Part XII: Convening the Elvin Council
General Olcarlamon
“General,” the tall Nordic elf bowed to me as he came into the chamber. “They are both safely in the Erime.”
I nodded, “Good, good. Now keep that a secret… at least for now.”
“Do you wish for me to bring them out sir?” he asked.
“No, definitely not. We are not prepared to deal with the king… I mean to properly guard the king.” I quickly backtracked. It would not do for my soldiers to see me as disrespectful or uncaring that our king had arrived. I had done my best to make sure the youth didn’t return to the Elvin kingdom until after he came of age… Oh well, it’s not like I hadn’t anticipated this time coming, and at least we did get him to his eighteenth birthday. Had it happened before, well…
The guard bowed again and backed out of the room. The Nordic elves were much more formal than the rest of us. Of course, they were the oldest clans, many still in areas seldom visited by humans. The old ways were still very much alive there.
I thought a moment about sending the young king there, but then thought of the Elvin Council. The last few councils, the last one held over a hundred years ago, had many elves wearing black. The symbol that said they believed we should do as the humans have done and do away with the monarchy.
I doubted Milo would be safe there… at least not without a further disguise…
Another elf slipped through my front door. I smiled at my companion Litlebeiah… The woman was half my size, being born in the southern shores of Antarctica. The tribes from there were stunted for elves, for even we can’t live in that level of cold, without some evolutionary consequences.
Litlebeiah, or her nick name Little Bay, as all the young elves forced on us, had been my companion for as long as I’d been a soldier. She used to take great pleasure in kicking my ass… now… now she was my most beloved elf. My companion. Had we not been soldiers, I’d have long ago convinced her to be my wife; but "soldiers don’t marry” she kept insisting, until I finally gave up and accepted us for what we were and always would be. Not that soldiers couldn’t marry, but Litlebeiah didn’t want to give up that much power. She was a fierce warrior, even in our advanced years.
I sat down, pulled out the dreaded quill and using the sharp edge cut the tip of my finger. Litlebeiah came over without prompting. The quill demanded two elves to activate it. It was an ancient failsafe to prevent coups, supposedly, although I still wasn’t sure how having two king’s guards blood to activate the council’s quill prevented anything.
As soon as the quill broke her skin, it began to shake, then to light up with the yellow light that showed it was active and ready to write.
King Repratian has returned to the care of the Elvin Guard to take his rightful place as king of the elves.
If anyone disputes this claim, I hereby activate the call for the Elvin Council so as to protect the Elvin people from any potential coup, civil war, or other action which would put the Elves in undue danger.
Signed,
Olcarlamon Nactabastian,
Head of the Elvin Guard under King Repratian Milonium Debotious
I dipped the end of the quill into sand and left it to stand on its own until a formal response was made by Atticon’s guard.
I dreaded what this meant, we’d avoided the intrigue, known but unseen spy network, and overall insanity related to the inevitable war as long as young Repratian had been hidden away. Things would most certainly change now and certainly not for the better.
***
Join us next week, when Milo learns just what kind of sacrifices the elves are making for him.
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