Reawakening/Part Eight
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Reawakening, Part Eight
Hendac and Jenavere arrived at the castle an hour after the summons. They had expected the news to be grim, as the last time they had seen Elysa she was feverish and breathing too shallowly to last for much longer. Yet the letter they had received was signed in her hand and sealed with her seal. They hoped, beyond hope, that she was awake.
The guards let them pass without trouble. They knew them on sight now and were under orders to allow them passage into the castle. Hendac wore a bright beaming smile upon his face, and the cold winter air had made his nose and cheeks turn a rosy red. Jenavere, while sharing her companion's elation, wore her ever-present scowl.
Within the castle courtyard, Elysa waited with Antius. Jenavere saluted the High Queen and took a step forward. The two laughed and embraced.
"None the worse for wear, I see." Jenavere quipped.
"Better, I'd say." Elysa smiled genuinely and clapped the woman on the back. Hendac knelt before the High Queen. Elysa cuffed his ear. "Stand up. I'm not about to give you accolades of knighthood." Hendac rubbed his ear and smiled up at her. He shrugged and looked at Antius.
"Don't look at me, I told you not to do it," he chuckled.
"Borelean?" Jenavere asked.
"Inside, lessons with Asheron." Elysa pulled Hendac to his feet and wrapped an arm over his shoulder, then placed the other around Jenavere. "I hear that it was the two of you who found the Olthoi Queen's hive."
"Hendac did," Jenavere stated as they walked to a pair of benches where new fallen snow had been cleared away and a small fire burned to warm them. "I just poked around a bit." Hendac made a few hand motions to make it clear that Jenavere was being modest and sat on one of the benches. He warmed his hands over the coals and continued to smile.
"Either way, you found it first…you're the best Olthoi hunters I've ever known." Elysa sat beside Antius on a bench opposite Jenavere and Hendac. "It's why I need you to check on something for me."
"What's that?" Jenavere asked as Hendac produced four ripe apples from within a pouch. He handed them out and happily crunched into his own.
"I've been given a report by one of my guards that there was a rumbling felt heading south beneath Lytelthrope. We know with absolute certainty that Nuhmudira failed to kill the Olthoi Queen. We've got to find out if the Queen is still here on Dereth. If she is, then I need to organize an assault and we have to kill her." Elysa reached toward Antius. He produced a small scrap of parchment and handed it to her. "This is the location." She handed the map to Hendac. He popped the apple between his teeth and wiped his hands on his leather pants. "I've dispatched one guard to the area for the moment. No need to arouse anyone's suspicion. Besides, the longer I can go without too many people knowing that I am awake the better my chances are at finding out who tried to kill me."
"You want to know what I think?" Jenavere asked. Antius shook his head.
"I've been over it with her, Jenavere. She woke up more stubborn than ever."
"Stubborn? Perhaps…but also cannier. I'm not about to make accusations of anyone. I know enough about what happened and I've taken steps to ensure that this place will be safe against such an attack again." She slipped her hand into Antius'. "I'll wait for proof, and then when I have it I'll make my move against whoever made the attempt."
"I don't envy you Elysa," Jenavere said and bit into her apple.
"Why is that?"
"You've earned the ire of some individuals who see you as standing in the way of their life goals. You're too good a person to call them out, and too strong a person to let them kill you." She shrugged. "I don't envy the position you're in at all. You've got to handle the Aluvians, Sho and Gharu'ndim…it's more than Pwyll ever did."
Antius took a bite of the apple, and looked at Hendac who was busy plopping apple seeds onto the snow and stamping them down. Elysa let his hand drop away and leaned toward Jenavere.
"Aye. It is a difficult position that I find myself in, but it's a position that I created for myself. I let the people who built our cities and towns place me here, and somewhere along the way I lost sight of those people. I lost sight of the reason that they followed me." She shook her head. "When he was alive, Thorsten used to say that I was the strongest woman he had ever met. When I was lying in my room, poison coursing through my veins, all I could think about was waking up. That is my strength.