Chapter 10

During the following few years things remained the same - and at the same time, everything started to change. The trade with Birgit flourished and she insisted that I spend those few days with her as a part of the deal. Somehow the women who took part in those trade missions found that more humorous than I did. Well, the truth was that now, when I knew that both Bellcauniel and Fainauriel were okay with it, I did enjoy those trips myself without any problems with my conscience. Those trips to the town also helped me to tune my sensing abilities so that the visits became more tolerable. Yet, I probably never would learn to like crowded places.

Then there was Hantaliel. By far the oddest among the Elves, she was even more unsocial than I was. Much more. In a way, it was odd that she was the one who had spent more time in big towns - cities - than anybody else. In a way, it made perfect sense since she was totally alone there. In a big town and not able to make close friends of anybody.

She was with me on my second trip to cash my Bonds in a town in the south-west coast. I used the same lookout as I did the previous time and this time there were no warning signs that I might have been followed. We used two banks and then all but one of my hundred-Crown Bonds were now cashed.

Hantaliel was also the first person who learned how I lured rabbits with my magic sparkles. She almost accused me of cheating while hunting but that didn’t stop her from doing it herself once she had learned it. Neither did it stop her attacking me and using my body for her pleasure afterwards. In fact, once out there in the wilderness she became a different person - and a passionate lover. When I saw her washing her lithe body in a cold mountain stream I couldn’t understand how I could have considered her as a plain-looking Elf. Even if she wasn’t really a huntress, she was the first person with whom I was able to share this part of my life; walking out there in silence and just absorbing everything around you. I guess that we both were a bit odd. Besides Bellcauniel and Fainauriel, she was the third woman who became something more than a good friend.

The Guardians - or a group of four men, probably Guardians - made one more attempt to sneak into the valley, but since I happened to be there at the time, I had been able to sense them and guide a group of guards after them. None of the men made it. After that, the Trolls made a few more attempts to sneak in, and two of those times I wasn’t there. They did get a bit further, but the increased patrolling had revealed even those groups in good time. None of those who tried to enter, found their way back to tell what was going on. All the women still remembered Neuriel.

The Elders never complained too much about the shoddy things that were offered as a part of the official trade, they were just sent back. Without being purchased, of course. However, all the Troll attacks were carefully recorded and the report was sent to the Guardians, just as it was provided in the old Agreement. If the people behind these attempts were trying the patience of the Elves, they should understand that people who live long and are able to think about the following decades do have a lot of patience. Besides that, they may even have a long-term plan. Even a plan for what happens after the first long-term plan.

Together with Hantaliel, I had carried out a plan with my remaining Bond. It wasn’t cashed for its full value in one of the banks in the western towns. No, it was sold to a somewhat shady character in the backyards of one small eastern town by Hantaliel at eighty percent of its real value. She made the deal and I acted as her bodyguard, staying at the back, armed. She gave a description of that man as being my Stian character so that the one who cashed the Bond wouldn’t have any problems. If there really were some people after me they’d probably find out about this trade and the fact that an old woman with a bodyguard sold the Bond. The logical assumption would be that Stian had been robbed and killed. At least we hoped so. I hoped so. Being hunted didn’t suit well with my plans for the future. Even how improbable it would be that someone would come after me. It was almost a year ago, now, that we had done that and I wanted to believe it was long enough time for the news to spread - news that someone had caught Stian and taken the Bond from him.

Those things were merely distractions from the thing we did most. I studied with the group of Elves. I was extremely busy both learning - and teaching - magic and all the other things. After two years, I was quite certain that I had learned most of the basic stuff that these women were able to teach me and some more. I concentrated on things considered most important for our survival together. What surprised me most, was how much I learned myself while going through the books that I’d brought and teaching the subjects to the Elven women. They made me do it, since written Anglon was still a foreign language to most of the women. During our selling trips we even managed to get some more books for our library. In fact, we bought all the useful books we were able to get our hands on. My task was to go through them and then explain their contents to the others.

Then there was another classroom-to-be of young Elf girls being born - even if they wouldn’t really start school for a few more years. This time, all the mothers were of the younger generation, and even if they tried to make the situation as comfortable for all of us as possible, I still somewhat felt that I was being used. I did my best to keep it that way with all the women even if I would have been happy with just Bellcauniel and Fainauriel - and of course Hantaliel when she was there. Not forgetting Birgit. Sigh. At least I now knew better than to complain about it to my women. Together they could kick my ass - easily. Maybe not physically, but there are other ways, as I had learned. Whatever mischief those two did to me I took without complaining. Much. I also made it a mission to learn to know all my little girls. Thus far we had been lucky since they all had been healthy and well. But looking at those girls and thinking about their future helped me make the decision I had been afraid to make.

I asked Bellcauniel to invite both Mylaela and Immianthe to a dinner. I organized a watcher for our little girls so that both Bellcauniel and Fainauriel would also be free to attend. The day came and the dinner went well - until I opened my mouth.

““I need to apologize to you all since I haven’t been totally truthful to you. First of all, I have a better idea than I have previously explained about a suitable location for a possible new ‘New Sanctuary’. Then I must also tell you that I know my mother’s name before she started calling herself Helle. Her real name was Nestrariel.””

The silence that followed seemed to last forever - and then a bit more. I started to wonder if I had made a serious mistake, but then Mylaela snorted and shook her head.

““Of all the women - but I should have guessed. However, I do not envy you, Bellcauniel. Not at all.””

The she turned towards me.

““Stian, your mother was probably the best healer I had ever seen or known. Really. Despite everything, somehow she seemed able to...””

Then she stopped when she must have noticed how the look on my face changed. I shook my head.

““I’m okay, Mylaela. I knew that she had some issues regarding you Alfar.””

Someone next to me winced and when I turned a bit I noticed that Bellcauniel looked more distressed than I ever remembered seeing her. Ever.

““Not all of us at first, but me. Just me. Me alone at first.””

During the new silence all the women avoided my gaze until Bellcauniel raised her gaze and looked into my eyes.

““Back at Elonia I stole her fiancé from her. Stian, you need to understand that back then, it was considered quite normal, even if she was one of those not willing to share. We had no males of our own, and the competition was fierce. Now, when I’m older, I’m not so proud of it, especially considering what happened afterwards.””

Bellcauniel looked so distressed, so unlike her normal self, that a part of me started immediately worry for her. Another part of me tried to make some sense of the situation - without much success. Or any success at all.

““You mean that Veryamedliel is the daughter of my mother’s former fiancé - and now I have children with both of you...””

I was interrupted by Immianthe.

““Stian, you need to understand that, with a long lifespan like ours - or natural Mages - such things sometimes happened, and the most we could do was to keep good records so that we knew who was related to whom. Besides, I’m sure that within years Nestrariel would have forgiven Bellcauniel. When that happened they both were young and ... However, the situation we have now is quite different from the one in Elonia, I guess we can all agree with that.””

That almost forbidden word ‘Elonia’ had now been mentioned twice and even I was able to sense what that single word did to the mood around the table. The enormous size of their loss helped me to evaluate my own hardships. Okay, I had lost two houses and a fiancée, but I was still in my home world.

In order to change the course of the discussion I picked up the small book I had been carrying and showed those women my mother’s writings. Having done it a few times, I had no problems making the text visible. Once the part ‘Never trust the Elves’ was revealed, I wondered a moment longer if I was making a big mistake.

I decided that it didn’t really matter anymore since there were the children. They were also my children.

Our discussions lasted long into the night. Even though we consumed several bottles of wine, none of us really got drunk that night. In a way, nothing much changed, except the awareness that there really might be somewhere to go to escape and start anew, and possibly rebuild their society. Maybe. Possibly. If only there were more suitable people to find. If we could only move away without being noticed. If. But instead of a continuous state of insecurity we now had a target and some hope. Maybe. We all knew that unless something really changed in this Kingdom, the peace inside this valley would end someday. Most likely only a few years from now.

That evening started discussions that lasted several days and, once again, these women managed to surprise me. Maybe because of their longevity, these women are very capable of spending their days in several relaxing ways, but once they become focused, they can achieve quite a lot in a very short time. Plans were made and rejected. New plans were then made, re-made and corrected until there finally was something that might work. Finally, there was an outline of a plan that might work - or it might work if the weak point of the plan could succeed. Meaning me, since, besides Hantaliel, there weren’t so many of them who could manage themselves outside this valley.

If I had been learning things at a hurried pace before, it was at least doubled now; including all the possible finer aspects of magic, which only they could teach me. Only now I learned how they responded to the threat the Magicians presented. It was like tickling with a feather or poking with a finger when somebody tried to hit you with his fist with all he had. This far they had been successful - and lucky.

““To tell the truth, Stian, most of us have never been that powerful with magic. Only Ceveneth or some others could match natural Mages with force - and none of us natural users can match a Magician who has loaded himself full of magic with some of their nasty powders or potions. When they tried to get rid of us back then, with brute force, we just got lucky. Very lucky, since of all the possible destinations, their strike fell back on themselves. Twice. Since then, they have been afraid to use magic or other force against us.””

Immianthe smiled a bit sadly when she explained that to me.

““If it happened twice, there’s always a possibility that it wasn’t a coincidence.””

Immianthe shrugged when I said that.

““Of course. It’s too bad that our library does not contain any books about magic and none of us has ever really studied it. It is as natural as breathing to us and why should you study breathing unless you are a medical examiner or you want to study biology. We Alfar very seldom have any specialties when it comes to magic, but we are capable of learning more in almost any area of magic. If we are simply interested in doing it.””

Since there were nowadays several cats in this valley, you could really notice some similarities. Not that I would ever dare to mention that to the women in my family - or to the other women. Well, I may have said something like that a few times.

Now we all were busy learning, since we were sure that the peaceful times here at the New Sanctuary, were about to end. Most likely quite soon, since the Humans were in much more of a hurry than the Elves because of their shorter lifespan. The leaders wanted something to happen while they could see it. So that they would get the credit for it. In a way, I was very much able to understand that, since I didn’t really yet believe that I would live longer than any other people. Not yet. Maybe I would after one hundred years or so, but not just yet. Even if I didn’t look any older than I had looked when I first came here.

However, there was still one thing the Elves didn’t tell me much about. That was what had happened soon after the catastrophic event that brought them here, to this world. Nor did they tell me a lot about what had caused the conflict between the races. Nothing specific. It was as though that had never really happened.

The summer was again here and our extended family - Fainauriel, Bellcauniel, Hantaliel and me - had asked Mylaela and Caladwen for dinner ... or I had. It hadn’t been an easy task to make the women think of it as their idea, but it had luckily turned out that way. I guessed that I had also learned to be sneaky, if needed. We were enjoying our sweet wine with our dessert when I started The Discussion.

““Before the end of the summer I need to leave and move to the capital city so that I can start my studies at the University. In order to go on with our plan, and for us to survive, I need to do that - and not just because I’m the only one who can easily do that. We cannot stay in this valley forever, and we need to start acting. But before I leave I hope that you could to tell me about those dark decades.””

None of them gave anything away. I guess that’s how you are when you have practiced secrecy for decades; or, in their case, for centuries. I still had issues while thinking about that - and of course, I had no issues while I was with Fainauriel or Bellcauniel.

““Are you sure, Stian? Knowing about those things may permanently change the way you think.””

I could almost imagine that there was a hint of worry in Mylaela’s voice. Maybe there was, maybe there wasn’t. It didn’t matter, since I wasn’t going to play games. At least there hadn’t been any magical pushing or tug of war regarding me for a long time.

““Maybe - or maybe not. Had I acted according to what I was taught, I would have never sought sanctuary here in the first place. Look, I can already guess that it was something bad, probably very bad, and it includes you Alfar, the Ugly People, the Magicians and the Guardians - not forgetting the natural Human Mages who came with you. My guess would be that something happened that made you and the Ugly People betray those natural Mages who were abducted with you. Whatever it was - a promise from the Magicians, Royals or somebody else - it now seems clear that they have no plan to keep it.””