“I am scared for the first time in my life,” T’Harris replied. “I fear if I let go of you, I will lose you.”
“You will always know where to find me,” Gabriella assured him. “T’Harris, you are my Life Mate, the love of my life, and the other half of my soul. The one most constant thing you will be able to depend on is being able to locate me, no matter where or when.”
“I couldn’t feel you for weeks,” T’Harris’ voice held a slight quiver in it, which was more than he could control.
“My love,” Gabriella assured T’Harris, “Always remember, I am yours.”
“I almost lost you,” T’Harris reminded Gabriella. He felt his failure to keep his Life Mate safe weigh heavily on his mind. He hadn’t been there for her when she had needed him most. He didn’t deserve her love, and despite this, he had it. She had the right of things and, he also needed to rise with the dawn to give thanks to the creator for his blessings. He spoke the words of a cleansing spell as they moved to face the day, and then released her, so she could join him.
Even as they faced the rising sun and sang their devotions, they finished the last touches of their preparations to face the day before venturing outdoors. T’Harris immediately became conscious of the looks they were getting from the other Elves, and it didn’t take him long to figure out why. They, like him, wondered at the meaning behind the color of Gabriella’s Dragon. No one understood what was happening or why. Things were changing, and being the thinker he was, he wondered if it was for the better or not.
“T’Harris, Gabriella,” Emperor Lariel’s voice entered their minds. “King Gerolth and I want to speak with you when you feel strong enough to join us in the Palace. We have questions for the both of you about what happened in Andoria.”
“We will come, although it will take longer to get there than it should,” T’Harris replied. “We have both recovered from our injuries, but our strength is still diminished.”
“Can you travel now?” Lariel asked.
“Yes, although Gabriella intended to practice, unless I am mistaken,” T’Harris informed Lariel.
“She has a routine she follows religiously,” Lariel explained. “I believe the need to do so is an Eagle Claw trait. It is said the High Lord General Gabriel Eagle Claw used to do the same thing, and her brothers follow his example. Their need to follow a pattern is not as pronounced as hers, though. It could be caused by the combinations of the Talents she has at her command.” It was, he considered, a logical assumption to make.
With the thought of Gabriella and T’Harris’ temporarily diminished strengths, he decided to open a gateway for them to the Palace. He was at his full power, and with Deneene at his side, he felt ready to tackle the world. They had completed their bond during the night, and although they would have remained in bed together, they rose to face their world with the other Elves. There were matters for them to attend to, and on the top of that list was Gabriella’s Dragon. They still didn’t know what her coloring meant? Did she perhaps know?
As T’Harris led Gabriella through the portal by her hand, Lariel smiled and exchanged an amused glance with Deneene. When she chuckled, he knew she had caught on to what he had found amusing. It was obvious, T’Harris had needed to insist his Life Mate forego her practice, and she wasn’t happy to have done so. It wasn’t he who spoke, however, as they came into the throne room,
“So, what is the problem this time?” Gabriella sounded irate.
“Your Dragon,” King Gerolth pointed out, as he walked into the room to join them. He was followed by servants bearing food to break their fast with, as no one had yet.
Gabriella didn’t see the problem in the same way they did. She had an Iridescent White Dragon, so what? “Have you never seen a White Dragon before?”
“Many times,” King Gerolth replied. “But not with those highlights.”
“We don’t understand the meaning of it,” Lariel explained.
“Simple,” Gabriella responded. “White Dragons are the Generals of the Dragon Armies. We all know this. It is based on our own system, although I am not sure who used it first. As I am Commander in Chief of the Combined Elven Forces, I serve the same purpose to the Dragons.”
When all Gabriella received back from those around her were blank stares, she looked upwards, as if for help and answered, “The Iridescence is only the Fates way of announcing I am the Commander in Chief of the Draconian Forces as well as our own.”
King Gerolth startled, as he pondered the situation, then spoke his thoughts aloud, “You know, that actually makes sense. Especially as there are several White Dragons in our midst at the moment. Someone would need to maintain law and order amongst them. Who better than the High Lord General of the Elven Forces? Gabriella is at the head of our armies, so why not theirs too? She definitely knows what she is doing.”
Yes, Lariel silently agreed, it did make sense. But was this all there was to it? A part of him was tempted to recall the quest he had sent the others on, but he refused to do so. It wasn’t only to find out about the color of Gabriella’s Dragon that he had sent Tethak to the Elven Nation to find out more about. He wanted to know what he was about to lead his people back into. Was this something even worse than they had faced in the past? He would be a fool to think there wouldn’t be any differences between them after all this amount of time that their people had been parted. He needed to know what those were.
One of Lariel’s worries was that they could be facing persecution as well as prejudice from the Elves in the Elven Nation when they got there. He wasn’t about to allow this to happen. He was being brought back to rule over all of his people, and he intended to do just that. He would not allow one set of Elves to pretend they were superior over the other.
From all King Gerolth had told him about Tethak’s choice of companion from amongst the brethren, he had applauded the Guardian’s choices. Orien was the type of Elf who would be able to lose himself in any crowd and talk to any Elf without causing speculation. He was able to draw information out of anyone under the guise of being friendly. At the same time, he could disappear into the countryside without anyone questioning why he had come, only then to leave again.
King Gerolth had also told him that Orien was handsome enough to attract any female he caught the eye of. Considering his ancestry, Lariel wasn’t surprised. King Daroth and Queen C’Liandra had been one of the most well-matched couples in the Elven Empire of their era. He had been very handsome and his Life Mate was reported to have been one of the most beautiful Female Elves in the Empire, if not the most. They had passed on their appearances, as well as their friendly, outgoing natures. This said, he could probably charm the birds out of the trees. He would be perfect to gather information from the unsuspecting Elves of the Nation.
“For a moment,” Lariel admitted, “I thought about getting you to recall your men, King Gerolth. However, in retrospect, I reconsidered the matter. Tethak has a Life Mate to retrieve, which we have reason to believe was lured away from his side under false pretenses. Kestriel and Ilénè are still to travel to the Dragon Lands to speak to the ancient Dragon Alleria. If we are lucky, she will confirm Gabriella Eagle Claw’s statement. If not, we will be no wiser than we were before, unless she has answers for us to explain what is going on. Orien’s task is still to travel throughout the land to gather as much information about the land, as well as the Elves living there, as possible. I want to know what we will be facing when we get there. The last thing our people need is to return to the ancient lands of our ancestors to become involved in another war of epic proportions. If I find this is the reason for the summons, I will unleash the Guardians of the Empire on them. I will not expose those I know and love to another war where Elf fights Elf.”
“I learned enough from Ellora during our time together to know a little about the Elves who remained when our ancestors came to this land,” Gabriella reported. “Now, I realize time could have changed things, but from all she told us about the Elven society tha
t exists in the Elven nation now, it is not for the better there.”
“Explain,” Lariel ordered.
King Gerolth and T’Harris were also very interested in what Gabriella was about to say, especially as it had come from one of the daughters of a premiere member of the Elven Counsel in the Nation. When they considered that Ellora was not only related to the head Elf in her nation, but that she was also the Librarian in charge of the archives, this meant she was well-versed in what she was talking about.
“When the Elves from the Elven Nation were dispatched to create the Elven Empire, the elite as well as the Warriors were sent. Those that fully embraced peace were the ones that stayed behind with a skeleton army to guard their homeland. From all Ellora said, we have increased the powers of those who were sent. I will presume this was done out of necessity. They, however, never needed to fight in a war the same way as our people have. It isn’t that their armed forces can’t fight, it is that the rest of the Elves in the Nation don’t have the practical experience. Most of the Elves living in that land have never been taught the basics, which has weakened them. We teach all of our people how to fight, so they can protect themselves, if for no other reason than they might be in a position where they are forced to do so. In the Elven Nation there are no dangers for them to fear, and they take this for granted.”
“So, what did you conclude from your time with Ellora, as you listened to her tell you about the Elven Nation?” Lariel asked Gabriella.
“If we enter the lands of our ancestors, and we are met with hostility, there will undoubtedly be a battle. But it will not be a fight for long. It won’t take those in the Elven Nation much time to realize how vastly outclassed they are for a war,” Gabriella stated.
“You sound very sure of your troops,” King Gerolth didn’t like how confident Gabriella seemed.
“King Gerolth,” Gabriella spoke aloud. “It takes no great amount of intelligence to understand that when you are faced with a superior fighting force, it is best to back down.”
“What if they still think they have the better army, as well as a good reason to fight?” King Gerolth asked.
“I didn’t say they wouldn’t challenge us,” Gabriella admitted. “But I thoroughly doubt if any of them will be interested in getting into the type of wars we have been trained to handle. They consider themselves to be civilized, and men of that ilk do not get involved in fisticuffs. Our people know what it means to get down and dirty in a fight and are not afraid to do so.”
“I hate to say it,” Deneene chuckled, “but our High Lord General Gabriella Eagle Claw is right. I also doubt if the descendants of our ancestors are any less intelligent than they were. They will know when to back down if it comes to a fight.”
Lariel agreed with Deneene and Gabriella, but said nothing. He had to keep other options open to him, because if the Elves in charge in the Elven Nation decided to fight against all they held sacred, he might not have any choice but to go into battle against them. In a case like this, he would be left with no alternative but to release the might of Gabriella’s armies against the Elven Nation, if for no other reason than to get them to toe the line. Hate it or not, it was something he would do.
CHAPTER XXIX
ANDORIA:
“You can’t go on at this pace,” Lorne warned King Felix, as his father continued to push people to complete projects faster.
The healthier King Felix got after the battle, the more he focused on the death of his sons. He was determined to see the guilty parties pay for what they had done. To do this, however, he needed to first rebuild his land and his forces. The rampaging Dragon had torn through the center of his armies, which he considered an intolerable imposition. They had demoralized his men, destroyed his small fleet of Dragon Killers and killed several members of his family. The insult to his immediate family hadn’t stopped with Evart and Ricard. They had also burned many of his grandsons along with the armed forces under their command. They had then burned a portion of the castle to the ground. To add more insult to the injury, they stole the Elven General his men had captured. He wanted justice.
Of all the questioning Lorne and King Felix had done of the men and women who had witnessed any part of the event, the most interesting news they found had been about Gabriella Eagle Claw. There had been several sightings of the White Dragon flying off with someone held in its claws. This, they all assumed, was the High Lord General Gabriella Eagle Claw of the Elven Armed Forces and he wanted her back. He wanted to tie her to a spit and roast her slowly over an open fire. He would show them how to attack him on his home ground.
As Lorne spoke, King Felix struck out, both physically and verbally. He sent his son reeling with a backhanded slap and snarled, “You don’t tell me what I can and can’t do in my own Kingdom. I will have my way in all of this.”
Lorne wiped the blood from his newly broken nose, smearing it across the side of his face and responded in anger, “You think I don’t feel the same way or even more? They were my brothers, my men and now they are no more than ash. However, it won’t serve any purpose to go after them if we get ourselves killed before we have a chance to get to the battlefield.”
King Felix had to admit, Lorne had a point. He had been driving his men, as well as himself, too hard. They were all looking haggard and drawn, something he had never seen before. He accepted the fact that he needed to back off and let everyone deal with their own grief and injuries if he was to get any results. However, they still needed to get their work done. It was probably the best medicine he could provide for them at this time. Keeping busy was going to allow them all a way to maintain their sanity while they dealt with their losses.
“You are right,” King Felix conceded, “But, we still need to rebuild our land and forces, and this needs to be done before we look to taking this fight to the lands over the mountains. There seem to be, however, times when nothing moves fast enough.”
“I can relate to the problem,” Lorne admitted. “It is the reason I plan to take Donahue and a few trusted men into the mountains to see if the path they found can be built into a road big enough for us to move our armies over instead of going underground.
“You will want to take a couple of General Anton’s engineers with you. They are the ones with the technical training on how to make the type of roads we will need. I wish we had more men like them, but unfortunately, we don’t,” King Felix stated.
Lorne nodded, but didn’t tell his father they did. He didn’t tell King Felix everything anymore, not since he had killed his daughters in cold blood as he had. Instead he answered, “The bastards know they have the knowledge we are lacking too. They look smugly at us, but are smart enough not to flaunt their superiority in our faces. I have already told them in no uncertain terms that they aren’t indispensable. They seem to understand comments like this just as clearly as the enlisted men who have no education whatsoever.”
King Felix grinned as he commented, “It sometimes gets under your skin that they can do things we can only dream of, doesn’t it?”
“Occasionally,” Lorne agreed. “Usually I am happy enough to just lord it over them because as much as they know the technical aspects about building bridges, I know how to break them without having to kill them. This means their expertise is as much mine as it is theirs.”
“I am sure you have ingrained the possibility of this happening in their minds,” King Felix chuckled. He was sure he knew his eldest son at least enough to be sure he would use his reputation for brutality to its best advantage.
“It is the only way I am going to get any respect out of them,” Lorne stated. He knew it was true. The foreign engineers looked down at them because they considered them mentally inferior. “I am sure you use the same form of tactics to control their former General.”
“As you said, it is a concept they understand well,” King Felix pointed out. “They seem to realize there is a limit to the amount of punishment their bodies can withstand, and they react to it.”
“The buggers are smart,” Lorne admitted. “We have to give them credit for that much.”
As Lorne talked, he passed King Felix a goblet of wine, then sat and put his feet up on the table. It was been one of the first times he had found his father in the room they used as a conference room when only the immediate members of the family were to be involved. He didn’t know if he was here now for nostalgic reasons or for others, but he was going to use it as much as he could for his own ends.
“I have been thinking about the future of our Kingdom,” Lorne told King Felix.
“What brought this on?” King Felix wondered. He had always doubted if Lorne cared much about the future before this. What had changed?
“Evart and Ricard,” Lorne admitted. “Their deaths have brought home the fact none of us are immortal. We are not old enough to be concerned with dying in our sleep, but I am the last remaining legitimate heir you have left.”
“You have a whole brood of illegitimate heirs, last I checked,” King Felix pointed out, as he followed his son’s example and placed his feet upon the table. It had been a long time since they sat back and relaxed while talking over wine. It felt good to be able to do so again.
“The girls are gone,” Lorne sighed sadly. “Over half the boys were killed during the last year and four more were lost during the attack that took Ricard and Evart. Those remaining are young and extremely foolish. I will admit, I don’t expect much from them.”
King Felix nodded in agreement. He had noticed a lack of intelligence in his grandsons, but he hadn’t realized so many had met their ends already. It seemed to him the girls had been the smart ones, and to them he had put a quick end. The world they lived in was no place for a woman who would never know nor accept her place in it. He had seen enough Kingdoms being ruled by women to realize no good would come of such a thing here. They either turned vicious, and needed to be put down like a rabid animal, or they were weak didn’t have the heart to do what must to maintain order in their lands. More times than not, they made poor choices when it came to choosing a husband and lived regretting it for the rest of their lives. As far as he was concerned, a female that refused to recognize her place in life was better off dead.
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