The Lord Son's Travels (50 page)

The
Ladies glared at each other.
 
“Remove yourself from my land,” the Lady of Evendor ordered.
 

Elenna
threw up her hands.
 
“Gladly,” she
said in disgust.
 
"Adrien, we
wasted our time coming here.
 
She's
got nothing useful for us.
 
Good
luck with the Lord of the Southlands.
 
You know he'll find his way here eventually, and I can promise you won't
fool him either with your tricks."
 
As she returned to her companions, Adrien rose again to his feet.

“We
will leave this place immediately.
 
I will contact the remaining Kings of the Eastlands.
 
They will surely be pleased by your
loyalty in their time of need, and repay you handsomely when they are
able.”
 
When he saw that this had
hit home, he continued.
 
“The
Elf-King will be most happy with what you have done with his gifts to
mankind.
 
With what offerings do
you think he shall show his gratitude?”
 

“All
that come before Evendor receive what boons I may offer,” the Lady announced in
a resentful tone.
 
“For the sake of
my people, all I may do will be done.
 
It may be the Times of Trouble have returned, and the Lady of Truth must
face the Lord of Lies in battle.
 
If so,” she lowered her head modestly, “I shall make my stand.
 
Tools that have been sheltered here
will be readied for the use of the Armies of the Truth.
 
This battle will be fought and won for
the sake of the people of the Eastlands.”

“My
Lady, you are honor in form,” Adrien nodded slightly.
 
“I offer my humblest thanks for your protection.”

The
Lady nodded.
 
“A full week will be
needed to ready the talismans for travel.
 
I would be pleased if you remain as my guests.”

“We
are most honored, my Lady,” the Lord Son concurred.
 
She rose, and the meeting was at an end.
 
The heavy wooden doors were reopened,
and the Allé-dônian party escorted back to their chambers.
 
All exhaled loudly in relief, and
dropped into seats.

“What
a lying bitch!” Elenna exclaimed loudly.
 
Brendan reacted by slamming the door shut behind him, hoping
that none of the guards had overhead her.
 
Tarien was too shocked by her language to respond.
 
Adrien agreed with a vigorous nod.
 

“No
puppet of hers will ever cross our border while I still breathe, I promise you
that.
 
But you played a dangerous
game,” he added firmly.
 
She
grinned when she caught the lightness in his eyes.
 

“I
did not know the talismans came from the Little People,” Brendan said.

Adrien
smiled.
 
“I don't believe they
did.
 
But it seems she did not know
their origins herself, and she has no wish to make a fight with the Elf-King. ”
 
He was very pleased with the
meeting.
 
Very pleased that his
first bit of politicking had gone well.
  
“We shall have our talismans, though, and I hope they
are worth the displeasure of this visit.
 
Tarien, I would ask you to act as our emissary to the Lady in
dealings with the talismans, but Elenna, you will study these items and
hopefully have some idea of their best uses.
 
Evendor also has rich stocks of metal for your weapons.
 
I want you to go with Tomas to the
blacksmiths and have as many copies of your weapon as you can assemble within a
week.
 
In Roden we shall be able to
produce more and teach our fighters.
 
Brendan, you will go learn all you can about the legends of the
West.
 
Evendor is the only place
that may have yet have that knowledge.” He smiled briefly.
 
“And try to temper our relations with
the Lady.
 
Resentment will breed
nothing in our favor.
 
We have only
a few days and much to do.”
 

Chapter 47

A
week was barely enough.
 
Brendan
curried favors here and there with his ready grin and winning ways, and soon
had talked his way into the Chambers of Learning with a ready guide to lead him
through the dark history of Skranteen.
 
He gathered legends and stories enough to fill a lifetime of nightmares,
and a few maps he reckoned would be useful on the journey.
 
The Lady was charmed enough to offer
her personal assistance; as a Student she had spent many free hours in the
reading room and could translate some of the faded words on the aging
parchments.
 
Despite her protests
at their conference, she had a surprising interest in the lands far beyond the
reach of her School.

Elenna
found the blacksmiths of the Needle quite helpful, when Tomas asked for their
help producing weapons for the coming battle.
 
Though there had been no official announcement by the Lady
of their purpose in visiting, somehow word had spread among the students and
artisans, and all were glad to aid the Outer World visitors in their
requests.
 
When the pistols were
ready, Elenna taught the new general how to fire, and was pleased to see he was
a natural shot.
 
She watched him
proudly show the other Allé-dônian soldiers how to use the new weapons.
 
Even those that at first dropped in
fear at the horrible sounds grew intrigued and became at least fair shots.
 
Even more interesting to the men was
the
Allè-dôn
ian
Lady who watched their practices and encouraged their efforts.
 
She quickly became a favorite; more so
when she demonstrated a few moves with a sword they didn’t believe a woman
could learn.
 
By the end of the
second day that had forgot their old truisms and considered her just another
soldier ready to fight the Scourge of the West.
 
She didn’t know how many of these sessions Adrien watched
from a distance, lost in his observations.
 

Tarien
spent hours with the Lady's magicians, first to be ritually purified and then
trained in the proper handling of the sacred relics, then in additional hours
to learn as much history as possible of their acquisition.
  
Finally after a week he was
allowed to bring the items out of their secured chamber and deliver to their
set of
 
rooms.
 
Elenna’s eager attention was caught by
the wrapped packages scattered on the floor of the sitting room, and she waved
on Tomas to continue on alone to the practice session they had planned.
 
She dropped cross-legged to the ground
next to Adrien and waited patiently for his permission to open the containers.

First
she pulled out a rock that when paired with a sliver of steel could point
direction.
  
Elenna only
shrugged when the others ooed and awed.
 
Other objects were more advanced technology: arrows that could maintain
straight flight far longer than even their best archer had ever managed, cloth
that could make the wearer if not invisible, at least unnoticeable.
 
What most interested Adrien was a set
of glow globes.
 
They were hunks of
crystal, with some kind of energy source emitting a constant bright light from
inside.
 
The only item she couldn't
readily explain was a simple plastic bottle.
 
Any liquid stored inside for a period of time took on
healing properties.
 
"Nano?" she muttered to herself in confusion.
 
She didn't even try to explain any of
the items to her companions, but just reiterated that they weren't in the least
bit magical and were definitely safe enough for them to carry with them on
their journey.
 
She placed all of
the items back in their boxes for safekeeping, and placed her questions in her
own crowded mental box labeled 'strange things to wonder about later'.

Adrien’s
week had been spend in meeting after meeting.
 
When they had arrived, a message from his father had given
him complete control of the Allè-dônian response to the fighting.
 
Adrien had gotten his wish; thousands
of troops had left weeks earlier to join the Allè-dônians in Evendor.
 
Roden it appeared would be the next
target for Southland’s armies.
 
Scouts reported that soldiers and bands of monsters were starting to
gather on its western border.
 
Adrien arranged for the Allè-dônian troops his father were sending to
continue on to Roden to meet him there and join with the Rodenian troops to
protect the capital, and there engage the armies of the West.
 
There would be one large battle that,
win or lose, would decide the fate of the Eastlands.
 
Messengers were frantically racing daily to and fro ferrying
directions between the capitals.
 
Elenna had told him once about the fantastic machines called telephones;
he dearly wanted one now.
 
He especially
awaited the answer to the personal missive he had sent to his father on arrival
in Evendor.
 
The decision to send
it had weighed on him deeply for some time now; sending it had given him some
relief, but now he had other delicate steps to make to achieve his final goal.
 
Since they were now only waiting for
some other processes to finish before they could leave, he had time to continue
that effort.

His
first action that afternoon was to call for a servant.
 
He instructed the servant to bring the Lord
Brendan to the empty chamber he had commandeered as an office.
 
When Brendan came in, Adrien was gazing
out the window at the vista
 
outside.
 
He still had to
repress a shudder at the sharp rocky points surrounding the Needle.

“What
do you need?” Brendan asked.
 
Adrien turned around to greet him, hands clasped behind his back
tightly.

 
“I must speak with you, my friend.” He
motioned for Brendan to sit with him in the two comfortable chairs in the
corner of the room.
 
A bottle and
two empty cups had already been placed on the table between them.
 
Brendan poured each of them a
drink.
 
Adrien paused for a welcome
sip before continuing.
 
“I have
been thinking of the future, after the battle.”

“Lady
will us victory,” Brendan said, with a slight shrug.
 
Adrien acknowledged this with a nod.
 
He pointed to the haphazard piles of
maps and correspondence stacked up on the table he had been using that week as
a desk.

“Two
weeks ago I was a slave,” he exclaimed with some bitterness.
 
“Now I am named one of the most
powerful men in the Eastlands. No king in the Eastlands would refuse me
anything now.
 
I am going to use
some of that power to gain me what I desire most in the future.”

“Adrien,
what are you talking about?” Brendan demanded in alarm.

“I
have sent my father the message that I am revoking my marriage contract with
Isabeau.
 
I will give the same
message to the King of Roden when we arrive.”

Brendan
was dumbfounded.
 
“Adrien, you
can’t!! You were promised by the Lord King…” Brendan fidgeted anxiously as his
mind raced with concerns. “What about the King of Roden?
 
You can not insult him this way,
especially at this time! And your parents will…”

“I
offer no insult, Bren.
 
We can do
this quietly with no embarrassment to either side.
 
And with thousands of men at my back and a battle looming,
Erik will not think to challenge me.”
 
Brendan remained silent for a minute, biting his lip in
consternation.
 

Adrien
continued, studying the drink in his hand. “My father promised him only the
Lord Son of Allè-dôn.
 
The terms
are changing.
 
I return from this
journey as the future Lord King or I don’t return at all.
 
And I have spoken oaths far beyond an
old marriage contract in the name of Allè-dôn this week.”

“For
the love of the Lady, Adrien!
 
To
mess with this at this time!” Brendan jumped up to borrow his friend’s habit of
pacing furiously.
 
Adrien waited
patiently for him.

“Adrien,”
he said finally.
 
“You cannot
insult Isabeau this way.
 
It would
be most shameful for her for you to break the contract now.
 
You have no grounds.”

Adrien
rose abruptly from his seat to stand in front of the window again, avoiding his
friend’s expression.
 
“Bren, I know
that the contract was broken years ago.”
 
Brendan flamed red.
 
He had
believed that Adrien never heard or believed the stories that spread each time
Isabeau had visited.
 
Or, he had
hoped so.
 

“You
knew?” he asked, chastened.
 
“You’ve known all of these years?
 
I am sorry, my friend.
 
We
meant no harm to you.”
 

Adrien
turned back around.
 
“Friend, I
have forgiven you both long ago.
 
I
did not wish to cause either of you pain or embarrassment by acknowledging the
truth, and you caused me no personal harm.
 
But now I need to end this contract.
 
My father knew the truth of it
then.
 
I don’t think he will refuse
my challenge now.”

Brendan
admitted this.
 
“Why must you end
the contract?” he asked.

Adrien
smiled suddenly.
 
“I wish to marry
someone else.”

“Elenna?”
Brendan exclaimed in a stunned combination of joy, horror and disbelief.
 
“Oh my, for the Lady’s sake, I’ve no
idea what to say!
 
You and Elenna!”

“If
she will have me as husband."

“If
you succeed in your journey, you would make her the Lady Queen!” Brendan had
spent part of nearly every day since his childhood with the man in the room
with him, and now he didn’t think he knew him at all.

“A
royal will be by steel made,” the man quoted the old legend.
 
He sighed, and was Adrien once again,
pleading with his friend for understanding.
 
“I will not lose her, Bren.
 
I have given so much already to the quest of ours, and I may
end up sacrificing everything, but I must have her.”
 

Brendan
smiled now.
 
“In Allè-dôn they will
say that the rain will fall towards the sky.
 
The Lord Son has fallen in love.
 
Your family, nay the entire Court, will not be pleased.”

“I
have done a remarkably ill job of pleasing them all of my life,” Adrien replied
solemnly, and Brendan had to laugh.
 
“When I return as the Bearer and Lord Heir, I think I shall be
forgiven.”

“Then
we must do our best to return you in good health and bearing a legend,” Brendan
said.