In the first year or two after I emerged from exile, the histories do not mention me. Even the ones about me tend to spend no more than a paragraph or two, explaining that I settled in Castellandria with my brides, and had the first of my children. This is broadly accurate, though it discounts those children I sired unknowingly in my early adventures. It is enough for the more heroic histories, but it is not enough for this particular chronicle.
What looked from the outside as a brief time of peace was for me one of reunion. I have spoken already of the rekindling of my friendship with Lyta Sullac and returning to Castellandria and establishing my household, but there were others I needed to see. My exile had been long, and I wanted to end it definitively.
It was a strange group that exited the western gates of Castellandria on that autumn morning. Three of us, the experienced riders, rode qobads. Three more rode in a carriage pulled by two of the birds. A beautiful feathered serpent, her white feathers shining with rainbows in the early golden sunlight, flew over us.
Princess Tanyth, her loyal warmaid Shaluvia, and I rode the birds. My own Ksenaëe was my mount, never a more loyal bird fledged in all of Kharsoom. Sarakiel drove the carriage, Belazei beside her, cradling little Arkohnus.
The others stayed at Azureview. Lysethe was pregnant, Ujaala and the handmaids caring for her. Zhahllaia would ably run the household. They would miss this particular journey, but it would not be the last.
The Hallian Walls, the layered defensive walls of the city were forbidding from the outside. They were the reason the city hadn't fallen in a thousand years. A marvel of engineering and foresight, I would soon get to know the stretch along the eastern side of the city well.
The defenses did not begin with the walls. A series of rolling mounds and trenches surrounded the city like ripples about a stone dropped into a pond. The roads were strong, but they were only wide enough for caravans, meaning any siege engines would be forced to make their way over the soil. I would gain an appreciation for these layers soon enough.
The path wound down along the coast of the Turquoise, where the standing stones waited on a small cliff overlooking the sea. I began my incantation, plucking the traveler's wind from my lungs and placing us upon the path. Tanyth and Shaluvia were by now accustomed to this mode of travel as it had taken us from Uazica to this very place. This was the first time for Sarakiel, Belazei, and little Arkohnus. My daughter's already expansive eyes grew even wider as we slipped into the Hinterlands.
We traveled along the secret roads of magic, emerging that night to the north, in a flyspeck of a kingdom whose name I could never remember. It was autumn in Chassudor, and the air grew chillier the farther north we ranged. Tanyth and Shaluvia huddled miserably in their cloaks. Even Sarakiel looked less than hale, accustomed as she was to the mild climate of Castellandria.
Belazei, Quiyahui, and I found the weather bracing. Belazei could not stop talking about the dense forests and all the strange creatures she spied. I tried to explain that badgers were hardly rare in this part of the world, but she didn't care. The world was a wonder for her.
As I would on every stop where we could not find a large enough body of water, I conjured a small rainstorm for Belazei. She bathed in it, emerging happy and refreshed even as the rest of our group huddled about a campfire.
The trip was a short one, especially as compared to the last. We had to cross half of Thür then. This was only a distance across Chassudor. In only a few days we emerged from the same collection of standing stones that greeted me the first time I traveled this way, when I was still so young. Iarveiros rose to the east, the silvery trunks and golden leaves of the xilquinal trees glittering in the sun. It was a jewel set in a verdant crown. The foliage all around was a mix of deep greens, reds, oranges, and yellows, a glorious palette of natural beauty. Though this was not my first trip to the nation of the elves, even I had to stop and gaze in wonder.
"When we first went to Uazica," Tanyth said, "I thought that surely, these were all the trees in the world. That no other place could come close. And now..."
"I wasn't ready to see Iarveiros the first time either," I said.
"I have seen plants thus," Belazei said. "They grow where the ocean drops away, before the abyss. They are not that color, though. The shades, the lights, they are for places the sun never touches."
The standing stones initially did not look distant from the stand of trees to the east, but as one approached, the distance seemed to stretch. It was the effect of the trees being far taller than the mind believed was possible, continuing to climb without apparent stop. By the time we were in the shadow of the forest, they were bigger than the sky.
The road led a short distance into the forest itself, and then appeared to stop. Fallen logs, thick undergrowth, and closely-packed trunks made it look like there was no way out. I knew this to be false. The forest was honeycombed with pathways known only to the elves.
As though summoned, half-elven sentries stepped from the dark, wearing the Tree of Iarveiros on their tabards, and carrying bows. I knew there to be more out in the gloom, and still more in the treetops above. The sentries were most concerned with Quiyahui, keeping a wary eye on the serpent.
I remembered how Zhahllaia had introduced me last time, and I wished she had been there now to once again serve as my wazira. "Belromanazar of Thunderhead, lord of Eirashtar and leilatha to Duchess Tarasynora. I am here to see my consort."
"Welcome to Iarveiros," said one. "We will see to your mounts."
We surrendered qobad and carriage to them, and I led my party up the nearby staircase that wrapped about the trees. Belazei walked beside me, staring about in wonder. Tanyth and Sarakiel were behind, Sarakiel carrying our son on her back, his little face looking about with the same mad confusion babies regard everything. Shaluvia was last, her hands resting upon the pommels of her blades.
Belazei ran her hand over the intricately-worked banister. "This is grown, not sculpted," she said.
"One of the techniques of the elves," I said.
"Incredible," Tanyth said. Certain places in Kharsoom were wooded, but they were rare, and even the densest of the forests there could not compare to the jungles of Uazica or the woodland of the elves.
As we reached the top of the staircase, we stepped out into the city of Laerothia. The elven city was an elegant collection of walkways, bridges, and paths, encircling and weaving through the trees just below the canopy. One could stand on the forest floor and never know it was there. Buildings were hollowed out from the trees themselves, or cultivated from the plants. Gardens, streams, and all manner of natural features grew up here. Elves didn't draw strong distinctions between indoors and outdoors when in their city, with sumptuous couches on pathways and ponds blooming with life inside houses.
Elves, in their finery, moved about singly or in pairs. Half-elves, either armored as sentries or liveried as footmen, went about their errands. Half-elven archers waited in shadowed alcoves overlooking the forest floor, ready to feather unwelcome arrivals with arrows.
I took a moment to get my bearings, the avenues of my memory rebuilding the path to Tara's home. She was my second love, someone precious to me. A half-elven page roused me from my reverie. He was a handsome lad, and looked to be less than a decade old. I was not certain how half-elves matured, so his true age was a mystery.
"Belromanazar? Elion Tarasynora bade me escort you to her residence." The seriousness in his small voice brought a smile to my face.
"Thank you for your assistance. May I know how your name?"
"Galan, my lord," he said, bowing deeply. "It is my honor."
The little page escorted us down the avenues of the city. Sculpted wood, they blended harmoniously into the trees, with no demarcation between the entirely natural and the artificial. I knew the way there better than the boy did, but followed anyway. I was surprised when we turned down a street I did not recognize. The boy seemed to know where he was going, and Ur-Anu gave me no warnings of attack.
We arrived at a grand compound stretching over several treetops, all connected with elegant bridges and arches. An open archway led into an expansive garden. In the elven style, the outdoors became the indoors without a clean line between them. It was an enchanted glen and a rich manse all at once.
As Galan led us through the arched gates, Tarasynora waited on the central path, on a bridge over a pond alive with fish and salamanders.
She was as lovely as I remembered. Tall and slender like all of her kind, her platinum blonde hair was secured in an elegant chignon. Her lavender skin and violet eyes were set off by the golden gown that hugged her form. Her jewelry was also gold, sparkling with rubies. She was as elegant as her city, and the sight of her filled me with love. I had not realized how much I missed her until then, and I was already counting the moments until I could once again lay with her.
"Bel," she said, a smile lighting her face. "I was so pleased to receive your message."
I went to her, and took her in my arms. Our lips met, and I parted them with my tongue. "I missed you."
"Not so much time has passed for me, but I have missed you as well. You have changed," she said, looking me over as I released her, keeping one arm about her waist. Her teeth worried her lip as she devoured me with her violet gaze.
"I have been told that."
She tore her eyes from my chest. "Would you be so kind as to introduce your companions?"
I introduced everyone. Tara was overjoyed to meet Tanyth.
"Your Highness! I should not be surprised my Bel made such a fine match."
"I could say the same to you, Your Grace. You are even more beautiful than he described."
I made my way to Belazei, and once again Tara stopped me in delight.
"Bel, you cad. You never told me you had a daughter."
"I never knew," I said.
"Once again, I should not be surprised. If I find you irresistible, others must as well."
"He has a son too," Sarakiel said pointedly.
"A lovely son," Tara said, turning to gesture at her home. "Please, come in. I've refreshments waiting for all of you."
She led to the main structure, a series of raised platforms, some with as many as three walls and a few with partial rooftops. At the rear of this open maze was a long table set with plates of bread, fruit, honey, and meat sliced thinner than paper. Servants filled goblets with sweet, golden wine as we all sat to eat. Belazei didn't stay long, quickly slipping into one of the ponds, emerging only for more food.
"Tell me, Bel," Tara said, "what could have happened to you in so short a time that would bring about these changes? Your body, your familiar, your bride."
"I had a period of exile. A shipwreck half a world away, and then I wandered."
"Where you found yourself in Kharsoom." She turned to Tanyth. "Tell me, how did my leilatha court a princess of the Red Wastes?"
"He rescued me from a fiend who thought to force me into marriage. He and my warmaid pursued us to his castle, broke in, and fought their way out with me in tow. When that prince came to my castle's doors to take me back, Bel bravely fought and slew the champion. After that, I could not help but love him."
"He did something similar for me."
"Oh?"
"I was abducted by an orcish chieftain. When my husband refused to mount a rescue, my leilasa contacted our Bel, who came swiftly and rescued me from my humiliating circumstances. He then deduced that it was my husband, thinking to seize my family's considerable holdings, who engineered the abduction. Bel challenged and slew him in single combat."
"He seems to have a penchant for that," Tanyth said affectionately.
