King Edward, Part IV                                            Anonymous                                                                                                                                                          )	 0      I	  z
  v    Y  O  "  %  )  ,  /  2  u6  9      King Edward, Part IV        Chap 4: Stories   Edward faced his mother defiantly. "I'm not sick and I'm not  a baby. I can  stay here by myself. I don't need Mith." There was a dangerous glint in  Moraelyn's eyes. Aliera's lips thinned. "You will mind him, Edward."   "Yes, madam," Edward said sulkily.   "Come on, wife. Mith knows how to deal with princes who don't want his  company." The three adults laughed a bit in their irritating way at a joke  he didn't understand.   The weather was drizzly and Edward had the sniffles. His mother had  decided that he shouldn't go out, even though they were only going  visiting. Moraelyn had taken his side, but threw out his hands and raised  his brows at Edward in a helpless gesture when Aliera insisted that he  stay behind. Mith, whom Edward liked the least of the Companions, had  volunteered to stay with him. Even Ssa'ass would have been better. Mith  was -- scruffy looking. Like a stableboy. And cheeky, even for a  Companion. Edward sulked silently for awhile longer. Mith had fetched a  broom and was sweeping the house out, brushing dirt from the room above  into the room Edward was in. What on earth was the use of staying in when  there wasn't really any 'in' to stay in? Edward got tired of sulking,  fetched a broom and went up to help sweep.   "Mith", Edward said. "have you ever been to the Crystal Tower?"   "I have. It's an unchancy place at first, but you'll grow used to it."  Mith was applying his broom with energy and whistling. Sweeping was kind  of fun here. There weren't any sides to the platforms so all you had to do  was brush the dirt and leaves over the side. You started at the top and  worked your way down.   "You're quick with the broom, Mith. I haven't half finished my side yet.  Will there be others there like me?"   "Oh, some children, I'd think. Most'll be somewhat older. I should be  quick with a broom. My father had me sweeping out the king's stables when  I was your age. I used to dream and talk too much like you; he beat me for  it. So I learned to be quick."   Edward swept faster, stirring up dust. "Not like that, boy. Watch me.  Anyway, there's no hurry; it's just habit with me. Moraelyn'd serve me my  head on a platter if I touched you. My father, heh, he was always....well,  he was a hard man to please. He was a Nord."   "Your father?" Edward stared at Mith, but Mith looked much like the other  Dark Elves he'd seen. Not many. Dark elves didn't come to Daggerfall;  Gerald had banned them. But he'd seen some on his rare trips to other  courts. And there were some in Firsthold besides Moraelyn and Mith. "Did  he have red hair?" Mith's hair was a dark red. Gerald had red hair. "He  tended the stables for Moraelyn?" No wonder Mith looked like a stableboy.  But Edward kept his tone polite. Mith had a sharp tongue....and Edward  knew that neither of his parents would be sympathetic if he complained  that Mith had been impertinent.   "He did have red hair. Maybe I got mine from him...but mostly mixed elf  and human children come out dark elf. No, Moraelyn wasn't a king then or  expecting to be....'sides this was in Blacklight, where I was born.  Moraelyn's brother was king in Ebonheart in those days. He came up to  visit our King and brought Moraelyn along. To keep him out of trouble, he  said." Mith grinned. "I grinned when I heard him say that, and I saw the  boy looking at me out of the tail of his eye, but he wouldn't take notice.  Like I was the dirt or something worse. His brother tossed him a pouch and  told him to go into town and get his knife mended. Jerked his thumb at me  and told me to show him the way.   "Moraelyn said he didn't need an escort to find a store and stalked off  like princes do." Mith grinned knowingly at Edward. But the grin wasn't  unfriendly. Edward smiled back a bit, and Mith went on. "Our king  eyeballed me, so I took off after him. Moraelyn didn't spare me so much as  a glance. Went four blocks out of his way, down by the wharfs, and when I  tried to tell him where the store was he shoved me right off the pier. I  could Levitate, of course, but he caught me by surprise and I went in with  a big splash....and everyone laughing like jackasses. I got myself out and  went straight to the store and waited for him...but not so he could see  me....and when he finally showed up, I lifted the pouch right off him. He  didn't even know it was gone. So in he goes and tosses the knife on the  counter and tells the smith to fix it right off. Which he does. Only then  Moraelyn can't pay him....tells the smith he's the King of Ebonheart's  brother...the smith just laughs and says, "And I'm the Archmagister"....then  the smith calls the guard and three of them show up. Well, Moraelyn wasn't  what he is now--three guards wouldn't even warm him up nowadays--but he  was even faster then. He was out of there so fast he nearly knocked me  over at the door. He lost the guards pretty quick; all that armor slows  'em down. I found him crouching in one of those hedge mazes in the park.  He was doubled over out of breath but still I stood a good ways off while  I asked him real nasty if he needed an escort back to the Palace. Not that  I was planning to go back! I was gonna take the money and run and never  look back, I tell you! But I had to have the last word. I wasn't born high  but I was born proud.   "He glared at me for a minute or so, catching his breath, then he just  rolled over and started to laugh that laugh of his. Prince or no, I  started to like him then. When we'd finished laughing, more or less, we  started talking. I told him I didn't want to go back. Nor dared to.  "Princes don't get blamed, Prince," I said, "Stableboys do." He said that  wasn't entirely the case, but he saw my point. Then he said that as I was  his escort then he must obey his brother and come with me. And that his  name was Moraelyn, not Prince. We've been together ever since....more or less."   Edward smiled politely. He could see why Mith had run away, but not why  Moraelyn had gone with him. Unless he was afraid to face his brother about  the stolen money. Edward tried to imagine Moraelyn being afraid to face  anyone and failed. "I wish I was brave. Like you and Moraelyn."   "Why, you are brave. And your courage will grow with the rest of you."   "Are there only High Elf boys at the Tower?"   "There'll be other sorts, too, most likely. A few Dark Elves, for sure.  D'ye miss your own kind?"   Edward shook his head. "Human boys don't like me much anyway. Nor High Elf  boys..." His eyes filled suddenly and he turned his head away. But Mith's  voice was unexpectedly gentle. "I thought you wanted to go to the Tower."   "I do. But--"   "You'll be lonely."   Edward nodded.   "That's a hard thing to face."   "Did you go there alone, Mith?"   "No. Moraelyn did, but he was older than you, by a good bit. A grown man,  in fact. They didn't take any but High Elf students in those days, you  know. But Moraelyn heard of them and said he wanted to go there. We were  together already, the seven of us, save for Aliera, and a handy bunch in a  fight. Moraelyn had already gotten that Dragon's Blade he wears, and the  Dragon's Tooth to go with it....remind me to tell you about that  sometime....and he was a famous fighter already. And the rest of us aren't  slackers. But he thought we could be better at the spellcasting and the  Tower was the place to learn that. Well, no one goes near the Tower  without an invitation. No one! No one would even tell you where it was.  But they'd tell you where NOT to go. So he went there. Alone. One morning  he was gone and there a note saying for us to wait for him. So we did,  here in Firsthold. He was gone two weeks, then he came back one night,  rowing across with the tide. He just said they'd accepted him, but he  couldn't say anything more about it. But he asked me to come back with him.   "'They want me?' 'Well, they've accepted one Dark Elf,' he said. 'One more  shouldn't bother them too much.' So we go there, and bless me if the  Archmagister himself didn't meet us at the door and demand to know the  meaning of this. I wanted to turn myself into a rock! I was wishing hard  that I _was_ stable dung! And figured I was like to get my wish soon. But  Moraelyn speaks up real polite that this is the friend he'd mentioned and  the Archmagister had expressed an interest in his abilities, and naturally  he'd want to see for himself....   "But the Archmagister was real interested. See, they don't wear armor or  carry anything but a staff and a dagger. They think it interferes with  their spellcasting, all that metal. But Moraelyn could cast pretty well  even with chain and with any one-hand weapon at all. And I could cast  wearing leather and as much as a saber, though it's an unwieldy weapon; I  like my short sword better. Truth, they didn't think that much of me, but  Moraelyn....he'd camped outside their door. And when they tried to move  him he just sat there! They threw all the spells they had at him, the  troll guards...everything. Nothing. He laid the trolls out flat and left  'em to regenerate. If they tried to beat him with their staffs he'd ward  them off with his blade...and the spells didn't turn him a hair."   Edward's mouth gaped open. "How'd he do that!?! He said--"   "Well, it was a trick, in a way. He'd picked up something that came  natural to Willow. See, Willow is different."   "I didn't know Willow could cast!"   "Well, she doesn't have any mana, ordinarily....but she can absorb it if  you cast a spell AT her, see. O'course it wasn't much use to her, since  she'd never been able to learn what t'do with it once she got it. Couldn't  get it back once it was gone, so she couldn't practice. Until Morelyn got  hold of her and trained her. Well, Moraelyn had figured out pretty much  how Willow did what she did....though it cost Moraelyn mana to do what  came natural to Willow. So Moraelyn sat there absorbing everything they  threw at him and burning it off into a big shield. Drove 'em wild."   "He said the Archmagister could best him, though." Edward suspected that Mith  was making up the whole story.   "Well, so he did, when he finally came. But all the rest of 'em together  couldn't do it. And all Moraelyn wanted was to study with them. We were a  sight, the two of us dark elves in our battle gear among all that white  and gold. I felt li ke a fish out of water, but Moraelyn was interested in  what they had to say....and you can bet they hung on every word he said.  Not too many words at first. After a fortnight or so, he told me one night  to tell the Archmagister that he'd be back in a couple of days. And he shows  up with Silk! 'Course he'd been telling 'em about the Khajiits...and  they'd been asking questions.   "The Archmagister's no fool. He just stared at Silk, and she purred real loud  and rubbed up against him and asked "How ya doin', Archmagister, baby?" The  Archmagister kinda pushes Silk away and says in a whisper, "How--many--more?"   "Just two, sir."   "What are they?"   "Wood elves, sir."   "Just wood elves. Plain ordinary wood elves. No horns, hooves or tails."   "Yes sir. Ah, one of them has an extraordinary Absorb ability with some  very unusual features. The other's just a Bard."   "Very well. You may bring the one with the Absorb. We don't want a Bard!  They are not true mages."   "Well, that's most generous of you, sir, but the Bard's her brother, sir  and I swore to their parents that I wouldn't separate them. So it'll just  be the three of us."   "Her brother."   "Aye, a pair of twins."   "You may bring them both."   So three days later he's back with the twins AND Ssa'ass AND Slave. The  Archmagister looks at them and sort of bobs up and down, but he speaks real  quiet. "Dark Elf, by pair of twins, did you mean TWO SETS of twins? Are  you going to tell me that these--these are twins???" Well, I could see  that Moraelyn was kinda sorry he hadn't thought of trying that, but he  said, "No sir, the twins are Beech and Willow. The Argonian and the Nord  are not prospective initiates. They are specimens. For your collection.  You don't have any like them so I thought--"   "You thought. I do not have a dragon either! Are you going to think to  bring me that next?"   "Oh, aye, I could. Would you like one?"   "Tell me you are not serious."   "Well, I couldn't promise. And it would take quite a long time, a year  maybe, but--"   The Archmagister's eyes rolled up toward heaven. "Thank you, All-Mother, I  have at least a year to prepare." he whispered.    "I don't think Mats and Ssa'ass should have been made specimens. They're  people. Even if they aren't elves."   "Oh, they made Ssa'ass an initiate when they found out that he had some  interesting Heal spells."   "But Mats?"   "Mats never minds anything. He hasn't a bit of magic; he couldn't be an  initiate. Anyway he'd have hated it. He spent his time gaming with the  guards. When he wasn't being studied. Seems he has some interesting magic  resistances. Anyway, since then, the initiates aren't just High Elves. And  they don't all follow the Mage way."   "I shall. I shall be just like the Archmagister."   "Oh, aye, exactly," Moraelyn's voice sounded lightly behind him. "I'll cut  the ears off a donkey for thee and dye thy skin with saffron. Bleach thy  hair white and stretch thee a foot--" Moraelyn swung him high. "Art well,  son? I told thee so, Aliera. He's not ill at all. Good, because the  Archmagister's returned. We go to the Tower tomorrow."   'We' was just Moraelyn and Edward. Aliera had caught Edward's cold and  they took some pleasure in insisting she remain in bed. Moraelyn rowed  them across the river in a small boat and they walked for most of the day,  resting a little at midday. It was evening when they reached the tower and  the setting sun was glinting off it. Even the sea far below looked red.  There was a hush over the countryside.   "It's tall, isn't it?" Edward paused to look.   "Towers generally are."   "Did you really--" Edward broke off. Questions starting in that fashion  did not draw satisfactory answers from the elf.   "Has Mith been telling thee tales? He's had ten years to polish that one.  I doubt not it glistens like the Tower."   "He told me how you met, too."   "I thought he would."   "I didn't understand why you went off with him? He was a thief and a  stableboy and you were a prince."   "You have just named three excellent reasons, Prince."   "You never give me serious answers."   "A serious charge. Very well, then. I saw myself through Mith's eyes and  misliked what I saw: a callous bully and a coward, fit to be neither boy  nor man nor prince. Why did you run off, Prince?"   Edward hung his head mutely. "Nay, _I_ do not require answers. Come, it  grows late." Moraelyn reached his hand for Edward's, but Edward shook him  off. If Moraelyn was a coward what did that make Edward? He looked at the  Tower door where Moraelyn had demanded and won entrance, though all would  shut him out. Edward could never do anything like that, but at least he  could walk in on his own as an invited guest.   