Chapter 17: Naming Ceremony

With so many of our Elf Maidens in an advanced stage of pregnancy, I think it would be better to stay here for a while, rather than trek through the rugged country around us. But elves are at home in thick forests, and Akenehi is unwilling to delay our trek’s progress any more than necessary. It doesn’t help that Akenehi won’t reveal how far she is intending to take our community, nor why she is in an apparent rush to get there.

Makareta’s scouting expedition returns a day earlier than expected, having found a suitable place to ford the river about a day’s hike to the west of our camp.

“We can’t risk waiting in case there are more storms,” says Akenehi, when we are all gathered to discuss our options. “The ford is waist deep even after a week of dry weather. We don’t want to be stuck here until the rainy season passes.”

While I don’t see how waiting a month or two will be an insurmountable problem, I don’t feel qualified to argue with Akenehi. She has brought us all safely this far, and the elves clearly trust her leadership.

While Cassandra has had little difficulty in adapting to motherhood, Egbertha is not coping so well. Cassandra believes that she is too young and inexperienced to handle the demands of a baby, particularly in the wilderness. Fortunately we are surrounded by Elf Maidens, several of whom are about to give birth to their second or subsequent child. Our biology might be slightly different, but the challenges of motherhood seem to be common territory.

Acting on Horowai’s advice, Egbertha is encouraged to rest for a day. Cassandra takes over suckling Egbertha’s baby as well as our own, proving her earlier claim that she has an abundance of milk.

“Tonight we shall have a naming ceremony for Cassandra’s and Egbertha’s newborns,” announces Akenehi. “Tomorrow morning we shall break camp and move to the ford.”

Elven tradition, at least among the wilderness elves, is for the community to decide on a name for a newborn. Thurnian tradition varies by region, but in Thurn city, it is usually the mother’s parents who select a name for their grandchild. Drew and Egbertha are orphans, so they have no living parents to make the choice of name. Consequently we have no objections to following the elven custom.

Normally each child would have his own naming ceremony, and subsequent celebration, but Akenehi is unwilling to wait the extra day that would require before setting off for the ford. Cassandra’s and Egbertha’s babies are duly named Rawiri and Rangi respectively, which we are told means ‘beloved’ and ‘sky’ in the elven language.

The celebration afterwards is just as wild as elven parties tend to get. With only Defina35 in heat, sex plays a minimal part in the proceedings, so the event is less of an orgy and more of a pleasant social gathering. With a long journey ahead of us, the party ends before midnight by mutual consent.

We all gather our belongings the next morning and assemble in what we presume was once the town square. I’m impressed by the efficiency of the elves in preparing for our journey. Additional food has been collected and packed over the last few days. The mules are quickly loaded and made ready. As before, special duties are shared among the adolescent and adult elves. Defina36 has made slings for Cassandra and Egbertha to enable them to carry Rawiri and Rangi.

Makareta leads the way through the thick undergrowth that borders the riverbank. I notice that a small group of elves lead by Horowai follow at the rear of our column disguising any evidence of our passage.

“Why is Horowai hiding our tracks?” I ask Akenehi when we pause for a break.

“Not all Thurnians are friendly towards elves,” says Akenehi. “The very existence of elves on this continent is the result of Thurnian soldiers kidnapping elven women. If your emperor decides that the wilderness elves present a problem to his empire, then he only needs to tell his generals, and hundreds of his soldiers will be sent to find and seize our communes. I’m not going to place our small group at risk of being followed by those who may wish us harm.”

“I think you overestimate the tracking ability of Thurnian soldiers,” I reply. “Besides, wouldn’t the last storm have washed away our trail as far as the old settlement?”

“Perhaps, but there are hunters living in the Thurnian villages bordering the wilderness. Some of them are skilful trackers. It only requires one man to pick up our trail so that others can follow. Until we are on the other side of this river, we shall be careful. We have many young elves to care for, and even more will be arriving soon.”

I wish I could dismiss Akenehi’s concerns as alarmist, but the sentiment among the emperor’s advisers when I left Thurn city was increasingly intolerant towards improving the lives of elves. The wilderness elves may wish to live in peace, but those who rule Thurn are in no mood to accept anything that might challenge their dominion. The emperor may not act immediately, but Akenehi is probably right in thinking that the emperor will eventually yield to his selfserving advisers and flex the might of Thurn’s army at some point in the future.

“Do you have a destination in mind for us?” I ask Akenehi.

“Once we are across the river, we simply continue in the direction we have been heading. A week, maybe two, should bring us within sight of where we are going.”

“I thought all this area was uncharted wilderness,”I reply. “How do you know what awaits us?”

“Elves have no written history, so we rely on stories passed down from one generation to the next. There are stories from our ancient past that talk of a great city in the foothills of the mountains.”

The southern continent is reputed to have several ranges of mountains. However, on the northern continent, the High Ridge to the west of us is the highest land feature recorded on any Thurnian map. Impressive as the High Ridge is, nobody has ever suggested calling it a mountain.

“Are you sure your stories don’t mean the north of the southern continent?” I ask. “After all, that’s where elves originated.”

“That’s what we shall discover,” replies Akenehi. “Contrary to your Thurnian beliefs, elves once inhabited the northern continent, long before your leaders kidnapped my forebears.”

I look at Cassandra as we both try to digest this startling revelation. Of course, it could all be a myth. As Akenehi says, there are no written records to support her assertions. No mention is made of elves in Thurnian histories prior to fifty years ago.