Unwanted Elves
Chapter 18
“How is Tancyfrwys?” Blaithamlwg asked.
“Chessina and Silavara are looking after her, she won’t dare die.”
“Die? Is there some question of that?”
“Prydythaur was trying to smother her with a pillow when we arrived in, more or less, the nick of time.” I told the chamberlain.
At this point Chessina emerged from the room.
“Tancyfrwys will be alright gentlemen,” she informed us, “You’d better come in, we have a great deal to discuss.”
oOo
Tancyfrwys was sitting up on the day bed wrapped in a quilt and looking better than she had been. Mind you, as that was just after we had stopped Prydythaur from trying to smother her this was not, perhaps, surprising.
“How are you Tancyfrwys?” asked Blaithamlwg.
“I am alive, Blaithamlwg, which I owe to these humans. And I feel such a fool, that swine Prydythaur used me; he never cared for me at all.”
“He had used charm magic on you so you were completely under his thumb.” Said Chessina.
“I know that now Apprentice, his trying to kill me broke Prydythaur’s spell. I asked him if he had anything to do with the poisoning and he attacked me. Blaithamlwg, I was convinced when he told me that we needed to depose the king and rule in his stead. Prydythaur said it would only be for a time until the war was won.”
“While our warriors are matchless in the forest, we are very few in number Tancyfrwys,” Said Blaithamlwg. “The outcome of a war is in no way certain.”
“Prydythaur said defeat was most unlikely, but in case of such an eventuality I assisted him in making weapons to be used by reinforcements that he could summon.” Tancyfrwys continued.
“Did the making of these weapons involve black fire-opals?” Chessina asked.
“Yes, it did, how did you know?” asked Tancyfrwys. “I had never used black fire-opals in magic before. The weapons felt unpleasant to the touch after they were enchanted, but Prydythaur said it was of no importance and to ignore it. I take it that he was lying about that, judging by your expressions.”
“There is no gentle way to put this, I’m afraid,” Chessina said, gravely. “Prydythaur was being literally correct when he said that he would summon reinforcements. He was intending to use you, perhaps even sacrifice you, to summon an army of demons and arm them with magic weapons.”
Tancyfrwys slumped back on the day bed, the colour that had been returning to her face after her ordeal draining away. She looked on the verge of passing out.
“Perhaps you should get some rest, Tancyfrwys.” Blaithamlwg said.
“No, no, not yet.” Tancyfrwys replied, “I can’t rest yet. I... it’s so much to take in, Prydythaur trying to kill me, who I thought cared for me, and the most frightening thing was his expression, there was so much hate there, it... it was bestial.”
“I’m afraid it was worse than that, Tancyfrwys,” Chessina said, “We were almost certain that Prydythaur is part demon, and this attack on you confirms it. He threw away an ally and charmed supporter of his plan in rage for having been thwarted in his attempt to kill us. Demons don’t react well to being balked, particularly by surprise.”
“I’ve been a fool,” interjected Blaithamlwg, “I should have ordered scouts out to pursue Prydythaur, I... I was concerned for Tancyfrwys.”
“How well do elves perform in the dark, Blaithamlwg?” I enquired.
“Much better than humans.” Replied the chaimberlain, stung by my question.
“Can they see in pitch darkness? Most demons can. No one knows what he looks like so who would you have them chase, and even if they caught up with him, what could they do? We are uncertain of his abilities and you could have sent lambs to the slaughter.” I said. “And that begs another question, what can we do to him short of killing him, which would only make his demonic patron or sire, stronger.”
“I don’t think it will.” Replied Chessina.
“But the Towermaster who performed the second favour said that we must not kill a part demon, but imprison him.” Cried Blaithamlwg.
“The Towermaster was wrong.” Stated Chessina. “I have been thinking about this and remembering from my time in the Abyss, and I also now remember things that Arcana told me that she didn’t want me to know until the correct time; which this now apparently is.”
“You have spoken to Arcana?” Said Tancyfrwys, incredulously.
“Yes. Please don’t interrupt, I’ll explain later.” Chessina said, and continued on. She liked to lecture as much as I did. “The Towermaster was confusing a demonologist or demon worshipper with demon offspring which are rare. I don’t know how demons reproduce, or even if they do, but it’s not by birth as mortals do. If a demon wants to impregnate a mortal they must give up a portion of their life force. That’s why most demons don’t do so.”
“What about Pointyteeth,1” I reminded Chessina, “He was preparing to impregnate that entire group of foolish women who got involved with demonology?”
“Pointyteeth is relatively low on the demonic hierarchy,” Chessina said, “He was taking a risk that he would benefit more than lose and rise thereby. The reason that we kept Duchess[1] Renilla and her son alive is that a true demonologist, not a dabbler like the very foolish women, gives a part of their soul to the demon. When the demonologist dies, their soul doesn’t go to the Place of Waiting1, but directly to the demon enhancing their power.”
I have mentioned that wizards discover quite a number of things, which most people don’t want to know.
“I think that Tancyfrwys should get some sleep now, as should the rest of us.” Silavara said, firmly.
“Elves rarely sleep, Priestess.” Declared Blaithamlwg, in a distinctly superior tone of voice.
“I still think Tancyfrwys, should sleep, she has been through a great shock.” Replied Silavara in an equally superior tone. “Perhaps I should give her something...”
“No,” whispered Chessina, “Let things take their course.”
Silavara looked pointedly at Chessina, raising an eyebrow.
“Call it a hunch.” Chessina whispered, in answer to the unspoken question.
“...on second thoughts it might be wiser to let things be.” Said Silavara.
oOo
Next morning Chessina and I were up betimes waiting for the search for Prydythaur to commence. Silavara was still in her room communing with the Royal Tree in which we were housed, and via that to commune with the rest of the forest. Silavara thought that although Prydythaur could conceal himself from sight by illusion he might not be able to conceal his scent or his footprints, or indeed his demonic taint from the collective mind of the forest. This hopefully might provide a starting point for the search.
“I think we ought to search Prydythaur’s quarters.” Chessina said earnestly, “He might have left something that would give us a starting point.”
“A good idea, love.” I replied.
We discovered his quarters’ location by the simple expedient of asking a passing servant. It seemed that among elven nobility the servants did many of their tasks before their masters had awoken. Exactly like most of the human nobility I had come across. Prydythaur’s rooms were very near Tancyfrwys’ as was only to be expected.
“Don’t forget to check the door for traps, Castamir.” Chessina reminded me.
“Wizards are cautious.” I said to her, grinning. “I can’t find anything, which doesn’t surprise me, as servants would be going in and out.”
Prydythaur’s quarters were similar to other elven dwellings that we had seen, if rather more opulent than most. After casting our spells, Chessina remarked in disappointment, “There’s nothing here.”
“Anything he valued would be unlikely to be where anyone could stumble over it accidentally.” I replied.
We tried the same spells in the bedroom. By common consent, Chessina cast the simpler spells while I cast the more difficult and draining ones being able to draw on the tower.
“Castamir, look at that!” Said Chessina excitedly, having cast reveal magic.
I turned and saw a bedside cabinet positively glowing with the green light that indicated the presence of magic.
“That looks interesting,” I said, “but let’s check the rest of his apartment.”
We did so, but found nothing more of interest.
“I’d like to have Tancyfrwys present when we look inside, her knowledge might be helpful.”
“What if Prydythaur comes back master?”
“Hmmm. I’ll put an anti-intruder spell on the window, twisted to cause cold damage.” I said, “That ought to put him off, and I’ll use door-bar on the doors.”
“That can be broken by strength, can’t it master?” Chessina enquired.
“Yes, but using the Tower I’ll strengthen the spell and increase the toughness of the wood.” I replied, “It would take an ogre to break the door down.”
“Are ogres real, master?”
“Apparently, although I’ve never met one.” I said. “As they are nine feet tall, immensely strong, resistant to a lot of magic and with the mental armour of impenetrable stupidity, I don’t really want to.”
I cast the spells, noting the characteristic red glow of the staff’s crystal when strengthening the spells, and an unexpected green glow when twisting the anti-intruder spell.
“Are you going to ask the queen to put guards outside Prydythaur’s door.” Queried Chessina.
“I’m in two minds about that love.” I answered. “That would indicate there was something important to guard, and any guards would be lambs to the slaughter against Prydythaur should he return. On the other hand, if he sent someone to collect anything important he left, that person could be arrested and might tell us something.
We were leaning on the railings of the wide shallow staircase that entwined its way around the tree outside our suite of rooms, looking out over the expanse of the elven city while I pondered.
“When we were helping Tancyfrwys and she started to talk,” Said Chessina, “Something happened I’d never come across before. I saw Prydythaur’s charm spell crumble.”
“How did you do that, love?” I enquired, “I’ve never experienced such a thing, and I don’t recall Harmon ever mentioning it.”
“I think it might be because when I was a demon, charming others was something I just did, like other demons.” Chessina replied. “When Arcana made my new body, this was something she obviously wanted me to still possess. Watching the spell collapse has given me more of an insight into how it works.”
At this point I turned as I could hear someone coming up the staircase, making much more noise than the soft footed elves. Just as I was about to ask Chessina if she could hear what I did, the source of the noise came round the corner into view. I had seen my first centaur.
She, at least I assumed the female gender judging by the gracile features of the face, was about my height, wore a loose green tunic on her upper body which prevented me from judging her age by the state of her mammary development. Knowing we might come across centaurs, before we set off from the Tower, I had read what information the library there had on centaurs, which wasn’t much.
Our new visitor had long tawny hair caught back by some tie into a ponytail; how appropriate. She had a woven bag on a strap across her body. She also wore a belt around what would be the waist of a human carrying a sheathed knife. Her face, sweet rather than beautiful broke into a grin and she spoke.
“Hello, are you the humans the elves were speaking of? I’ve never met a human before.”
“Hello.” I replied, “Yes, we’re human, and we’ve never met centaurs before.”
Chessina, who was much better at social interaction than I was, made more pertinent conversation.
“Hello, my name’s Chessina, and this is Castamir. What’s your name?”
“My name’s Serashawn.” She replied. “I’ve come with a message for the King and Queen from Princess Ariannaith.”
The Princess, in all the commotion I’d completely forgotten about the Princess!
“Do you know the way to the royal apartments?” I asked Serashawn.
“No, do you? Could you show me the way?”
“Yes, come with us.” Said Chessina, walking by Serashawn’s side. Silavara followed on behind, with an intense expression on her face.
I was sure that Chessina was as interested as I to know the message, and it was much better to get it from, ahem, the horse’s mouth, than have it filtered through layers of lickspittles.
Being at the tail end of the procession, I discovered that my speculation about Serashawn’s gender was correct. At least there were no dangling male appurtenances, and the library was certain that centaurs reproduced in the usual mammalian fashion.
“How is Princess Ariannaith, is she alright?” Chessina asked.
“Oh yes, she’s fine. She sought refuge with us and placed herself under the protection of the Knight Protector of the Forest; that’s my mother.” Serashawn replied. “Ariannaith then asked if her lover Cyfaill could be summoned from Abergwythy, the Meeting Place of Strangers, I think it’s sometimes called the Enclave. And when he arrived my mother married them, and Serban who’s Priest of Hernos, he’s my sire you know, cast a fertility spell on them, so Ariannaith will be pregnant by now.”
At this point the young centaurette paused for breath and Chessina glanced back at me. I agreed with her unspoken thought. We should definitely accompany Serashawn to see the king. Having such a pile of unwelcome news dumped on him might make the king behave... erratically, particularly as he was still under the influence of Prydythaur’s charm spell. Having the three of us there should protect the innocent and garrulous child from anything terminal.
The king was seated on his throne, as usual. He seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time there, polishing his ego, doubtless. And thickening his ischial tuberosities in addition. Alright, the bones one sits on. He looked sour as Serashawn began to deliver the message from the princess; mind you the king had looked sour even before Serashawn started. Judging by the faint lines on the king’s face, that was his normal expression. As Serashawn gave her message, I watched the king closely; his face became suffused with rage, more than it usually was I mean. At the end of his daughter’s message he screamed in rage and shouted;
“Guards, chain up that... that... animal and put it in a cage! If my daughter isn’t returned to me unsullied by a mongrel elf, I want that creature slaughtered, butchered and cooked!”
I felt my rage building, and with difficulty held it in check. I had had quite enough of Elven arrogance. The staff’s crystal flared with an intense blue white light that I remembered seeing only once before. It was when Harmon was furious about an injustice against a group of peasants. At the edges of my awareness I thought I heard voices in the light, but could spare no concentration at the moment. The king and his guards raised their hands to shield themselves from the glare, while the queen coming through the doorway from the private chambers turned away from the radiance.
“YOU. WILL. NOT!” My words thundered around the throne room as the staff, unbidden, amplified my voice, “she is under my protection.”
“And mine,” echoed Chessina.
“And mine,” said Silavara.
“And mine” said Tancyfrwys. That startled me, both her being up this early after her earlier shock, and at her defiance of her king in defence of Serashawn.
The Queen marched up to the throne and stood in front of the King, bristling with fury.
“Have you run mad, husband?” she hissed, “are you trying to go to war with the centaurs, the humans and the dwarves simultaneously? And how you managed to get me to agree to betroth Ariannaith to that... creature Prydythaur I do not know.”
“I do, Majesty.” Said Tancyfrwys, “Prydythaur has enspelled us all. He does want war with as many foes as possible to further his, literally, diabolical plan. In addition he wants to marry Princess Ariannaith so as to take control of the kingdom when he kills you and the queen.”
Chessina touched my arm and muttered a word I didn’t know. Overlaid on my sight now were the patterns and filaments of what I realised was the charm spell on the Queen. Was this how Chessina perceived such spells that gave her so much insight and power over them? I watched as the patterns broke and the elements of the spell dissolved under the queen’s sudden insight into Prydythaur’s methods and motives. No more would she trust him, and charm spells require that at least the target doesn’t actively distrust the caster.
I looked at the King, and with Chessina’s marvellous sight I could see the many layers of spell Prydythaur had implanted in the elf, wrapped tightly around his arrogance and conceit. Such revelations would not shake the king’s unwavering trust in Prydythaur.
“Guards, arrest them, they are...” the king screamed.
I had had enough of this fool.
“Sleep,” I said, using the power of the Tower to enhance and alter the normal spell, “sleep deeply and dreamlessly until I, the queen or the royal wizard awaken you.”
The guards, unsure of what to do, looked at the queen, who shook her head slightly.
I glanced over at Tancyfrwys who gave a slight nod.
“I think, your Majesty,” said Tancyfrwys, “that in the current crisis, and in light of the king’s... indisposition, you should take charge.”
Wheeeeee!
ReplyDeleteit's a pivotal point
DeleteOh, I do like centaurs!
ReplyDeleteyou will see more of them! and a few puns
Delete