Tales of Eldelórne

by Karleigh Bon

  He was also a seer of long sight. He was puzzled because where she was concerned, he saw no past or future and yet here she was. Thendiel had gone into the void of the gods and brought them back. It was a place where the living are not allowed to go.

  The entire kingdom would have all been lost to oblivion, but for the strength of her song, they had survived. In his mind, he was not sure whether his continued existence in this age was sound wisdom. For he had already lived many long ages. As time and healing continued, Ellinduil still felt the loss of his beloved queen, but he was able to endure the ebbing pain of it.

  “For some reason, I am made to remain in this realm.” the king pondered as he continued to convalesce.

  Thendiel woke in good health after sleeping in the arms of her king. She was profoundly shocked as she looked at the stranger staring back at her in the mirror.

  “Nothing hurts or feels strange,” she thought as she examined herself carefully. Thendiel accepted the changes as a penalty for using the old magics. The Eldar healers insisted she stay on in the court; to make sure she was indeed well. She did want to keep an eye the king’s progress, so she agreed to stay a while longer.

  When the king felt strong enough to walk, he requested she accompany him. He gently wrapped Thendiel’s hand over his arm and lead her through the beautiful palace gardens.

  “You truly shine brighter than the morning star,” he said regarding her with soft eyes. They soon came to a spot where there was seating enough for two. With a serious look on his face, Ellinduil motioned for her to rest as he sat down near her. There was no real easy way to tell her what was on his mind, so he just said it, “While inside the stream of life, a vision showed me you are going to have a little one... a son,” he spoke the words to her gently.

  “But I fell into your bed only once, and it was innocent!” She tried to hide her shock, not knowing what else to say, and having slept with no other.

  “He is not my son,” Ellinduil smiled. “This life you hold is born of Ilmatar,” he slightly nodded as he told her. “His birth is precious to all elven-kind. Please allow me to shelter you here in the palace,” he begged of her. “It would be my honor to foster both your sons. I would call them my own, for your protection as well as the care of your eldest.”

  Ellinduil’s gaze never wavered as he lifted her delicate hand to his lips and softly kissed the back of it as a seal to his promise. In his wisdom, he knew what she had just been through and what had really happened to her. At that moment, he came to realize his purpose for continuing in this life was somehow woven into her unborn’s destiny.

  Not knowing what else to do, Thendiel decided to allow herself to be joyous, and content in her condition while considering his offer.

  Although he greatly admired and respected Thendiel, King Ellinduil continued to try persuade her to stay in the palace under his sanctuary. As time passed, and the king returned to his full strength, he came to understand she only wished to go back to her home in Eldelórne.

  “She is a marvelous and stubborn elderhis,” Ellinduil shook his head in frustration. He stood alone in his small private library among his favorite books. It was a cozy warm room that smelled of old leather and ink. Two comfortable chairs stood empty in front of the hearth.

  He’d offered to retrieve her young son, so she would not worry and feel pressured to leave, but no matter what the king suggested he knew she would not be stopped. He could only smile at her strong willfulness.

  “It is that strong will that revoked Ilmatar's claim on my life… our life Rhianna,” he tenderly said to himself and the ghosts that lingered in the room. “And thus, she has kept my beloved alive, here.” He touched his chest where his heart still beat. He could not stop the tears that streamed down his face.

  He and his queen were separated in their immortality, but she was still alive, waiting for him in Ilmatar’s sleep. This had never happened before among the heart bonded.

  “I can only guess, beloved Rhianna, how this will end for us now,” he whispered as he hugged their green, leather-bound journal tightly in his arms.

  One full cycle of the moon had passed since Thendiel brought the king back to the kingdom. This was longer than she expected to be gone from her home. The arranged day finally came when she would leave. Thendiel gathered up her things and went to say goodbye to her king.

  They both stood in the front of his throne in the great hall. It was empty except for the guards that stood half-hidden and motionless along the walls.

  “I cannot change your mind then…” His eyes told of his sorrow at her going. Fully back to health, the King stood tall and handsome before her. His long straight hair was as platinum in shade as hers was now. He had striking pale gray eyes that betrayed a clan history that loved tall ships and sailed on the high seas. He and his queen chose to remain inland long ago among the woodland folk, and they made him their sovereign.

  The king removed his crown as a symbol of true friendship, and set it down on a side pedestal next to his throne. He had gifts he wished to bestow upon Thendiel before she journeyed back to her home.

  “Take this as a remembrance of me. It will prove our bond of love and trust to all that see it on your finger.” He removed a ring from his own hand. It was made up of intricate woven strands of silver with an iridescent pale blue stone set into it. He placed the jewel on the middle finger of her left hand. He cupped her small hands in his in a soft embrace, unwilling to continue. The sadness of the moment lingered between them until he composed himself and resolved to go on.

  Ellinduil then brought out a small blue crystal finial from his belt pocket that had the essence of one brilliant star captured inside. It shone even brighter as he placed the star in the palm of her hand. Thendiel looked on in amazement at the beaming clarity of its intense light.

  “These are the last relics of my kin who were long ago lost to me.” She could see a hint of a lonely regret cross his face as he continued in a soft-spoken voice.

  “The ring is a sea opal found only in the deepest parts of the ocean where my kinsfolk were born. We learned to harness the stars.” Then he pointed out the finial. “These were used as beacons on our ships when the oceans went silent with fog. This light will pierce even the thickest darkness so you and your sons will never be lost from my sight.”

  He regarded her earnestly with a faint, sad smile.

  “Your eldest might appreciate it as a gift for my keeping his mother away for so long.”

  Then’diel gazed thankfully with unspoken words into his eyes as he looked down at her, unwilling to look away.

  She wanted to embrace him but instead graciously bowed, breaking the dreamlike trance that surrounded them.

  Taking up his hand with both hers she lovingly kissed his open palm. Holding it to her forehead she took a breath before letting him go. She did regret having to leave the great king and all he had to offer, but her heart told her she must go.

  “If there is anything, anything at all, you or your sons should need, do not hesitate to send word to me. The path to my gate will always open to you, and yours.” These were the last words ever spoken between them.

  All elvenkin praised and revered the name of Thendiel Kingsaver, for being strong and clever enough to conduct their sovereign back to life. She was safely escorted by the king’s royal guard to her home by the edge of the ocean.

  Ellinduil was so moved by her that the vision of beautiful Thendiel and the names of her sons would forever remain in the front of the king’s mind and heart.

  Dark Moon and Sun

  Chapter Three

  Roevash had been dutifully keeping their home; patiently awaiting his mother’s return. Tinctures and medicinal tea mixes were stacked on shelves, ready for delivery to the Eldelórne central store. Roe had, indeed, kept himself busy, and out of trouble. He was shocked at the sight of his mother. They flew into a warm embrace. With her cheek pressed into the top of his head she hugging him as if she would never let him go. S
trands of her hair tickled his face, and he genuinely smiled for the first time since she had left.

  “I am so glad to find you well. You have grown even taller,” she said, relieved to finally be home, “it is so different outside our cozy place,” she smiled wistfully.

  “What has happened to you, mother?” Roe was very concerned.

  “I entered the realm of the Lords to save our king. It proved most difficult, more difficult, and complicated than I thought it would be.”

  “You are so pale... Does it hurt?” Roe reached out and touched the side of her face with his hand.

  Thendiel smiled at him reassuringly.

  "No, I feel the same as before." It was a half-truth. Thendiel could not yet put into words how she felt about everything that had happened.

  “The realm of the Lords is so full of... commotion...” she stopped, not knowing how to explain it, so she changed the subject. “Our family will be growing larger,” she happily announced.

  Roe’s eyes grew huge with wonder.

  “King Ellinduil has seen a vision of my future and tells me I am going to have another son… so you will soon have your very own brother,” she told him in a simplified way so he could understand. She watched his face, hoping he would be happy with the news. Roevash was not sure what having a brother would be like, so he just quietly smiled at her.

  That evening, when Roe was ready for a good night of sleep, Thendiel brought out the king’s gift and gave it to him. Roevash’s eyes shone star-like as he peered into the blue glow of the tiny vial. Thendiel was reminded of her husband Marin’s eyes, on the first day they met. She softly smiled at his memory.

  “Thank you mother!” Roe held up the tiny light. He found he could use his will to turn the brightness down, and even off with the touch of his hand.

  “The king tells me they used these onboard ships so they could find each other in the fog. He says, you will never be lost to his protective sight if you keep this with you,” she poked him on the nose as she said it.

  “Like a charm for luck?” he asked.

  “Yes, for luck, and maybe, for not stubbing your toes in the darkness,” she teased, reaching over to tickle him.

  Thendiel watched her son’s smiling eyes, and now understood the thing that so compelled her to return. It was moments of privacy like this with her family, that she treasured most in her heart. Her happiness brought thoughts of her unborn to mind. She was still not sure how it had happened. Ellinduil assured her this son was of Ilmatar, but her experience in the violent realm of the Lords was like a dream in the waking mind, and she could not see how it was possible.

  At the shock of her own parents' disappearance, she had vowed long ago never to put her son through that, but this had almost taken her life away. She shuddered at the thought of it.

  “And there will be two sons,” she sighed tiredly.

  She carefully removed the glowing finial from Roe’s sleeping hand and hung his star on a small hooked branch above him in the window's edge.

  Frowning at painful memories that threatened to flood her mind, she gently kissed her sleeping Roevash on his brow.

  After one last look his face in the dimmed glow of the starlight, she headed back down the stairs.

  +++

  The quickening was completely different from Thendiel’s other birthing experience. Her belly didn’t bulge or feel heavy as it did with her firstborn. She could even say she felt lighter as the days drew near. Eijlam was born silently in the usual way. He was almost as small as the palm of his mother's hand and glowed with the beauty of pure-blooded elvenkin.

  Roevash looked on in fascination at this new life that lay between them on one of his mother’s pillows. He liked the way Eijlam tightly gripped the tip of his finger with his tiny hands.

  “It is unbelievable that I could have ever been this small once.” He rubbed Eijlam’s tiny head with his finger, and the little one looked at him and cooed. Roe smiled and giggled at his little brother, who seemed to wrinkle up his pink face and laugh back. Thendiel was not surprised by Roevash’s tenderness with the small one. “Of course, he would be.” She needn’t have worried. “His father was always so kind and gentle,” she thought of him as she gazing lovingly at her family.

  “It may be later that their relationship might prove more difficult,” she reminded herself. Thendiel thought about the way kinship was between other brothers she knew. Some grew to oppose one another never to agree on anything. Others were too competitive and caused injury to one another. She prayed it would not be as such. She wanted her sons to grow to be friends.

  “Remember, In life, all we have are each other when all others fail,” she told her sleepy Roevash as she stroked a loose hair off his face. “For now, at least, we will have peace,” she sighed, drifting off to sleep. Thendiel and her eldest son slept with the tiny newborn elfling between them, in a protective nest made up of their curled in bodies.

  +++

  Since Thendiel had been honored for saving their king, the females of her village were more tolerant of her. They didn’t even seem to mind the sight of her half blood son as he followed his mother to the market. The elderhis excitedly gathered around to see the tiny newborn as Thendiel carried him sleeping in her deliveries basket. Roe felt protective of his little brother, so when they pressed in too close, he would glare at them with his most convincing warning face.

  The elders teased him gently this time, calling him the “royal guard.” Roevash just scowled not understanding the joke. Speculations were whispered behind Thendiel’s back, as to whom the sire of the little one might be. Many believed he was King Ellinduil’s son. When they saw his light hair, they were sure of it.

  Eijlam’s hair grew a shimmering pale gold, and his large eyes were oddly two different colors. The right one was light pale blue like Roe’s eyes, and the other was a golden brown like his mother’s. Though so tiny and fragile at birth, Eijlam quickly grew strong and wiry as do all young elves. Roe liked to carry his little brother clinging to his shoulders as they went out among the villagers. Eijlam was always smiling wildly in contrast to his big brother’s serious demeanor. The villagers seemed more cordial and helpful than they had been in the past.

  The two did things all young ones do. They climbed trees, ran and played tag on the sand, built forts and caught things to bring home and eat. Sometimes they even caught a rabbit or found some bird eggs for their mother’s pantry. Thendiel noticed how her eldest was bolder about going out into the village. She was delighted to see it. Roevash had spent way too much time cooped up in their house angry and unable to go out for fear he would have to face another conflict on his own.

  “You have stolen my eye… I am coming to get it!” Roe howled as EJ ran screeching past and out the doorway. Roe kissed his mother’s cheek and happily grabbed two apples off the table as he quickly clamored away. The two were inseparable, and always noisy. Other youths just seemed to stay out of their way. Maybe it was that Roe was busy chasing after the little blond streak of a brother that he didn’t feel like he was missing anything anymore.

  Thendiel kissed her young ones goodnight and held them tightly; curled up to sleep. A silent tear escaped her eye as she looked up into the pale twinkling stars outside her window. She felt these precious days were somehow numbered.

  After the birth of Eijlam, she could feel the subtle tones of the Lords in the air. It was like a serpent that crawled around the darker edges of her awareness. At first, the feeling was like mild anxiety quickly passed off because of new motherhood, but then she recognized its true meaning.

  She was raised to believe in the benevolent Lords of the undying lands of Ilmatar. Something that was meant to bring comfort to elvenkin instead, raised her ire. “Am I to be quickened away from my young ones before they can even fend for themselves,” she wondered.

  As time passed Thendiel felt herself fading. In the natural order of things, her life should have only been beginning but she felt aged. She tried many times t
o have this conversation with her young ones. It was hard to talk about something that you couldn’t quite find the words for. And subjecting her sons to worry was the last thing she wished to do. It was a growing chasm of darkness between them, with that persistent serpent, always creeping in when she was alone.

  Regardless of Thendiel’s worries, it was a good time for her small clan in a routine life in Eldelórne. Roevash and Eijlam grew sturdy and strong, and soon were enrolled in their Eldar’s education center. There they would learn many things concerning elven and human cultures. The reciting of long memory, text writing, art and music, archery, and athletics were all part of their daily classes. The young elves were separated into similar age groups, which divided the students into elfling, youth, and adolescence.

  Roevash found that the sway against his human blood came back to haunt him. Eijlam was confused as his brother grew sullen. He tried to encourage Roevash to be more positive, but a past life of isolation shrouded his heart in sadness and disappointment as he watched his little brother seem to fit in where he could not.

  Because many believed Eijlam to be the king’s offspring, curiosity made classmates behave differently at first, but he was also Thendiel’s son, and sadly he was introduced to the ways of untruth and false friendship.

  “Eijlam stop,” Roe grabbed him by his tunic and tore him off the fallen youth. He dragged EJ back from the insults the others yelled as they cowered away from Roe.

  “They are not worthy. Those elfling's narrow minds will not change because you bloody a nose.” Roe never appreciated his little brother getting caught up in fighting no matter what the cause.

  “But they started it!” Eijlam protested as Roe carried him away under his arm like a flailing sack of potatoes.