King Edward, Part VIII                                          Anonymous                                                                                                                                                          )	 P      -	  9
      9      #  W'  +  ).  <1  5  8  x<  ?  C  _G  K  N  `Q  WT      King Edward, Part VIII        Chap 8: Wilderland       The journey through Valenwood was pleasant. The weather held fair for the most part, with sunny days and cool nights. Bright leaves of scarlet,  crimson, gold and green drifted down to form a carpet beneath their horses' feet. Valenwood was very different from the somber, steep forests of High Rock. When they reached the northern border, Edward, looking back, saw that the trees were mostly bare, shorn of their glory. Before them lay a wide green land of rolling hills with only a few stands of trees. It seemed to spread on forever.   "This is Wilderland, Edward," Moraelyn said. "Be on your guard. It seems a pleasant land, but no king's writ runs here. Each man's hand is against every other's -- and there are worse than men. All the races of Tamriel meet here, and clash, save thine, perhaps."    They journeyed for some days more with small incident ... save one for a band of Khajiit raiders that crept up on their camp by night. These were easily repelled. Silk slew one and the rest ran off yowling. The gentle wood elf girl, Willow, lobbed fireballs after them. There were no roads, just small paths that criss-crossed one another and seemingly led nowhere.   After two weeks of steady riding they came to a bowl shaped place in the hills where the land was tilled. The fields looked fair and were stacked  with harvest, but the folk were dispirited, ragged, and unfriendly. Questions about inns got only shrugs and puzzled looks. Armed bands challenged them at times and demanded to know their business. When Moraelyn said they were bound for Morrowind, they were told to pass through quickly and mind they stole nothing.   "Passage is all we wish," Moraelyn said quietly.   "Someone should teach these folk manners," the usually placid Mats growled.   "Thou mayst stay and open a school of etiquette, if it pleases thee," Moraelyn said, "I fear my life's too short to teach the lessons these villains require. Still, I like not the look of the sky; it looks e'en more evil than the folk. I think we'll try our luck in the town."   The town was surrounded by a palisade of wood and had a stout gate. Guards looked them over and refused them entrance. "None but humans enter here,  elf. Take thy rabble and begone."   "I see. Ali, Mats, Edward, thou seemst to qualify for the hospitality here. The rest of us will shelter elsewhere."   Aliera announced that she would see them all blown back to Firsthold by the storm before she'd step within these gates. So they circled the town, passing a moat with stone walls within and a keep of some sort within that. A track north took them past a small house with a large barn nearby. Both looked in poor repair, but Moraelyn sent Aliera and Edward to knock at the door and ask if they might sleep in the barn. The rest waited in the road.   An elderly woman answered their knock; she looked pleased to see them. "Stay? Aye, I'd be glad of the company. No need to sleep in the barn, though, lady. I've a room to spare. My  name's Ora Engelsdottir." Aliera gestured toward the waiting Companions. The woman squinted toward them.  "Thy man's there and some friends? Aye, we'll all squeeze together then. T'will be warmer so. I've a pot of soup on the fire; made it to last me a  week but you're welcome to it. I can make more."   "My husband's an elf."   "Is he so? He looks to take good care of thee and thy son. Thou's fat as pigs. Bring them in. I wish my grand-daughter had such a one to care for her."   Ora refused payment, saying she was not yet at such a pass that her guests must pay for her hospitality. She said tales and song and an evening's merriment would be payment enough. Pots and dishes were set out to catch the worst of the leaks; she knew them all well. They gathered around the hearth and made very merry while the storm raged, banging the shutters and doors and threatening to blow the roof away altogether.   "Tell me, my lady," Ora whispered apart to Aliera, "He's truly good to thee? He's so big and so black."   "Truly good," Aliera said keeping her mouth serious while her eyes laughed.   "Aye, 'tis well, then. He put me a bit in mind of our baron, who's big and dark -- oh, not so dark as thy elf. He took my grand-daughter, Caron -- and,  he does not treat her well. He -- he hurts her, my lady. And she dare not run away. Where would she go?" Tears gathered in Ora's eyes and followed  worn familiar tracks down her cheeks.   When their hostess had gone to sleep in her own room, Aliera repeated what she had been told.   "Let's rescue the girl," Beech said, "we grow stale with inaction."   "Aye!" said Silk and Willow at once.   Mats growled an agreement. Mith and Ssa'ass looked interested.   Moraelyn looked doubtful. "We cannot right every wrong in Tamriel. This baron offers his folk shelter of a kind. They could leave if they liked it better outside."   "Aye," Mith said, "he keeps the bandits off so he may rob the folk at leisure."   "An we pull him down? There'll be another to take his place. Or else the outside will come in and there'll be nothing left at all."   "Nothing would be better than this filthy something," Mats said.   "There's that." The storm seemed to have moved away. Aliera went to the door and stared up into the sky where clouds raced past the eastern moon. A single large brilliant blue star hung near the moon. "Zenithar hangs near Tamriel tonight. Moraelyn?"   "I'd thought to mend her roofs tomorrow if it's fair," he said as she returned to the fireside. "We'll do so much at least. As for the rest -- Aliera?"   "She asked for my help, in a way ... and I -- I think I hear Zenithar's voice in the wind and feel his hand in the rain on this night."   "Thy quest, then, wife."   Aliera nodded, unsmiling. She curled up with Moraelyn in the chimney corner and they whispered and laughed together for awhile. Edward fell  asleep. In the morning he was sent up on the roof to help Beech and Willow place new shingles. Moraelyn wrote a letter which he gave to Mats, telling  him to take it to the baron, to arrive at the castle around dinnertime and to go afoot.   "You're going to challenge him for the girl!" Edward grinned. "But will he fight? And wouldn't he take her back again once we're gone?"   "Mmm. Since he wouldn't let me in his town, thy mother thought to invite him to our house instead." Moraelyn stamped the letter with his sealing ring and handed it to Mats.   "Oh. It's a long way to your house still, isn't it?" Edward felt a bit of disappointment that no rescue seemed imminent, but he supposed it really was not reasonable to expect eight people to take a keep, even if they were Moraelyn's Companions. Probably the songs exaggerated their deeds.   Moraelyn grinned, ruffled Edward's hair and told him to cease his questions, get up on the roof, and mind his mother. Moraelyn and Mith set off together on foot. Aliera said they were going hunting. They did not return even at suppertime. Aliera told Edward not to worry; they'd meet later.   It was well after sundown when she bid their hostess farewell. They took all the horses with them and left them in a grove near the north wall of the keep. Aliera asked Edward if he wanted to wait for them with the horses. Edward asked where they were going.   "We have to enter the keep to get Ora's grandchild out. No questions, Edward. If you're coming, then stay with me and do exactly as I say. Levitate across the moat: I must swim. Once across we'll scale the wall. Once inside, just follow me and be as silent as you can."   Edward gaped at his mother and the other Companions. How could the six of them possibly storm a keep? Three women, two men and a boy? There would be guards up on the wall and a lot more inside. Mats would be inside too,  though, he guessed. But where were Moraelyn and Mith?   There were fearsome things in the moat. Edward began a protest, then thought better of it. Ssa'ass slid into the moat first. There was some splashing and hissing, then the water went quiet. Aliera entered the water. The others levitated.    "Here's the ropes," Beech said, feeling along the wall. There were three ropes. Edward, Beech and Ssa'ass went up first; Aliera, Willow and Silk followed. Moraelyn and Mith were waiting above. Two guards were snoring softly in a heap.   "How--" Edward began, and found his mother's hand clapped over his mouth. A guard from another wall section called out and Edward's heart stopped beating. Mith called  something back to him and tramping footsteps moved away.    The Companions went silently down the stairs and slipped across the yard like shadows. There was no guard on the door to the keep itself. Inside the passages were eerily quiet. They stopped at an imposing door and flattened themselves against the wall beside it. They could hear voices within. A thin chilling wail sounded and died away. Moraelyn whistled a snatch of song into the silence that followed. The door swung open and they raced inside, falling on the startled guards like furies.   Edward was last inside, Tooth in his hand; he stabbed the nearest guard in the side, and Beech finished him with a blow to the head. Mats had been inside; it was he who had opened the door. His axe clove the head of one guard, then swung against the inner door. Aliera and Willow had barred the strong outer door. Moraelyn's opponent was a very young man. He'd taken one look at the big dark elf, dropped his sword and fallen to his knees, praying  for mercy.   Moraelyn eyed him with disgust and said, "Greet Zenithar for me; tell him Moraelyn of Ebonheart commends you to his mercy. I have none for such as you." He slashed the young guard's throat. Blood sprayed over Moraelyn's leathers. His victim fell over, gurgling horribly. A burning acid rose in Edward's throat; he swallowed hard and looked away.   The guards inside the anteroom had been dispatched, but outside the door shouts and footfalls thundered and there was pounding on the door. Edward followed his mother into the inner chamber, which was empty save for a naked girl tied spreadeagle on the enormous bed, her eyes starting from her head.   The Companions cut her free while Aliera caught her shoulders. "Thy grandmother sent us, child. Where's the baron?"   The girl pointed at a bookcase, then clung to Aliera. She was no bigger than Edward and seemed not much older. Her breasts were just beginning. She was covered with welts and blood and purple-yellow bruises. Aliera flung her own cloak over the girl. Beech picked her up. Mith's fingers were feeling over the bookcase; there was a click and a section slid aside. He went through  cautiously. The others followed and the secret door closed after them.    "I think it's just a bolt hole," Mith said, "but there'll be traps, no doubt."   "Go warily, then, friend," Aliera said. "There's no hurry. I think the baron plans to show his departing guests the door, as a good host should."    A narrow passage opened to the left. Mith sent a bolt of light down it. The floor was littered with bones. Human bones. Small skulls stared eyelessly. "I'm going to enjoy killing him," Moraelyn said.   "No!" Aliera protested. "My quest, my kill!"   Moraelyn swung to face her. "Aliera--"   "I want it sung that he died by Aliera's hand! I claim my right to face him, king."   "Leave him to me and we'll sing it your way! He's twice your size. D'you want to fight ME for the right?" The elf leaned over her, a full head taller.   "If I must." Aliera brushed past him, slinging her shield on her arm, and drawing her short sword as she ran. Moraelyn grabbed at her, missed, and ran after her. His size hampered him in the low, narrow passage. Sparks flew from his spell shield as he caroomed recklessly off the walls.   "Come on, you two," Mith yelled from ahead. "I'm not promising to save him for you."   "Moraelyn," Edward gasped, running after him. "You're not going to let her!"   "Let her! How d'ye propose I stop her? I'm open to suggestions, short of actually fighting her myself." He seemed half-angry, half-amused.   "M-maybe he's gone by now."   "Nay, he's locked in here with us; we found the exit earlier from the other side and Mith set a lock the baron will not undo."   "Well, paralyze her. You can carry her."   "She's activated her shield; it reflects spells, among other things. I'd only paralyze myself and I'd be inconvenient to carry. She'll be all right. It's an excellent shield. It casts a very powerful protective  spell. I'ric himself devised it."   "Having a spot of trouble with your locks tonight, baron?" Mith's voice came clearly from ahead. They emerged into a larger space where the baron had been clawing vainly at switches beside a massive door. "Shoddy work. You should get another smith."   "He won't be needing one," Aliera snarled. The Companions spread around her in a semi-circle. The baron set his back to the door and set himself in a fighting stance. He was a big man, as big as Mats, and he was holding an axe as big as the one Mats wielded, and wearing a breastplate and helm. He addressed Moraelyn.   "Nine against one. I'd expect odds like that from you black devils," Moraelyn was at the back of the group, yet the baron  had singled him out as the leader. People did, somehow.   "You prefer the advantage of weight, do you not? But my wife wants you to herself. She cannot resist your charms it seems. Nor can I; I could not wait for you to respond to my invitation, so I came to you instead."   "I beat her and the rest of you kill me? Hah! It might be worth it at that," he added, staring at Aliera with cold dark eyes.   Aliera smiled a terrible smile. Her dark hair swung free about her shoulders and she seemed to glow. "You will not beat this woman, baron, but if you do, then you go free. You are mine alone tonight. Swear it all,  by Zenithar! If he haps to kill me, my ghost will hound him to his grave and beyond." She sounded rather pleased at the prospect. Edward began to shiver.   "By Zenithar!"   The baron laughed, "I don't believe you, but one last female for my collection then. Are you so wearied of her, elf ?"   "Are you so afraid of her that you'd rather face me instead?" Somewhere deep in his mind Edward realized that the elf was right. Despite the baron's bravado, he was afraid of Aliera. Edward hadn't sworn with the  others. He clutched his staff tightly but his feet seemed rooted to the floor.   The baron laughed again and swung a mighty blow at Aliera in answer, but it deflected harmlessly off her shield. His eyes widened as he realized she was spell shielded. Aliera danced aside and cut his arm. She was nimble, but he managed to land many blows. If her shield went ... Edward did not finish the thought.   But he was leaving himself somewhat open in the hope of wearing her shield down and she was scoring hits against his limbs. She kept her blows low, trying to cost him the use of his legs and drain him of blood. All the while she taunted him about his manhood,  saying she would geld him ere he died. A great blow knocked her back; her shield flashed and was gone.   The baron raised his axe high to cleave her skull with a single blow. Her arm drew back and she threw her slender short sword straight into her enemy's eye. He dropped the axe and fell screaming to his knees, hands clawing at his face. Aliera stepped forward and thrust the sword home, piercing deep within the brain. The body fell over, twitching and jerking.   "Well fought, wife!"   "I had a master trainer, and a better armorer!" Aliera laughed, then she threw back her head and shouted wordlessly in triumph, raising her arms, fists clenched.   "That you did!" Moraelyn grabbed Silk in a rough hug and kissed her noisily. "It's a neat trick you taught her, Silk."   "I'll thank you to cease flirting with my trainer, husband!" Aliera said, wiping her slender adamantium blade carefully.    "Me flirt? Not while thy blood's up ... and thy shield's still charged. I'm just thanking her. I'll kiss I'ric too when next I see him."   "Is he truly dead?" Caron had clung to Beech throughout the fight with her eyes closed. Now she regarded Aliera with -- Awe, Edward thought was the  right word. Edward felt something of the same, although it was akin to horror.   "Dead enough," Aliera said, regarding the still faintly twitching form, with satisfaction. The girl drew closer, then knelt beside him. She picked up a stone and smashed it into the face again and again, sobbing. When she had done, Ssa'ass cast some healing spells on her. Mith unlocked the door. They'd come out quite near to where they had left the horses.    They took the girl back to her mother's house and left her there, instructing her to tell anyone that ventured to molest her, that Zenithar's servants would return if she were harmed. The bewildered old woman clasped her granddaughter to her. As she bade them farewell, she  whispered to Aliera to look after that man of hers.    "Oh, I do," Aliera said. "I do."     *    *     *       *       *       *         *         *     When they stopped for rest Aliera came over to Edward to talk to him, but he protested that he was very tired and just wanted to sleep. Moraelyn tugged her away, saying that if her son did not need her then she could see to her man, who did. They moved out of the circle of firelight. Edward lay wakeful, listening to their small, stifled sounds. That was not unusual. It had troubled him at first. "I can't sleep; you're too noisy," he'd protested one night. "What are you doing, anyway?" That had drawn giggles from the Companions. "Can't you at least pretend you're sleeping?" Moraelyn had asked plaintively. "Now  I know why dark elves seldom have more than one child. What I do not understand is how humans manage to get so many." Moraelyn and Aliera had come back to lie by him that night, but after that he had pretended to s leep, like the others.   And the noises were too familiar now to keep images of the night's adventures from flashing through his mind, as vivid as if they were happening again in truth. He  could feel his daedra feeding and could not stop it. It just wasn't fair, he thought, but now he was beginning to see what Moraelyn meant by feeding his daedra and yet walking with the gods. With Zenithar.   Moraelyn came back, carrying Aliera. He set her gently down, then stretched himself out between Edward and her.   "It must be difficult, being a woman," he said softly. "It was hard, watching her. Just watching."   Edward nodded.   "I've asked it often enough, of her," Moraelyn continued.  "She told me how hard it is, but I never knew until tonight. I knew she'd win. Zenithar was with her, and all the baron had was his daedra. And still it was very hard to watch. She makes that cast nine tries out of ten, and there were more uses on the shield if she missed ... he'd have dropped of exhaustion before he wore it out entirely."   "I keep thinking about it, too ... and the guard you ... he asked for mercy?"   "I know. And yet, he listened to that ... night after night. And still he remained the baron's man."   "Most men are not as strong as you are. Maybe he couldn't help himself?" Why was he pleading for a man already dead? His mind kept replaying the night's events as if they might yet come out differently, for better or for worse.   "Even to witness evil such as that corrupts the soul. To watch and do nothing ... Mats would have stayed my hand had there been anything there worth keeping. And it's worse for the young; I am sorry you had to pass through this night."   "Is my soul corrupted now?"   "You feel the acid's bite, as do we all, but you'll heal."   "Can you Heal me now?"   "Aye." Moraelyn gathered the boy in his arms, then rolled over so that Edward lay between his parents. Aliera put her arms around him without really waking. Her strong woman smell mingled with Moraelyn's musky dark spice odor in Edward's nostrils.   "She was so angry," Edward whispered. He'd wondered if he would ever really feel the same toward her again ... and yet her arms were still as comforting as before. Maybe Moraelyn too had needed that reassurance and had been wise enough to ask for it.   "She's a woman. That sort of injury to another touches her near," he said.   How near? The boy looked the question he dared not put.   "Thy father's not a monster. But she was wed to a man who did not care for her, and she could not leave him. It's common enough among thy race, which makes it none the easier to bear, I think."   "She has a daedra, too, then?" Edward asked sadly.   "You must speak with her about that."   "It wasn't really a fair fight, her shielded and not him."   "Fair fighting's for the arena, boy. Would you fight a wolf or hell hound without weapons, spells and armor, though they have none? I would not."   "What will become of Caron and Ora? And the other folk, now that the baron's dead?"   "Do I look like the prophet Marukh? How should I know? We can stop here in the spring and see what's been planted in the field we burned tonight. I've no mind to stay and plow it. I've my own fields to tend -- listen to me, I sound like a Nord farmer. Mines to dig is more like it." He yawned.   "The others didn't think about afterwards. You did."   "I'm a king; it's what we do." 