Legon Restoration (21 page)

Opes never tried to tell her to move on with her life, he understood her perfectly, which in a way made him Emma's closest friend and vice versa. "Yes, today for me it is not memories of an opportunity missed. No, I can still see my wedding day as clear as if it were only yesterday. Ours was not as lavish as the Head of a Great House, but it was a beautiful venue. Ever since I lost my wife I have preformed many marriage ceremonies, did you know that?"

"I didn't know that, why?" she asked, wondering why someone would do that to themselves.

"Well for one, even though part of me feels sad at these events, they are a happy day and I remember how happy I was and look forward to that for the couple getting married. But I perform the ceremony because it reminds me of my own." His eyes got a far off look to them as Emma listened, "Every time I do one it's like feeling my own again, that was the happiest moment in my life and it was my wife's too, so happy was it that not even her death can taint the memory, do you have any memories like that?"

Emma smiled "In fact I do. It wasn't the happiest day of my life but oddly memorable. I was trying to hint for Kovos to ask me to marry him but men don't seem to do well with hints," she chuckled, "anyways I took him to look for linens and things of that nature, I thought maybe if we did something domestic together he'd get the hint...he didn't of course. It wasn't until after I came to Seeon that Sasha told me that Kovos hadn't gotten a single one of my hints. I can still remember the look on his face when I asked him to pick out a color for a table cloth," she giggled.

"I don't think I understand," Opes said.

"Forgive me; you see Kovos wasn't what you would call refined. I had laid in front of him swatches in varying colors of white. The look on his face was like I had just given him an unsolvable puzzle. It was the funniest expression I'd seen him make, I tried to explain to him that there was more than one color of white," she laughed again. "He looked at me like I was insane, to Kovos there was only one white, no off white or bone, nothing but just white." She sighed, "It's a silly inconsequential memory, but for some reason it's the most pure one that I have."
 

When she was done dancing with Opes she walked over to a table where Rachel sat looking wide eyed at all of the guests. Emma had taken the girl under her wing; she'd tried to help her integrate into society, which had been a success for the most part. But Rachel wasn't comfortable with large groups of people or when there was a lot of activity.

"Rachel," Emma said. "How are you doing?"
 

"It's like a dream, isn't it? You wouldn't know the world is in turmoil."
 

"Is that a bad thing?" Emma asked.

Rachel cocked her head to the side considering Emma "No, it’s good. I feel like today in this room the war doesn't exist, it's like when I was a girl living by the sea and the fog burned off revealing the bay. That's how it feels in here, like the fog is gone and in its wake is a beautiful world."

Emma thought about what Rachel said. She was always amazed at how insightful the girl was.

* * * * *

Sasha's wedding was coming to a close. It had been perfect, her feet were sore from dancing and her face ached from smiling, these were the marks of joy in her opinion. Before her was Sydin in his Ascended form, his black scales shining in the fading light. He would be flying Sasha and Edling to the town of Rosae for their honeymoon. Rosae was small; the Family House there was nothing like the Palace that she lived in now. She and Edling were looking forward to the slower pace of the town and its quaint atmosphere.
 

Edling lifted her onto Sydin's back and he took off. The people below cheered and waved to them and Sasha found herself leaning back into Edling's warmth, closing her eyes.

Thank you
she thought to Edling. He responded by squeezing her harder.

Sasha was vaguely aware of Sydin's mind, he was connecting with a jump crystal in preparation for the jump to Rosae, and so blissful was she that she didn't even feel the jump.
 
Her lungs filled with the thick sent of Rosae. The town was named aptly, when her eyes opened she was greeted by the sun setting over a valley of vineyards and a town lined with streets of roses of every different kind.
 

Sydin glided over the town center, none of the buildings being more than two stories tall, as he made his way to the edge of town. Sasha stepped off of Sydin onto the soft lawn at the Family House. She and Edling said their goodbyes to Sydin and he took off to jump back to Seeon.
 

Sasha and Edling walked hand in hand towards the cottage that was the Family House. Its walls were draped in roses like the rest of the town and they entered the small living room.

"Two bedrooms," she said looking at Edling, "that’s it. That is all this entire house has is just two small bedrooms. No servants, no guests no nothing and it's wonderful!" she gushed, truly relaxing.

"Perhaps someday we can live here," Edling said.

"That would be nice; we could jump to Seeon or the Golden City for my research and then come home here in the quiet."

"It's too bad most Elves wait a century before having their first child, if Legon and Iselin produced an heir now..."
 

Sasha wrapped her arms around his waist, "Well I think they might. You see my family is mortal, I think Legon wants at least one of his kids to know their adopted grandparents." She ran her fingers through Edling's dark hair, "And with each niece or nephew I get to play with it moves me one step further from being Head of House. Not that it will matter anyway, I suppose."
 

Edling cocked an eyebrow and Sasha answered his unasked question. "The White Dragon told me that when Legon or I died the other would too, so you see we will never inherit House Evindass, but as time goes on I will have less responsibility."
 

Edling kissed her. "I forget you aren't used to how things normally are. You and your brother have been busy with a war since you arrived, once the war is over much of life will slow down, the fifteen hour days and weeks that never seem to end will go away. It is not uncommon for Heads of House to take several months off for holiday, indeed this is the norm for our entire race."
 

"That sounds most welcome. Now enough talking about what will happen years from now and more kissing and enjoying our wedding night," she said pulling Edling in close.

* * * * *

Legon and Iselin walked with Sydin towards the war room in the Palace. Sydin was giving them a report of how House Evindass was fairing in the war effort. The three of them entered the war room where the rest of the Heads of each of the Great Elvin Houses were already sitting. Legon greeted each of them in turn.

"Thank you all for coming not only to this meeting but my sister’s wedding it meant a great deal to her," Legon said.

Each person in the room networked their mind with everyone else, giving Legon as well as every other Head of House a complete view of the war and the Pawdin Empires overall standing. Legon trusted each Head of House completely as did they him; as such the members of the Pawdin government thought as one mind and while in these meetings an overriding consciousness tapped each person’s memory and abilities.
 

The war was going relatively well; they were taking fewer casualties than expected and taking ground. Their efforts over the years to thin out the Iumenta dragon population had paid off. As a result the Elves were increasingly using Ascended to take out ground and sea units. The Naval battle was all but won, the Cona and Impa fleets were futility trying to keep their northern shores safe but almost all of the waters in the western sea board were under Pawdin control. The fleet was working closely with ground units to bombard and take coastal cities.
 

The fight on the ground was slowly progressing up the coast and Kayloose River, and thus far there had been no major setbacks. Everyone knew that the war would get harder the closer to Impa lands and the Capital that they got, it was for this reason that Legon wanted to be in the fight. He knew that he was only one Ascended, but he was a class eight which meant something to the people. Legon being in battle would increase morale across all the Elvin and Human forces.

Chapter Fifteen

Ignotis-Aurium

"Once I was asked to view the latest work of a young artist. It was a painting that took a whole wall. He asked me to stand close and look. I looked at it from up close seeing only dots of color. Then I stepped back to see that from a distance the dots made a picture. The piece was speaking to the fact that if we change our perspective of an object we can, in a way, change the object. It wasn't a new style of painting but I found the experience enjoyable none the less."

- Conversations in the Garden

Keither landed hard on his back side.

"Haven't you practiced since we left Manton?" Barnin asked referring to Keither's still inability to fight with a sword.

"If you must know, no I haven't, I've been a bit busy if you haven't heard," he said icily.
 

They were in Ripensis, a city on the banks of the Kayloose River. Ripensis itself wasn't as large as Salez but it was interconnected with many smaller towns and villages, giving its metropolitan area a sprawling nature. Keither had been in Seeon when the city was taken, so he hadn't seen any of the fighting himself but he knew that both the Elves and Cona forces had taken heavy casualties.
 

Barnin and his unit were in Ripensis to refit and take on a few replacements.

Barnin continued their conversation. "Yeah, we've all been busy. How was the wedding?" he asked.

Keither sheathed his sword ending their practice, earning a disapproving look from Barnin. "It was amazing to be honest with you, but I don't know. Seeon just didn't feel the way that it used too."

Barnin sat heavily on a chair. "How you mean?"

Keither tried to think of how to describe Seeon's change to him. "It's like the people are always living in a state of fear."

Barnin laughed, "What, like they think they are going to get attacked? Come on Keither, the Elves aren't cowards."

"No, no, not like that. It's hard to describe, it's like people are always waiting to drop dead, which in a way I suppose they are." Barnin gave him a look. "You haven't been there since the war started, but I was talking to Emma and she was telling me that she hates walking the streets now. The Elves die when their spouse dies, so when someone gets killed on the front..."
 

"You mean their wife or husband just drops dead in the street?" Barnin asked amazed.

Keither nodded. "If your spouse was in the war you not only worry about losing them but also yourself."
 

"That is creepy, did you see that when you were there?" Barnin asked.

"Yes, once. Sara and I were having breakfast at a cafe and some guy was walking down the street, he dropped something he was holding, it was glass that shattered as he made this horrible pained sound and keeled over," Keither explained.

"What happened then?"

"Nothing really, everyone around him got real quiet and scared looking, and then some Elves picked up his body and took it off somewhere. Things went back to how they had been before the man died. Seeon is a tense place to be right now."

* * * * *

Barnin shivered on the inside. He'd always assumed that the Elves had the war pretty easy, well not the units that were on the front, but the people back home in cities like Seeon. Now he was starting to reassess his views.
How horrible would it be to go through your day knowing that at any moment you or someone you know could drop dead?
 

He thought again and asked Keither, "Would that happen with you and Sara? If one of you, ya know, kicked it, would the other one go too?"

Keither shook his head. "Sadly, no. She and I are mentally linked just like the Elves but a connection strong enough to kill takes decades. No, right now if one of us dies the other one will merrily spend the rest of their life looking forward to death. It's so bad for the living person, in fact, that in the Pawdin Empire people generally do not join the military until the connection with their spouse is strong enough to kill."

Barnin was shocked, "They do what? Why would you want the other person to die?"

Keither gave a dark chuckle, "You and Samantha don't share a mental connection so I can see why you're confused. Do you remember Opes? He is one of Legon's guards." Barnin indicated that he remember him. "Well, Opes' wife was killed in the War of Generations; they had only been married for a decade or so. You see back then everyone fought and she died. When she passed so did part of Opes, think of how much you love Sam, and how much that would hurt to lose her."
 

"I can't even imagine that kind of pain," he said honestly.

"The pain you will feel when she dies is nothing to what Opes felt and with a connection like that not even time heals the wound; you just learn to live with the pain. It's for that reason that I hope, as does Sara, that if one of us is killed, that the other is only moments away," Keither said.

Barnin tried to clear his head. "That's one more reason not to use that freaky mental linking trash." He said, thankful yet again that he didn't go for any of that type of nonsense. "A man’s thoughts are his own, and that's that. Now break’s over, get your sword," he said changing the subject.
 

* * * * *

Sara spent the bulk of her afternoon organizing supplies. This was the task that felt like it took most of her time, but she was thankful for it. The war was wearing on Sara, it seemed to her as though she couldn't get the blood of the wounded off of her hands and clothes. The sound of grown men crying for their mothers was like a constant echo in her ears, not even sleep brought relief. The only bit of rest she'd had lately was Sasha's wedding, though even in Seeon the war was at their door step.