Chapter 10

PART 2

Yazadril’s home was formed in the side of a great oak tree that was over one hundred and eighty meters tall. After a quick stop at the top of the pass, Yalla flew him to his balcony, sixty-four meters above the ground. She bade him a quick farewell and flew off, stifling a yawn.

The senior wizards of his people were waiting in his home when he returned. All twenty-four of them were gathered in his central room, chatting brightly about the human and speculating imaginatively about him. Yazadril’s wife and daughters bustled about, serving refreshments.

“Were you not informed that I wished you to keep these matters confidential?” Yazadril sternly and loudly asked, and the group suddenly fell silent. “And yet the moment I return I find you in my home, and two of you discussing how the human passed the Wards, right in front of my wife and daughters! Thus, you are needlessly endangering them, and ultimately all of us!”

“Calm yourself, Yazadril.” Theramin smiled, smoothing his graying beard down over the front of his blue satin robe. As always, the stout little horticultural wizard was unperturbed. “It was necessary in order to maintain a semblance of normality. The fact that we have a great secret is itself a great secret, and if we act like we are trying to conceal a secret, the fact that we have one is revealed. Thus we meet here, as we would if the human truly were unimportant, rather than in The Council Hall or the Hall of New Magic, where we would be expected to meet if the danger he represents were more immediate. And since we are meeting here, it was necessary that your family be trusted with this, as it would have been impractical to exclude them.”

“Yes, yes, I see your reasoning, though you should have consulted me before endangering them with this knowledge!”

“I am sorry about that.” Theramin smiled, not looking sorry at all. “At least you know that your home is absolutely proof against eavesdropping, be it intentional or accidental!

“Now please, tell us what you have learned, we are bursting from the suspense!”

“In a moment!” Yazadril snapped, then his manner softened completely as he turned to his wife. She had set her tray of appetizers on a shelf and moved to his side, where she stood patiently waiting for his attention, her light blue eyes glinting with the little smile of amusement that she gave to no one else but him.

As always, his heart soared as she flowed into his embrace, and he knew he was the most fortunate being in existence.

“Ahh, Nemia, I love you so.” he crooned into the thick, curly blond hair just above her ear.

“As I love you, my husband. You are well?” she returned.

“Very well, my lovely wife. Though these developments do bring unknown dangers, they bring unknown opportunities as well.”

His twin daughters, Talia and Dalia, were practically identical, and very similar in appearance to their mother. Rather than approach their parents upon their father’s return, they continued unobtrusively serving cordials in tiny crystal stemware, but they shared a warm smile with their parents by way of greeting. After all, their father had been home only yesterday, and there were guests. And of course, this strategy lessened the chance that they would be sent from the room before the interesting news was delivered!

Yazadril quickly related the gist of the day’s events, finishing with his decision to invite Alilia to join him in studying the unique phenomenon that had manifested in their new guest.

There were dubious looks exchanged among the assembled, and again Theramin spoke. The rest, as usual, were content to let others take the initiative in anything that was out of the ordinary.

“That was well done, though you take a risk in revealing so much to your new pupil.” Theramin nodded. “But, I think you did not do so well in your negotiations with him. Five years is not so long.”

“True, but his wants are modest, and he was resolute. It is difficult to bargain well with such a person.” Yazadril conceded. “I gained the right to study him for the rest of his life, and that was the most important thing, even if it means being out in the world.”

“Granted.” Theramin agreed. “But you may wish to reconsider having Alilia assist you in this learning. The work she does here, with yourself and others, is valuable, but it is also well known that she comes here to do such work because she considers it a welcome vacation from the stresses and tensions of her role as Princess of the People of Life.

“And Yazadril, I can assure you that the majority of the stresses and tensions in the lands of the forest elves are caused by humans. As I am sure you know, Alilia’s folk are bordered by three ethnic groupings of humans, each with their own kingdoms, language, culture and customs, who have each hated and mistrusted the others for millennia, with petty wars and feuds unending. This has had a disastrous effect on their cultures, which have become cruel, excessively restrictive, and at times reprehensible. This has been reflected in their dealings with The People of Life.

“Because of this, Alilia’s feelings toward humans in general are not kind. To put it bluntly, she despises the lot of them.”

Yazadril considered. “You are right in that her opinion of humans will not make this work any easier. But given a few hours in which to get to know Markee, she will see that he is not like that. And she will be able to see the importance of this research. What one can do, others can learn to do, and she will not like the thought of humans walking unimpeded through her Wards, any more than I do.

“More importantly, she is the only one who has the qualities I need to assist me in this, beyond one or two of the wizards of the plains elves, and I must admit that I am unsure that those are entirely trustworthy anymore, since they have embraced living among the great empires of the humans.”

“That is all true enough.” Theramin agreed. “So I suppose you must ask her, though she may refuse.”

“I think I can convince her.” Yazadril smiled, and turned to the group of wizards. “Do any of you have anything to add?”

None did.

“I will serve as barber and tailor to your young friend, my love.” Nemia smiled. “I will gather the supplies for such a task. And Theramin here is the obvious choice to supervise the construction of a house.”

“I am.” Theramin agreed proudly. “Though I will not grow him a tree outside the valley. I will consult with him as to the style of architecture he would prefer.”

“Excellent, and thank you both.” Yazadril smiled. “I will cast a Speaking to Alilia now, while we are all still gathered here. She is more likely to control her temper before such a group, I think.

“Alilia?” he called.

Rather than answer his Speaking, Alilia responded by casting a Projection of herself. Her image suddenly appeared before him in all her glory, her bright white hair flowing from beneath a slim gold and diamond tiara, and cascading down over her white silk robe, which was belted with a sash of woven gold thread. These were contrasted by her warm brown eyes and her peaches-and-cream complexion.

“Yazadril! What a surprise to hear from you! And in such august company, too!” she laughed. “You know I am not due there until next spring! There is not a problem, I hope?”

“A potential problem, and a potential opportunity as well, dear Alilia.” Yazadril replied, and quickly outlined the developments.

“Kill him.” Alilia stated flatly when he had finished. “Kill him now, before he can escape, before the human wizards can learn of him!”

“It may be too late for that. His entire people were horribly killed by magic most foul, and while I think they were merely caught in the crossfire between two distant wizards, we cannot know for sure until we investigate those events.” Yazadril stated. “Besides that, even if I were willing to destroy the knowledge and research opportunities he represents, I have sworn that he will not be harmed or impeded by me or mine.”

“Which does not include me! So I will kill him!” Alilia insisted.