we believe the tylor's lair is located. Are there volunteers?'
Porthios was the first to speak. 'I will go, of course.'
The Speaker hesitated as he beheld his elder son. Lord Xenoth, silver robe swishing in his agitation, interjected, 'Are you sure it is wise for the heir apparent to be exposed to such danger, Speaker?' Porthios tensed and flushed deeply, and sympathy shone on the Speaker's face.
'My son is about to go through his
Porthios eased his stance and flashed a look of barely disguised thankfulness at his father and an equally strong glare at the adviser.
'Then I will go, too. To protect him,' Xenoth rejoined, pulling his frail body into a vengeful stance. Tyresian laughed, joined by several courtiers, and turned away.
Now it was Miral's turn to interrupt. 'With all respect, Speaker,' the mage said, unfolding his arms from his sleeves, 'I think the hunt should be restricted to the young and the strong, not the elderly and infirm.'
Flint felt a wave of irritation. As much as he could live without the crotchety, stranger-hating Lord Xenoth, it was unlike the mage to be so cruel in public-especially toward a long-time member of court. Xenoth opened his mouth to protest, but the Speaker silenced his adviser with an imperious look and a quietly spoken, 'I will not turn down volunteers, Miral.'
Xenoth stared daggers at the mage, who looked impassively back.
Selena poked Ulthen in the side, and that lord volunteered nervously. That prompted Litanas to speak up as well. Soon a half-dozen other courtiers added their names to the list. Suddenly, Hint felt Tanis stir at his side. 'And I, Speaker,' he called.
'Tanis!' protested Laurana.
'Tanis?' echoed Flint, more quietly.
'What better way to try out my new sword and arrowheads?' Tanis whispered to his friend.
Lord Tyresian, coldness emanating from him like a chill from the marble walls, glowered at the half-elf. 'It's bad enough that I must have a useless old man in my troop, but a half-elf?'
That was enough. 'And a dwarf, as well, Lord Tyresian,' Flint chimed in.
What happened then might have been funny under other circumstances. The elves between Flint and Tyresian parted and drew back, leaving an unbroken stripe of unoccupied floor between them. Elf lord and dwarf engaged in a brief stare-down, until Solostaran's resonant voice drew all eyes back to him. 'I accept your offers, Master Fireforge, Tanis.' When Tyresian opened his mouth to argue, the Speaker said simply, 'I am Speaker still, Lord Tyresian.'
'What do you suppose
Tyresian was quick to back down. 'Very well, Speaker. You know best, of course.'
When no other voices were forthcoming, Tyresian told the volunteers to meet at the palace stable one hour after dawn the next day. Then he turned and faced the Speaker, and the rest of the courtiers followed his lead.
It appeared that the moment had arrived for the major announcement.
'All of you know, of course, my daughter, Lauralanthalasa Kanan,' Solostaran said. 'And you know, as well, that the time when she will no longer be a child is not so far off. It is right then, that her future should be made clear, to her and to all of us, and so I've chosen this day to make that so.'
He held out his hand, and Laurana stepped to his side, her green dress whispering as she drifted across the floor, her hair shimmering like molten gold in the sunlight as she came to a halt before the rostrum. She curtsied gracefully to her father, and then to the courtiers. Laurana gazed out over the crowd and located the half-elf, a questioning look in her green eyes. Flint felt Tanis shrug beside him, and he wondered what was afoot.
Turning slightly so he could see Tanis's face, Flint noticed Tanis watching Laurana intently. He looked troubled and fidgeted with some small object in one of his hands, but Flint couldn't see exactly what it was. Laurana appeared as much in the dark about what exactly was going on as the rest of the courtiers did. Tyresian alone seemed confident; Xenoth's wrinkled features looked unrelievedly disgruntled.
The Speaker smiled at his daughter, but it seemed a sorrowful expression, then he turned his gaze back toward the courtiers. 'It has been the longstanding honor and joy of my family to count among its closest friends the Third House of Qualinost. Indeed, it was the Lord of the Third House who lent me the strength of his hand in the dark years following the upheaval of the Cataclysm, and so helped me assure the continuance of the peace we cherish here in our homeland.' The courtiers nodded; they knew that.
'At that time, the Lord of the Third House-whose name I may hold only in memory, now that he has stepped beyond the edges of this world-had a young son, and in my gratitude to him, I promised a great gift for that son. The son of the Lord of the Third House stands among us today, and you know him now as the lord of that honored house himself: Lord Tyresian.'
The tall, handsome elf lord, resplendent in a tunic the color of dark red wine, bowed deeply to the Speaker. Too deeply, Hint thought to himself, if there could be such a thing. It was only that the gesture had seemed more of a show, rather than an act of sincerity.
'Speaker, I thank you for calling me forward on this joyous day,' Tyresian said. He cast a sideways look at Laurana, but the elf woman seemed hardly to have noticed him. Her eyes were on Tanis.
The Speaker nodded at Tyresian and then lifted his arms, as if he were encompassing both the elf lord and his daughter. 'I give to you, then, an occasion for celebration,' he said in a voice as clear as a trumpet's call. 'For on this day, it is my duty and pleasure to announce the great gift that was granted Lord Tyresian long ago. Let all the people of Qualinost know that, from this day forward, the hand of my beloved daughter, Lauralanthalasa, is betrothed to Lord Tyresian of the Third House, until such day as the two be joined as husband and wife.'
A whispered gasp ran about the chamber, followed by scattered applause that gained rapidly in strength and volume. Tyresian seemed to glow before the courtiers, but Flint saw that the Speaker seemed exhausted. Miral had stepped onto the podium-an action against protocol-and he appeared to be surreptitiously supporting the Speaker, preventing him from stumbling. The mage cast a dark glance at Tyresian.
Flint cast a hurried look at Tanis, but the half-elf seemed hardly to be marking the furor around him. He only stared glassily forward, clutching the small object, the one he had been fidgeting with, tightly in one of his fists.
'But…' Laurana said, and stopped. Her need to express herself clearly battled with her deference to court decorum and her love for her father. 'Why didn't you tell…?' She faltered and grew silent. The applause ended abruptly, and a tenseness descended over the Tower.
'I thought…' Laurana tried again and looked desperately toward Tanis. 'But we made a promise long ago…'
The courtiers, some looking shocked, others pleased, still others merely fascinated by the turn of events, began to swivel to gaze at the uneasy half-elf.
Tyresian looked annoyed but unworried. Porthios narrowed his eyes and glared at the half-elf. The Speaker's face held a worried expression; little is as important to an elf as honor. Laurana continued to watch Tanis beseechingly.
Tanis suddenly blinked, as if startled. 'Oh, no,' he said, so softly that only Flint could hear.
'Is this so, Tanis?' the Speaker asked. 'Are the two of you promised, without my knowledge or approval?'
The half-elf looked around wildly. Only Flint's eyes held any sympathy. 'I…' he said. 'Yes, but…It was long ago…'
Flint edged closer and caught his friend's elbow with one strong hand. 'Gather your thoughts, lad,' he hissed. 'Or be silent.'
But Tanis stammered, 'We were children… not serious. I thought so, anyway.'
Laurana gasped, then slipped quickly from the chamber, not meeting anyone's eyes, her slippers tapping against the floor. Tyresian followed.
Court, needless to say, quickly came to an end.
Chapter 14
