Prince Thalon reached the Court hall just before sunset, after telling Fraka to stay away for the night. He entered the room and took his place at the oval table.
“Good evening, Prince Thalon,” said Lady Kaila, his mother’s half sister.
“Good evening, Lady Kaila.”
“Good evening, Thalon,” said the next person to enter, “and Kaila, you are both early.”
“Lord Khoras, you are very informal today.”
“The only ones here are my daughter and grandson, I will be formal when the occasion calls for it.”
“Good evening, Lord Khoras,” replied Thalon belatedly.
“Ah, and here is Lady Thela,” said Khoras.
“Greetings husband, daughter, nephew,” said the woman who was Thalon’s grandmother's half sister.
“Good evening, Lady Thela.”
“Am I late?” gasped the newest arrival a few minutes later.
“No, Princess Zella, the Queen has not yet arrived.”
Thalon’s aunt Zella smiled gladly, as she sat down.
“Greetings all,” she said politely.
“Greetings, Princess Zella,” said Thalon.
“And here is my daughter,” said Zella.
“Greetings to you all,” said Princess Tarla, Thalon’s cousin.
“Greetings, Tarla.”
“Good evening,” said Princess Orlana, the queen’s aunt, as she entered the room.
“Good evening, Princess.”
They greeted her just as the Queen and her Consort entered the room.
“Good, you are all here, no need to stand, let us begin.”
She and Dellan took their seats at the table.
“First; Dellan and I would like to announce the impending birth of our first child, whom we will name Danileala.”
When the congratulations from around the room had finished the Queen spoke again.
“The second item is far less joyful; our informants in the City lands, and our own Priests have told us of a great evil abroad in the world.”
“What evil is this?” asked Khoras.
“Evil Gods threaten our world, and minions of Chaos seek the only artifacts capable of protecting us from the first evil.”
“Blessed Goddess!” exclaimed Princess Tarla, the youngest member of the group.
“Indeed, now you may notice we have some extra seat at our table on this day.”
“We did,” agreed Khoras.
“May we know why?” added Kaila.
“We have guests,” said the Queen slowly.
“Outsiders?” said Thalon, as both statement and question.
“Indeed, my son.”
Leadrya opened an antechamber door with a wave of her hand; in the room were a group of cloaked figures.
“No panicking please,” Leadrya cautioned them. “I present to you; Prince Calin of the City-Folk.”
General exclamations of disbelief echoed through the chamber, as the Prince drew back his hood.
“Good eve to you all,” said the tall black haired Elf. “I am pleased to be here, though I wish it were under happier circumstances.”
“Good Day,” said Dellan calmly.
“Good eve, Prince Calin,” said Thalon. “I also thank you for the information you have been giving us.”
“It has been my honor, and was the request of my sister, the Princess Corinna, for whom I speak.”
At a gesture from the Queen Calin took the empty seat next to Princess Tarla, who smiled prettily and openly admired his exotic looks.
“Our next guests join us from the mountains of the north.”
Leadrya decided it was best to deliver all the shocks at once, two small figures, cloaked in feathers stepped out of the shadows.
“Princess Haliya...” The black haired, slightly taller girl smiled. “...and Lady Nhiladi, both of the Sky Dwellers.”
“The winged folk?” exclaimed Kaila.
“Yes, we are, Milady,” agreed Nhiladi, stretching out her cloak, which was actually a set of wings.
‘It has begun’ thought Thalon with a smile.
“Greetings,” stammered Khoras, “pray join us.”
“Our thanks,” the two winged women sat down on backless stools.
“Any more surprises niece?” asked Princess Orlana caustically.
“Lady Illuri, representative of the northern alliance, and Queen of the Unians.”
Another cloaked figure left the antechamber, and drew back her hood to reveal pure white hair and deep brown eyes.
“I am most grateful for your welcome, and greet you in the name of the Unians, the Pegasi, and the Centaurs.”
Without giving the others a chance to speak, either in greeting or protest, Leadrya introduced the next guests.
“Greet also, Prince Vakio and Lady-Priestess Luna D’Marigold of the Human Realms.”
“You invited humans?” exclaimed Orlana.
“It seems, Prince, that our welcome is less warm than even you predicted.”
“So it seems, but that doesn’t really matter, the Goddess‘ Will is our concern.”
As a matter of politeness, the human pair also removed their hoods and sat down. Luna had brown eyes and braided blonde hair, Prince Vakio light brown hair and blue eyes.
“We are pleased to greet you all,” said Vakio graciously.
“And you will be shown every courtesy,” replied Leadrya. “Our last representatives whose name we do not yet know, though presumably that will be rectified. Never the less, we welcome the representatives of the Wild Elves.”
‘Father, I guess,‘ was Thalon’s first thought.
“And I thank you,” said the Elf, not removing his cloak. “I am Kandarsen, son of Thoransen, of the Wild Elves.”
“Greetings, Kandarsen.”
“And to you, Thalon Prince of the Forest, and to you Leadrya Forest Queen.”
“Thank you,” said Leadrya, far more calmly than she felt, the main reason she had called the meeting was because the Wild Elves had contacted her. “And who is your companion?”
There was a smaller figure standing just behind Kandarsen, who was only about six feet tall, himself.
“Jhenna, daughter of Salia, also of the Wild Elves, and the child of my father.”
“Good eve to you all,” said Jhenna politely, the visitors were confused by the shocked reactions of the Forest Elves.
“Jhenna, who has been a student here?” asked Leadrya hoarsely.
“Yes, your Majesty.”
“My student to be more precise,” said Thalon, smiling at Jhenna.
“Former student,” corrected Jhenna, “and here on behalf on my people, whom I have known all my life.”
With this statement, she admitted that her people had deliberately lost her and had been using her as a spy ever since.
“Well,” said Leadrya, dismissing the information as the far lesser of two evils, “you are both welcome, please sit.”
That was the Queen’s way of indicating that nothing was to be said on the matter in the Council.
“We have information that you may not yet be aware of,” said Kandarsen bluntly.
“If we may first tell you what we know,” suggested Leadrya, “then if your information is new you can share it.”
“Very well.”
Leadrya repeated the prophecy and the visions as they were told to her, the assembled Elves and others were silent as they listened.
“We too have had such omens,” Lady Luna informed them, “though not the prophecy.”
“I believe I can interpret some of the prophecy,” said Lady Illuri, “if we follow logic, it may be presumed that one member of each race will be Chosen for this Quest: a Unian, a Pegasi, a Centaur, a Human, A Wild Elf, a Forest Elf and a Sky Dweller.”
“Your logic is flawed, Madam, there is only one race of Elves, we have merely diverged into three branches.”
With that statement from the Wild Elf Prince, the other Elves in the room erupted into shouts of denial and protest.
“Silence please,” said the Queen, slamming her hand onto the table.
“I believe you are correct then, My Lord Prince,” agreed Lady Illuri, “there will be only one Elven representative. The question is who is who? The names are cryptic to say the least.”
“It is obvious that my cousin is the Prince of the Forest,” said Princess Tarla.
“Surely, our Prince is not content to be a mere companion to the Gods’ Chosen ones?” protested Princess Orlana.
This comment provoked another shouted argument, this time between every person in the room, except the Wild Elves who if anyone had been calm enough to notice, were quite amused. A loud bang, Kandarsen’s staff hitting the wooden floor, echoed through the room.
“Perhaps, before you decide your Prince’s fate for him, you will listen to what my sister has to say?”
“What could a mere child know of such things?” sneered Princess Zella.
“Indeed a great deal, madam, else I would not have brought her along!”
“Speak, Jhenna,” said the Queen, “if you have information that will help.”
“As you wish, Lady Leadrya.”
Jhenna ignored the gasps at what was considered a great lack of respect towards the Queen (referring to her by her first name).
“If no one wants to object to this ‘mere child’ speaking in such well-born company?”
“We’d prefer you to remove your hood,” said one of the winged girls, Jhenna nodded and drew back her hood.
Her dark red-brown hair had been tied in numerous small plaits, each ending in a small silver bead. Her pale skin and dark grey eyes were emphasized by dark green powder on her eyelids and a black dusting on her eyelashes - she certainly didn’t look like a child to those who had never met her.
“If I may continue? Our people have known this prophecy for many years, over this time with have divined some of the names that match the titles.
Prince Calin is the Forest Prince, his sister the Princess. Their mother is the Poison Queen and Prince Vakio is the Prince of Mortals.”
“Me?” exclaimed Vakio. “But I’m just-”
“My companion,” interjected Luna, “and I have already been told that I was Chosen.”
“Yes, Priestess of Mashaina, you are the Eldest’ servant.”
“How do you know all this?” asked Princess Tarla suspiciously.
“What are you suggesting?” the Wild Elf Prince demanded.
“It just seems terrible convenient, is all I’m saying.”
“Your opinion doesn’t matter to me, ‘Princess’, you do not have to believe me.”
“Tarla, that will do,” reprimanded the Queen. “Lady Jhenna’s information is the best we have, and it correlates what we already know, please continue.”
“We have also identified the Sky Daughter and the Princess of Air, rather conveniently they are the Sky Dwellers who sit among us now.”
“So it is all preplanned,” mused Haliya, “for our own Priests gave us the message to come here.”
“Indeed,” agreed Jhenna, “that is the way of Prophecy.”
“Do you know if our Ladies have Chosen?” asked Illuri.
“The Lady of the Sea, the Star watcher and the Daughter of Light.”
“One of my titles is Lady of the Sea!” gasped Illuri in shock.
“There you have it,” said Jhenna, “it must be an urgent prophecy for it to be coming together like this. Do you know of any among the alliance who might fit the other titles?”
“Princess Illinka of the Pegasi has been called Daughter of Light, and Princess Yelanna of the Centaurs is a noted astronomer - a star watcher in fact.”
“So more of the riddle is solved, that just leaves; Demon’s Maid, Wild Maid, Lord of Earth, Chaos’ servant, and Fire Master.”
“I believe I know who your Demon’s Maid is,” said Luna, “Princess Shrina, Vakio’s sister, has long been suspected of worshipping the Goddess called the Demon Queen”
“I have traveled to many places,” said Kandarsen, to the surprise of the Forest Elves who though their ‘cousins’ were so attached to their wild lands they never left. “The only race I know of that could be called Earth Lords are the Dwarfs, who mine the lands across the sea.”
“So we may presume that he will be found across the sea,” said Illuri.
“I would like to know who our enemy is, this ‘Chaos’ servant’,” remarked Prince Vakio.
“I can tell you that,” replied Jhenna. “His name is Vyran.”
“What?” exclaimed Leadrya and, surprisingly, Calin.
“You know of him?” said Khoras to Calin.
“Yes, he visited our court for several months, spent a lot of time with our mother, he claimed to be a Priest.”
“Vyran is no Priest,” said Thalon in disgust, “he is a Demon-Elf, and my half brother.”
“And indeed a Priest of the Chaos’ God,” corrected Jhenna. “He seeks to claim the Amulets of Kotanu for his God, for they are the only means we, and our Goddesses, have of defend ourselves against an invasion of Chaos or any other evil God.”
“That just leaves the Wild Maid and the Fire Master,” said Vakio after a while.
“Prince Thalon is the only Fire Mage among the Forest Elves - his Master in the Art passed on some years ago.”
“I also believe I know who the Wild Maid is,” said Thalon, smiling.
“Oh, and here I was hoping to surprise you all,” said Jhenna, “but, as the Prince has guessed, I will play the role of the Wild Maid and guide him through the lands of my people, for the borders of the City Elves land are warded against Forest Elves.”
“Our father was less than happy when Jhenna told him,” added Kandarsen.
“Adamantly opposed, I’d say,” interjected Jhenna.
“But, as always, our lovely lady was able to convince him.”
“Of course, as I was right.”
“We are not restricted by the wards you mentioned,” said Haliya, “but we should decide on a place to meet.”
“As a native of the human Realm, I suggest the Port City of Tannen,” said Luna, “it's the only place we can cross the ocean from.”
“I agree,” said Illuri, “what do you say, Prince Thalon?”
“It is fine, but for now and until this ends, be careful for the dangers we face are many.”
“Those who walk on two feet are not the only ones who can see that which has not yet been,” said Lady Illuri with an amused smile, “but you are young, so I will forgive your improper assumption.”
“I meant no disrespect, Milady, but the danger is very real as you know.”
“Indeed, I do. The hand of Chaos is well hidden, I suggest we speak no more of this Quest among those who are not Chosen. I mean this in no disrespect to the august ruling council of the Forest Elves, but if there is no further business, I must away to my home land.”
“Does anyone wish to speak before Lady Illuri departs?”
“May we see your other form? Your Highness” asked Lady Kaila quietly.
“Easily done, for so gracious a request.”
Illuri stood up and walked to the side of the room, her figure blurred and glowed, when the light faded; a tall horned horse with delicate silver hooves stood in her place.
“Bid you all Good Eve,” ‘said’ the Unian, vanishing between one breath and the next, the two Wild Elves rose from their seats.
“My sister will return for you, Thalon, when the time is right.”
“I understand.”
“Who are you to tell my nephew where he will or will not go?” exclaimed Princess Orlana, “you’re nothing but a pair of scruffy swamp rats!”
“Aunt Orlana, if you can not speak civilly to our guests, then pray do not speak at all.”
“I apologise, your Majesty.”
“We bid you good eve,” said Kandarsen, ignoring the insult, “Jhenna will return at the time of the next full moon.”
“Of course,” agreed Thalon.
“And I thought my full brother was economic in speech, forgive me Elder brother I have wronged you!”
“Jhenna! Do try and be serious for just one day.”
“A whole day, Kandarsen? Very tricky,” replied Jhenna, laughing as they left the room.
“We too will leave now,” said Luna, “we’ll see you in the Port City. Oh, and you might want to try and disguise your less than human features.”
“Do not worry about that, Lady Luna.”
“Travel well, and be wary of strangers on the human roads,” said Prince Vakio, handing Thalon a small gold coin. “This is a lesser royal seal, if you are stopped by royal guards, show it to them and they will release you.”
“Thank you.”
“May we too have a token to allow us passage through you lands, Prince?” asked Haliya.
“Of course, Princess, we brought enough with us for those who need them.” He handed a seal to the winged girl.
“I thank you, and bid you all good eve, we will leave while the full moon is still high enough for us to see our way. We thank you, Queen Leadrya, and your council, for allowing us to be here.”
“It was our honor,” replied the Queen, the four foreigners left the room together, leaving the Queen alone with the council.