Origin (44 page)

After breakfast, Ayron and Elwyn said their thanks and farewells to the innkeeper and his wife and went to the stable to get the morden, who were, coincidentally, also finishing their breakfast. They had been groomed until their coats were sleek, smooth, and so shiny they gleamed. Their manes and tails were also combed and smelled fresh and clean. As Elwyn looked at the three of them, her breath caught in her throat. Having just spent the last two weeks with the morden under considerable stress, she’d almost forgotten just how incredibly beautiful they were. It was obvious that her uncle felt the same way because he thanked the stablemaster profusely and tipped him generously before they left the village continuing their journey. Elwyn caught sight of the six drakenhawks flying overhead, as soon as they were beyond the borders of the village. She wondered if they had seen or heard anything unusual during the night. Toruk assured her that they had searched the area surrounding the village while they hunted and sensed no threat in the shadows. Elwyn didn’t want to seem too optimistic, but she was hoping that the assassins would be too nervous to come any further into Silvendil than they had. From her uncle’s description of the Salissians, they seemed like a people who wouldn’t want to incur a political incident. They appeared to enjoy using stealth, cunning, and treachery to achieve their purposes and not open conflict. Elwyn then conveyed Toruk’s report to Ayron, who also seemed pleased at the news.

As they rode through the grassy meadows and along the well maintained trails of Silvendil, Ayron began to talk about his family. He was honest with her about not knowing where his relatives stood when it came to Rhianna and her marriage to his brother. He couldn’t remember any of them stating objections to the proposed union, but added that elves often kept their feelings to themselves. Ayron felt that if he described each of his relatives to Elwyn, it might help her know the people she was going to meet when they reached Findara. The other reason Ayron had for talking about both his family members as well as the members of Azavon’s council, was to begin putting some pieces together about the mystery surrounding Rhianna’s disappearance and reported death. The plan they agreed upon was for Ayron to share what he knew during the day while they rode, and for Elwyn to read relevant information from her mother’s diary while they were camped in the evenings. Ayron was hoping that, by pulling together all the information they possessed, he would know how to better protect his niece. He also hoped that they might be able to identify a starting point to begin the investigation his brother would insist take place upon their return to Findara.

Ayron started the discussion by talking about his grandparents. His paternal grandparents were Lord Elrin and Lady Silvenna.

“Lady Silvenna is a true warrior queen, with the compassion of a healer. She has excelled in almost anything she has ever tackled, from archery to the nurturing and healing of the companions. She was the person who led the fair folk, as they used to be called, from the hostile environment of the Unknown Lands to settle in the land now known as Silvendil. She and Lord Elrin, along with thousands of fair folk, fought their way across the Punabi Desert and the Evinrode Mountains into this land. The last remnants of the drakenhawk civilization chose to come along with them on the journey. Unfortunately, my grandfather, Lord Elrin, died in one of the many battles they fought making their way to the Known Lands.”

Ayron went on to describe how Lady Silvenna carried on alone, working with the human population, who already lived in the area, to set up a government that was mutually supportive to all.

“The idea she had was that the two races would learn to live side by side and form a symbiotic relationship with each other. Occasionally they intermarried, but often just lived together in harmony. It worked very well. People were happy here and when the time came to name their land, the unanimous decision by both the human and fair folk was to call it Silvendil, in honor of Lady Silvenna.

Lady Silvenna was also instrumental in instigating the name change for their people from “fair folk” to “elves” because she wanted to make sure that no one interpreted their former name as giving one people group status over another. During the time that all this was going on, she also raised her son, Lord Elwin, to succeed her as the next ruler of Silvendil.

These days her focus is in helping the drakenhawk civilization. She has worked hard to set up an environment that would be suitable and pleasing to the drakenhawks and spends much of her time there. He added with a chuckle that the family was lucky if they ever saw her because drakenhawks were her passion and since she was no longer ruler, she was able to devote herself to them on a full time basis.

“The medicine that the drakenhawks brought to Keroc to cure him of the assassin’s poison was made by Lady Silvenna, with help from the drakenhawk healers,” Ayron said proudly.

“My goodness, your grandparents seem like truly heroic and compassionate people,” Elwyn said, very impressed by what she’d heard. “What of your other grandparents, Ayron?”

Ayron then went on to describe his other set of grandparents to her.

“Amrod, my maternal grandfather, came across the mountains with Lady Silvenna and Lord Elrin. He was instrumental in helping Lady Silvenna work out agreements between the humans and the elves so that they could live in peace together.

Amrod was also largely responsible for establishing the original government structure. During negotiations with the humans that lived in the area already, Amrod met, fell in love with, and married Miranda who was the daughter of a local farmer. They lived happily together until Miranda died of old age at eighty-seven. They had one daughter who was Lady Azriel, my mother.”

“So, if I understand it correctly, your father was an elf and your mother was half-elf,” Elwyn said thoughtfully.

“That’s correct,” said Ayron. “I always thought that it didn’t matter who was what, but it seems that there is some prejudice going on, in Findara that may have spread to all of Silvendil.”

Ayron then proceeded to tell her about his parents, Lord Elwin and Lady Azriel.

“My father, Lord Elwin, became the ruler of Silvendil as soon as he finished his education and physical training. He did this so that Lady Silvenna, whose passion was never to rule, could step down. My father fell in love with Lady Azriel the first moment he laid eyes on her. He was fascinated by how different the two of them were in appearance, even though they had some common ancestry. My grandfather had dark hair, pale skin, and deep violet eyes much like your father and I do, while Lady Azriel had pale blonde hair, rosy skin, and dark brown eyes. He always loved her soft and gentle look, although my mother has proven herself able to contend with the most complex and difficult political situations.

After my parents were married, my mother became very involved in the council, and still functions as the minister of health and education. My father died while your parents were honeymooning. I always felt that my parents were happy together and loved one another very much, but had very little time to spend with their three children.” Ayron explained that his brother Azavon was the oldest, he was born next, and his sister Alysan was the youngest.

Ayron distracted by Keroc’s squawking, laughed and suggested that they stop and have some lunch before his little drakenhawk fainted from hunger and fell from Raffe’s saddle. Elwyn laughed because it sounded so like Keroc and agreed they should stop. They found a shady spot a few miles up the road that was close to a small stream. They unsaddled the morden and let them eat as well. Ayron was given a picnic lunch by the innkeeper so he and Elwyn feasted on cold chicken, a fresh loaf of bread, and cold tea. As they sat in the shade, Ayron continued to describe his family to her.

“I guess I’ll try to describe a little bit about your father. In my mind, Azavon was always the gentlest of the three of us children. Although he excelled at weapons and woodland training, his heart beat much more fondly for intellectual pursuits. During his childhood and youth, I could always count upon Azavon to be found with his nose buried in a book about one subject or another.

Azavon also believed that he was destined to meet your mother and your uncle Rhys. My parents were adamant that you father serve time in the military for two reasons. The first was so that, when he had to order an army to war, he could lead them, if necessary. Second, and most important, was so that he understood the price his people might have to pay if he declared war while serving as ruler. The border patrol we were on when we met your mother and uncle was the only actual military exercise that Azavon ever participated in. When he laid eyes on your mother, he was immediately taken by her. My brother worked hard to keep his feelings to himself until Rhianna was older. She’d been through so many traumas that he wanted to give her time to recover. The two hardest things that my brother ever had to do was; to wait to profess his love for your mother, and then wait again until she had the time to get a little older so that they could be wed.

“Why did they have to wait?”

“Rhianna was only sixteen when they met. She grew up sheltered in a castle, was thrust into very traumatic and horrific experiences, and lost everyone and everything she cared about except for her twin, Rhys. My parents and I felt she needed some time to recover and heal from the past so that she could joyfully embrace a new future. As difficult as it was for him, Azavon also felt that it was wise to wait. He wanted to make sure that her feelings for him weren’t just gratitude.”

“I can certainly see the sense in that. I have to tell you that the experiences of the last two weeks, have convinced me that I’m not ready to make life changing experiences on my own yet. Although before I was thrust into the real world, I know I believed otherwise. I felt ready for anything. I think your parents were wise to ask them to wait.”

“When my father died, it was only reluctantly that Azavon ascended to rule because he had no desire to be separated from your mother so frequently. It was actually your mother that kept him going during those early days by reminding him how much his people needed him, having just lost their beloved ruler. She kept insisting that only he could fill my father’s shoes.

Azavon is a good ruler and really cares about his people, but when he was told that your mother committed suicide, something in him died as well and he has never been able to shake off the cloak of grief he wears so tightly wrapped around him.”

Elwyn was very sad to hear how grief had taken such a huge toll on her father. His story, while different, reminded her of her uncle Rhys. Both men seemed to go through life dragging grief and unhappiness along them like a huge ball and chain. She was anxious to hear the rest of his story, but Ayron reminded her that it was time to clean up and resume traveling. He also told her that they would most likely be setting up camp that evening, but if there were no delays, they would be able to stop at a village inn the following night. They were both ready to ride within a short time. The only delay was the time it took to convince Keroc to fly down from a branch in a nearby tree. He had flown up higher than he planned and was still a little reluctant to put too much pressure on his broken wing. Elwyn examined him when he landed and pronounced him almost as good as new.

As they traveled through the afternoon, Ayron continued to talk about his family, hoping that Elwyn would come to know more about them from his words and, at the same time hoping that they would be able to eliminate some suspects from the extensive list they had.

“To be honest, Elwyn, neither Azavon nor I have ever been close to our sister. She is several seasons younger than we are and was never interested in playing or doing anything in a group. I often worried about her spending as much time alone as she did, until I came to realize that it was by her own design. She refused to honor our parent’s request that she undertake some physical training and serve a short term in the military. She was quite adamant about it. Unfortunately she also feels the same way about her son, Remi.”

“I’m surprised by that. From what Thane shared with me about your culture, they value honing their physical abilities and skills as much as they do the academic ones. He assured me that your women were offered the same opportunities to excel in physical skills as your men.”

“That is correct, but somehow, I think that my sister has decided that physical skills and military service are beneath both her and her family. Her husband has never served a term in the military either, but I have heard that he is a rather accomplished archer.”

“I feel a bit sorry for their son. In my village, most of the boys couldn’t wait to learn how to fight and hunt. It was a whole lot more fun to them than being in the schoolroom.”

Ayron nodded his agreement and continued sharing more about his sister.

“Alysan is also very unhappy about the way she looks, because she believes she is too human in appearance. This has always puzzled us. While it is true that Alysan resembled my mother’s side of the family more than my fathers, she is extremely lovely. Azavon and I grew tired of her constant complaints and comparisons as we were growing up; her pale blond hair and our jet black tresses, her green eyes and our violet ones, and her rosy skin and our pale skin. It was after listening to my sister’s feelings that I began to become aware that not everyone in Silvendil believed in the equality of the races.

I never understood why she felt the way she did, but as she grew older, she clung to our father and virtually ignored our mother. Since our father’s death, she completely avoids our mother except at formal functions, and even then stays close to her husband’s family. I actually think that my sister’s issues with her human genes could possibly be the reason that she married Gelmir, who was an elf. My sister was ecstatic when her son Remi was born with jet black hair and pale violet eyes. I think it is unfortunate that Alysan married for political and racial reasons, because her marriage has never been a happy one and she spends most of her time trying to take over the duties of running the castle from our mother, who is reluctant to give them up.”