Elvenshore: 03 - Elf's Bane (22 page)

The road
King's was once again patrolled by the army of King Mortimur and had been made safe. It took several days of hard riding before they were in front of the gates of the Lost City.

As soon as the gates opened, Fawn
was there to greet him. He climbed off his horse and ran over to hug her. It didn’t take him long to realize that she was with child. After the hug he reached down and touched her stomach.“You have something to tell me?
”

“It is very easy to get a Valkyrie pregnan
t,” she said with a huge smile.

“Why are you wearing a crown?” he asked
.

“I have something else to tell you also, but not in the gateway
. Come to the Inn with me and we will have a feast in your honor. “ She reached up and kissed him. “It is so good to see you safe.”

 
They entered the city and were making their way to the Inn when one of the Valkyrie came up to Fawn and asked her a question, addressing her as Queen Fawn.

"
Queen Fawn?
Are there any other secrets you neglected to tell me?" Sarchise asked.

"No, that was it. The old Queen was my mother
. A Queen does not have to name one of their own children to the throne, they are allowed to name anyone. I did not think she would choose me as I have not always followed the way of the Valkyrie. I was surprised that she named me."

Sarchise nodded his head that he understood
.

They entered the Inn and there was a feast to great them. It was not a feast like the Dwarves have which consists mostly of different types of meat, but a feast of stews and soups and breads and cheeses. There was wine to drink. Sarchise enjoyed the meal but he would have been happier if he would have had some pork to eat and
a large ale to wash it down

That night he slept in the new palace with his sons near him for the first time in months. They were walking very well now and it made him sad to think of all the time he had missed.
Then there were all the stages in their lives that he would never get back. He vowed that he would not miss any more of their life and would be a father they could depend on.

The Far Shore

Istuin walked into Verian's command tent bearing a message. Verian was surprised to see him. "I thought you were going to Elvenshore."

"Getting on a transport is
not easy these days; the ship Captains have realized that taking horses to Elvenshore and bringing back wine and ale is much more profitable than taking passengers."

Verian shook his head, "It was only a matter of time.
What have you got for me?"

"Mauric has challenged your authority to the Grand Counsel of Elves."

Verian looked at Istuin."Do we have any counselors?
"

Istuin smiled, "No, they were the first ones evacuated and I don't think they are coming back."

"What is he going to do then?"

"They are going to hold a
Counsel of Sticks. They want us to set up a command tent in the middle of the Capital. Mayer Kolis is going to clear a spot for it," Istuin replied.

"The Humans are going to arbitrate a dispute of the Elves?" Verian was very curious.

"Mauric lived with the Humans. I guess he thinks he has the advantage."

Verian couldn't suppress a small laugh, "If Mauric lived with the Humans then they already hate him. I have the advantage."

Istuin laughed, "I think you are correct."

"Do we have any other command tents? He still can't have this one
," Verian said firmly.

"Yes, there are two more. When we retreated we brought our supplies
with us to Vil Mawe."

Verian stood up, "Very well, I guess we have a tent to set up."

"
Yes, Sir, I will organize the men."

"
what is happening in the swampland?" Verian asked as they headed out the door.

"The Humans
are leaving, except for those who live there in the swampland. There is a massive line of wagons and carts heading back to the various villages. The Elves are staying. They now occupy a clearing north of Bon Lathan and have named their village Vil Darnic, in honor of Darnic Tewl. The Elves have adapted to their new life very well and are getting along nicely with the Humans of the swampland," Istuin replied.

"The thing that bothers me is that they voted Mauric in."

Istuin smiled, "I have been told by one of Aron's riders that the vote was so close that if Mauric had not voted for himself he would not have won."

Verian laughed long and load.

In the next few days the army managed to set up the tent in an area of the Capital that had been cleared of debris. The Human elders came into the tent, leaving their walking sticks outside as tradition dictated. When everyone was seated on the ground, Mauric stated his case about his election. He felt that he should be Chancellor and Kolis should not be Mayor. When he was done, he sat back down. Then it was Kolis' turn to talk. He told about his election and how all the inhabitants of the city, at that time, had voted for him.

Verian was last to testify, pointing out how the nation as a whole had not voted for Mauric and that a proper election should be held. Meanwhile they should go back and refer to the laws of the land in choosing a temporary Chancellor until that election
.

Everyone was escorted out of the tent except the elders as they del
iberated the fate of the Elves
.
A
fter two and a half hours, the Elves were asked to come back in to hear the verdict.

When all were seated again,
Fritred Tewl stood up, "It is up to me to announce our decision about the leadership dispute of the Elves.  We have searched the laws of the Elves and in it we have found no reference to a government in exile. We have also found no instance where only portions of the people were able to elect a Chancellor. It has always been a vote of the all the people.

"We do hereby set the election of Mauric aside. In this we refer to your laws in guiding us to appoint a temporary Chancellor. Since the Chancellor you have had is now the Mayor of
Fernar Darus, he cannot preside in both of those positions. So according to the laws of the Elves, the Commander of the army will step up to the Chancellor position.

"We do hereby appoint Commander Varian as Grand Chancellor of the Elves." Fritred sat down.

Mauric was irate, yelling over and over again, "How can that be their decision?" His own friends dragged him out of the tent to try and keep him from making a fool of himself.

Verian was
a little stunned. He had not expected that he would be Chancellor. After taking a few minutes to regain his composure he said to Istuin, "Can you delay your trip a little longer? I will need you as the commander until an election can be held."

Istuin smiled, "I guess my mother can do without me a little while yet. Besides, I hear there
are Valkyrie in Elvenshore and that has me a little scared."

Some of Verian's men came up to congratulate him. Most every Elf in the room had felt some sort of relief at the decision, including one of Mauric's counselors.

Elvenshore

Amlius stood outside the gates of the city of Santera, waiting for them to open
.
The guard was not sure if he should let the once banished Elf in or not. He sent a runner to the Chancellor’s Quarters to inquire. When the runner came back and said to open the gates is when he reluctantly did so.

Amlius walked in,
very upset at the wait and then walked right up to Chancellor Fannor, who had come out to meet him.

"Amlius, what brings you to my city today?" Fannor asked
.

"Your wounds have healed
sufficiently. It is time for us to visit Vil Loree."

Fannor
smiled widely and said, "I would love that very much. Can I take Armurous and Gilead with me?"

"Yes," Amlius said without hesitation.

When they had some supplies gathered up they hooked up a team of horses and a wagon that had been brought over from the Far Shore, and the four Elves climbed on board for a trip to the Mountains of Iron.

The journey went well and the four of them we
re able to stay at Inns along the King's road on the way. Amlius thought it would be faster to travel the road instead of go through the forest, even though the forest route was shorter.

When they arrived at the Dwarf fort on the plains of they spent the last night of the trip there.
It was a stone fort on the plains of Zor that had been built during the last Gremlin war. It was still garrisoned by Dwarves. Oswin had arrived back at the fort from the Far Shore and greeted Amlius and the rest of the Elves warmly. That night there was a bonfire in their honor.

The cooks roasted goats and rabbits and served breads and cheeses at every table. There was plenty of ale to go around. As per Dwarf tradition,
every time someone would toast someone else, everyone would drain their mugs.

The Elves were still a little hung over the next morning when they set out, but it was a quest of all Elves to see the Golden City and they did not want to wait one more day.

In front of the gates of the Mountains of Iron was an Inn. An enterprising Human had built one there, with the permission of the Dwarves, so those visiting the Vil Loree would have some place to stay. Amlius had already arranged quarters with King Cazz so when the wagon pulled up there was no hesitation. The gate opened immediately.

Amlius pointed out, "The gates of the Dwarves open to me more readily than the gates of my own people."

Fannor replied, "I will make sure that the gates of the Elves open to you as fast as the gates of the Dwarves have today."

The wagon rolled in and King Cazz came out to gre
et the Elves. "Hello, I will have a wonderful bonfire for you tonight, after you visit the City of Gold."

Amlius smiled, "That would be wonderful."
The other Elves cringed; they didn't know how much more of this Dwarf hospitality they could survive, they were still feeling the effects of Oswin's bonfire feast.

Vil Loree was all that everyone ever expected it to be and ten times more. The
re was a crystals that let in the sunlight from a hole in the cavern high above in the mountain top made the city as bright as the noon day sun. The gold glistened from the sunlight, showing that particular gleam that the original builders intended. Fannor’s breath was taken away when he first entered into the chamber
.

Every brick of every building was of pure gold. Each was constructed by the best craftsmen of the Dwarves. All the streets led into a center palace that held the gold throne of the Dwarves.

Armurous was amazed. He could not have even imagined the beauty of it. Gilead too way total in awe of the beauty around him. The Elves spent the rest of the day there. They paused to look at the graves of the fellow Elves that had died defending the city from an invasion of their own race. It was the only sad note to end a wonderful day.

That night King Cazz
threw an even larger feast than Oswin had the day before. The feast had everything that Oswin's had plus roast lamb and pork. Everyone ate and drank their fill. It was very late when the four Elves finally finished and stumbled up to the quarters that they had been assigned.

It was
mid day before Fannor got up. He wanted to see the Golden City one more time before he left. When he got there he was surprised to see that Amlius was already there. "How are you not hung over? My head is exploding."

“
It's a trick that Sarchise taught me; you have your server water down the ale, that way you don't get drunk."

Fannor just shook his head, "I will try that next time."

They walked around enjoying the city and a few hours later the two Elves were joined by two more and the four of them spent yet another day in the Mountains of Iron.

When
they decided that it was time to go, they made their way back in the wagon on the same route that they had previously taken. When they were about three fourths of the way home, Amlius suddenly brought the horses to a stop and then handed the reins to Fannor said, "This is where I get out. I have one more errand to do before I journey home to my Ornamac tree."

"Farewell
, my friend, I will come to visit you as soon as the stiffness in my legs allows me," Fannor said and the other two Elves nodded in agreement.

"Farewell," Amlius replied and then he was off.

It was the middle of the night when the guard at the Lost City looked down to see the solitary Elf approaching. She got really upset when the Elf started pounding on the gate and yelling, "I want to see my daughter!" He knew it had to be a girl because the Valkyrie had not had a boy baby in over four hundred years. "I want to see her now."