Avalyne Series 01: The Queen of Carleon (9 page)

‘
Dare, I haven’t seen Keira all morning either.’ Tully spoke up, now convinced all three women were together.

‘
I’m sure its nothing to worry about,’ Kyou declared seeing no reason for concern in any of this ‘They’re probably at the market or something.’

Aeron
shot the dwarf a look, wondering if he had been deaf, dumb and blind during the years that Celene was apart of their Circle. ‘When have you ever known Celene to go to a
market
?’

‘
My wife would not simply leave without telling me,’ Ronen pointed out and was in full agreement with Aeron. Such  pursuits would have bored Celene to tears. ‘Besides, she took her blade. What need should she have of it?’

‘
I have an idea,’ Tamsyn’s voice sailed across the room and drew all eyes to him as he and Lylea appeared at the threshold into the hall.

Their arrival immediately brought
an air of dignified stillness to the room. As Dare watch Tamsyn and Lylea enter, their expressions gave him immediate cause for concern. Their manner appeared grave and that gnawing sensation which had pursued him for much of the morning had finally ensnared him in its jaws. Lowering himself into his chair, he awaited for them to tell him what they knew about Arianne and the others.

‘
What is it?’ Dare demanded, his tone cold and hard. ‘I would know what has happened to my wife.’

‘
As would I,’ Ronen said with just as much concern as Dare. ‘If there is reason for concern, we all have the right to hear it.’ He glanced at Tully whose brow was furrowed with increasing anxiety.

‘
Arianne has embarked upon a quest of her own,’ Tamsyn explained, aware that the tempers in the room were already frayed and this words would offer no relief.

‘
A
quest
?’ Dare jumped to his feet, his hands knuckled against the table. ‘She is with child! She is in no condition to embark on any kind of quest!’

‘
She
must
go on this one,’ Lylea answered, trying to subdue Dare’s ire. ‘It involves your child.’

‘
My child?’ This was getting worse the moment and Dare’s patience was almost at an end. ‘Why? If there is a quest or some danger to our babe, I should be the one to fulfil any quest. Not her!’ Dare boomed. ‘How could you keep this from me, either of you?’ He demanded, his eyes filled with accusation.

‘
Please understand that it is not our wish to see Arianne harmed,’ Lylea’s calm town was a stark contrast to Dare’s growing outrage. She shared his anguish at being forced to allow her only daughter to go forth alone to fight so ancient an evil but Lylea had thousands of years to become accustomed to sending people she loved into battle. That it was her own daughter now, changed nothing. ‘The quest has to be fulfilled by her. She alone can fight the evil that threatens us all.’

‘
And what part does Celene have in all this?’ Ronen asked forced to watch his tone as he addressed the elven queen. Unlike Dare, he was not her son-in-law.

‘
She pledged her sword and her life to her queen,’ Lylea answered, ‘as did your wife Master Tully.’

‘
Keira!’ Tully stared at her in shock. ‘Keira's not a soldier! She's just my wife. She doesn't know how to defend herself! Hasn't she already suffered enough? How could you let her go!’ He shouted, and he didn’t care who he was speaking to. ‘She's not strong enough to go out there by herself.’

‘
There is more to your wife than we know Master Tully,’ Tamsyn explained calmly. ‘She chose to go without any prompt from us. As you said, she has indeed suffered at the hands of the Disciples and lest we forget, she did prevailed when most would have not. She has talents that none of us suspect.’

‘
What is this danger they face?’ Dare asked, his head spinning, fighting to restrain the urge to storm out of Sandrine Keep and go find Arianne.  

Tamsyn
and Lylea exchanged glances, knowing that there would be no peace with Dare or anyone else present until they learnt the reason for Arianne’s departure from Sandrine. Neither could blame those assembled for their anger, especially Dare’s for it was not only his wife at risk but his child as well. As a king, a husband and a soon to be father, it was his natural instinct to wish to protect them both however he had to be made to understand why it could not be him, even though Lylea suspected it would do little to hold him back.

Lylea braced herself and answered,
‘An agent of Mael.’

An audible gasp rippled through the room a split second before Dare's
sputtered in fury. ‘MAEL! You allowed my wife to ride out with a company of two to face someone who is ally to Mael?’

Mael
. 

For an instant, Dare was filled with such
outrage that he could barely think. He knew who Mael was and he knew the legends of the dark god who took physical form in the Age of Awakening to wage war against Celestials for the conquest of Avalyne. With the Primordials he had enlisted to his cause, it had taken the combined strength of the Celestials and all the elves to destroy Mael and send him to the Aether. Did Lylea expect him to believe that sending Arianne with only Keira and Celene to face such horror a credible way to handle the situation?

‘
Yes,’ Lylea continued to explain. ‘His agent has chosen to resurrect Mael by using
your
unborn child as its vessel. The Enemy seeks to bring Mael's essence from the Aether and infuse it into your son's body, displacing his soul for Mael's own and then giving him your kingdom to rule.’

‘
By the Gods,’ Dare heard Aeron whisper in shock while Ronen had dropped to his seat in horror.

‘
And you sent her to fight him?’ Dare managed to speak, his voice nothing like a low growl.

‘
She is the only one who
can
fight him Dare,’ Tamsyn answered for Lylea. ‘While your child slumbers in her womb, the Enemy
cannot
harm her. It requires your wife and child for his plans come to fruition. Had you gone to face the Enemy, he would have killed outright and anyone else with you with ease. It must be Arianne that goes because she can use the enemy’s need for her safety as a weapon.’

‘
And what of Celene and Keira?’ Ronen demanded coldly of the wizard. ‘What of them? How safe are they?’

‘
Celene pledged herself to her Queen,’ Lylea stared at him. ‘She is not safe but she is a good warrior and will acquit herself well. Your wife insisted on accompanying them with no prompt from us.’

Tully didn’t appear convinced
but could think of nothing to say to refute the queen’s words if that was what had happened. He was still in shock at the fact that Keira had agreed to go on this quest at all. It was so unlike her to behave in such a way. Over the last few years, she had hardly wanted to leave home at all. For her to suddenly decide to ride off into the unknown like this left Tully reeling.

‘
Where did they go?’ Dare demanded in a tone of voice that would not broke evasion.

‘
They ride  towards the Frozen Mountains,’ Tamsyn answered.

This was getting worse by the minute, Dare thought. The Frozen Mountains
! That was leagues away and was known to be a place full of ancient dangers. Even he had never ventured that far in his travels and now Arianne was going there? With only Celene and Keira for company while pregnant? The enormity of it was almost too much for him to endure.

‘
That's almost the other side of Avalyne!' Tully gasped, unable to imagine Keira being so far away from him and agreeing to cross that distance without even telling him.
Probably because she knows you’ll stop her
, an inner voice in his heard spoke with surprising sharpness.

‘
Yes,’ the queen nodded, ‘They must cross the mountains and descend into Mael's Pit.’

‘
Then that is where I will go,’ Dare stated firmly, pushing himself away from the table.

‘
Dare, you must let Arianne complete this task!’ Lylea implored. ‘You are vulnerable. She is not.’

‘
You do not understand do you?’ He glared at her sharply. ‘You assume she cannot be harmed but if she refuses to submit to the Enemy what assurance do you have that he won’t capture her and keep until she is needed? As with all dark magic, I assume that this spell to bring about Mael’s resurrection requires no permission from Arianne? Just the use of her body and the presence of a vessel? If she does not defeat him, he’ll take her alive and that may be even worse than death. If Arianne even lets it get that far. She knows the necessity of sacrifice. She learned it by choosing to be my wife. Do you not think that if she believes for one moment that she could be overcome that she wouldn’t kill her herself to save Avalyne? To save me?’

‘She would not do that,’ Lylea retaliated, refusing to believe that any elf would return the gift of immortality granted by the Celestial Gods so recklessly.

Yet
even as the thought crossed her mind, Lylea knew that Arianne had always been something of an aberration. She took too much after the human who had helped to conceiver her and nothing she had done since birth, was according to plan.

‘
Yes she would,’ Aeron spoke up for the first time in this matter. ‘If she for one minute thought that her child could be harm either Dare or Avalyne, she would not hesitate to make that choice.’

‘
Lord Navarre,’ Dare turned to his trusted comrade, no longer looking upon the troubled visage of Lylea. He was too angered by what he had learned and had no wish to disrespect Arianne’s mother though she sorely deserved it in his opinion. ‘I would request that you remain in Sandrine and oversee the kingdom for the duration of my absence.’

‘
Of course Sire,’ Navarre nodded obediently.

‘
I will go with you Dare,’ Tamsyn offered, wishing to be present to counsel Dare when the time came.

Dare was
still angry at Tamsyn for keeping his secrets with Lylea but their long friendship stilled his fury and Tamsyn’s knowledge of the events transpiring was needed for the journey ahead. ‘I will be grateful for your counsel in this mission.’ He said tautly.

‘
My wife rides with yours,’ Ronen stared at Dare. ‘So I will ride with you. I pledge my sword to my King as my wife has done for her Queen.’

Dare smiled gratefull
y and could not refuse his aid. Celene was his wife and he would not refuse Ronen’s desire to protect any more than his own. ‘Thank you my friend.’

‘
You will need my sharp eyes and senses, such as they are at the moment,’ Aeron added his voice into the mix. ‘When my head stops hurting, I am certain I will be of use to you.’

‘
Well you cannot go out there with so much danger armed with an elf who can hardly hold his drink,’ Kyou’s loud voice snorted in Dare’s ear.

Aeron
frowned at the dwarf, wondering again why it was he considered the War Master was a good friend.

‘
I would be glad to have your company, Kyou’ Dare said grateful to be surrounded his Circle once more.

‘
And mine,’ Tully declared hotly. ‘You’re not going after them without me. Keira’s my wife.’

‘
Of course,’ Dare answered without hesitation.

He sat down again, needing to catch his breath. The night before replayed in his mind, how
she felt when he kissed her, how she had whispered his name in his ear when their bodies were one. He closed his eyes and in a split second all that she was since the day he met her, tugged at his heart. He loved her so, his beautiful Arianne and the thought that she was beyond the safety of her home, preparing to fight a battle she may not win not only for him, but for their child, was more than he could stand.

In this life, meeting her
was his finest hour and if he had to die to keep her and the baby safe, he was willing to make the sacrifice because being king without her was being less than nothing.

As planned, they left Sandrine and rode towards Naiad, a town that earned its livelihood from the trade that took place when the Yantra forked into the Orean and Riselle tributaries. Once there, they could secure
a boat to take them north and pay the local livery to return the horses to Sandrine.

Arianne chose to remain out of sight. Naiad was a small trading post that welcomed newcomers and the presence of the queen certainly would not go unnoticed. If the Enemy did have designs on her baby then he must surely be watching closely now that the announcement of the impending royal birth was made. Lylea was unable to tell if the Enemy had prescience of his own or was he compelled to use agents who spied her movements. However, she was being watched, Arianne  knew it  was key that they kept the Enemy in the dark about her plans for as long as possible.

So while Celene acquired their transport up river and Keira took charge of buying supplies for the journey, Arianne found a quiet corner at an inn and waited with her hood of her cloak drawn to hide her recognisable features. 

Arianne was eager to depart even though Naiad offered the promise of a warm bed for the night. By now, Dare most surely know she was gone if not the reason for it. If the truth was kept from him, he might believe that the three of them might be taking a tour of the countryside together. If he did know why she left Sandrine, then he would be on his way to find her, if he had not already left. 

Inviting as it was for her to let him catch up and take charge of leading this quest, Arianne knew she could not allow that.  The king’s party travelling across Carleon would draw even more attention than she would and this was an advantage she could ill afford to exploit. If the Enemy realised that Dare was on his way and Arianne was able to keep her whereabouts a secret, he would believe she was still safely at Sandrine’s Keep and it was Dare riding out to confront him.

While Arianne did not like the idea of Dare playing decoy because of Lylea’s warning at how easily the Enemy could kill him, it would allow her to the chance to Sanhael without notice until it was too late.

*******

It was late in the afternoon when they left Naiad on a single masted boat with lateen sails and sailed up the Yantra River.

With the gentle slopes of the Iolan Hills flanking them on either side, Arianne watched the setting sun pull long shadows across the land from the bow of the small craft, lost in thought as she considered with some melancholy, the quest ahead. Celene was manning the sails while Keira, after some instruction, was guiding the boat up river with the rudder.  They indulged in idle chatter for awhile after leaving Naiad but as the day grew short, all three had lapsed into a thoughtful silence as each reflected on their situation.

With her hands resting on her belly as if she could feel the life within slumbering, Arianne found her thoughts fixed on what would happened if she failed in this quest.

She wished she had Celene’s strength and Keira’s courage. Ironically, she was older than both of them and yet they endured greater trials in both their short existences than she had in most of her sheltered life. The only time she was truly been tested was when she had ridden away from Barrenjuck Green, ferrying a sick and blind Keira to Eden Taryn after the Disciples were done with her. She remembered how angry Lylea had been that she went after Dare herself instead of sending one of their soldiers. Love had driven her then to overcome her fear, she prayed it would do the same now.

Glancing at Celene who was tying down a corner of the sail and admiring how the blue canvas billowed against the wind, Arianne wished she had Celene’s courage. Celene did not shrink from danger, indeed she rode out to face it. How many times, had Arianne heard the tales of Celene’s bravery in battle, how she had fought along side of Dare and his
Circle? Refusal to believe that she was any less than a man had earned her his undying respect and there were moments where Arianne wondered if Dare wished she possess the same steel.  

Keira’s courage had not been so overt as Celene’s but Arianne and Dare owed her a debt nonetheless,

The Disciples were Balfure’s most trusted servants. It was claimed that they were spawned from the Dread Mother of All during the Primordial Wars. Though they were able to transform into the guise of man or elf, their true visage was so terrible that men could go mad upon seeing it. A twisted amalgamation of three different animals, their bodies were shaped like a great cat while their tails were pointed and sharp like a wasp’s stinger. Instead of cat’s paws, their feet were the talons of a bird and finalising this  grotesque shape was the head of the last human it had assumed.

As hunters, they were relentless and were known to always catch their prey once they caught its scent. They stalked Dare across the Northern Province after he had taken counsel with Selkirk at Cereine, chasing him across the Baffin Range and finally into Barrenjuck Green. Like a glaring of cats, they tried to run him
to ground and would have captured him if not for the distraction that coast Dare’s friend Braedan his life. It was only until after Dare entered the Green, with the ancient wood possessing its own guardian spirits, that he was able to find refuge with Tully and Keira.

Unfortunately
after Dare had left with Tully, the Disciples had found their way to Furnsby Farm and Keira.

Keira never told them if the
Disciples had ever shown her their true forms before they inflicted upon her their torture of the cerebrii but the woman never spoke of it. Somehow, she had endured the scars of their brutality and spared everyone around her the terrible details that would only make them feel guilt. Arianne knew that Tully worried constantly for her because he did not know the full extent of her ordeal only its after effects.  Arianne wondered if Keira knew how brave she was being able to hold in the terror that drove lesser men mad.

Yet here she was, embarking on this quest because she thought she was weak when maybe she was the strongest person Arianne knew.

*******

‘
You are silent,’ Keira stated as she joined the queen at the bow. The wind was blowing northwards, allowing the sail to do most of the work and carry them up river. Celene had taken charge of the rudder directing the boat to move against the current by weaving it from side to side along the river bank. It allowed Keira the freedom to join the queen who was sitting alone. 

Both she and Celene had noticed the queen’s melancholy though neither brought attention to it. It was understandable of course that Arianne should feel somewhat overwhelmed by everything that had taken place in the last day.  Only
yesterday, she was celebrating  the arrival of her child and today, she was off to face an enemy who had struck at the most intimate of places.  

‘
I am thinking,’ Arianne answered, looking up at Keira as the other woman sat down beside her.

‘
Of what’s ahead?’ Keira ventured a guess.

‘
Of what could happen if I fail,’ Arianne confessed with a sigh.

‘
You mustn’t think like that,’ Keira reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. ‘I know it seems grim but we will stop this.’

Arianne was trying not to let despair overtake her but it was difficult when she considered the consequences for failure.
‘I do not know if I have it in me to stop this evil from taking my child. My mother thinks that I can stop Mael’s agent but I wonder if she only thinks that because she has little faith in the ability to men to prevail. She forgets that until I met Dare, I had spent my life sheltered behind the Veil. He was the one who encouraged to explore the world outside, to see what lay beyond. That time when I came to take you to Eden Taryn, that was probably the first time I had really travelled alone.’

‘
I remember,’ Keira nodded. ‘You saved my life.’

‘
You saved Dare’s,’ Arianne countered just as promptly.

Arianne remember how much pain Keira had experienced with the
cerebrii burning through her veins and how much of her journey to Eden Taryn was seen through a stupor of pain and darkness. At Dare’s summons, Arianne ridden to the edge of the Green and escorted Keira to Eden Taryn, while he, Aeron and Tully let the Disciples away. He had already been so grieved at the loss of Braedan and was not willing to sacrifice this stranger whose only sin was to give him shelter.

‘
It was the right thing to do. As this is the right thing to do,’ she said firmly, ‘We can do this Arianne and if we fail, at least we tried to stop the evil from returning to our world. Sometimes, we have to suffer for the good things. Maybe that’s what makes it all worthwhile.’

‘
You don’t understand,’ Arianne whispered, caressing her belly protectively, as if will alone would shield the babe within from all harm. ‘If I fail and the Enemy is successful, I will have only two choices left to me. The first is to take my own life because I will not give birth to a monster. I will not raise a vessel of Mael to watch him bring to ruin everyone I love. If I am not given the choice and somehow, the Enemy sees to it that I
do
give birth to the child, then neither Dare nor I can allow him to live long enough to reach adulthood. As a child of our flesh, I will not call him our son, he will be king. Imagine if you will what that means.’

Lylea’s vision coming to pass, Keira thought. A blood thirsty king with an army of Berserkers, with the potential to be even worse than
Balfure ever was.

‘
Don’t you see,’ Arianne said with tears running down her cheeks, ‘if he is born then we will have no recourse but to put him to the sword or risk the destruction of Avalyne. I know Dare would do it. For the good of his people, he would make the sacrifice and I know as surely as I breathe, it will destroy him.’

‘
It is not the failure I fear Keira,’ Arianne whispered, ‘its what we may to do
after
.’

And to that, Keira
said nothing.

*******

They travelled for much of the night until they found a sheltered cove hidden at which to camp for the night. Leaving the subject of the quest for the moment, they engaged in idle chatter, as if they were taking a leisurely trip up river, instead of the dark crusade that could see them all dead before it was done. After Arianne’s real fear had been voiced, Keira advised Celene not to speak too frequently about the Enemy because Arianne was painfully aware of him already.

At sunrise, they resumed their journey up the river, speaking of a past journeys and reminiscing about the days when life was not as complicated or as changed as it was now. Despite their best efforts however, the shadow of the Enemy lingered at the edge of their consciousness, always there to remind them of the danger they were slowly approaching.

It would take them three days to reach the Winter Keep where they could be resupplied so that they could resume their journey to the Falls of Iolan. Arianne wanted only a brief delay before continuing northward. According to Lylea, the Enemy would be ready to carry out his spell of restoration in two full moons and Arianne had to reach him before that. It was a long journey to the Frozen Mountains  and they had no time to waste.

*******

Upon arriving at the Winter Keep, Celene had kept Arianne’s presence a secret until she could be properly revealed to Galain the Caretaker, why it was needed. Galain had fought alongside of Celene at the Battle of Astaroth and the former comrades possessed a healthy respect for each other. Once Galain knew the Queen was travelling alone with two friends, he understood the need for discretion and welcomed Arianne into the Keep with the strictest of secrecy.

They shared his table that evening and Arianne had to admit the company of Galain and his lovely family was a pleasant distraction from the grim nature of their quest. His wife, a friendly, warm woman named Mika, was thrilled to receive the queen and her friends in the Caretaker’s wing of the Keep.

Meanwhile Galain gave Arianne an account of all the news in the region. Working in concert with the elves of Eden Halas and the newly returned dwarves of Iridia, they had been driving Balfure’s goblins back into the Wilds. Since the dwarves had reclaimed their cities beneath the Starfall Mountains, the goblins were being forced to return to their former enclaves in the Cinder Mountains.

When asked why she was travelling, Arianne explained that with the impending birth of her child, she wished to see the places of her childhood before it became to difficult to travel.  Thus she was taking the opportunity to see Eden Halas, Barrenjuck Green and Eden Taryn before the swell of her baby’s growth kept her bound to Sandrine indefinitely. Mika who had given Galain a houseful of children, was sympathetic and Galain
was more than happy provide his queen with whatever she needed to continue her journey.

They left the Winter Keep the next morning and while he invited them to stay longer, Galain understood Arianne’s need to depart. He provided them with a trio of fine palfreys to make the overland trip past the Iolan Falls since it could not be crossed by river.

A boat ferried them from the Keep to the Eastern Shore with Celene mindful of everything the instant they set foot on dry land again. Although Galain had assured them the goblins were no more a plague in this region, Celene was not anxious to see him proven wrong with Arianne in such a delicate state.