Audriul turned to Laliera, “Please, honored Laliera, accept our apologies for the baseless slander our former colleague has leveled at you. I assure you, the majority of our people do not hold such views of you, or your people.”
Laliera’s voice piped up, from surprisingly far behind me, making me turn. “I understand, honored speaker. Were I to be honest, many of my sisters on the plains share similar distaste to you who live in this great forest.”
Laliera, Diamiutar, Tavorwen, and Amura were backed up against the wall of the floor of the amphitheater. They were looking at me like I was a live grenade and they were hoping they were outside the blast radius.
“Fuck, what happened?” I breathed quietly.
They joined me again in the center of the amphitheater. Tavorwen looked at me with a mixture of amusement and concern.
“If you plan on bursting into flames once more, please warn us.” She prodded.
“Burst into… Damn.” I muttered.
Seems the boon of elemental control was more volatile than I had understood. I wondered what I had looked like, standing there, flaming, as I stared down the bitch who had dared to slander my matron.
Fuck, I probably looked like the cover of a fucking comic book. I wasn’t trying to be a fucking comic book character, but fuck, it just sort of was happening. I kinda hated it. I hadn’t liked comics when I’d been on Earth, and barely watched any of the superhero movies, because when you saw the harsh realities of life and knew how real war actually was, the pretty little bits that Hollywood threw together just didn’t hold up.
It took a few minutes for everyone to settle down now that Oliphinar had been expelled. Once they had all settled, they all seemed to immediately pretend that nothing had happened. Staves, hands, and such were raised casually, and the elders sat, waiting to be acknowledged.
“Are there any questions for Master Thomas?” Audriul began again. “Elder Leathra, you are acknowledged.”
The elder matron that rose seemed far more detached from all that had gone on. Maybe it was because she had sat opposite where Oliphinar had, but she didn’t seem to have twitched through all the commotion.
“Master Thomas, you stated that you received two boons.” She began, “What were those boons?”
I went to answer, but Laliera stepped forward. “Perhaps I can answer. In discussion with my… fellow matrons… it has been realized that Master Thomas’s translation magic is not perfect.”
Audriul nodded. “Thank you for your assistance.”
Laliera swallowed, “When Noriva and Elglathar appeared, they offered one boon each. Elglathar offered Master Thomas a boon of endurance or stamina. Then Noriva offered a boon of magic. She stated that the elements would obey his will.”
“Were those the words of the goddesses?” Leathra asked. “A ‘boon of endurance’ and a ‘boon of magic’?”
“Yes. It was a boon of endurance. Not a boon of ‘endurance’, or a boon of ‘endurance’ or a boon of ‘stamina’. And a boon of magic, not a boon of ‘magic’ or a boon of ‘magic’ or a boon of ‘magic’.” Laliera assured her.
I sighed to myself. I needed to find time to learn the elven language. Fuck was it frustrating, hearing Laliera speak, and seeing her mouth move for different words, but hearing the same word each time. I knew I was missing a lot of information that was just… lost in translation.
Leathra nodded and sat.
“Your words have been heard.” Audriul moved on. “Eomniva, you are acknowledged.”
“Master Thomas…” The Elder Priestess rose, choosing her words carefully. “You have been given many matrons from the daughters of the High Elves. Your unions with our daughters were blessed by X’Thallion himself. While Noriva and Elglathar, of course, endorsed your union to their daughter… What led you to believe that X’Thallion endorsed this action?”
I blinked. “Are you suggesting that X’Thallion only claims the High Elves as his daughters?”
Eomniva shook her head. “Of course not, but… each bloodline has been given certain gifts, and as the bloodline that summoned you, and received his blessing to bond with you… what leads you to believe that you had permission, from X’Thallion, to bond with daughters outside the bloodline you were already bound to?”
“Um, How much were you told about my bonding after my first congress of maidens?” I countered.
“I was told that X’Thallion appeared and blessed your union,” Eomniva answered.
“Gledril, would you relate to what actually happened?” I asked.
The Elder Matron who had performed that bonding stood. “Well… X’Thallion did appear and he did bless the union, but I think what Master Thomas is speaking to is the fact that… He was not alone. All members of the Enlightened Hosts appeared, save for Ya’av, or Yavoria as she was known, and Govarinta, formerly known as Golera. Abarith bestowed her blessing in addition to X’Thallion, and Mythrin extolled his value as a master. But all the Gods and Goddesses were there in support.”
“There you go,” I confirmed. “And… it wasn’t only the fact that I wasn’t presented by X’Thallion to my High Elven matrons, but by the patron gods of ALL the elves to my ELVEN matrons. But after Amura was… given to me… to start the Respite, I was drawn back to the temple, where I met with X’Thallion alone. Then I returned to the temple, just Amura and me, to help her begin to adjust to her new life, where we met with the thirteen members of the host, except for X’Thallion.”
These revelations made quite a stir, but I wasn’t done yet.
“During these visits, X’Thallion made it clear to me that I was here to help all the elves, not just the High Elves, but all of his children. The rest of the Host were of the same opinion.” I informed the Elder. “And the gathering even said that if together, Amura and I could not free her kin from Ya’av’s clutches, she would be tasked with restoring her lineage… and I don’t see any way that happens unless I take her as a matron. And if Noriva was okay with me taking Amura as a matron, and none of the others objected, I don’t see how I could reasonably think that I was in any way restricted to the daughters of the Wood Elves as matrons.”
Eomniva sat, and I could see that when the elders once again raised hands and staves to request the chance to speak, far fewer were raised.
I turned and smiled at my entourage and noticed Amura, staring wide-eyed at me in shock, the blood drained from her face making it a lighter blue. For a second I wondered why then it hit me.
She hadn’t made the connection. She had heard Noriva say she would have to restore the lineage, but she hadn’t realized what that meant and what it entailed. For a woman just told she’d have to bear my children, and a lot of them, unless her kin forsook the path that their Goddess had put them on, she was showing remarkably little emotion. And from everything I’d seen and heard, the shadow elves abandoning Ya’av was very unlikely.
“Your words have been heard,” Audriul repeated. “Weilkeir, you are acknowledged.”
The elder who wore a caster’s robes stood. “Since at this point, it is hard to contest the validity of your decision, and the correctness of it is in little doubt… My query would turn to the future. What is the step you would have us take next?”
It was a good question. The Wild Elves had been the easiest to reach, so it had made sense to go and visit them first.
“I think the Mountain Elves will be the next easiest to reach, so they’re probably the next logical choice,” I noted.
“I would caution that perhaps that is not the best choice.” Weilkeir disagreed. “Not only are their mountains treacherous, but… I fear that if you were to visit them before making peace with the Cloud Elves, their mood may sour and it may make it far more difficult to win them to our side.”
“Uh… why’s that?” I retorted, feeling out of my depth.
“I do not know how much you know of the history between the Cloud Elves and the Mountain Elves, but long ago, they lived together in the mountains, sharing their home.” Weilkeir began. “No one knows what caused them to turn on one another, but the Mountain Elves drove the Cloud Elves from their mountains. It was then that Evenshtara taught them how to bind and build with them, and their cloud city was born.”
I nodded. That matched pretty well with what I had been told.
“However, it did not take long for the Mountain Elves to regret this course of action, and they have long sought forgiveness from the Cloud Elves. The Cloud Elves claim to have forgiven the Mountain Elves, even blotting the cause of the conflict from their records. The Mountain Elves are often still plagued by a sense of guilt about the history between the two lineages. Even when the Cloud Elves used magic to try to purge memories of the conflict from the memories of the Mountain Elves, it did not remove their feelings of guilt. Those two actions however are why no one knows why the conflict took place.” Weilkeir continued. “But given their feelings of responsibility for the wellbeing of the Cloud Elves, I highly doubt they will be open to any outreach before the Cloud Elves have declared their allegiance to us.”
I nodded. That made sense.
“I can agree with your logic. So you’d want me to go to the Cloud Elves next?” I verified.
“Yes. The Mountain Elves will be difficult to sway without the Cloud Elves on our side, and frankly, we will need to make serious preparations to be able to go to the Sea Elves.” Weilkeir explained.
“Okay, but… won’t it take a lot of work to go to the Cloud Elf city? Or is there a simple spell that could carry us up to the clouds?” I wondered.
“Well… it will take effort indeed to prepare to reach the clouds,” Weilkeir confessed. “But a simple ring can compensate for the thin air, that high in the atmosphere, and a single vessel could carry you to the clouds. It will take far more to allow you to breathe underwater, move underwater, and not be at risk and vulnerable underwater. Bows, swords, and many such weapons are far less functional underwater, and many spells are difficult if not impossible to cast underwater. Where such techniques are still completely usable when in the air.”