came over his expression. When she looked back at the elf, his face was once again curious instead of scowling.
"Of course," he said gesturing to Robert.
The squat man cleared his throat at this exchange.
"Well?" he asked abruptly. "What is it?"
Wisym did not like Robert. From what she heard from the people in Lone Peak, the portly man appreciated the perks that came with politics more than the actual burden of ruling. She could tell from his demeanor that he wished this meeting to be adjourned as quickly as possible.
"We seek asylum for two individuals who have just recently traveled to the city of Lone Peak. Just as you have accepted us into your midst and we have been peaceful, so, too, we ask for you to accept these as they will also benefit the city and cause no trouble."
Wisym had been waiting to hear it, but Holve had stopped short of identifying the two as Wood Walkers, or even elves at all. She couldn't help but admire the diversity of the group: one dwarf, six humans, two halflings, a Skrilx, and herself, the sole elf from Ruyn. She wondered who Robert might think they were about to present to him.
He raised an eyebrow at Holve.
"More traveling companions?" he asked. "What have you added to our city? I fail to see how you being here has benefited us."
Truthfully, Wisym could find no answer to this question either. All they had done was live in the city, drink the coffee at the shop, and traveled around Irradan.
But Holve had an answer.
"You may be unaware, Noble Robert, as my previous meetings had only been with Max," Holve said with a small bow. "How is he, by the way? I hope he recovers from his injuries soon."
Robert shifted uncomfortably in his chair, as did the noble of Leviathan.
It had been well known that the ruler of house Bear hated Max and envied his position as Head Noble. The two clashed openly and disagreed on just about every part of ruling Darrion.
When Max had unexpectedly come up injured and unable to fulfill his duties, an election had been held to choose the ruling house as well as Max' successor. Robert had won; bringing his house from second to first. Leviathan had moved up to second, a place it had not held for several years, and now Condor, who had enjoyed the top spot for decades, was at the very bottom of the houses.
Holve had informed Wisym and Teresa about this on their way up to the castle. He had also told them about the gossip surrounding the incident. Apparently, a servant girl had seen someone attacking Max and told anyone who would listen about the event.
The girl had mysteriously gone missing just a few days after she gave testimony about the event, lending credence to rumor that Bear and Leviathan had orchestrated the whole thing.
Robert eyed Holve with his narrow eyes.
"I believe you were telling me about how you've added to our city?" he asked, dodging the question.
"Of course," Holve said with a wave of his hand. "A few weeks ago, four in our company defended your fields against a Wrent attack. All in all, there were fifty of the beasts. Ealrin, Blume, Jurgon, and I drove them away from your city's fields where they surely would have injured workers, horses, or even burned your crops. This one deed alone has repaid our visit to Lone Peak tenfold."
That wasn't quite the story Wisym had heard from Blume. Instead of an offense against the city, it was Ealrin and Holve searching for Blume after she had stayed out too late practicing magic. But Robert didn't need to know that.
"Bring guards from the wall to verify his story," he commanded.
Some attendants went to go fetch guards from their stations while the company waited.
It wasn't long before several from the wall, as well as one of the healers who attended to Ealrin's shoulder, appeared in the House of Nobles and were able to recall the day's events.
Wisym had been more than a little concerned for Ealrin when Blume had told her about the attack and his shoulder. She looked over at him now as he pulled away his collar to show the scars that were left. She had missed him and was glad to see him well.
She also found herself being more infuriated with the Wrents because of their attack on Ealrin.
Holve's story and that of the city guard matched up. A few of the guards had even gone out of the city walls to ensure that there were no more of the beasts around and that they had indeed fled.
Wisym was sure that, with these witnesses testifying to how they had been a benefit to the city, Holve's request would be granted.
Holve continued to speak.
"As you know, Noble Robert, we call ourselves simply The Swords and have come from a land torn apart by war. You graciously hosted us in your city and allowed my companions and I access to the famous library in Darrion. From there, I have searched your histories, your legends, your wars, and your origins."
Holve paused here and Wisym saw him consider those who stood before him. He strode over to the left, speaking now to the next Noble on his chair.
"Part of our company sailed out to see the other cities of Darrion. As you well know, they came upon the city of Bestone and discovered that it was deserted and burned to the ground."
“And they can verify the destruction caused by the Wood Walkers,” interrupted the priest, pointing a long bony finger at them, accusingly.
Holve ignored him and continued.
"It's true that there they found
crude spears, branches and animal skins, but these were laid on top of the charred remains of the city. Untouched by flame."
“Lies!” the priest shouted.
Again, Holve spoke as if the priest had not said a word.
"After this discovery, that same crew was set upon by pirates. They captured one and brought him back for questioning, but he has escaped."
“Convenient,” Robert said under his breath. Felicia began to approach the Noble and speak, but Holve held out his hand.
Wisym thought she heard Felicia swear underneath her breath. She couldn't blame her. Without their prisoner, their story seemed less credible.
“During the same time," Holve continued. "Another three of our number went to explore the forest and, if they could, meet the Wood Walker elves."
“You sent spies to the Wood Walkers?” the priest interjected. “Who?”
Holve considered him a moment.
“Teresa Thoran and Wisym of Talgel,” he said, motioning to the two of them. “A princess who has employed many elves in her army and an elf from our own forests back on Ruyn.”
The priest eyed them suspiciously.
"I think,” continued Holve. “That at the same time that you claim the elves had marched past the borders of your country and burned a city far to the north, they were in fact having a great meeting to discuss their own troubles and how they might solve them."
Teresa stepped forward and nodded.
“We were in the presence of most of the leadership of the Wood Walkers now three weeks ago,” she said. “They spoke nothing of the men of Darrion. Their problems involve their own shortage of food and inner strife. Not wars with men.”
For a moment, the expression on Robert's face changed from a scowl to something like a grimace. Wisym took this for a good sign.
"It seems I have underestimated your party," Robert said. Wisym felt as if he were admitting this against his better judgment and that the words tasted bitter in his mouth.