In that peculiar, disjointed way of dreams, he and the woman suddenly stood in a jumbled landscape of fractured, snow-encrusted boulders. The low ceiling of gray clouds overhead spit flurries of stinging ice crystals down upon Ashinji’s head. As he watched, the woman’s expression slowly changed from sorrow to fear. Darkness bled from the rocks, slowly coalescing into a massive black shadow that loomed over her. A palpable air of menace flowed from the shadow, and the woman shrank from it in terror.
He always awoke in a sweaty panic, the woman’s screams echoing in his head. Unable to return to sleep, he then spent the remainder of the night staring at the ceiling of his bedchamber, trying fruitlessly to wrest some comprehension from his tired mind. Nothing he had ever dreamed before had carried the sense of urgency of this particular dream. He instinctively knew that it presaged an event that would radically alter his life, but whether for good or ill… that wisdom remained hidden from him.
A stray lock of hair, the color of honey, fell across his face, and he pushed it back behind one ear. A hound barked off in the distance. The fly, or possibly its kin, returned to buzz in an annoyingly persistent, erratic flight path around his head.
He rose to his feet, dusted off the seat of his breeches, slung the bow over his shoulder, and headed for the gate.
“ Youngest Son! There you are. I need to go over some things with you.”
Ashinji, still damp from the bathhouse, came to sit at the massive oak table that was the central feature of Kerala Castle’s main hall. Ashinji had always liked this room for its stark simplicity. The whitewashed walls, unadorned save for the family crest above the flagstone fireplace, sturdy oak furniture, and darkly polished wood floor, gave the hall a feeling of unassuming grandeur.
“ Father,” Ashinji replied, pulling out a chair and seating himself across from the Lord of Kerala.
Lord Sen Sakehera had been a soldier his entire adult life. Multiple gold service rings adorned both ears, and a very large diamond glittered in the lobe of his right, a symbol of his rank as Commanding General of Alasiri’s armies. He had served the royal house of Alasiri for nearly ninety years and was the present king’s oldest and closest friend. He ruled over Kerala with a firm, yet compassionate hand, and his people loved him.
Despite his exalted rank, Lord Sen was a humble man -a simple soldier, he’d say, who just happened to have the ear of the king. Today, he was dressed like a gentleman farmer in a plain, unbleached cotton tunic, baggy breeches, and sturdy leather sandals. He wore his tawny hair in a soldier’s braid, which reached almost to his waistband.
“ Do you wish to discuss the wedding, Father?” Ashinji asked. “I assure you, I’ll have the Ritual of Welcoming completely memorized by the time I have to perform it.”
“ Oh, that. Bloody thing’s still eight weeks away, but you’d think it was tomorrow if you listened to your mother. May The One preserve us!” Lord Sen rolled his eyes. “No, no wedding talk. Something much more serious.”
“ What could possibly be more serious than my brother’s wedding?” Ashinji asked, a touch of sarcasm coloring his voice.
“ Hmm, yes. What, indeed,” Sen replied, a tiny smile drawing up one corner of his expressive mouth. “I’ll tell you what, Youngest Son.” He held up a sheaf of papers in one hand. “These are reports from the Saihama River district. Several farms have been attacked within the last month by human bandits coming across the river from Soldara. The local sheriff thinks it’s the work of a single gang operating from a camp near the fords. She has requested that I send a posse to clean them out.”
“ You want me to lead it,” Ashinji stated, leaning forward with interest.
“ Who else but you? Sadaiyo is far too busy being the center of attention as the soon-to-be married Heir, and besides, I can trust you to do the job right.”
“ Father… Sadaiyo is a perfectly competent fighter and quite capable of performing this task,” Ashinji chided gently, “but of course, I will do as you command.”
“ I just hope that this isn’t the beginning of something worse,” Sen said, shuffling through the stack of papers in front of him. He pulled out one that bore several official seals. “This report just arrived from Sendai today. It seems that we out here in the east are not the only ones suffering from human incursions. There’ve been several incidents in the Tono Valley district. Soldaran patrols have been spotted on the Alasiri side of the border, and there have been raids as well. There’ve been rumors that the Soldaran empress has designs on Tono… that she plans on taking it back.”
“ Tono rightfully belongs to us,” Ashinji said. “Elves have lived and farmed that valley for centuries. It was only because the Soldarans invaded and stole it away from us that it ever became part of the Empire.”
“ Hmm, yes, and Keizo the Elder won it back for us at the cost of many elven and human lives. The Soldarans have been smarting over that defeat for a long time. Looks like the empress has finally decided it’s time for her to avenge her great grandfather.”
“ How are the Soldarans getting past the Tono garrison, Father?” Ashinji asked. “I thought that Lady Odata kept her troops vigilant.”
“ She does,” Sen replied. “The humans must use trails through the mountains. It’s very difficult terrain… treacherous, horse-leg breaking. That’s why the raiding parties have been relatively small.” He paused for a moment, tugging at his earlobe, then continued. “There’s something else that’s very disturbing. I’ve a letter from Prince Raidan. He asks if any of our people have fallen ill with a mysterious sickness. He tells of a plague striking border folk, particularly those living close to human settlements. He says that it appears that a human disease has begun to infect elves. All humans die from it, but our people seem to be able to survive, though it leaves them in a terribly weakened state.”
Ashinji frowned with worry. “The nearest human settlement to Kerala is that big castle to the south of us… I forget the name of it, but it’s at least three days ride from here.”
“ Umm, yes. Amsara Castle, seat of the duchy,” Sen replied. “It’s not the duke’s people that I’m worried might bring disease to our folk… it’s those bandits.”
Lord Sen swept up his papers into a neat pile, pushed back his chair, and rose to his feet. He stood taller than average, a well-built man and still fit, despite being well into his middle years. “I want you to ride out tomorrow morning. Take some of the guard with you. Go to Saihama village first and talk to the sheriff. Find out if she knows of any folk in the village or on the outlying farms that have fallen ill of this mysterious plague. Then, find those bandits and clean them out.” His tanned face settled into the hard mask of a man who had come to the conclusion that a terrible calamity loomed on the horizon.
“ I fear the future, Youngest Son. I can’t shake this feeling that war is coming, and soon. If we have to fight, we cannot afford to have our people weakened by illness. The Soldarans have always had an advantage of numbers over us. Without an army at full strength, we haven’t much chance.”
“ We have to believe that somehow, we’ll be all right, Father. What else can we do?” Ashinji rose from his chair. “I’ll leave at first light.” He turned to go.
“ Don’t forget to say goodbye to your mother. I know she’s all wrapped up in this wedding business, but she would kill me if I didn’t insist that you interrupt her for a proper farewell.” Sen smiled wryly.
“ I will, Father,” Ashinji replied. Emerald eyes met gray-green ones in acknowledgment of the unbreakable bonds of love between father and son. “I’ll see you when I return.”
