Even Biat, his best friend. He had expected better of him. But then he always expected better of everyone except himself.
He was the one who always prevaricated. He was the one who should have been questioning this whole business.
But he wasn’t doing so here. Why was that?
The question almost stopped him in his tracks because he had no answer. He experienced a momentary sense of stepping over a line, of making a decision that he would look back on for a long time to come. But his anger and his forward momentum kept him going when common sense and second thoughts might have turned him around. He had stomped away with such finality that going back now would be the same as crawling back, and he wasn’t about to do that.
Stopping to debate his reasons for accepting on faith what the Ellcrys had told him was pointless.
He couldn’t explain it because his commitment to the Ellcrys transcended reason or argument and went to the heart of his service as a Chosen. He couldn’t speak for the others, but that was the way it was for him.
What the Ellcrys had told him this morning had only strengthened his determination to fulfill his obligations to serve and protect.
Why am I forsaken?
The words chilled him. It was an accusation he could not ignore.
What he couldn’t understand was Erisha’s failure to act. Why hadn’t she agreed to talk to her father? It was almost as if she was afraid to approach him about it. He couldn’t think of any reason for that, but he didn’t pretend to know everything about their relationship, either. He supposed being the daughter of the King carried with it a set of built-in problems, the kinds that were always hidden from the general public. His father and mother had certainly had their share of troubles with Arissen Belloruus. It shouldn’t seem strange that his daughter might have a few, as well.
Still, she had been adamant about not speaking to him.
Again, he almost stopped and turned around, a small whisper warning him to watch out. But his mind was made up.
He passed from the gardens into the surrounding trees and walked uphill through homes that might easily have been mistaken as part of the forest if you were looking at them from a little farther off. Elven cottages and huts burrowed into the earth, formed extensions of the forest old growth, and sat like nests in the trees. They were like spiders in their webs—you had to be close and you had to be looking to spot them. Even the trails Kirisin followed were virtually undetectable, reworked and rerouted on a regular basis to avoid giving them away. Elves had learned long ago to walk lightly in the world.
Of course, walking lightly didn’t solve all the problems of the world, especially in these times. Not everyone shared the sensibilities of Elves.
Sickness and decay had penetrated even here, a direct consequence of the poisons injected into earth, air, and water by humans everywhere. The fallout from their wars had spilled over into Elven homelands, as well. The Elves knew about healing, but there was only so much anyone could do. Until now, the Elves had fought back using skills mastered over countless centuries, but their efforts were beginning to fall short. The poisoning was too pervasive; it had penetrated too deep. Without the use of the magic that had sustained them in the time of Faerie, they were fighting a losing battle.
Even Arissen Belloruus, famous for his optimism and insistence on Elven ingenuity as a solution for all things, must know this.
The Belloruus home sat astride a heavily forested hilltop; its rooms and passageways were worked deep into the earth so that virtually the whole of the rise was wormholed. There were numerous entrances and exits, dozens of light shafts and windows, but none that were visible until you got close. All were heavily guarded. He was still fifty yards away, coming up the incline toward the main entry, when the first of the Home Guards intercepted him. The Home Guards were the King’s personal defenders, an elite unit formed of Elven Hunters whose specific duty was to protect the royal family. He was known to the pair who challenged him, and so he was allowed to pass. He went in through the main entrance, announced himself to the personal aide on duty, and was directed to take a seat along with several others who had come in ahead of him.