Red Solstice (Alfheim Book 1) (16 page)

I have chosen a violet dress for this evening's set and I know I am looking my best as we take the stage.  I announce that we will be playing songs from Earth and this causes considerable anticipation amongst the audience who, in some cases, have not heard any before.  Once again I know Lord Garrander's eyes are upon me but after this afternoon I am not so frightened by his regard, more amused.  I hope this does not show to much in the way I perform, but we have put together a very lively set with changes between violin to guitar, Bodhran drum to lute.  We end this on a sea shanty and after bowing to the audience and removing our instruments I make my way to my mother's side without the need to excuse my presence from the hall.  She, in her turn, introduces me to some of the guests.  Lord Tanell is very complimentary regarding my voice and hopes that I will be coming to the High Court with my brother and I thank him and hope that indeed it will be possible.    Garrander is now hovering and seems puzzled that I am at ease talking to people of rank.  I see him asking a question of another of the party and looking stunned at their answer.  Somehow I do not think he will be troubling me again, in the same fashion, after this.

The next day I am seated in the garden whilst the children are playing with their maids and who should encounter us but Lord Garrander.  He stops and bows.  I look up at him quizzically but he is straight faced and surprisingly apologetic looking. 

“My Lady,”  he starts off.

“Sir”, I reply.

“My Lady”, he continues,  “I am come to apologise for my manner towards you yesterday afternoon”.

“Please, think nothing of it,Sir”, I say with a slight smile.

“I would not have you believe me to be ungentlemanly,” he continues. “I am a good friend of your grandmother, the Lady Chandrelle but she had not told me that you were visiting with Lord Caranthir and your mother at the present.   I was unprepared to find you here and the sight of your hair did rather inflame my passions, it being such an unusual colour to find amongst the nobility”

“So I believe,” I answered, “but it is part of my lineage in that I have demon in my blood line.”

“I see”, he said, “And that will mean that you are like myself also in the respect of elemental ability.”

“Yes I do have some skill in that area,”  I smile at him and then turn my gaze back to the children.

“These then are yours,” he states and I swear he has a hungry look about him as he regards the twins.

“Yes, these are my twins,” I reply.  “They are just starting to walk, which I am informed makes them most forward, but I do not know if that is true or not as I have previously not had much contact with small people.”

“I had heard of them but it is most surprising to see them look so incredibly white haired in contrast to your own colour.”

“Yes others have commentated on that and we did think that time might have darkened them somewhat but so far it has not happened.  They have darker eyes than most elves, however, hence my daughter's name is Violet to match hers.”

He nodded in an absent minded fashion.  “They do seem a healthy pair of infants.  Like yourself I am not that au fait with children but these two seem remarkably robust in comparison to some that I have encountered in the past”.

“Thank you, they certainly have healthy appetites,” I say laughing.

He is staring at me again now and I find this just a little uncomfortable.  Then he bows again and takes his leave.  I meanwhile breathe a sigh of relief that it is over.

His entourage leaves two days later and we are not sorry to see him depart.  Lord Tanell stays on with us for three more days before he  too takes his leave and now we are promised to visit the High Court  although this will probably be after Yule tide as I know my mother has plans to ask for John and his family to join us for this celebration.  I mention to her that it would be kind to include Hilda in this as she has been such a friend to the family and it will enable her to see her sons and their families at the same time.  These plans also have to be put to Lord Caranthir but I suspect that he will be happy to accommodate my mother's wishes. 

A History Lesson and a Revelation

I have been working on my talent for raising and directing energy, learning how to be more circumspect with the amount so that I cause only trifling damage to parts of the keep gymnasium.  Caranthir has been my main teacher as he is obviously the keep expert on this matter and at least he is not so touchy about my wearing a guardsman's greens to work in.  It is at the end of one of these sessions that I ask him what part the demons had played in our family history.

“Thousands of years back as far as our memories go, we often mated with another race that the humans termed demons, this they found endlessly amusing and in time all trace of their original name was gradually eroded from our memories.   We were very alike, particularly in our bloodthirsty love of the Wild Hunt.

Although the human called them demons they were in fact very attractive almost angelic in appearance.  They tended to have red or red gold hair and green eyes.  They occupied another reality that touched ours much as earth does this one and they came frequently to our courts and to take part in some of our cultural and also more sporting events.  They were maybe a little larger than life but generally well mannered and possessing incredible charm.  But perhaps that is just the way my ancestors wanted to remember them seeing as we carry their blood too.  It was a two way trade in that many from Alfheim settled in their lands and some married into our blood lines.  I think on the whole they were more adventurous than us as they enjoyed to travel which is why they visited Earth, and I guess some of their more boisterous young men earned them a bad reputation.  They did not care much for the Earth males but had a predilection for a pretty maid and they were maybe just a trifle savage in the way they behaved towards women, well Earth women anyway.  They could not play that game with ours as they were evenly matched in most cases, he laughed.  They had a tendency to take what they wanted and a large number of earth females were taken into bondage by them hence the people named them demons. 

They were slightly taller than us and mostly well muscled.  Even their ladies tending to be less rounded than our own, and as warlike or as passionate as their men.  I think that could have been one of the reasons that they liked the earth women so much, as they tended to have defined curves and a liking for domesticity.  They also grew face hair which we obviously do not, which in retrospect is a good thing as I would not like to spend  a portion of each day shaving my face.  Our relationship with them did not start out as amicable.  The first arrivals took our slight build and long hair as being a sign of effeminate manners and general decadence.  So, at first they thought us easy meat for their sport but after a few skirmishes it was realised that we were too evenly matched and of a similar temperament.  Friendships formed between warrior individuals who recognised each others prowess and then between the nobles.  It was indeed a sad day when the worlds began to drift apart and our meetings became confined to the four points in the year when we could raise sufficient magic to  pass between portals without the aid of such devices as you wear upon your wrist.  Those originally came from the demons workings and there are but a few of their number left to us.  It has been some three hundred years since we last met with our friends, and who knows if they will ever be able to return now.

On the positive side they excelled at arts and creative practices and it is through relationships with them that  many of our greatest art works have come about.  Our greatest creativity lies in our music but they worked in more solid forms and their jewellery was exquisite, as like wise their weaving.  In magic too they were masters of various aspects each tending to be aligned by birth to one of the four elements.

The demons were gifted in the use of the elements and it is from one of these that my family gained its ability to shape energy such as lightening and fire into defensive or offensive tools.  We were also gifted with some abilities involving the element of water.  One of the main indicators for progeny with the highest scale of these abilities was their red hair, a throw back to the original demon that seduced one of our ladies, or knowing our ladies maybe she did the seducing.  When I finally met you I knew that my brother had in fact bred true as your mother has but a small gift in comparison to your own.  What really fascinates me, however, is the tale of your fight with Chandrelle's Hunter and how he threw a ball of lightening at you, as I have never heard of any in her or any of our neighbours employ that was so gifted , and whilst my brother was a rogue in many ways he would not have sullied a lady of her court.  You stated that he is the father of your children?”

“Yes, he is” I said suddenly thoughtful.

“So do you know of his lineage?”

“Only that his mother was one of my grandmother's handmaidens and that she had a brief affair with a visiting lord who she did not pursue as he had no lands.  She used the fact that she had born a live child to marry well later on, and he was placed in the guards when he was of age.”  my voice faltered, I had heard part of  this tale before.

The colour had drained from his face.  He sighed.  “Chandrelle said not one word of this”.

“I follow your line of reasoning,” I said,”but it might not be all it seems”  If that silly woman had not noticed or not cared , if she had kept this in the dark for her own machinations, the ramifications of this turn of events does not bear thinking about.  Maybe there is a simple excuse.  Maybe she had thought her intended bridegroom had been indiscreet with the girl.  I had another thought and did some calculations.  It was not as bad as it could be but he was probably my second cousin.  Another what if then occurred, “If he was placed young into the guards then his gift may not have shown itself straight away and being just a young guardsman it is unlikely that his commanding officers took that much notice of him.  He became her favourite for his looks, skill and his devotion to her rather than his ability to shape energy.  She is just a little self centred, so it is possible she thought nothing of it at all.”

Caranthir barked out a laugh at this, “Never, even if I beg you, never give me a description of my own character” he said.

I do not know what he will now do about our conversation.  I suspect he will start some research into  it  and then perhaps seek an audience with Chandrelle.  She will not be best pleased with him for sheltering my children and I, but maybe she can fit in some advantage from it.  I am certain she is vindictive but also that this would not get in the way of her political aspirations.  But, as it happens Chandrelle makes the first move and we are informed by messenger that her chamberlain will be visiting us for discussions pertinent to certain important and urgent matters.  Make of that what you will.  I personally think she wants someone to spy around the court here, to get her further intelligence.  I know that Red will have told her I am here now and to be honest, I am actually surprised that she has held back for so long before this move. 

Caranthir means to meet and asses this matter before allowing my mother or myself to be spoken to by the chamberlain, so it will seem that we are more in his power than willing guests, and in this I totally agree.  I cannot see her being able to do anything similar so it will meet with her expectations, and perhaps gain us an advantage.  What I do not bargain for or expect is that she will send Red with the chamberlain as one of his guard detail.  More than this he has been designated as part of the actual negotiating panel.  This is going to prove difficult for Caranthir considering what he is already thinking in regard to Red and his birthing.  However, this may be an opportunity to question Red about his mother.  I am on tenterhooks to say the least.

Supplicant

I am here as a guard for the chamberlain.  He is surprisingly spry for one who looks so ancient and he is also quite pleased with himself to be out of the keep and enjoying a trip.  After I had appraised my Lady of Lily's whereabouts she had gone into some lengthy discussions with the chamberlain and also some of her other favourites amongst the nobles.  I had expected her to react in a more spontaneous manner as she was not one to be irked by restrictions but she was obviously taking a different tack this time.  Added to this the fact that Lord Caranthir was an adept and for this justly respected, perhaps she could not rush in and make demands.  I am not certain if she still wants me to take my children and is giving me this opportunity to do so.  However to do so, after being welcomed as emissary to this keep,  could be construed as warlike and that form of conflict would not be welcome.  Also, I am strangely reluctant to remove them after that last encounter with Lily, but my Lady  has not rescinded her order.  There are times when I wonder if I will ever totally understand the workings of a woman's mind.