Carantathraiel

Wanderers

Ysaryn shrugged at the description. Suppose that was woefully boring; the fact that Aera looked so typical for the elves here. Her mind couldn't quite get past Narda's remark about tongues. She understood he'd learned fast, but why had it made Kire laugh.
As Kire departed, the dark elf glanced to the cot beside hers, then gasped. "Oh!" She clapped her hand, chuckling, before she leaned back. "You mean that he is good with pleasure!" Ysaryn settled onto her pillow, amused. "I see. 'Good with tongues.' I like that." She grinned wickedly. "Do you know that?" Ysaryn asked the sleepy woman in the bed. "Are you and he mates?"

The moment he heard steps, Ruli was at the bars again. He looked tired, strained, but alert. "I'm glad hes alright." Ruli admitted, fidgeting. "I'm..." he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I'd rather be home, to be honest. Anywhere, but," he glanced up at the wards. He wanted to ask to be escorted out, so he could go home, to his own little house, and come back for them in a few hours. Days. His skin crawled at the mere thought of being able to leave, like it was trying to escape without him.

"When are we going back?" He settled instead, still shifting, restless. His blue eyes roamed her face, noticing how much softer her expressions were now that worry wasn't biting at her.
"He's well, then?" Ruli made himself ask. "You look happier. And Ysaryn? Have you any news?"

Wanderers

Ysaryn grumbled at the explanation of the bracelets, but hearing about Ruli's fate due to his stubbornness lessened her scowl. She continued to fidget with them, however, her sparse time as a thief in Cordon out of sheer rebellion unable to resist eyeing the damn things for a lock to pick. She couldn't even find a crease in the metal into which to wedge a fingernail.
Her eyes rose to follow Ed as he rose, her chin dipping in return, her gaze following him out.

"You are still good looking with the scar." Ysaryn insisted to Kire. "I do wish for a warning that he spoke my tongue. Now he knows I am foul in the mouth."
With a sigh, she rose, raising her arms to free her hair. "I do not mind. It looks better than the cell bench. Or the damn medical bed."
With a huff, she sat on her cot, facing the giantess in the bed. "Did you meet Aera? What is she like? Rulitus seems to shrink when her name is said. I picture Envy in a dress. Mean face."

Wanderers

Ysaryn paid no mind to the others when Kire whispered to Ed about her words, her ears having picked up the low voices. She pulled open the wardrobe doors, her eyes scanning the linen and articles available. Robes. Robes. More robes. "No. I will not." Ysaryn answered Kire when she was invited to sit, rifling through the folded piles, pulling several out to toss carelessly onto the floor.
"Yes, yes, fine, Wyvern, it is nice t-"
Ysaryn whipped around, her fuchsia eyes snapping to Ed. Another flush crept across her face as she finally caught on that he could understand and speak the language. Even if the dialect was slightly different. So damned polite and formal, these elves.

"Well, shit." Ysaryn turned her back on Ed again, resuming her digging. "Now I want to stab you, among other things." Ysaryn grumbled, though with far less ire in her voice. With a small shout in glee, she pulled tree a pair of soft white trousers. "Shield eyes, cousin." She said in the common tongue as she kicked off the soft slippers they'd given her and bent to pull the trousers on beneath the skirts. So many skirt.

Seemingly satisfied with pants on, Ysaryn moved to the table and sat upon one of the vacant chairs, folding one leg over the other. "What are these?" She demanded, raising her arms and twitching the billowing fabric back. The engraved and enchanted bracelets were clasped to her wrist, looking like little more than decorative jewelry. "I cannot remove them. They feel ugly." Her eyes scanned the room again. "And where are the angry ones?" Ysaryn added, as, of course, she did not count herself among the angry ones.

Wanderers

After seeing to his room, though having no belongings to set down, and, currently, no desire to rest, Zeke slipped back out the door, peering through the stained glass window in the center of the corridor. Hearing that Ed was within with the women, Zeke continued, finding his way back toward the outdoors, to where the princess still sat at the table.

It was perhaps a half an hour after Ed's arrival that the door was opened, Farryn stepping inside only long enough to bow another figure inside. While her hair was still plaited neatly against her head, Ysaryn no longer wore her combat leathers, nor boots, nor weapons. Instead, she wore a flowing gown of soft blue, cinched at the waist, modestly cut over her chest, and flowing behind her and along her arms. Her burning eyes settled on Narda, Kira, and then Ed, and her face promptly turned dark as she blushed.

Her nostrils flared the moment Farryn shut the door once more. "Of course the cousin is gorgeous." She snarled quietly, looking around to pointlessly search for her leathers, which were no where to be found. "And of course I'm forced into this ... women's garb." Ysaryn complained, pulling at the thin skirt in emphasis.

Wanderers

Her plate untouched, Aera watched the others eat and chatter, feeling a ghost of the same ache Zeke felt whilst watching them. A connected family. Her own had never been warm to her. Not when she was born as a second; the shadow of an omen of change. Twins always brought tidings of a new path. Aera had been the mutant. The warped blade that had punctured their family and cast a shadow darker than her hair.
Truthfully, the only time she had felt loved was in Ziad, when under Envy's care, quarreling with Ruli and Zeke and Alais.

Aera put a smile on her lips when Kire said they would retire, asking first about the cells. "You may." She answered with a soft nod. "The court is yours to roam, save for the tier above us. It is for the privacy of the royal family. You may be shadowed by elves, but they are under orders to simply keep watch." The princess informed them. She glanced to the servants waiting nearby, requesting that they be shown the way to their rooms.
"When you have time," Aera said softly to Zeke. "I would enjoy a conversation."
He grinned at her, rubbing the part of his head where his spine met his skull. "As would I." He obliged, before the young servant, at least in appearances, led them away.

They were led deeper into the mountain, the moonlight vanishing but the stone no less warm within. The floral scent never melted away, tangling with the scent of sweet herbs. Illuminated with candles, the servant led them into a wide corridor that arched slightly to the right, following the curve of the mountains face. Three white doors, each with a large window of elegant stained glass in the center, stood equal distances apart. The first door, the stained glass depicting a white rose in a garden of green, was opened and Zeke invited within. The second, the window depicting a lotus on a soft blue pool, was opened, the three women led within.
It was a large chamber with a window that was burrowed into the stone, the glass sealed shut, but somehow the moonlight seemed to shine through. There was a excessively large four post bed to their left, the curtains the same soft purple of the banners hung open. Despite the bed being large enough to fit three persons of Narda's size comfortably, there were two other cots brought in, low mattresses side by side at the foot of the grande bed.
White wood furniture, a wardrobe stocked full, a vanity desk with a spotless mirror, a table with four chairs, and a dividing screen embroidered with midnight blue fabric and bright green ivy leaves, were aligned neatly against the walls. From somewhere behind the screen, running water could be heard; the mountain wall opened up to allow a small stream to run through.

Ed's room, the glass window portraying the Lithilote moonflower on a bed of purple, stood at the far end, just beside Kire's and the others. The servant elf, who introduced herself to Ed as Farryn, instructed they ask if they have need of anything before she left them to their own devices.

Wanderers

Aera's eyebrows flickered in reaction to Ed's joke, her mind racing for a moment to sort out what happened; not with his memory, but in the communication. Was this woman an imposter? Was he honest in saying he did not know this woman? Her lips barely parted when they atmosphere changed and they all laughed and hugged, and the princess closed her mouth and sighed. Humans. She turned her head to spy on Zeke, who was watching the trio with a shadow across his face.
She knew why. Zeke had long ago been abandoned by his family. He'd been born in Ziad to a family that had reproduced far too many times, and one day they had gone. Left him alone; on purpose or on accident, he never knew, but Aera was not aware of how any parent could forget a child. Misplace them.
He had been eight, taken in and raised by the Kartaian beneath the city. His best friend a smart mouthed blond with piercing blue eyes.

"You are not in a good place." Aera muttered softly as the three laughed and cried together some few yards away.
Zeke's mouth tightened. "No." He agreed. "Not currently."
He expected her to ask at least one question; why? It was what everyone wanted to know. What could have happened, what was so bad, that it would tear the brotherhood between the two apart so viciously. But Aera didn't ask. Of course she wouldn't. Aera hated Ruli, and was likely glad to have someone on her side that would turn a icy shoulder against him.
"You need one another." She said instead, and Zeke turned to stare at her. Never did he expect her to say that. "Find what is broken, and set it straight."
"You're one to talk." He murmured quietly.

Gods above, he regretted it immediately. The look on her face when, for just the space between two heartbeats, was shattering. Despair and hopelessness. Then it was gone, hidden once again by her immortal mask. "Aera," Zeke turned toward her, a million apologies on his tongue.
But she gave him a rueful smile, cutting him off. "He and I were never good for one another." She said quietly. "You two need one another to grow."
Her eyes flickered to Narda as the woman approached, giving Kire and Edward a moment alone. The conversation was over, Zeke knew. He turned back towards the others, shifting his weight uneasily.

As Ed turned and formally introduced Kire to the princess, the dark-haired elf stepped forward. She looked from one to the other as Kire mentioned she was, unfortunately (judging by her expression) a former empress, the elf still bent. "Welcome to Lithilote, Empress Akire. Once was, or will be again, you will hold the title here." Aera greeted. Zeke stepped up behind the elf, Narda beside him. Aera glanced from Kire to Ed, then gestured to the table. "May I invite you to sit. Speak with one another. I will have chambers made up so you do not have to return to the holding cell."

While they shuffled and lowered themselves into seats, Aera departed briefly to relay directions to a nearby waiting servant; an ageless elf with her hair bound elegantly around her head and wearing plain white robes. When the servant bowed and moved away, Aera joined them at the table.
"I do apologize for the welcome you all received." Aera admitted. "Foremost, the reason is because we do not get many visitors. It was once true that we never received visitors, but that became untrue nearly a year ago." Her eyes shifted in a wave of warmth as she smiled at Ed. "The rest of the council is still quite uneasy with the decision I have made to allow you out and to roam freely. I am placing a large amount of trust in Zekiel's word and in you." Her gaze lingered on Kire, mostly, hoping that her magic truly was dormant now that she'd removed her ring. "I must ask, naturally, that you keep to your best behavior. You may be met with hostility if you act unacceptably, and with the language barrier, I fear much would escalate far too fast."

A small row of servants of both genders approached, each carrying a plate of fruit sprinkled with sugar accompanied by more of the sweet yogurt. A plate was set before each occupied chair as another elf approached Aera.
"Both rooms are prepared, Lady."
Aera declined her head in acknowledgement. "When you're ready," She said to the others. "You'll be shown to your rooms. I know you are not on our schedule, and must be tired. Zeke, you'll be alone, but I apologize to announce the two of you will share a room. Joined by Ysaryn when she is ready. You are near Edward's room, should you wish to visit with one another."
"You really don't get guests that often, hm?" Zeke asked teasingly.
"That, and I thought you would feel more comfortable with someone you're familiar with. A language you share." Aera added to the women. "It is no easy thing to get along with a host of elves when you do not share the language, is it, Beleger?" Aera added, glancing toward Ed with another whisper of warmth in her eyes.

Wanderers

Aera's gaze fell to the ring, then to Zeke. Her expression was still blank, but he seemed to read the question in her mind. I thought she never took it off?
Standing away from the bars, and the bracelets, Ruli tried to help. "Her magic is tied to the ring. Without it, she can't use it."
"Opposite of the bracelet." Zeke commented, and heads nodded in response.
"You are volunteering to remain here." Aera pointed out to Narda, who seemed to have no qualms with it. "With him." She added without gesturing to Ruli.
He growled at her, which Aera still ignored. "You could leave it with me." Ruli offered angrily to Kire and Narda. He kept his eyes on the elf, however. "We came all this way. You both should see him."
Aera waited as Narda and Kire exchanged glances, debating in whatever language they were raised in. It would be nice for Ed to hear his own language, she thought privately. Still, she waited patiently, eager to see how well they trusted Rulitus.

When it was decided, and Narda and Kire followed, Aera led them out of the underground, leaving Ruli behind to seeth and pace inside the cell. Free of it, Zeke noticed Kire moved easier, her eyes more clear, ever guarded by the giantess behind her. Aera was silent as they strolled into the moonlit forest, to the glowing marble court that breathed warmth. Aera's hair became the midnight sky once more as she crossed the gravel paths and up a set of stairs, then up another set that wound inside the mountain itself so that they were on the second tier.
The Waning Room was a crescent shaped chamber on the western side of the mountain, tucked inside the stone and embelished with the warm marble. There was a round table in the center, its wood face engaved with vines and flowers, and embellished with the many faces of the moon in pearl.

Aera was not surprised to see him standing beside the table rather than sitting, the anxiety visible in his posture as he turned toward them. Aera paused a distance away, Zeke beside her, allowing the family to approach one another and enjoy a moment in private.

Wanderers

Aera's dark gaze fell, watching his hands clench, seeing the shimmer in his eyes. She'd known he'd suffered difficulties the last few months. Like her, years ago, he wasn't always sure this was real. What was a dream. She understood the fear in his eyes, the hesitation to hope.
Zeke, ever the soldier, despite his own injuries, studied Ed in much the same way, assessing his strength, his uncertainty. "She's blonde, blue-eyed. Scar over her eye." Zeke drew a finger across his cheek to indicate. "Wears some ring on her finger I have never seen her remove. Showy sword that looks like it could cleave a dragon."

Whether she saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes or not, Aera grinned softly to Ed. "Go wash and dress. I will deliver her to you in the Waning Room." Aera instructed, before reaching out to touch him gently. Real. Her touch said. Yo're awake.

Turning to lead Zeke back toward the tunnel in which the cell sat, she glanced at the man beside her. "How long has it been since you've fought?" She asked. When Zeke glanced back at her, she continued. "I saw you looking at him with a sort of envy. Longing. Either your preference for gender has changed-"
Zeke snorted.
"-or you're recovering, still."
Zeke was quiet, thinking. "Envy and Sid said I am lucky to be alive. My head nearly crushed. My spine damaged."
Aera inclined her head, considering what went unsaid rather than the words he shared, but said nothing as they swept into the aromatic corridor and to the others.

"I don't know." Ruli said. "Worth a shot."
When he heard Zeke's footsteps, Ruli sat forward again, rising to his feet. "Where is she?"
"She'll be okay." Zeke said, his eyes on Kire again. He grinned. "Ed really does look like you." He informed her.

Aera turned, requesting Cohnal to approach with more bracelets. "I will take you to visit with him, but you must wear these." She said, more to Kire and Narda than to Ruli, who balked, anyway.
"No." He hissed.
Aera's cold gaze shifted to him. "Then you will remain in here." She said indifferently.
Ruli bared his teeth, snarling at her. Unbothered, she looked back toward Kire and Narda. "Are you willing to adhere to these conditions?"

Wanderers

Ruli shrugged a shoulder. "I don't think they do." He admitted. "It's dormant in the majority of them, and while they can all manage enchantments and potions, salves, the like, its rare that its active in them. At least thats what I remember her saying decades ago." Ruli shrugged again.
"Aera's the current exception. Again. Its like the Kartaian's ability to hurt through skin contact, but its concentrated in her hands. Last I knew, she couldn't control it, so she never takes off her gloves."
He tilted his head toward the two. "Why?" He wondered, narrowing his eyes. "What are you planning?"

---

After setting Ysaryn down on the table draped in white linen, and seeing the three elves gowned as court healer's approach and begin their work, Aera led Zeke back out into the court. He was struck dumb by the beauty of it. In the sunlight it had been bright, reflecting the sun, but in the moonlight, it was something else entirely.
The marble glowed as if it had absorbed all the sun had given it, the stone warm as a lover to the touch. The flowers opened everywhere, blooming in the night. Their round, white and purple faces peered upward in every direction, their smell sweet and inviting. More of the court was awake and roaming now, and the faces that looked his way, while still wary, had much less of the cold calculation in their frowns. A few bent into sweeping bows to Aera, who addressed them in return with a slight nod.

"It's like a whole different city." Zeke said, awestruck.
"We wouldn't be doing our job right if we failed to make this place something we wanted to live in." Aera said as they strolled together through the lowest tier. And owl hooted somewhere just off the court, and Zeke sighed, glad to hear animals again.
"We were worried the Kart-"
"Shh." Aera whispered. "Do not utter their name here."
Zeke thought a moment. "We were worried you were destroyed, as Ziad was. Nine months ago."
"We are aware." Aera admitted, turning to Zeke when he looked at her, accusingly. "Envy wrote to me. I received it about a week and a half ago."
"How..." Zeke frowned. "How did he get a letter to you? How did he write a letter!?"
"I have never doubted his abilities." She mused, a hint of warmth crossing her face. "I miss him. And you."
"We've missed you." Zeke admitted. Whether she knew about his injuries or no, she walked slowly for him. Perhaps just to let him see as much as he could. He glanced her way. In the moonlight, her dark hair was like the night sky itself; the light catching to make it glitter like stars, the ebony colour shone blue in the crests of her strands.
"But you understand." Aera said, her voice hollow.
"Yes." Zeke said as they approached the edge of the tier, and rest their hands on the marble top. They peered down into the forest, only a few feet higher than those on the ground level.

"We would never have intruded. But the friend we're looking for, Envy think's he's here."
"He is."
Zeke looked around to her again. "He is?"
Aera bowed her head in a single nod. "I had been debating on writing Envy back about him." She admitted, looking down to fidget with the hem of her sleeve. "I wasn't sure what to make of the messages the scouts brought back. But when I saw the woman in the cell; she looks just like him." Aera turned toward Zeke, now. "Is she ...?"
"I think its the magic suppression." Zeke admitted. "She's usually ... not that."
"If I allow her out, she'll need to wear the bracelets."
"They suppress, too?" Aera nodded, and Zeke continued. "Then you will not get much out of her."
"What of the tall one?"
"Her ... I don't know. Officer. Maybe lover."
Aera nodded again. "Delivering her to her kin in such a manner would not bode well. Would you trust her without the suppression?"
"I do." Zeke sighed. "She's got a smart tongue, and she's brash, but she's kind. She's gone out of her way to help us survive. She's not that unlike Ru- er. Unlike him."

Without answering, Aera wandered down the marble steps and into the cool forest floor. She led Zeke along a gravel path of ground marble, answering Zeke's inquiries about the court, the elves, while he entertained her questions about where they now lived, how they fared, and how Envy was managing without sight.
After a few minutes, they approached a small arena tucked between some trees. Here, elven soldiers were in practice gear, clutching sharp weapons as they flew at one another in spar. "Beleger." Aera said as she approached the arena and the soldiers within. One figure turned toward them; a mortal. His blue eyes shifted between the elf and the man beside her, curiosity painting his face. He took a step back from his opponent and approached. Aera studied his gait. Beleger. Strong one. That was the name the elves had given him, for his unwillingness to concede to his injuries or the loss of his home. His isolation. He'd stood up straight on healing legs and faced everything. Rising so far beyond their expectations for a mortal man.
When he drew near, Aera switched tongues. "This is my dear friend Zekiel of Ziad." Aera introduced. "Zekiel, this is Edward of Amria."
Zeke bent slightly, assessing the man before him. The sweat that coated him from his workout, the swell of his muscles through his elven garb.
"He has arrived with someone claiming to be a relative of yours."
"Kire." Zeke said, studying Ed's face. "She and some giant female friend of hers are quite worried."

Wanderers

Ruli looked to Kire as she mentioned his dislike for the place. "I don't like being trapped." He said unhappily. Even though he sat, his heel bounced against the stone floor, his knee likewise bouncing under his elbow.
"I can't answer that." Ruli said about the following question. "If I do, you'll look at me like she does."

He straightened, bracing his back against the stone wall, drumming his fingers on his knees. He saw Aera's face in his head, the cold, empty look she gave him. Like she saw through him. Like he was nothing but a memory.
Then, her face changed. Younger. Rounder. Her eyes bright with life and humour. Her smile had always been charming, but reserved, like she'd never been told it could make the flowers bloom in winter.

"She wasn't always .... that." Ruli whispered, sure some elf somewhere was listening, despite theft that they couldn't understand. "When Aera lived with us, she could knock a man off his feet with a staff in seconds. Loved to cook, even if she couldn't tell the difference between salt and sugar. Had no tolerance for alcohol." He gazed at the place she'd been standing.

"Do you remember what I said to you in Ziad, about the Kartaians?" Ruli returned his head to peer at Kire. "That they don't take prisoners?" Sighing, he flicked his fingers to where the princess had been. "She was the exception. Their last prisoner, as far as I know. Until I heard them say you were to be." Ruli frowned, his expression dark. He reached up and absent mindedly rubbed his hand across his left collarbone. "She never came back." He glanced back her way. "Its why I stepped in instead of letting you take them on alone."