at the beginning and tell me what exactly has brought you back to Faerun? I doubt you'll have any luck with the others of the company, but I am with you, Araevin.'
Despite the gray skies and winter chill, the gardens of the royal palace in Leuthilspar were green and lush. The gardens of Moonflower Palace were said to be blessed by the Seldarine, and Seiveril could well believe it. He had never asked Corellon Larethian the truth of the tale, but some myths did not need to be examined, did they? He chose to simply admire the perfection of the palace grounds without permitting himself to wonder how it was done, and followed the palace chamberlain through the green maze.
The chamberlain led him to an ivy-covered arbor beside a still, dark pool.
'Your majesty?' the young elf called softly. 'Lord Seiveril Miritar is here.'
Queen Amlaruil stood by a stone balustrade at the far end of the arbor, gazing absently into the water. Her long, dark hair was bound in a simple braid, and she wore a plain but elegant dress of green felt not much different than any elf lass might have worn to visit a friend for an afternoon. For a moment she seemed just a pensive young girl in a garden, no more than twenty or thirty, but when she glanced up, Seiveril felt the full weight of the starry wisdom in her dark eyes.
'Thank you, Dremel. You may go,' the queen said.
The chamberlain bowed and withdrew. Seiveril murmured a word of thanks as well, and crossed the arbor to bow deeply a short distance from the queen.
'You sent for me, my lady?'
'Oh, stand up straight, Seiveril. You've known me far too long to genuflect like that.'
'As you wish,' the nobleman said. He joined Amlaruil at the rail and studied the setting. 'I don't think I've ever been in this corner of the garden.'
'I come here often,' the queen said. 'The garden has a way of guiding my thoughts, suggesting answers to questions I haven't asked yet. I feel Zaor's hand here.'
Seiveril nodded. He could, as well. King Zaor Moon-flower, Amlaruil's husband, had ruled Evermeet well for hundreds of years. But he had died at the hands of a sun elf assassin more than forty years before, leaving Amlaruil to govern alone. She had ruled well and wisely, too. In fact, Evermeet might have fallen to Kymil Nimesin's treachery and invasion three years past, if not for Amlaruil's firm leadership and personal courage. But the tale of Zaor and Amlaruil's centuries-spanning love and devotion to each other was known to all Evermeet.
'I have seen the Gatekeeper's Crystal, Seiveril,' she said. 'Not clearly, mind you. Someone is working hard to deflect our divinations. As you feared, our enemies assembled the three shards of the device and used it to undo a powerful, ancient ward.'
'Where?' Seiveril asked.
'I do not know the place. It was a rocky tor surrounded by a great woodland… I saw that much. I think it was an old stronghold of some kind, broken open by the power of the device.'
'That seems ominous, to say the least.' Seiveril frowned. 'We should send word to Evereska and the other realms in Faerun, warning them. Maybe your vision will mean something to them.'
'There is this: My divinations also revealed that the crystal has again been scattered. '
'Thank the Seldarine for that. Evermeet is safe from that threat, at least.'
'Perhaps,' Amlaruil said, 'but who knows where our enemy's road now leads? I will not consider Evermeet safe until we have at least one of those shards back in our hands, and I know exactly who wielded the device and where.'
'I can answer that question, at least in part,' said Seiveril. 'I have communed with the Seldarine, and I have a name for our foes: the Dlardrageths, the daemonfey. Araevin's report of the raid on Tower Reilloch reminded me of the old stories about the Dlardrageth palace in Myth Drannor. It seems that my suspicions were well founded.'
'Who are they?' Amlaruil asked.
'A House of sun elves who were influential in ancient Arcorar. They trafficked with demons for the power to seize control of that realm, but were found out. The Coronal of Arcorar destroyed their House, but some escaped to ancient Siluvanede, where they lured a number of lesser Houses into evil, as well.' Seiveril spread his hands. 'Supposedly they were dealt with in the Seven Citadels' War. In any event, I can find no more mention of them in any records since that time.'
'Siluvanede fell five thousand years ago,' the queen observed. 'Do you believe anything could vanish so completely for so long?'
'Evidently they did. I cannot explain it. Perhaps even the Seldarine do not know their tale. But I am certain that we are dealing with the Dlardrageths, or their heirs.'
Amlaruil nodded and said, 'Very well, then. We will find out where they are hiding, we will recover what they have stolen, and we will root out this ancient evil.'
Seiveril sighed and looked up from the still waters of the pool to meet Amlaruil's gaze directly. Even though he was a full four centuries in age, and a high priest of Corel-Ion Larethian, he did not find it easy to do.
'Even that will not be sufficient to secure Evermeet's safety, Amlaruil,' he said. 'This time it was the Gatekeeper's Crystal. Three years ago, it was the treachery of Kymil Nimesin. In a year, or two, or ten, it will be something else. We withdrew all our strength from Cor-manthor in the Retreat and virtually abandoned Faerun to whatever fate the other speaking peoples forge for themselves, and still evil follows us here. Whatever refuge we have found here is little more than a temporary reprieve from the workings of the world beyond.'
'I know that, Seiveril,' Amlaruil said wearily. 'I cannot walk in this garden without remembering the day Zaor died here. But what would you have me do? Even if I could undo the Retreat and open Evermeet's shores to the world outside, there are those on the council who would rise in open rebellion if I were to make the attempt.'
'Durothil and Veldann. And their allies.'
'You named them, not I,' said Amlaruil. 'Nor will I name them, unless I must. Sun elves comprise half of Evermeet's people, and almost a third of the sun elf Houses are in Durothil's camp. I must take great care when I act against the wishes of the powerful Houses on the council.'
The queen sighed and turned away from the pool, moving over to take a seat on a nearby bench of marble.
'In all fairness,' she said, 'I must concede that the isolationists possess a persuasive argument. Less than five years ago, we boasted more than two hundred high mages in Evermeet. But Kymil Nimesin's attack on the Towers of the Sun and Moon, and our expedition to aid Evereska against the phaerimm two years ago, cost us dearly in this irreplaceable resource. We have fewer than eighty high mages today. Evermeet is weaker than it ever has been.'
Seiveril studied her.
'I presume that you will soon call the council together to relay your findings about the Gatekeeper's Crystal,' he said finally. 'So why did you send for me, my lady?'
'Because I think you are right, Seiveril, but I may not be able to act on our common conclusions,' Amlaruil replied. 'Evermeet cannot exist in isolation from the rest of Toril, but powerful voices will be raised in opposition to anything we do to act on this belief. If I ignore them, I court disaster. I want you to know that even if I must remain silent in the debate to come, I do not disagree with you.'
'What is it that you see coming?' Seiveril asked. 'The crystal was taken from an elven tower, by creatures who were once elves,' Amlaruil replied. 'I do not know what evil purpose the Dlardrageths have in mind, but I am certain that it will fall to us to oppose it.'
Fires danced and guttered amid the ruins of Myth Glaurach. The snow-covered buildings echoed with the sounds of ringing hammers and hissing steam. More than two thousand fey'ri soldiers, the legion imprisoned for five thousand years in the Nameless Dungeon, camped amid the ivy-grown stones of the long-fallen Eaerlanni city. Armed with powerful magic, fey'ri sorcerers worked furiously to repair the city's ancient ramparts and prepare deadly spell traps against any possible attacker. Other demonblooded elves were busily engaged in refitting the prized arms and weapons of the ancient Vyshaanti-another of Nar Kerymhoarth's buried secrets-for the fey'ri army. Hundreds of fey'ri scoured the lands nearby, foraging for food and searching diligently for signs of enemy spies.
Sarya Dlardrageth was pleased. She stood amid the broken rubble of the fallen grand mage's throne room,
