Fluid - 35

Though the phrasing of Zosime’s greeting had been typical, the tension in her shoulders was far from it.

“I hope my staying here hasn’t caused you any problems, Zosime.”

Zosime shrug came with a wary smile. “Only that many expect me to know answers to all their questions about you.”

“My apologies; that could get frustrating,” I offer.

“I pointed out that it’s hardly like a noble to share information, let alone a noble Elf,” says Zosime, and she snorts when I sputter a protest. “You can protest their beliefs if you’d like, but I’m not sure they’ll listen. Serene spread word about that assembly of elven nobility, with their fancy guards and fine words, and saw the satisfied look you wore. I’m not sure anyone believes you’re not a noble, no matter what Nikias says on your behalf.”

“Nikias and I told them your ability to create things has them after you, not a title,” adds Phile.

At my groan, Nikias smiles helplessly. “I told them no ruler has awarded you a title, nor have you inherited one, but they take her word over mine. Since I'm oath sworn, I'll obviously pass on whatever story you want to give. Are we going out this morning?”

“Sorry for making trouble for you, Nikias. No morning excursions for a couple of weeks, Nanoĸ and Alfarr are both worried about the impact of your classes, so more training for you and Myrto,” I announce and motion him to pass the stack of bowls. “Phile, did you want time to focus on spells today?”

Phile secures the bowls from Nikias and holds out the first. “What else are you up to?”

“I’ll be seeking information on my guests from other viewpoints,” I explain, and start dishing out breakfast. “I’m sure they’ll tell me the truth from their perspective, but I’ve already seen their view and reality don’t mesh completely. I’d ask Yngvarr, but I think his bias is simply different, not absent. I need to know what is going on with them.”

“Like your attitude towards wealth, I think everyone’s simply biassed differently,” notes Phile, handing the first bowl to Zosime. “Why do you need to know the truth so badly?”

“Because they want favours from me, and I don’t want to give them anything until I learn if I’m going to make a mess,” I admit, with a rueful smile. “While helping this village is one thing, they want favours on another scale. Grand Master Hasusar has already pointed out practical gaps in my upbringing that I’d like to fill.”

The admission earns me a look of surprise from Nikias, but Phile nods. “Do you need someone watching your back?”

“I’m not planning to go anywhere dangerous; it was more an offer in case you wanted to see new places,” I explain.

She grimaces. “As much as it would be interesting, I’d best study with Ipy and gain some useful combat spells. Where do you plan to go for your information?”

Handing a bowl to Phile, I consider the options while filling one for Nikias. “I’ll start with Malicondëa today.”

“Where’s that?” asks Nikias, taking a piece of flatbread and some cheese from Phile.

“It’s the capital city of the Taurë; I’ve at least one friend that lives there. Hopefully, she can point me to the right people to speak with,” I explain, wafting Nikias’ porridge over and resting it on the step beside him.

Phile’s brows lift. “At least one?”

Busy filling my bowl, I offer her a shrug. “I know three people who spend time there, but two could be away from the city; it’s been a few months since I spoke to either. Elleth has been there for three years teaching novices, so she should know some people. Alfarr said people were tense and worried when the elves showed up. Can you tell me what was said?”

They fill me in on the villagers’ concerns and, to some extent, paranoia over breakfast, and my initial plans for a few of the Royal Guard get shelved.

Soon we’re cleaning up, and I send Elleth a Message.

“Elleth, would it be okay if I came by today? I have questions about the Andúnë and am after an outside perspective.”

The Spell I used was a waiting version of Message, but from the speed of her reply, she must have listened to it immediately. Her invitation came with directions, and I sent a confirmation.

“Elleth has time this morning, so I’ll see if I can talk to the village elders this afternoon about the gateways,” I say and wave them farewell.

Though I’d only seen the glade once through a Gate, a Greater Teleport put me there without any issues. High on the valley’s lip, it gives a grand view through the canopy of the giant trees, each wider than the Guildhall’s length. The branches support flexible platforms designed to grow with the tree’s expansion; between them, living wood staircases and skyways ease travel through the city. Scattered magical flowers, luminescent lichen, and fungi provide enough illumination that any Elf can see, though humans would be stumbling in the dark.

The forest’s energy entwines with the wards helping maintain their magical protections. While the Andúnë spellsingers use their ritual magics to empower wards separate from the trees, the Taurë enhance the magical energy within nature, and help bring it forth. The same spellsingers encourage the growth of the trees to form the platforms, stairs, and skyways.

When I start down the path, the attention of the valley’s sentries drift over me. Deep within their territory’s patrols, and wearing the traditional garments of the Taurë, there are no challenges, just the low clicks and night bird calls of acknowledgement and welcome. Returning their signals, I walk steadily, enjoying the scent of the night-blooming flowers, and looking for the stairs tucked off the path. I'm midway to the river when I find them and continue following Elleth’s directions.

After three laps around the goliath tree, I hear the first giggle and a glimpse of wings reflecting rainbows. A curve in the branch beneath the first platform serves as a perch for a trio of tiny fey, looking like miniature elves possessing reptilian eyes and dragonfly wings, some eight centimetres tall. Their hair shifts in hue despite the consistent blue glow from lichen, whose growth has been strategically encouraged to help illuminate the stairs. When I raise my hand to wave, they disappear, their glamour enfolding them so thoroughly that even the glow illuminates the branch they’re still sitting on.

“She’s new,” whispers the nearest, and I listen to the glamour trying to shift the words into a leaf’s fluttering noise. “What tricks to play?”

“I might be new to you, pixie, but not to others.”

My words cause them to twist away, shifting entirely into the Shadowfey beneath the surface of what mortals see. Not quite a Plane, merely a shadow cast by the Material Plane, its a place inhabited solely by the fey, their beast-kin, and those that would risk travelling in their lands. It seems they didn’t like my trick of brushing past their glamour.

Continuing, I spot what had drawn the trio’s attention—they’d been watching a group of children playing on a higher platform. The group runs along the platform’s lip, despite the drop, counting on the air barrier to nudge them back on course. The eldest of the half-dozen would be my age, at least, but she only comes up to my floating ribs. Midway through her run, she deliberately pushes herself off course, planting a series of steps up the invisible barrier before somersaulting to land back on the platform to the soft tongue clicks of praise and glee from her peers.

Though they think they’re daring and breaking all the rules, I catch the music of observers poised to intervene at need. Turning, she spots me watching and tilts her head with a smile as if she’d been merely standing there all along. Still a few turns of the stairs and a skyway apart, I’m too far away to talk to without raising her voice, so her fingers flick a greeting in elven hand sign. The motions cause the youngest to stiffen, realising someone has spotted them. Even while I acknowledge her, the group oh so innocently drifts toward another skyway, and the observers reposition to follow.

Four levels up and fourteen skyways later I reach mother’s temple, though the living motif outside—formed from the bark—looks like Amdirlain. Elleth stands on the platform outside, the breeze fanning out her vibrant crimson locks that have grown into a veritable curtain in the years I’ve known her. Her Dryad heritage shows in her curvy figure—buxom with well-rounded hips instead lean like all the other elves I’ve met.

When I reach the landing, she wraps me up in a hug and spins around; her curtain of hair covering us both.

Laughing, she plants kisses on my cheeks. “Gail, it’s so good to see you.”

Her delight warms me through and eases my tension, the change letting me know how much I’d missed my friend and teacher. “And it’s good to see you too, Elleth. Have you been well?”

“Teaching agrees with me, as I found with you,” replies Elleth happily. No sooner have the words left her lips than the smile wavers a fraction. “Where are you guards, young lady?”

Her motherly tone has me rolling my eyes. “I’m old enough to take care of myself now. Remember, I’ve had three years of fighting and practice since you left? You could have stayed and adventured with me.”

Elleth winces. “No, I’d had enough of that lifestyle before I met your parents. I’ll leave it to those wanting to live on a knife’s edge.”

“Each person’s choices are their own,” I quip and get Elleth’s eyebrows to lift.

“Goodness, has my Goddess finally convinced you to see things her way?” asks Elleth incredulously.

“Elleth!”

The protest gets another laugh, and Elleth gives me another quick hug. “What are you up to that you want to know about the Andúnë?”

After putting a barrier in place, I smile sheepishly. “I started working on my project in the southeast. A few things happened, and now I’ve got a bunch of Andúnë guests who know some things about me but not as much as they think. I’m trying to better understand their culture, not just the formal etiquette stuff I learnt.”

Elleth’s hands lift to her mouth. “What do they know?”

“Relax, I put a barrier in place to obscure sight and sound. I said I was conceived by a Solar, and it was only with a strong enough parentage that other Anar might be born, but most Anar Souls have left the realm.”

“Conceived by a Solar, but born to a Goddess,” corrects Elleth. “There has been no uproar about another Anar being found, and the word spread about Julia quickly. Who among the Andúnë turned up?”

“I didn’t speak about my birth. My guests include representatives of the King and various factions. They turned up with a contingent in the hundreds, and while I’ve sent most of them home, there are still eighteen left.”

“Will you be speaking to their majesties?”

“I wasn’t intending to talk to the Andúnë when I arrived on this world,” I admit.

“I’m sure that boulder has already started a landslide,” laughs Elleth.

Her words get me thinking about the other flow-on I’d been avoiding. “I should speak to them and Isil court. Do you know anyone at the Taurë court?”

“I’ve occasionally met with the representatives of faiths that attend court,” replies Elleth. “Though he’s a High Priest of the Lady of the Forest, he ensures all matters brought to his attention are raised promptly.”

“Would you speak with him and ask if they’ll have time to meet with me this morning?”

“I’ll let him know it’s important that we meet with him,” says Elleth before sending off a discreet Message mentioning only an important visitor.

“My mother and aunt are the important ones,” I observe, even though the Message is already gone.

“You cast a shadow of your own, Gail,” corrects Elleth casually, though her amber gaze darkens momentarily in concern.

“I try not to,” I sigh.

Elleth pats my shoulder and motions for me to go inside. “As does your family. Shall we sit, and you can fill me in on what’s gone on? Aren’t you ahead of schedule? I thought you planned to wait until you were twenty-five?”

“If I got too strong, it would cut off the opportunity for locals to contribute,” I explain and pause to take in the temple’s interior.

The curve of its dome has an organic texture making it feel like being inside a giant seed pod. Along the outer wall and freestanding on the main floor are artworks dedicated to my mother and Amdirlain. One that has my aunt using her body to shield others from a devouring inferno while darkness snatches at her feet grabs my attention. Moving closer, I take in the details that the artist included: the strain and fear around her eyes look odd to me, but the determined set of her jaw matches her so well. Though it’s a dramatic representation of the trap Apollo laid, I can’t deny its impact.

“That might be part of your reason, will you share the rest?” asks Elleth. Her gaze doesn’t shift from me even while I study the artwork.

“I’m not sure I know all of it, which is itself part of the reason. It’s hard to see what’s inside myself when I’m in someone else’s shadow all the time,” I admit. “Ironically, I’m still partly in their shadows because I messed up.”

Elleth shows me through the side rooms and makes tea for us both. She listens so well I think she’s a Grand Master in it. Growing up, I never once caught her distracted or looking away when I wanted to talk about something. My mother can’t help but be partly elsewhere with the hopes and dreams of worshipers whispering in the background, and while my father focuses on the individual pieces, sometimes I don’t think he gets the complete picture. Elleth always stays in the moment, listening and taking in whatever I’m sharing.

The timing of my arrival means I have to pause my account for the morning’s services. It surprises me when a few hundred elves gather within the chamber. Only a few linger with requests, showing it wasn’t a particular need that brought the majority to the service. Elleth pours us fresh tea after she’s done breaking a duo of nasty curses containing the tones of a spiteful Fey and the cleansing of a lingering toxin.

“I missed my big sis,” I admit when I’m done bringing her up to date and explaining the drama I’ve managed to cause.

“Why didn’t you let me know?”

“If you’d come back, you’d have been tempted to stay,” I point out. “I know why you left—I was grown enough to work with the combat teams. It had become clear you needed to draw a line in the sand before it was tempting to stay on the heavenly planes for a decade or twelve more.”

“It wasn’t just your change in circumstances; I realised I enjoy the teaching, and you no longer need me in that role. You had the best wizards and scouts around to teach you, and your aunt to teach you singing,” notes Elleth. “Really, by the time you were two, you likely didn’t need me around the place.”

“They all see things differently to you, no one else would have taught me to cook or how to look at other cultures so I could appreciate them instead of just going, well, you stink.” I quip.

Elleth barely suppresses her smile. “You always did have a delicate nose. I’ve only been to some Slavic villages, but I can’t imagine a Greek village is cleaner. Do you have something cooked up to improve that yet?”

“I think I’ll make them a dwarven sewer system, but that won’t help the animal manure in the street,” I admit.

“Maybe you should have someone teach them how to make them, then they can build it themselves and appreciate the effort,” suggests Elleth. “After all, does it need to happen overnight?”

“No one appreciates sewers; they’re out of sight and out of mind. I intended to make the road in the village to minimise the disruption—wouldn’t digging tunnels for sewers be worse?”

“I’ve no idea, you’d need to talk to an expert. Whatever approach you take, make sure you plan it out with the village council,” cautions Elleth. “You’ve seen plenty of coves and roads in other places, but just because it works in one place doesn’t mean it’s what the locals want. I can’t imagine anyone wanting a dwarven road here, yet I know you like them.”

I held in a laugh because the irregularity of the path down the valley had given me the itch to improve it. “I’m a strange Elf.”

“But you’re a perfectly normal Gail,” counters Elleth before she reaches out to pat my hand—a familiar gesture I’ve missed.

“I’ll try to ensure what I’m organising will improve their lives before I just do it,” I say, smiling at her. “I did prepare plans for Androkles’ review and adjusted them based on his feedback. Though he had no objections about the overall theme, I would have made a plain wall if he’d asked.”

“I wasn’t aware that the Human kingdoms had become so hostile to an elven presence.”

Momentarily wrinkling my nose stops her. “It’s not everywhere. Eyrarháls was fine; some folks were almost too friendly. I got a dozen offers to buy my evening meal.”

I’m about to say more when a new song suddenly arrives beyond the outer door, and I tilt my head towards it. Elleth has only partly stood when a duo of knocks echo in the kitchen.

Elleth beckons the newcomer inside and motions towards me. “Calaer, I’d like to introduce you to Gailneth. Gailneth, this is Calear, High Priest of Titania and currently the religious representative at the Taurë Royal Court. Gail is who I wanted you to meet, Calaer.”

The newcomer is taller than my standard form at maybe one ninety centimetres, and his lean body makes him look still taller. His skin isn’t as dusky as Elleth, more in line with a well-tanned Human, and the green tinge common to the Taurë are continuous swirls that run from the corners of his eyes and disappear into his shirt. The warm reds and ambers of his multi-layered vestments and clothing are similar to priests of Titania I’ve met on other worlds.

“Well met, Gailneth. Elleth’s Message was vague, which isn’t what I usually receive from her regarding matters to raise. What is it you need help with?”

“Seeking aid isn't why I came to visit, but an issue came up in our discussion on other matters, so I asked Elleth to introduce me to someone from the Royal Court. She contacted you as I need some advice about approaching their majesties.”

“The Royal Secretary handles appointments. I can introduce you to his assistant,” offers Calaer.

“I’m not looking to meet with them in private and would prefer to meet them without announcing myself in advance or requesting an appointment.”

“Yet this isn’t the reason you came here?”

“The Andúnë court approached me, and I’m currently hosting representatives from a few factions of their court. I came to seeking Elleth’s advice about how I can get a better perspective on the Andúnë people. I'm trying to avoid their internal bias, so I'm looking for insights from Taurë and Isil sources.”

Calaer frowns momentarily and makes an enquiring gesture towards a seat. When Elleth smiles and fixes him some tea, Calaer sits along the table from me and contemplates me silently; as he settles himself, I see the mental wheels racing in his gaze before he speaks. “Might I ask what this matter is about?”

“I’m not a Taurë, so I don’t feel it suitable for me to turn up on open court days; that might not be something they’d appreciate.”

“What species are you? And why would you be seeking to speak with their majesties?”

“Politeness, but it’s a balancing act. I can't be seen to have asked for an audience, especially after I made the Andúnë court come to me. Also, I don’t want a repeat of a delegation of hundreds showing up,” I explain, and Calaer’s gaze grows confused.

“It might be best to show Calaer your form, Gail; it will cut down on the questions and having to dance around each other.”

“I prefer not to shock people when they don’t deserve it, Elleth,” I grumble.

“It’s not an unpleasant experience. Calaer meets with celestials regularly. I’m sure he can handle you,” Elleth says, and she giggles brightly. “Well, at least in small doses.”

“Thanks,” I drawl.

“You’re welcome dear,” replies Elleth, and leans across the table to pat my hand reassuringly. “Just show him.”

The colour bleeding out of my hair as my skin and eyes change, has Calaer’s jaw drop. “Another Anar?”

At his strangled whisper, I almost shot Elleth a ‘you were saying’ look, but I cut it off. “She technically isn’t an Anar since she’s not biologically alive. She’s dealing with that whole curse trap thing still.”

“How do you two know each other?” Calaer asks, and he motions between Elleth and me to clarify the question.

“We met through Elleth’s work serving Lerina,” I explain, and the diplomatic response sets Elleth giggling. “Hush you.”

“Not the full story, I take it?”

“Gail’s answers are hers alone to choose, but she told you so politely to mind your own business,” explains Elleth. “After all, would you intrude or enquire on someone else’s religious duties?”

“No, especially not when they serve a different Goddess,” replies Calaer, still looking taken aback by my presence at the table.

“Don’t worry; I don’t bite.”

Elleth smiles but merely sips her tea.

“Might I not simply tell them where you’re currently residing?”

“The Andúnë court and its factions sent hundreds and scared the local villagers.”

Calaer gives a sympathetic nod at my tone. “Where are you residing?”

“I’m presently staying at a village called Apollo’s Reach in what used to be Crete—the locals tend to avoid using the name.”

“What if news of your presence here was to reach the court?” asks Calaer curiously.

“I am here talking to my friend about the Andúnë. How am I to help what other people do? I most certainly won’t be cutting my visit with her short for anyone,” I reply haughtily before I give him the slightest of winks.

“Indeed, friendships are important, and time with friends to be treasured, so I hope I’m not intruding by asking if I might linger.”

“Not at all; perhaps you can help fill in some blanks for Elleth and me. While I know customs, I lack some historical perspective of Vehtë’s elves.”

“I could certainly reschedule some of my meetings to allow more time for such discussions; it’s best to give advanced warning to some people,” offers Calaer with a mysterious smile.

“That would be kind. I’m sure you’ll have to send a few messages.”

His first Message asks for rescheduling of tomorrow’s appointment with their majesties since he’s unsure when his meeting with an Anar at Lerina’s temple will conclude. I feel the scrying Spell touch the room and look directly at its focal point—it barely stays in contact for a beat.