Chartile: Prophecy (40 page)

It took some time to calm and convince all
of the palace guards of the events that had transpired. It wasn’t
until they had persuaded Leland, the Captain of the Elven Guard
that plans began to move forward. They found Runa’s journal in the
tower with Piper. She told them how she had found the tower, and
her conversation with Taraniz through unrelenting sobs. Between
what they could make of her tale through her tear, and a bit of
magic on the part of Jayson, Jack and Leo, Leland was finally made
to believe.

Word returned the next day from the lords
and commanders marching on Fortress Kelsii. They had marched from
Cannondole as soon as Piper had left the town. The soul of Duke
Noraedin had known all along. But the soldiers’ minds became clear
as they battled the dwarves on the Great Plains when Noraedin was
finally defeated. An immediate halt was called, and the soldiers
retreated to their encampment at the edge of the forest. That
night, the elven commanders received messages from Leland, and Leo
sent word to Kylani, Brande and Frejah. Jack had sent a letter to
Frejah as well, though his was to be given to Gemari when she
returned from Tutaria.

Nobles from all across Chartile began
trickling in over the next several days, including with Valar. The
trek was too far for many, but they sent messages via carrier bird
ahead. Leland and Valin, who had assumed some sort of command in
the chaos, introduced Jack, Leo and Jayson to the Barons, Lords and
Counts as they arrived. With their minds now free from the
manipulation of Noraedin, the nobles saw the boys’ magic as a
wondrous sign of the fulfillment of the prophecy, and a dangerous
power. It was the magic of Taraniz and Noraedin that had placed
them all in their current predicament, and it made many even more
uncomfortable than Valin.

Gran was found safe at Harpy’s Point, and
she returned to the palace shortly after her summons was received.
Jayson, Jack and Leo ran to her, forgetting their manners entirely.
They had grown fond of her during their time in the mountains when
they snuck in to see her at night to receive the items she had
traded for them. She embraced them warmly and kissed them on their
cheeks.

“
My dears,” she said.
“Look how much you’ve grown!” She squeezed Jayson’s chin where his
stubble had begun to grow. “I am so proud of you. How are your
glasses, Leo?”

“
Doing great, Gran,” he
said, and she hugged him again.

“
Where is Piper?” she
asked when their third round of hugs had been given. Solemnly, they
explained that Piper had yet to come down from the tower. She
hardly spoke to anyone, but the boys made sure to meet with her
every night and to tell her everything that had happened. She
barely ate or slept. She spent most of the time staring out the
window and ignored all else.

“
Take me to her. At once,”
demanded Gran.

The boys took off, through the golden halls,
Gran keeping up with their quick pace. When they reached the base
of the stone stair, Jack held the door for the woman, but they did
not follow.

Gran reached the top of the winding stone
stair with her knees creaking more than she would have liked. She
knocked gently on the door in the manner Piper had once done to
tell Gran it was her when she came down from the mountains. She was
greeted with silence. Gran pushed the door open, and found her
granddaughter a few paces beyond the entrance. Her eyes were puffy
and blood shot, and her face pale and drawn. Piper looked up and
paused only a moment before she flung herself into Gran’s arms.

Gran did not speak. She squeezed Piper as
hard as she could for several long minutes. When Piper’s grip
loosened around her, she led her granddaughter to the freshly
laundered bed and stroked her hair.

Piper cried long and hard. She cursed
herself for all the times she had done so in the last several
weeks, then melted again into uncontrollable blubbering. Finally
her sobs subsided to hiccups, and Gran sat her up. She held Piper
at arm’s length and moved the hair plastered to her cheeks behind
her ears.

“
I am sorry for your loss,
my darling,” she said softly. Piper bowed her head, squinting her
eyes as if to cry again. Gran put a finger under her chin, and
lifted her head. “No one and nothing will ever take away your hurt.
I will not tell you that you must forget them, but my darling, you
are stronger than this.”

“
Gran, I wanted to marry
him. I’m lost,” said Piper, her voice dry and breaking. She reached
for her grandmother’s hand and squeezed it hard. “And Taraniz – Ani
– I never knew she went by Ani. She was kind, and caring. I could
have learned so much from her. I cannot understand why everyone I
love gets taken away from me. Even the boys. Leo is trying to find
a way home for them. Why do they all leave me?”

Tears trickled down her face, and she wiped
them away. She wanted to be strong, but she couldn’t find the will
anymore. Gran pushed her red hair back. She straightened Piper’s
shoulders, and lifted her chin even higher.

“
I do not know, my
darling. But what I do know is that life can be cold, and hard and
cruel. Only the strong can rise up to overcome those challenges.
And a leader must be strong. She must be capable in every
undertaking. Steadfast and true. She must be kind, courteous, and
eloquent. Your mother and father, Ani and Dimitri will never be
gone from you so long as you hold them in your heart, and allow the
best in them to shine through you.”

Piper hung her head again. She had not been
much of a queen to her people lately. She had not been the queen
she knew they needed.

“
And,” continued Gran more
gently, “I certainly have no intention of going
anywhere.”

A week after the death of Princess Taraniz
and Dimitri of Mount Kelsii, those part of the Conclave of Nobles
who had made it to the palace finally met. It took the entire day,
and was well into the evening before the Conclave was willing to
make Piper their new queen. Plans for her coronation were put into
action immediately, though Jack, Leo and Jayson noticed many of the
nobles still cringed and shifted uncomfortably at any sign or
mention of magic.

Piper left the conclave wanting nothing more
than to fall into bed, but it was not to be. That night, a pyre was
made, and Princess Taraniz was returned to the sky by earth and
fire. Piper conducted the traditional ceremonies as her first duty
as the Queen-to-be and attended to proper receiving and banquet
afterward with Jack, Leo and Jayson at her side.

Dimitri’s body was escorted back to Mount
Kelsii with Empress Nefiri. Piper demanded a full royal elven
processional following in honor of his sacrifice. Jack accompanied
them as the newly appointed Ambassador to the Dwarves. At first, he
had protested, insisting Leo should take the role. Piper held up a
hand to silence him.

“
There is yet too much
controversy surrounding Leo and his involvement with the Black
Diamonds,” she said quietly. “You have the upper hand, due in part
to your connection with Gemari.”

Jack blushed scarlet. “It’s forbidden,” he
mumbled, shuffling his feet and fidgeting with his fingers behind
his back.

“
Not for long!” said Leo,
giving him a gentle punch on the shoulder.

“
What’d ya mean?” Jack
asked.

“
Now that we’ve proven who
we are, no one will try to stand up to us,” Leo replied with a wide
grin.

“
Isn’t that abusing our
power?” Jayson asked, his usual chipper air gone since the battle.
He was quiet, and let Leo and Jack make most of the decisions. He
immediately looked at his feet, and hugged his arms
close.

Leo shrugged. “Maybe. But, Jayson… dude…
this man’s heart…it’s on the line here! There’s love in the air!”
He gave Jayson a small shove, and a smirk began to spread across
Jayson’s face as Jack blushed deeper. “Besides,” Leo added “I’ve
been working with the nobles to try and find a way to get us home.
I don’t really have time for all that pearl wine anymore.”

The company rode hard to Fortress Kelsii.
Nefiri wanted to return to her people as quickly as she could. Now
on horseback, and not cutting across the forest terrain, they made
the trip in two short days. Trumpets sounded as the procession
approached the front gates. There had been no rain recently, and
blood stains still littered the nearby rocks along the path to the
gates.

The glittering doors were thrown wide to
receive them, and the company rode straight into the grand entrance
way. Jack dismounted stiffly, grateful the trip was over. He was
extremely saddle sore. He had never ridden a horse that long
before, and had taken to strapping himself to the saddle so he did
not fall from his mount as they hurried back to the mountain.

“
Jack!” called a voice
behind him. He turned, and saw Gemari pushing her way through the
crowd gathered in the main entrance. His face brightened at seeing
her. She wore a golden chain with a small diamond pendant around
her neck. It was the favor he had sent with his message to her. He
had asked Piper for something, and she had obliged with a gift from
the royal treasury.

Jack ran to her, and scooped her up into his
arms, kissing her. It was only the gasps of those standing by, and
the whoops and cheers from the Black Diamonds that brought them to
again. They stopped, pulling away from each other, and stared in
shock into each other’s eyes.

“
I suppose some change is
to be expected with every new generation,” said Nefiri passing
beside them. She gave a small smile before turning to the escorts
beside Dimitri’s body.

Jack and Gemari had little time to spend
together, however. There were many dead from the battle, short
lived as it was. Among its casualties were Kylani and Isla, who had
refused to let her lover fight alone. Jack sent word immediately to
Leo, and with Piper’s permission, Leo took a small company to the
mountain. She sent a few select lords with him bearing gifts of
peace to honor the dwarves who had fallen. It was to no one’s
surprise but Leo’s that he was asked to help bear Kylani’s body to
its final resting place.

No sooner had the ceremonies ended did Jack
and Leo return to the elven palace for Piper’s coronation. There
seemed little time to grieve their losses, though Jack preferred it
that way.

“
Have you found anything
yet?” Jack asked Leo as they rode back to the elven palace.
“Anything that might help us get home?”

Leo shook his head. “No. Most of the
documents on magic were destroyed when it was outlawed. Brande
suggested I go to Tutaria. Their libraries are bigger, and they
don’t have as much aversion to magic as the elves.”

Jack nodded and turned his attention back to
riding. They had recently slowed the horses to a walking pace for a
bit, and he took the opportunity to tighten the rope around his
waist.

“
Jayson’s doing better,”
said Leo, breaking the silence once more. “He’s been helping Leland
and Piper hear the cases of the prisoners, and helping to deal out
punishments. He’s been suggesting a lot of community service stuff.
We need the help anyway.”

“
I’m worried about him,”
said Jack, shifting in his saddle. “I didn’t think he’d take what
happened so hard.”

“
Jack, he killed someone.
What would you do if you killed someone, especially the way he
did?”

They rode on in silence, lost in their own
thoughts.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Coronation

The morning sun rose warm that day, when all
the others had been cool and crisp. Piper sat up in bed, staring
out the window of the tower. It was the day of her coronation. In a
few short hours, Piper Romilly, born Eva Ruani, daughter of King
Aramor and Queen Runa, would be crowned the queen of all the elves
in Chartile. She took several deep breaths, and turned to look at
the dress hanging beside the newly repaired dressing table. It was
her mother’s dress that she had worn when presented to the Council
of Elders at Mount Kelsii.

Valar had stepped up as her temporary
advisor, until she had time to choose his successor, and so Valin
could return to his duties in Cannondole. He had insisted she wear
something new for the occasion, but Piper put her foot down. She
had declared a period of mourning for her people for the loss of
their princess, and since her coronation gown was not a requirement
for the mandatory day to day workings of the elves, she refused to
make them work on a new dress for her. It was Valin who had
convinced her to let only the seamstresses who wanted to work on
her dress apply some golden thread and embroidery to the gown. When
she saw the eager faces of the young girls, she couldn’t deny them
the pleasure of saying they had worked on the Queen’s coronation
gown.

Soon her beck-ands would be up to help her
with her hair and beauty paints. The tugging and pulling, and the
oils and perfumes were enough to drive her mad. Piper pushed back
her bedcovers and hurried to the dressing table. She quickly tied
her hair back and pulled on plain traveling clothes and a gray wool
hood that fell past her shoulders.

She picked up the bow that rested beside her
bed and slung a quiver of arrows over her shoulder. They had once
belonged to Jayson, and she was bound and determined to somehow get
them back to him. But right now, she wanted to be Piper one last
time.

She crept down the stone steps and carefully
peeked out into the hall. It was bustling with nobles, guards and
beck-ands, all excited and preparing for the day’s coming
coronation.