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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