"It is my suspicion," said Aeysla to Val’ha, "that your green curing-light is not so lost as transformed by Om’s blood into the weapon you wielded yesterday."

Eedebee sat down and began to peel herself an orange, having completed for the three early-risers a breakfast of fruits and bread, tomato-juice and dried meat. "The transformation, as I have it from this and other things you have told me, came through your desire to help those you care about?"

"It is possible after a time that the healing-light will return," Val’ha said hopefully, "as did my sight when I awoke. Never has Terr’Sol shone more beautifully than it did this morning!"

"Still it is a pity," said Aeysla. "Trisahn will recover with the curatives we were able to create from Eedebee’s provisions and my spellbook, but nothing do we have like your magickal leechcraft."

"He was leaving for a quieter life in Apocania," Eedebee said. "Trisahn will carry the scars of Carla’s cuts for the rest of his life, and if there was any chance he was reconsidering his position about Jonathan…It is foolish of him, though – Xorus’ fury will not wane until he has sated himself with not only Trisahn’s head, but Thoryn’s and even your own, Val’ha."

"It has been without any doubt the three of you who have thwarted Xorus’ every move," Aeysla added.

Val’ha fingered her Ring of Oromasus, which still had a few flecks of Trisahn’s blood upon it. "Eedebee, does the High Wizarder possess the craft necessary to remake on his many rings a spell like my father’s, that will offer us a shield from being found whenever Xorus wishes?"

"No. The charm may be purely Elven, or I suspect a wizard of Oromasus’ level might have such knowledge in some book or scroll. Dratted that your amulet was lost at the bottom of the sea with Carla."

"If that is the trade to end her evil," Val’ha said, "then so be it, but I am afraid that Feukpi, and Inez when she is ready, will have their personal retribution to add to Xorus’ vengeance, and so I desire a cloaking spell for more than myself. Remember that upon bringing down the Blue Dragon upon Carla, Tarl-Cabot and you, Aeysla, are apt to be targeted by her family."

"Family! Is that what you call them?" Flegretha entered the galley and crashed upon one of the empty chairs. "After their treatment last night, and that joy-ride in the sea, I daresay they can keep their family! It is little wonder the descendants of Prince Fraher were cast from the throne and forgotten, such wickedness lumbers through the generations to today."

"The only good fortune that comes with Fraher’s bloodline," Eedebee said, "from what I recall of a conversation with Oromasus long ago, is that with each betrothal has come only one child, and from that child only one more before the mother or father or both die. I know of no fate or predestination that haunts them, but it is telling that Inez lives and Carla dies."

"But does that mean Inez is to have her own treacherous spawn bringing their evil another century and another?" Flegretha asked the air. During the silence she poured herself some fruit drink. "Tarnac did not sleep well, and does not now."

"Oh!" the others cried; Val’ha asked, "Is there pallor still in his skin?"

"Yes, and though he sweated through the night, I put him under another blanket, so cold he was like Tropruscht’s carolers. I had hoped it was like a fever and gone with the morrow, but he tries to sleep yet and cannot…" Flegretha’s pain caused Val’ha more regret than ever, for her lost healing-light may have aided him. "It is possible that his heart could have been seduced by the lure of Xorus. Carla did not lie that he found it in himself enough at least to wander from us and mislead them – there is much goodness in my little Tarnac, please believe me – but I think her powder has done something to him that I cannot explain."

"He does have strong character, and I sense the goodness in his heart," Aeysla said, "for he has you, Flegretha, and without you he might not have made it this far."

"He was fairly handy in the maelstrom yesternight," Flegretha returned, a measure of heartiness in her voice. "Very cooperative with the elies that snatched all of us in the water and brought us to your ship, Lady Eedebee." Val’ha remembered her own rescue by the "dreaded elies" as Nopaach-to had called them, and smiled. "I have no idea how or why they came to be upon the island," Flegretha went on, "but for their favor in saving our hides, they may stare at us from the fronds for as long as they care to!" The four of them laughed.

"Yes, and I cannot forget those moments I almost lost control of my vessel! The hole you were in filled with Flooher’ty Sea so that I was able to steady the Bugbear for all of you to swim to me. I dared not hide my ship…Aeysla and Trisahn would not have found their way back to us, nor the rest, but with providence all of us are on our way back home."

"Providence, aye," agreed Flegretha. "Providence that the boulders and stones of the dead Dragons did not fall upon your blessed Bugbear like they destroyed Tarl-Cabot’s Goddess."

"There were many too close," admitted Eedebee, "but by the time Porcie and I helped all of you aboard we were clear of that danger."

"What did it look like?" asked Val’ha. "Before I was blinded, I saw a moonglow of such brilliance that our morningstar would find itself in competition."

"The Dragons’ fireworks rained mud and rock upon the forests and marshes: the whole island was changed, the shoreline moved. I fear the elies and other creatures that survived will have a good deal of work to do to bring back their colonies."

"Humbug," said Flegretha, "at least for the real Dragons that still dwell there, and humbug for the next rainfall that washes away the dirt."

**

Eedebee had set the Bugbear’s course in the night and they traveled without stop, Igar’s strong prevailing wind allowing her to cover much of distance to Denlineil, where Nopaach-to and Andy were to disembark. Val’ha and Aeysla took turns tending to Trisahn, who had regained his consciousness enough to talk and eat. Flegretha brought Tarnac topside for fresh air and he improved greatly during the day.

During their last meal together that late afternoon, the companions shared their adventures with each other and grew in their gaiety and desire for their own lodgings. Their insipirility increased when Trisahn hobbled in, bandaged up and holding his sides, to join them for cheers and toasts to their success on the Island of Dragons.

After the meal Tarl-Cabot pulled Val’ha aside, saying he would meet with Gregarcantz when they arrived in the morning to discuss Tropruscht’s death and Tarlos’ future, "though I will still make sure that Igri knows before our betrothal three days herefrom of my plan to reveal myself to the child."

On Mocrolester 21, Eedebee paid the dockmistress for their day in Denlineil, Porcie and Trisahn electing to keep her company, Aeysla and Tarl-Cabot off to the mayor’s offices and a tearful goodbye from Nopaach-to. "Dear friends," he said in parting, "when you are next in Denlineil, come stay and we will sip wine and talk of these days."

Andy wished for his companions to meet Lady Farron, who lived next door to him in large homes near the docks. "She is from the house of Matrushk, one of the oldest in Denlineil and though I am ashamed to admit it, also once intended to my friend Chalister, the renowned strongman."

Lady Farron’s residence contained more of the brown trim and a greater number of windows than did Andy’s and the others surrounding it, and Val’ha, Thoryn, Flegretha and Tarnac were overwhelmed by the pageantry and pungency of the exotic flower garden that filled her fenced backyard. Behind a rosebush a Woman’s voice sang, "Good morning, Andy the Discoverer!" Farron arose with a trowel. "Back from the grave!" She dropped her tool, wiped her hands on her pants and raced to the open gate to throw her arms around and kiss him. She was almost twenty, Val’ha guessed, with tanned skin, long dark brown hair that streaked light and eyes of hazel.

Farron brought them indoors for tea. In every room were large sprays in vases of flora Val’ha had never seen before. "I notice," Andy said, "your flowers from Azimq’haadrin continue to thrive." Farron escorted them into the front room of her home and bade her servant to prepare refreshments. Windows that spanned the front wall offered a pleasing view of the great river branches and the ships, and Farron invited her guests to plush and cushiony floral couches.

When Andy introduced Val’ha and Thoryn, Farron bowed. "You are they! I have been versed in your every moment and every battle from the Isle of Sipsids." Then she grew confused. "Wait, Andy…did you not on your latest voyage leave on another vessel?" With that they enjoyed tea and biscuits for the next hour while Andy covered the events of the past fortnight – the destruction of the Goddess, his rescue by the Bugbear and all that happened on the Island of Dragons – after which Farron whistled and clapped her hands to her mouth. "My love!"

She went to the window and gazed out for a moment, then held herself and asked the servant to stoke a fire before rejoining her guests on the sofas. "Lady Val’ha, Sir Thoryn, it would seem that sweet Andronicus finds all manner of trouble when he is with the two of you!" The company laughed. "If you ever bring his life to risk in the future, I would be honored to accompany you. I have from my father a magickal axe that will always find its mark."

"We are honored by your offer, Lady Farron," Thoryn returned, "and thank you for your hospitality, but unless we become mercenaries by trade, King Joel’s High Wizarder has no future tasks for us."

"I shall grow bored to return to mere mapmaking," Andy jested, "but I expect my beloved’s heart will rest easier at night!" Within the next few hours Andy and Farron said goodbye to their friends, who met the others aboard the Bugbear and anxious to depart, particularly Tarl-Cabot, nerve-wracked from his royal betrothal two days hence as much as Tarlos.

When in the late afternoon Eedebee and Porcie tied her ship to the southernmost dock in a quiet, almost empty port Moncrovia, Val’ha found herself in tears. Flegretha and Tarnac left first, and they too were bleary-eyed as they embraced in farewells. "The trunks of food you brought are now empty," Eedebee said.

"Keep them, dear captain." Flegretha hugged her. "The irons holding the things together were cast in mandrake and wolfsbane – doubled will be your protection!" Flegretha held Val’ha very tight when they said goodbye. "If we need anything, we will holler and find you," she whispered in her ear. To Aeysla she said, "Good Woman, you possess power far beyond any I have witnessed in a Human for many a year, and I bid you well in using it, for I grieve there is much more to be done."

Tarnac grabbed Aeysla’s hand and jumped up to peck her cheek. "Sweet lady of magic, I will long remember our walk in the Dragon forests."

Porcie determined to retrieve their mounts with Trisahn and Thoryn; he kissed Eedebee’s cheeks and said, "Lovely captain, I have been enchanted this past week from your stories, and will make good on my promise to give you a ship’s cat, for my page watches Nip-helloo more than I!"

Tarl-Cabot agreed to ride with Porcie and Thoryn to the castle when they returned. "Before you leave," he said to Sir Thoryn, "I almost forgot to request that you stand for me at the betrothal."

"Dear Tarl-Cabot! I have been so poor a brother, I do not know what to say."

"Say ‘yes,’ poor brother!" Tarl-Cabot got his "yes" and the horse-gatherers left.

Eedebee went below, leaving Val’ha with Aeysla and Tarl-Cabot. "How was your audience with Gregarcantz?"

"It went very well! Surprisingly well, I think – had always advocated for Tropruscht’s honesty, though he stood by her secrecy these years. Better, he was elated I would be coming for my son. Tarlos has started to ask questions when he sees himself in a mirror and has no pointed ears."

When Porcie and Thoryn returned with Dragonslayer in tow, Trisahn was not with them. Thoryn frowned at Val’ha as he handed her the ropings to her steed. "Trisahn is meeting with Jonathan still and will meet you, he said, at your lodging. From what they spoke of, our mounts were the last business Jonathan had here – his stables were in fact empty but for them, like much of Moncrovia seems to be, when I think of it.

"Trisahn said they leave at first light tomorrow for Apocania."

**

After Aeysla departed, Eedebee determined to bring her travel-worn ship back to peak order. Val’ha felt guilty of her selfish wont for time with Eedebee, though the captain still had to nearly sweep her off the Bugbear. "I will be presentable in the course of several hours," Eedebee finally said. "If you are not at the inns celebrating tonight, please come by to keep me company. I expect if your timing is correct, Lady Frippe will be by to tell me of Oromasus’ need to hear every word of our journey!"

The two of them laughed and Val’ha walked Dragonslayer to his tree, then returned to her cold lodging. She lit candles even though Terr’Sol was in descent and about to flood through the windows. With long care and every effort to keep her emotions at bay regarding both Trisahn’s departure and the end of her ventures, Val’ha unpacked, brought the extra Elven food from Tarnac she had specifically hoarded to the larder, sorted her journals from the trip into the larger collection and laid her writing materials across the dining table to return to her thoughts.

When she was changing from her tunic into a fresh one, Val’ha spotted the Denlineilian money-sack she had left behind on her bed. She smiled, but was sad, for it was the only evidence of her original meeting with Trisahn. She jingled the coins and realized she had never opened the bag to look at them. They were three silvers, on one side the graven image of King Joel and on the other, a rose in full bloom. She brought the items to the table and set them down.

Trisahn returned and Val’ha quit writing. "Have you seen how well our horses get along? Your Dragonslayer almost kisses my horse."

"Are you going to name your mare, ever?"

"Probably not. She will respond to ‘Horse’ as much as she would a name. I will call her ‘Horse’ if that satisfies you."

"Indeed, though one could not accuse you of raiding your imagination for a better one. Thoryn said you are leaving tomorrow at first light?"

"Yes." Trisahn shifted uncomfortably, then sat at the dining table. "I will miss you." His voice trembled.

Val’ha took the money-sack and jingled it, her eyes focused on the cord, unable to look upon Trisahn just then. She stood and hung it around his neck. "There, good friend. It was fortune ill-granted to me – in the end there was no criminal to be captured for such reward." Trisahn caught her wrists and kissed them, then folded Val’ha’s hands within his own and said nothing further.

There were no celebrations that night and the two of them enjoyed a warm dinner together in their lodging. They drank too much wine and Val’ha read from her journals of their meeting and of Thoryn, Porcie and the High Wizarder; Kayleen’s murder and Acrasti’s rescue at Castle Ohrt; the castle celebration and Xorus’ attack on the Moncrovian port; the liberation of the house of Sipsids; their escape from the sky-palace of Aentfroghe and meeting with the Denlineilian mayor; Tropruscht and Carla’s deaths and the end of Xorus’ army of Dragons. "We are full circle," said Trisahn. "Jonathan says that more people are leaving Moncrovia every day, and a pall has been cast upon the betrothal of Igri and Tarl-Cabot. Xorus’ birthstone is still here, somewhere, and its effect increases his own strength tenfold, they are saying, for it is his portal to Terra, yes, but the stone has its own tricks and serves to amplify the dark gifts of others.

"I will be anxious someday to hear what your audience with the High Wizarder brought forth; I do not care to wait for his summons this time. I think him a great bag of wind, to be honest, and we have paid all of the blood in this fight while he hides from us things we should know and conducts his wizard meetings for no seeming purpose. I should like a word with Lath-vecat!"

The next morning Val’ha feigned sleep as Trisahn quietly packed his belongings and left for Apocania. "Goodbye, dear friend," she whispered after he placed his key on the table and clicked the door shut.

**

Val’ha opened her lodging window to let in the sea air, supplied nourishment for herself and Dragonslayer, then spent her morning in bed, her head and body tired, but not from the night’s drinking. The breeze and trees, water, birds and those who lived next door to her at the end of the city provided the peaceful noise that allowed her to continue her log.

Though she expected Lady Frippe, Sir Thoryn or another messenger from the High Wizarder, though she agreed to meet Eedebee the night before but did not, though the midday betrothal of Sir Tarl-Cabot and Princess Igri was only a day away and though the threat of Xorus finding her since the loss of Ma’hadrin’s amulet all hung in the back of Val’ha’s mind, she thought and wrote most about Trisahn and her parents.

As Val’ha recalled the events leading up to the destruction of the Dragon army, still she could not piece together the completeness of the curse upon her family. From what Carla revealed, m’irth Chext’a died from the birth of her child, but I remember my mother, so how can this be? And if somehow Feukpi was involved in Xorus’ retribution, how so? Why did Father not tell me how m’irth Chext’a died, or for that sake how his own end came until long into my own battles with Xorus, and what remains of his curse? What awaits me? With little resolution, Val’ha set aside her writing, gathered some of the gold coins from their Ohrt reward, her Carian axe and Dragonslayer, and set out on foot to explore the city.

Many of the shops were closed, some boarded, and the inns and taverns not yet open. Most of the Dwarves and Humans were glum and kept their heads to Terra unless they were bartering or attending their mounts, servants or wagons, and Val’ha went unnoticed but for a wave here or pointing hush there. The sound of pounding metal from a nearby smithery hit Val’ha’s ears as she strode down the main street, filling her mind with Flegretha and Tarnac, but any desire to see them or anyone she knew really, was so low that Val’ha wondered what was wrong with her, then why she had left her lodging at all.

One street vendor sold an array of fruits Val’ha was familiar with in her time off Carias; she purchased for herself and Dragonslayer pears, apples, oranges and several types of berries. The vendor, a crone whose face was half-hidden by her cowl, took the goldpiece, slipped it into her money-sack and thanked Val’ha before shaking her head. "Wait a moment, how you expect to take home your foodstuff, young Elf? Ah, never you mind, I have here an extra." The fruit-seller reached under her cart to produce a basket that she transferred the fruit into, then gave it to Val’ha. "You are new to Moncrovia, then?"

"Pardon? Yes. Yes, I am, some weeks."

"Wha-well!" The crone snapped her fingers. "You are the she-Elf, are you, come to fight that demon all the town is talking about, they who have not fled. Is it you?" Val’ha nodded. "I have met me one of the great mercenaries then." The crone made a tooth-gapped, satisfied smile. "Have heard many things during the last fortnights of your fights, but tell me, my lady, how is it that the Dark God comes here, of all the places in the Ten Kingdoms?"

"I do not know," lied Val’ha.

"I give you one thing, if you do not send the demon packing it shall be the end of Moncrovia, that is my guess. Who can imagine what is next in store for us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Lightning in the heat of day! Terra shakes the fruit from my trees!"

"I have been absent from the city for many days…"

"Ah, then give it time, child, and very soon you will be witness to that what has sent us all into a panic, so has nature been disrupted that even the birds do not fly overhead." Val’ha bade the fruit-seller farewell and hastened back to her lodging filled with the old Woman’s words and intent on meeting Eedebee as soon as she could.

**

"The High Wizarder has gone missing with the magickal Sword Dervish," Lady Frippe said, her appearance weary and disheveled. It was early evening and she sat in the galley of the Bugbear with a red-eyed Eedebee and Val’ha who, after several more hours alone during which Terra shook her lodging, arrived at the ship to discover the High Wizarder’s assistant holding the sobbing captain. "When he saw Sir Tarl-Cabot return last night with the Sword Crundin, he was out of his wits. Two nights prior, you see, we learned from communion that Xorus’ birthstone is indeed in the castle, and that Xorus intended to bring down Mount Carias as he threatened a hundred years ago.

"The High Wizarder requested an immediate audience with Sir Porcie, Sir Thoryn and Sir Tarl-Cabot; I did not speak to them after, but they left with the gravest faces. An hour later, when the Moon was in the sky, I heard from within the High Wizarder’s chamber ranting like I never heard before. Finally there was a great crash and then silence. I rushed in, searched everywhere for him, but there was nothing to tell except for the box he kept Dervish in, open and empty." Eedebee continued to rock herself in silence. "Sirs Thoryn and Porcie are conducting a search of the grounds, but I do not think there will be success." At that moment Terra rolled the ship and caused the candle flames to spill their beeswax. Lady Frippe prepared to leave. "Tomorrow before the betrothal ceremony in the King’s Blue Hall, he wishes to meet with you, Lady Val’ha, within an hour of first light."

Val’ha stayed with Eedebee that night and the two of them talked little.

**

Val’ha laughed to herself as she breakfasted in the galley of the Bugbear, for it was the first time she had ever arisen before Eedebee. She slipped out under the waning moon and found Dragonslayer at his own meal. The two of them clipped through the city and reached the gate of Castle Moncrovia when the first rays of Terr’Sol slid across Mount Carias above. Val’ha remembered afresh the account of how the High Wizarder originally sacrificed the magickal Sword Dervish to Xorus so he would not bring the corrupted Song to shake and shower the mountain’s rocks.

Other than a few of the King’s guard high on the wall and out front, Val’ha saw only Lady Frippe, who led her through the main hall into a small antechamber near those of the missing High Wizarder. The room was sparse save for two huge gilt-framed images of royal forebears and a long oak table with a dozen high-backed chairs around it. "Greetings, Val’ha of Carias," said King Joel, worn with exhaustion and sadness.

"Good day, my lord, and to you, Sir Porcie and Sir Thoryn." Val’ha smiled at her friends. The King introduced the other Men in the room: to his left sat High Advisor Arpon-Altraine, august in years with a Blue Rose longcoat and grey hair to his shoulder; Sir Quigley of Reiglo, Princess Igri’s High Advisor, a brown-skinned, blue-eyed Man who, when he stood to greet Val’ha, she saw carried not one but two swords; and to the King’s right Sir Zini of Bjursk-la, High Advisor to Prince Joel V and wearing armor with the herald of a Dragon breathing fire atop a wall. Lady Frippe sat next to Val’ha and Thoryn.

A richly-garbed Man, hair over his eyes and carrying a ruby scepter joined High Advisor Zini as the only other across the table. As the King stiffened. Val’ha noticed their strong resemblance. "Good morning, son. It was not necessary for you…"

"Save your remonstrations please, King Father, for I would never appeal reduce myself to appealing to ladies-in-waiting to tidy everything up for me, as you insist upon doing. The High Wizarder is gone with the mighty Sword, and I will insert myself with vigor into these proceedings as first in line!"

The King’s face froze, his eyes flashing at the Prince for only a second before he cut through the others’ silence and stood. "Lady Val’ha of Carias, please meet Prince Joel V, my eldest son."

Val’ha stood to greet the Prince, but he did not look at her and instead whispered something to his advisor. Finally he sneered, "Val’ha? Val’ha, is it? So much have we heard about your famous benevolence, she-Elf. Daughter of Chext’a? The High Wizarder of Bjursk-la told me of her long ago. Part of some curse, I believe." Val’ha was taken aback and resumed her chair.

King Joel sat. "You all know why I have called you here. Thank you, Val’ha, for joining us. I heard of your success on the Island of Dragons and issue to you my gratitude for your triumph." With this he glanced at Prince Joel, whose lip raised. "Thank you also, high advisors to my children, we need your forbearance and aid.

"I would have called off my daughter’s betrothal if it was not so modest to begin with, I want to tell you all. As it is, I will trouble neither her nor Tarl-Cabot with this – but we must face the grim task of finding my High Wizarder even as I have sent Captain Cyr of my army and her best knights across the land. If Oromasus has left these grounds, there are only hours for him to live. What did you find?"

Porcie stood and bowed. "Though we searched every inch within the palace walls, unless the High Wizarder has cloaked himself or is in some other form absent from our senses, he is gone from here."

"He is indeed," confirmed Lady Frippe with grief. "The High Wizarder is at the end of his life as well – I sought his writings and found that while he took also his staff and spellbook, the text of all those that remain, scroll and book alike, fade with each passing minute."

King Joel threw his hands into the air, a tear in his eye. "Zeus!" He composed himself after a moment and looked about the room. "I will consider any suggestions."

Val’ha wondered, "King Joel, Lady Frippe, is it possible to contact Lath-vecat or any of the other Sages?"

"No," mourned Lady Frippe, "High Wizarder Oromasus was our only direct connection with them or the other nine republics. All else is journey."

"What of Lady Eedebee?" asked Thoryn innocently enough.

"Val’ha?" the King asked. "Could you visit her this afternoon?" She consented, relieved nothing deeper had been revealed. After more discussion, Sir Quigley agreed to go forth with Sir Porcie in the direction of Denlineil.

After the meeting, Prince Joel bolted out with Zini; Porcie and Thoryn invited Val’ha and Quigley to join them in their quarters, and they exited together to witness a crowd of knights and gentry around the blue rosebushes and great stone at the front of Castle Moncrovia, talking heatedly among themselves. Then Val’ha saw that in the short time they were in the meeting with the King, the roses had all turned opaline.

**

Less than an hour later Val’ha sat amid hushes and whispers in one of a hundred chairs that had been assembled between the rose-engraved pillars of King Joel’s Blue Hall. High keyhole windows splashed midday light over walls lined with blue garnets and tapestries of Asch’endra-Conschala’s prior sovereigns, and the alabaster ceiling, upon which had been painted a gigantic single long-stem blue rose. A blue carpet ran from the main doors to the steps of the royal dais. There were sentries behind each pillar, standing between blue marble pedestal with large round blue crystal vases holding dozens of opaline roses.

On his silver throne, changed into a rich blue and silver gown, silver crown with sapphire inlay, crystal sword and deep blue cape, King Joel IV conferred with High Advisor Arpon-Altraine, who nodded, bowed and backed away from the King to resume his chair behind the families of the intended.

Tarl-Cabot’s family – Sir Quigley and their father, Lord Taryn – sat in the front row with others who Porcie whispered to Val’ha were: Prince Joel and thin, long-tressed Princess Ardanla of Joh’oprinia, and their children; Prince Adam; Prince Delvi-Alana and his troth; and Princess Phelra, handsome Lord Acor and their twins. "This was to have been a glorious day," Porcie said. "Princess Igri’s original plans included a much larger celebration, but as the danger has grown and now with the High Wizarder vanished and the King preoccupied by Xorus’ incursion onto the palace grounds, the Princess chose for this simple ceremony and reception."

Lady and Lord Frippe, A’crasti, Sir Quigley and other courtiers and nobles filled the last of the central and back seats as a small band of musicians began to play light tunes that reminded Val’ha of her first celebration at Castle Moncrovia, bringing her to lament the simplicity of that evening.

"Your eyes are a thousand leagues away," Sir Porcie said. "Are you thinking of Trisahn?"

"I am. I miss him terribly."

"When he told me of his criminal life, I was aghast at what he had become since we grew up together, but now I see such reaction was unnecessary, for he had come back into my life to help him reclaim his integrity and freedom. I do not know if I would have disavowed him had he sought other."

"You were the only friend he had outside his world," Val’ha said. "You were the reason we came to Moncrovia."

"He has many friends now, and opportunity ahead in Apocania."

"Still, I wish he was here. I miss him."

Someone touched Val’ha’s shoulder; she reached for her scimitar. "Lady Elf," Baroness Val Tress said, "if this is your attempt at insipirility, I should say it is a poor one." The Baroness, clad in Blue Rose ceremonial armor and squired by the Baron, kneeled, her eyes studying Val’ha’s. "We have but a second to bid you both greetings and commend you on your exploits in service of Bjursk-la. I shall be damned in Terr’des for the Baron’s desire to launch yet a third expedition to complete Sipsids." Without waiting for a response from Val’ha, the Baroness stood and led the Baron and a young Woman who resembled her to three chairs in the second row.

Queen A’gren, dressed in a silk powder-blue dress, a simple silver chain around her neck and shoes encrusted in sapphires and diamonds, took her throne, and even the back of the room Val’ha could see the powder on her face was streaked as though she had been crying, over the meaning of the blue roses’ corrupt transformation or the betrothal of Igri and Tarl-Cabot, she wondered. The music stopped and the assemblage quieted.

The King and Queen arose and waved to Sir Thoryn and Princess Phelra, who stood upon the blue carpet and faced the audience. A lone fiddle played, hopeful and melancholy, before trailing into nothing. King Joel brought the audience to stand, and a trumpet heralded the entry of three people: High Cleric Pandy from the Clerickal Church, his body rotund in pale pink vestments, grasped a crude wooden staff; bald-headed Matriarch Fensta of Moncrovia wore robes of pale blue to match the shadow on her eyelids; and Dolliwid the Bard, dressed in deep blue, primped his thin goatee. The church leaders on each side of Joel and A’gren, Dolliwid stopped at the central stair and turned toward the audience, removing a long thin blue book from under his billowing shirt.

Dolliwid closed the book, someone sniffed, and he exited down one side of the room to take his seat in the last row. The musicians began a lilting march; up the carpet came Sir Tarl-Cabot, swarthy and perfect in a blue silk cape and robe embroidered with roses, Crundin at his side. He winked at Val’ha and Porcie, his pace in cadence with the players’ rhythm until, between Pandy and Thoryn, until he turned to face the witnesses.

King Joel motioned for the audience to sit, his eyes twinkling as everyone shifted to see Princess Igri walk up the aisle. She could have been twin with the Queen for their faces; her blue robe, pale cape and the diamond-sapphire string in her black hair gleamed in the light of the Blue Hall. The King and Queen led everyone else in joyful crying.

Igri, well along with child, joined Sir Tarl-Cabot in front of the sitting King and Queen, and High Cleric Pandy, his high voice laden with ceremony, began: "Dear friends, family, insipiriles, we gather in the Blue Hall of Castle Moncrovia today to share in the union of two whose love joins family, house and kingdom, and who today begin their lives in betrothal and with the glory of new life within." He lofted his staff. "I invoke for Igri and Tarl-Cabot the blessings of Zeus the God-King and his House, and all the houses of the gods, most especially Agora of Heated House, Goddess of Families. Off her magickal tree from which all the families of Terra come I hold Agora’s Staff, and bring to eternal bonded spirits Igri and Tarl-Cabot, for their love to last all the days of their lives."

"Bless Zeus’ invocation, bless the Staff of Agora," said the assemblage.

Pandy tapped each of the intendeds’ shoulders with the Staff once before Matriarch Fensta assumed his position on the dais. "To Igri’s family tree comes Tarl-Cabot and to his Igri," she intoned. At that second Terra shook, sending fearful gasps and jolts through the crowd. The quake rolled for a full half-minute, filling Val’ha with upset and dizziness. After a time Fensta continued. "Igri, daughter of kings, and Tarl-Cabot from the house of Taryn, we offer you in the name of Phanla, Matron-goddess of Fidelity, our support for your Oath of Trust. In pledging this troth you offer yourselves to one another until one or both depart this realm."

"We kiss the Ring of Phanla to seal this pledge," Tarl-Cabot and Igri said, each bending to Fensta’s hand to do so.

"Phanla offers her support to your union," said the cleric. Servants removed opaline roses from the large vases; Phelra and Thoryn received three each – Thoryn gave one to the King and one to Tarl-Cabot, Phelra the Queen and Igri. "With these roses that bind you each to Terra, to your families and to all present, you celebrate your connection to all that is, all that was and all that is yet before us."

"We dance with the blessed spirit of insipirility and desire to remain inseparable from our loved ones, to honor the mystery of love’s lines, angles and rhymes, and when we pass, find our way to our heavenly house to await those left behind," said everyone.

"Menniken, Demigoddess of Flowers, offers her support to your union." Fensta bowed and returned to her original spot.

Pandy continued the Ceremony of the Flowers, with the intendeds each handing him their roses before he again raised Agora’s Staff. "The trees! The flowers! All the beasts and birds of Terra share in your joy today, but I must know your intentions!"

"I intend to love her all the days of my life," said Tarl-Cabot.

"I intend to love him all the days of my life," said Igri.

"And do you so vow this?"

"We do."

Princess Phelra and Sir Thoryn brought forth rings and proffered them to High Cleric Pandy, who held them with the roses toward Convah. "Zeus! I offer you here the Staff of Heated House and roses from Terra with these banns of those gone before, King Dennis and Queen Mahren, to prove to you the circle will not be broken!"

Lord Taryn, King Joel and Queen A’gren stood. "We offer our blessing in full obeisance to Zeus’ request."

Igri took her ancestral rings back from Pandy and placed one in Tarl-Cabot’s palm, then the two of them slipped the banns on each other and addressed their parents. "We thank you for your blessing and promise to honor your houses."

"Your betrothal is sealed forever." A broad smile filled Pandy’s pink face. "May the benediction of the House of Zeus shine upon your life’s journey together and bring you all the light of the heavens." Igri and Tarl-Cabot kissed and turned to the assemblage. "I present," finished Pandy, "Princess Igri and Duke Tarl-Cabot."