Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004 16:33:30 -0800 (PST)
From: Corrinne S <quasito_cat@yahoo.com>
Subject: Dark Wishes Installment 40: Part 5 Chapter 14

This is the ongoing sequel to `Dark Wishes'.  Both are
copyrighted under Nifty and International Common Law.

Unspoken Wishes

M.C. Gordon

Part One: Markel

Chapter Fourteen

     Winter descended on Aolane in full force.  Bitter
winds blew from the north and the struggling city was
locked in treacherous ice buried beneath snow.  Life
ground to a halt as the residents struggled to
survive.

     Iashain went to each cottage and home, lighting
the hearth fires with his magic and casting a
concerned eye over each inhabitant.  No cough or
sniffle escaped his attention and he did what he could
to aid small discomforts and ease the burden placed on
the young healers.

     Tynan, ever cautious, argued against using too
much of their magic in the healing arts ... with good
cause for magic is not a thing for trifling.  But
Iashain was as stubborn as both Ilafrain and Resnaron
had been and his mind, once set, would not be turned.

     "You are not a healer," Tynan remarked on more
than one occasion as winter bore down even harder.

     "No, Brother, I am not," Iashain agreed, "but I
am teaching our people how to read.  Yashidra and the
other healers are learning the healing scrolls.  I
must, in the course of my teaching, understand what
they read.  I will never become a healer.  That
station is for mankind to know and practice, but it
does no harm for me to know which herbs will ease a
minor cough or reduce a slight fever.  Markel visits
the sick with me and his grandmother's memories aid us
in knowing which are serious enough to require one of
the healers.  And Yashidra must be kept from the cold
as much as possible since the time for her child grows
near."

     "Is that the reason I have not seen her about
lately?" Tynan asked.

     "It is," Iashain replied.  "The babe is her first
and she grows frightened as her time nears.  She
desires one of us to be with her when the time comes
and I believe it should be you."

     "Me?" Tynan asked, "why me?  Her friendship is
with you and surely she would feel more at ease with
your presence."

     "You are sometimes distant, my brother, for all
that you love the people as much as I ... if not more.
They will one day cry out for a High King and that
must be you.  It is time for you to assume that mantle
and your blessing of Yashidra and Dil's newborn must
be the beginning."

     Tynan was not expecting Iashain's statement and
was silent for a moment, staring into the depths of
the fireplace that warmed the cottage he shared with
his brother Qell and their lovers.  A flickering of
light and shadows from the fire played across his
alabaster skin and reflected in his silver eyes.

     "Why must it be me?" he finally asked.

     "Because you were the first summoned," Iashain
replied.  "The old grandmothers sought the High King
and you came into existence.  I merely followed
because the task before you was too immense for one of
us alone.  I exist to help fulfill the summoning.  I
will educate all of Elanen and prepare them to follow
your lead.  And lead you must, Brother, for I am not
meant to.  I am your counsel, your right hand.  I will
help guide you with regards to the welfare of our
people.  It is your destiny to protect and defend
them.  I know both our shortcomings.  It is for you to
know both our strengths."

 . . .

     Yashidra gave birth to her child three days
later.  She had refused the aid of any save Frina,
Markel, and the Qell.  Efren was not allowed to attend
the birth for Yashidra feared his exposure to the
freezing cold air between the cottages.

     "Yes, Majesty," she had told Tynan when he
questioned her prohibition, "your loved one's health
is greatly improved.  Still, I will not chance him
being about this winter and relapsing."

     The fear of his beloved Efren falling ill again
stilled any further objections from the tall Qell
Lord.

     And so it was that the firstborn of Aolane since
the return of the kings drew his first breath on a
cold winter's morning.  His cry of anger at leaving
the womb which had sheltered him so long split the
quiet morning and was heard by most of Aolane's
residents.

     "He should become a warrior," Tynan laughed when
Frina placed the uncleansed child in his arms.  "The
volume of his voice alone will render any enemy
defenseless."

     "I dedicate his life to you, My Lord," Yashidra
whispered as Iashain lifted her from her bed so Frina
and Markel could replace the sheets.

     "No," Tynan replied.  "Never again will life in
any of the ten kingdoms be dedicated to the Qell.  His
name shall be Ialdor and he belongs to Elanen.  The
firstborn of Aolane will be first among her citizens
when he reaches manhood.

     Frina took Ialdor from the Qell, cleansed him,
and placed him in his mother's arms.  " `Tis a fine
son, milady," she said, "one to grow strong and tall
in the service of our kings."

     "The first of many," Iashain added, "who will
choose their service each according to his own way."

 . . .

     Life continued in Elanen through the winter.
Farmers still rose early each morning to tend the
needs of the livestock in their care.  The females
were quickening and hopes were raised for increased
herds when spring arrived.  The great white tiger was
seen from time to time and the people, believing him
part of the Qell magic, took his appearance as a sign
of Tynan's favor.  Wool from the previous summer's
shearing was spun into strong thread and made into
cloth on looms in a hundred cottages.

     Iashain, along with Markel and Efren who were
advancing quickly, called his students together each
morning.  He pushed the young people hard in the
makeshift archive for he planned to use them even
harder in the approaching spring and summer.  The two
Qell had decided that the scattered villages could not
spare more of their sons and daughters to study at the
archive in Aolane.  Each available hand would be
essential to work the fields and tend the herds.

     Iashain, with Tynan's approval, would send his
students to the villages as teachers.  He knew he
could not teach them all they needed to know in the
short time he had so, without Tynan's knowledge or
approval, he used a little magic.  He gave each of the
students except those who were to remain in Aolane the
gift of perfect memory for study.  He limited his
magic in that only the archive lessons were affected.
None would have greater memory of their personal
thoughts and experiences beyond those of other men and
women.

     Those who would remain in the kingdom's capitol,
primarily the young men chosen to be Tynan's warriors,
would continue their studies as best they were able.
Iashain knew that Tynan would brook no interference
with future warriors for his brother Qell considered
them his alone and only tolerated Iashain's teaching
them to read and write.  It was a task Tynan could
accomplish himself but left to Iashain who loved the
written word and had announced that the future of the
archive belonged to himself and Markel.

     Efren was often excused from the archive at
Yashidra's insistence.  His broken arm, though healed,
caused him great pain during the bitter cold and his
weak lungs strained in the cold air.  He fretted
through the restraints placed upon him because of his
frail health and the Qell were hard pressed to appease
the active mind.  Tynan pleaded with Iashain to remedy
the lad's situation lest Efren slip into depression
and Iashain finally set the lad to sorting the vast
amount of scrolls they had found into reasonable
order.  Most of the scrolls were still in the old
dungeon until a suitable archive could be built.

     Efren chanced across the plans for Fanna's great
archive of the past late one afternoon while Markel
and Iashain were in the archive with those learning
the healing craft and Tynan worried over the horses.
Efren knew Hanrad would want to see this particular
scroll and rushed out to find the mason.  In his
excitement, Efren failed to put on the heavy coat
Frina had made for him to protect him from the cold.

     When Tynan returned from the stable that evening
he found Yashidra and Iashain diligently tending his
beloved who lay on a cot near the hearth.  The room
smelled of simmering herbs and Markel sat in a corner
of the room silently crying.

To be continued

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