‘We have an… accommodation with your father and grandfather, but make no mistake in this, the schism between the… two sides of your family is deep. It goes back to the end of the Serpentwar, when my husband refused to intercede on behalf of the Prince of Krondor when a Keshian army stood at the city’s gates, and because of that the Prince, later to be King Patrick, held a deep and abiding grudge against my husband. The Conclave is dedicated to preserving this world, including its foolish rulers, but we put no one nation’s needs above another.’
Jim listened while he ate. As he swallowed the last piece of apple, he said, ‘Am I to believe that my loyalties are assumed else I wouldn’t be here?’
‘More likely you wouldn’t be alive, or at the very least, you never would have been recruited.’
‘Kings come and go,’ said Jim. ‘My grandfather has served four, and the latest is a promising young man, but that doesn’t mean that when the chips are down and the last card played, he’s going to make the right choices.’
‘He has your grandfather at his right hand.’
‘Grandfather is known to be a very wise, very shrewd, and very old man. I say this with affection, for I will miss him when he dies, but unless you can muster another miracle like the one you provided for Lord Erik, it’s only a matter of months, perhaps a year at most, before he’ll need to be replaced.’
‘Your father?’
‘No,’ said Jim. ‘He’s a gifted administrator, taking after his own grandfather, Arutha Jameson, Lord Vencar, by all reports, but he’s not the political animal my grandfather is…’Jim sighed. ‘Once again we face a situation that can only be called dangerous. There has been no continuity in the Western Realm since Prince Arutha died. He was the last true western lord to rule and since then there’s been a series of caretaker rulers, heirs biding their time until they could return to Rillanon and take the throne, and at no time was the interest of the west seen as paramount. The Western lords are fractious and I’ve even heard rumours of establishing a separate nation.’
‘Those rumours are not widespread,’ said Miranda, ‘or we would have heard.’
‘Whispers,’ said Jim. ‘Nothing more or I would have reported it. Trust me when I say had I an inkling of any such movement being real, I would have reported it to my father, and he most certainly would have shared that information with Lord Erik.’
‘Who would in turn have reported it to my husband.’
‘But we have more immediate concerns than the politics of the Kingdom,’ said Jim. ‘Elvandar?’
Miranda nodded. ‘I can take you to the river’s edge, for I have . yet to be granted leave to enter at will.’ She said this as if it annoyed her, but Jim let the remark pass without comment. ‘Stand next to me…’
‘Ah, the boots?’
‘Oh, yes,’ said Miranda. She looked at his feet and added, ‘And trousers that fit. I remember.’
She sent one of the students who had been baking out to fetch the desired items and the boy quickly returned with two pairs of boots, the first of which fit well and a pair of sturdy trousers that were an improvement over what the Captain had given him.
He changed and went to stand next to Miranda. She put her hand on his shoulder, and suddenly they were in a dark forest, next to a river of some size. ‘This ford is swift running, but shallow,’ she told him as he tried to get his bearings. This magic travel took some getting used to, he thought.
Then she was gone.
He took a deep breath and suddenly realized he was without weapons. Knowing he wouldn’t be without company for long, he forded the river. On the other side he stood for a moment, listening, then called, ‘I know you’re there.’
Seconds later two elves appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. ‘Welcome, Jim Dasher,’ said one of them.
Jim took a moment in the gloom, then smiled and stepped forward. ‘Thank you, Trelan. It is good to see you again.’ They gripped one another’s hand, and Jim said, ‘I need speak with your Queen and Lord Tomas.’
To the other elf, the one called Trelan said, ‘I will guide him and send back another to watch the ford with you.’ Then he was off at a quick trot, leaving Dasher only a moment in which to react and catch up with him.
Jim knew from his previous visit that he was going to be running all night and most of the morning to reach the Queen’s court from this part of the Elven Forest, so he let his mind relax and started thinking about keeping up with the indefatigable elf. He had only been on the trail for five minutes when he started thinking of Michele again, and cursed himself for a love-struck fool.
CHAPTER TEN - Summons
BEK STOOD COVERED IN BLOOD.
‘Stop!’ shouted Martuch, his mentor within the Sadharin battle society.