unwanted elves 33

 the penultimate chapter... 

The Unwanted Elves

Chapter 33

 

We had barely had a mouthful of tea in the rooms we normally occupied in Dragovar’s tower, when a royal messenger hurried in.

“His Majesty requests that you come to the private apartments for an immediate audience, Towermaster, and the Royal Wizard adds his request to that of His Majesty.”

We started to follow but the messenger pulled away from us as he was walking so fast.

“Excuse me,” I said, raising my voice slightly, “The news I have for the King is good, and can wait just a little, there is no need for such hurry.”

The messenger came back towards us and mumbled an apology. Subsequently he walked at our pace.

When we arrived at the apartments we were ushered in to discover that apart from King Beremar and Dragovar, there were Crown Prince Silavar and Baroness Beretrulle, the king’s illegitimate half-sister and general of the army.

After courtesies had been exchanged the king asked hurriedly,

“The mission was truly a success?”

“A complete success, Your Majesty,” I replied, “There will be no war, and we have a draft treaty with the elven kingdom. I suggest most strongly that you sign the treaty as not only do I think it the best we could hope for, but it exceeds my wildest expectations.” I handed the king the copy of the treaty as I spoke.

“What are the provisions of the treaty?” Dragovar asked.

“In brief,” I replied, “It delineates the borders of both the kingdom and the elven lands. There is a large area between that is in neither kingdom, but free to all who can ‘live off the bounty of the forest’, but agriculture is forbidden. While some few humans and elves may take up residence there, it will I think mostly be occupied by the centaurs who will, I believe become a power in the land, and a counter balance to the elven kingdom.”

“Will the elves seek to foment war again?” Asked Beretrulle.

“No,” I replied with conviction, “The main mover behind the war was a half-demon who wished to start a war for his own ends. The elven king was charmed to support the demon but he didn’t need much persuading as he was a raging bigot who detested humans.”

“Was?” Dragovar let the monosyllable hang.

“He’s dead, and the new Queen, his daughter, has a much more enlightened attitude.” I said, as Dragovar raised an eyebrow.

“No I didn’t kill him,” I answered Dragovar’s implied question, “He died in a fire set by the half-demon. Though I would have killed him if the demon hadn’t.”

“And the half-demon, what of him?” Asked the King.

“He has been neutralised, permanently,” I replied.

“Are you certain of that?” Silavar asked intently.

“Yes,” I said, “I don’t think you would want to know the details, Your Highness, I’ll explain more fully to Dragovar later.”

“I really think we ought to know,” Said the King, “For our peace of mind.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty,” I said, “Chessina trapped the soul of the half-demon in a mirror of soul trapping...”

“Well done, Apprentice Chessina,” Said Beretrulle.

“Journeywizard now,” I said, “Apprentice no longer.”

“Congratulations, Chessina,” Said Dragovar, who knew what it meant to a wizard.

“What happened to the mirror,” The King said, impatiently.

“Oh, I gave it to Emaxtiphrael, Lord of the Halls of Waiting, in person,” I said, “We had a bit of a chat; nice chap.”

I had never before seen so many high ranking people doing stuffed cod impressions.

“I did say you wouldn’t want to know the details.” I remarked.

There is a degree of satisfaction when those people who have been inclined to look on one rather patronisingly as a bit of a hedge wizard, and one of Dragovar’s pets, realise that  actually one is a power in oneself and actually a bit dangerous to know. 

 

 

oOo

 

“Well, that was one way to end an audience with the King,” Said Dragovar when we had all returned to his tower, “You really spoke to a God in person?”

“Yes, and no,” I replied somewhat cryptically, “As I understand it, Emaxtiphrael was there as an avatar not his full... Godness. If he had been fully there everyone around would have just been overwhelmed, and he wanted to be there incognito.”

“Did he say why?” Tasayne asked.

“Partly it was to collect the mirror and partly on his own business,” Chessina replied.

“No, we didn’t ask,” I added, “But Emaxtiphrael told us that Sekemhef had extended his life by ‘vile rituals’ involving absorbing people’s souls. He believed that parts of the original souls remained within Sekemhef’s soul. Emaxtiphrael was going to extract those and heal them as best he could. I got the distinct impression that Sekemhef wasn’t going to enjoy the process. Mind you, I suspect that daddy dearest Fishface, would have done far worse to him for failing.”

“Please can you tell us the whole story,” Tasayne asked.

So we did. Chessina and I told our various parts, and there was backtracking and discussions of what happened when and in what order, but eventually the tale was told. By common consent, we left out those private and personal details about our new friends that Dragovar and Tasayne didn’t need to know, also the powers of the Staff that I had newly discovered. We glossed over the visit by Grandfather Castamir, and intimated that we had used contact the departed to speak with him. Some details of the relationship between the Towermaster, the Tower and the Staff shouldn’t be divulged more than absolutely necessary.

“That was very eye opening, and much of it was disturbing,” Said Dragovar, somewhat litotically I thought.

“I’m reminded of the Agerakian saying about living in interesting times,” I remarked.

By this time we could barely keep our eyes open, and after eating as much as we could manage without falling asleep in the food, we retired to bed and slept deeply and dreamlessly; well most of the night anyway.

 

oOo

 

Chessina awoke early and had definite ideas of what we should be doing. Even so we were the first at breakfast when we arose. When Tasayne and Dragovar entered Chessina spoke in her no-nonsense tone of voice.

“Dragovar, from speaking to the servants, I discover your wedding is next week, I need to check if the arrangements are suitable.”

Dragovar opened his mouth to speak, but I caught his eye and shook my head very slightly. Chessina really is very good as organising social situations and it’s best just to accede gracefully. Dragovar mumbled something and left the room, returning shortly with a document that he handed to Chessina. She perused it for a while and then announced,

“Dragovar, these wedding preparations are unacceptable.”

“But I only wanted a quiet wedding with just a few guests and Tasayne wasn’t averse,” Dragovar responded.

“With respect Dragovar, your wishes concerning your wedding are almost irrelevant,” Chessina said, firmly, “You are one of the most powerful and important men in the kingdom being Royal Wizard and brother of Brandel Duke of Osierleet. Tasayne will be one of the most important women in the kingdom, and if you denigrate her with what will be seen as a hole in the corner wedding, it will reflect very negatively on her. The preparations you have outlined effectively say that you are ashamed of Tasayne, and are only marrying her to avoid scandal, as though you were some bucolic who married at the point of a crossbow bolt having been caught fumbling with some local wench. This wedding will be sumptuous, the form that takes can be chosen by you and Tasayne, but sumptuous it will be. Tasayne is my greatest friend, and I won’t have you slighting her even unintentionally.”

“But you and Castamir had a small wedding,” Dragovar replied, sounding almost petulant.

“Not locally,” I replied, “All the villagers of Fair Pastures attended and it was officiated by the most important local figure, Priestess Silavara. As far as most people in the capital are concerned, the Towermaster is this vague figure of whom they have heard, but tend to ignore as an eccentric wizard in the back of beyond. His wedding was unimportant, yours is extremely important.”

“Now, after breakfast Dragovar, you and Tasayne, with my help will sort out a wedding suitable for the Royal Wizard and his Lady.” Said Chessina.

After breakfast, Dragovar, Tasayne and Chessina trooped off to Dragovar’s study to do just that. In the doorway Chessina paused, and turned to look at me.

“Don’t worry about me, love,” I said, “I’ll find something to keep me out of mischief.”

I went into the library of Dragovar’s tower to start preparing one part of our wedding present to Dragovar and Tasayne. The library’s facilities weren’t as good as those in the Tower, but they were easily good enough.

 

Chessina may have thought that she would have things sorted quickly, but in this instance I knew her better than she did. I reckoned that it would take all of today and most of tomorrow and the day after, and I wasn’t far out. Chessina was in her element organising, chivvying, and persuading tailors, seamstresses, various goods suppliers and the Captain of the Royal Guard into orchestrating a wedding that she considered worthy of our friends. She usually went to bed stressed, but I managed to alleviate that condition considerably.

 

oOo

 

The day of the wedding dawned fine and clear, presaging a perfect day. I didn’t tinker with the weather, I have some idea what disasters can be caused by wizards meddling with it, and I didn’t think Chessina knew how. Maybe Arcana had had a word with Silvana, who knows.

The King had graciously given the use of one the largest of the public rooms in the royal palace for the wedding and, to my eternal gratitude, Chessina had decided against a pre-wedding parade through the streets.

I performed the office of groomsman for Dragovar as he had for me. We entered the huge room and walked up between rows of people whose identity was a complete mystery to me and who were wearing garments of the height of fashion and, in most cases, the depths of taste. Our walk was accompanied by music from the court musicians and we walked in time to the music having practiced until we got it right. Concentrating on the timing made me forget the discomfort of the costume I was wearing; at least the armholes weren’t too tight.

A fanfare from the trumpeters of the Royal Guard made Dragovar and I turn to see Tasayne and Chessina make an entrance, followed by the female royal children as bridesmaids. The gowns Tasayne and Chessina wore accentuated their loveliness and I’m sure Dragovar thought Tasayne the most beautiful woman in the world. He was wrong, of course, but perhaps I was biased. Now came a tricky part as I had to summon scented flower petals to cascade down on the bride and matron of honour, Chessina having decreed that having flower girls throwing petals was far too ordinary and gauche. She concentrated on having a soft light fall on the bride and illuminate Tasayne.

The actual ceremony was conducted by King Beremar as it seemed that Tasayne and Dragovar had as good an opinion of the High Priests and Priestesses infesting.... sorry, inhabiting the capital as did Chessina and I.

I wonder if all Dragovar remembered about the ceremony was he and Tasayne saying, “I do”, which is about what I remember of the actual ceremony of mine.

 

The dishes for the wedding feast weren’t overfussy as I’m told some banquets of the nobility can be, but the cooks had obviously used the finest ingredients and the food tasted sublime. After the meal was over, I was expected as groomsman to give a speech, so I stood up and began,

“The bride and groom are my two best friends, and I wish them both the same happiness in their marriage as my beloved wife and I have.” And sat down again. Unfortunately the brevity of my speech wasn’t emulated by the other boring gits who gave theirs. I didn’t turn any of the speakers into the flatulent toads they so closely resembled, but I did... encourage the most long winded into thinking that they were drunker than they actually were, so they would shut up and sit down. Fortunately neither Dragovar nor Tasayne noticed the passage of time as they were gazing into each other’s eyes.

The pair did come back to the real world from whatever continuum of Agape that they had been in, to look at the arrival of the wedding presents. Collectively they didn’t actually make a mountain, but they did make a small hillock.

Seeing their startled expressions I said,

“Don’t worry about the presents, get Ammand to take an inventory of them, then keep the useful ones and give some to the deserving poor, and the rest to the undeserving poor.”

For this fatuous comment, I received a poking from Chessina,

“Behave Castamir. Ammand needs to not only inventory the presents, but note most carefully who gave them, so that they can be on display if that person ever calls on Tasayne and Dragovar.”

“Our present isn’t there and it’s in two parts,” I said.

Chessina’s hand went to her mouth in consternation,

“I’d forgotten all about a wedding present in the rush of organising the wedding,” She said.

“I hadn’t forgotten love,” I replied, “I was organising it while you were dealing with the wedding.”

Turning to our friends I continued,

“For the first part, I arranged with Duke Brandel for you to borrow his hunting lodge outside Fair Pastures for your honeymoon. As he’s not sent anyone to take charge of it, I’ve had the locals look after the place and keep it aired. I frightened poor Matille the village wise woman by using the Tower’s power to whisper to her at this distance and ask her to have fires laid and food put out awaiting your arrival. The second part of your wedding present will be delivered later, you can open it when you have time. No-one will think to look for you in my rural fastness so you won’t be disturbed. If you start now, you should reach there before dark. Well what are you waiting for?”

Chessina and I were hugged by Dragovar, and kissed on our cheeks by Tasayne. They left surreptitiously while Chessina and I made sure nobody took any notice of their departure.

“What is the second half of the present?” Chessina asked.

“Some selections from the Book of Djehuti that I used Dragovar’s library to copy magically,” I replied, “We can decide together what sections will be placed in the royal library. The rest I want kept under the eye of future Towermasters. There are things in the Book that I don’t want available to any wizard merely with access to the library.”