He glanced at Aedan and grinned. “I should have thought you would have learned that one before, with Ariel.”
Aedan scowled. “Apparently, I shall never hear the end of that,” he said. “If it weren’t for you, I might have been paying closer attention that day.”
“You mean it was all my fault?” asked Michael innocently. “It wasn’t my shield she hooked, nor was it my skull she nearly cracked.”
“As I recall, it was someone else’s skull that was very nearly cracked,”
replied Aedan dryly.
“Yes, well, I will concede that we both took our share of lumps that day,” said Michael with a grin.
Sylvanna finished her third match by beating her opponent, scoring a light cut on his forearm. They saluted one another, and both left the practice ring.
As two other fighters took their places, Sylvanna came back to where the two boys were sitting. There was a slight flush on her face from her exertions, but otherwise, she looked none the worse for wear.
Aedan had grown tired merely watching her.
“I owe you an apology,” he said as she came up. “I held back because you were a woman, but even at my best, I would have proved a poor match for you.”
“Well, you are young yet,” she replied. “Doubtless, if you practice diligently, your skills will improve with time, as mine have.”
Aedan frowned. “You cannot be much older than I.”
THu IBON THRONE
Sylvanna curiously cocked her head at him. “I don’t know. How old are you? It’s difficult to tell with humans.”
“I am eighteen,” he replied.
“Ah. Well, I am somewhat older.”
“Indeed? You do not look it.”
“Let me think….” she said, frowning slightly. “By human reckoning, I believe I would be in my fifties.”
Aedan’s jaw dropped. “Yourfifties?” he said with disbelief.
“By elven standards, I am still a mere child,” she replied with a smile.
“And most of the people you saw practicing today were younger still.”
“You said ‘by human reckoning,”’ said Michael as they started walking back to Gylvain’s home. “Do elves reckon time differently?”
“It is not that we reckon time differently,” Sylvanna replied, “for being immortal, the reckoning of time does not concern us as much as it does you. But the difficulty lies in the fact that time often passes differently for us than for humans.”
Aedan frowned. “How can that be?”
“I cannot say,” Sylvanna replied with a shrug. “I once asked my brother that same question, but he was not able to account for it, either. It seems no one can. But in the elven lands, time appears to pass differently for humans. What may seem like a few hours to you while you are in Tuarhievel may actually be days on the outside, and what may pass for weeks while you are here may actually be years in human lands. This effect on humans seems to increase the longer they remain with us, so it is difficult for us to reckon time in your terms.
At best, we can but estimate its passage.”
“You mean that if we remain here for a week or so, a year or more may pass back in the empire?” asked Michael with astonishment.
“It is possible,” Sylvanna said, “though by no means certain as far as anyone can tell. We once had a human trader remain with us for several weeks, studying our crafts. when he returned to his village beyond the Black River, he discovered that eight years had passed, and everyone had thought him dead. On the other hand, when traders have remained with us for only a few days, there has been no noticeable difference when they returned, except for one man, who found that he returned a mere hour after he had left.”
“It sounds like magic!” Michael said.
“Perhaps it is,” Sylvanna replied. “Gylvain seems to think so. He believes something happens when enough elves gather together in one place, but he cannot say how or why. It may have to do with our being immortal, or with the way we practice magic, or perhaps there is some other reason. Anyway, no one knows for sure what causes it.”
“So then the longer we remain here, the more likely that a great length of time will pass back in the empire?” Aedan asked in a worried tone.
“That would appear to be the case,” Sylvanna said.
“Then the longer we remain here, the more time Lord Arwyn has to strengthen his position, if I understand correctly,” Aedan said with concern. “I did not realize this before. why didn’t someone tell us this?”
Sylvanna shrugged. “Doubtless because you did.
not ask. But there is no reason for alarm: there is a way this effect may be counteracted. My brother explained to me once.
It is not without some risk, of course, but it has been the way your message has been sent back to Anuire.”
“How?” asked Aedan.
“Through the Shadow World,” Sylvanna said. “A halfling took your message back to the capital city of your empire. In this same manner, when it is time for you to leave, a halfling guide will take us. He will open up a portal to the Shadow World and we shall travel through it to reemerge into the world of daylight at another place and time.”
“You said, ‘a halfling guide will take us,”’ Aedan said. “Will you be coming along with an escort to take us back?”
“No, I shall be returning with you,” she replied.
“Gylvain and I are both going with you to Anuire.
Prince Fhileraene wishes to be kept apprised of how events unfold back in the empire.”
“You mean he wants someone with us to look after his interests,” Aedan said.
“Does that seem unreasonable to you?” she asked.
“No,” Aedan replied, “of course not. We owe Tuarhievel much, our lives included, though it is your brother who
