Wizard Betrayed (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 6), page 41
Richard agreed. The elf’s wound had been bad, but he’d healed worse with a lot less pain. Or at least he thought he had. Like usual, the memory of the pain was fading fast.
“I calculate an eighty-four percent probability that if the memory of the pain from healing others was not taken away,” said his battle computer, “you would not heal anyone again.”
“You can make that a hundred percent,” Richard whispered out loud. “I think ‘the One’ purposely makes me forget to lull me into thinking the pain from the next healing will be less than it turns out to be.”
“What was that?” came a soft, feminine voice.
Richard rolled over in the direction of the voice.
The female elf he’d healed sat cross-legged six paces away, leaning against a couple of packs someone had apparently brought her as a backrest. She looked a mess. The front of her tunic and pants were covered in blood and gore.
Richard did a quick scan. The two power readings registering from her confirmed the double healing had worked. “Meshoan. Right?” he asked.
The elf nodded. “Yes. After what you did, I think it is only fitting for you to call me Meshoan.”
“How long have I been out?” Richard asked.
“Just a few minutes,” Meshoan answered. “Leethor is organizing our defenses. He sent a runner to inform the other camp what happened.” Meshoan looked down at the ground, then back at Richard. “Thank you, healer, for saving my baby.”
“You’re welcome.”
An awkward silence ensued. Richard noticed the elf was looking at him, taking his measure as much as he was hers. He was the first to avert his eyes. He busied himself with a quick scan of the battlefield, noticing the orcs had taken a beating.
“The orcs lost a hundred and four dead or dying,” said his battle computer. “The elves took four dead and twelve wounded of their own. I calculate five of the wounded will not survive.”
Richard noticed Stancil kneeling beside an elf twenty meters to his left. Other elves were lying on the ground around him. The medic appeared busy attempting to stop blood oozing out around an orc arrow sticking out of the wounded elf’s chest. Reaching out with his mind, Richard scanned the wounded elf. It was apparent Stancil was fighting a losing battle. The orc’s arrow had nicked an artery. The strained look on Stancil’s face told Richard the medic probably knew his attempt to save the elf was hopeless.
I guess he’s too loyal to his troops to stop trying, Richard thought.
A glance around the elves’ camp showed dozens of bloody bodies littering the ground. Most were orcs. Leethor and the majority of his troops were a hundred meters to the north, advancing in a skirmish line to clear out the few remaining orcs who were either too brave or too stupid to retreat. An elf with an arrow sticking out of her arm stood near Stancil, attempting to help several of the other elves who were badly wounded. Richard’s scan told him they were semi-stabilized. He noticed the bodies of four elves laid out in a neat row to one side with blankets covering their faces.
Stancil took a moment from his work to glance in Richard’s direction. The elf didn’t say anything, but Richard had no doubt there was an unspoken request in the medic’s eyes. To his credit, Stancil merely nodded at Richard before placing a fresh wad of cloth over the red-stained bandage on the elf’s chest and applying pressure.
Richard leveraged himself to his feet, slipping on blood-soaked grass. He didn’t need his battle computer to tell him he’d slipped in his own blood.
“Healer, where are you going?” asked Meshoan. She sounded concerned. “You are still weak.”
“The name’s Rick,” Richard said. “Your medic needs help. I’ll be fine.” He made his way to Stancil, then knelt beside him and looked at the wounded elf. “Can you use some help?”
Without looking up from his charge, Stancil replied, “I can use all the help I can get, healer.” Pointing at a nearby soldier with his head, he said, “Help him if you can, and then continue from there. I have my hands full with this one.”
Normally, Richard would’ve just complied with the elf’s request. After all, the wounded soldiers were the medic’s people, not his. For some reason, he didn’t. Something inside him made him feel sorry for the wounded elves.
“Probably the bit of elf DNA inside you,” said his battle computer.
“Probably,” Richard said. “Now stop reading my thoughts.”
“Compliance.”
Reaching past Stancil, Richard placed both of his hands over the blood-soaked hands of the medic. When the medic looked at him, he said, “You can’t help this one. You can’t always cheat death; you have to pick your battles.”
“He is a friend.” Stancil’s eyes were shiny. The elf looked at the other wounded. “They are all friends. I will not let any more of them die.”
“No more will die,” Richard sounded determined, despite knowing the promise he was making was going to cost him a great deal of pain. “Go help the others. Leave this one to me. He’s going to be all right.”
Stancil didn’t move right away. “Are you sure? His wound is almost as bad as Meshoan’s. Why would you endure pain for someone you do not even know?”
Smiling slightly, Richard answered with a confidence he hadn’t felt in a very long time. “For the same reason you would, Stancil—because we’re healers. It’s what we do.”
Chapter 67 – Sheshna
____________________
Once Jeena ensured the long corridor from the Hall of Meeting was deserted, she leaned against a marble wall and rested her head on her arm. She was mentally and physically exhausted. As usual, the council meeting had turned into another long drawn out fight. Lord Sheshna and his cronies had once again pressed her hard.
He makes everyone think he is trying to help, but he does not fool me. He has set a trap for both the high lord and me. If only the Lady would show me how to avoid his trap, but she is not even sending me emotions anymore.
Jeena dreaded the upcoming greeting ceremony.
Leethor and Meshoan will be arriving at Silverton with King Halmafad tomorrow afternoon. Sheshna has got it timed so I will not even be able to check out the humans before the ceremony. I will be busy with Reale getting ready. Frustrated, Jeena pounded the wall. How did I ever let it get this far? she wondered. I should have stopped Lord Sheshna when he first brought up that fifty-year prophecy nonsense. It is two hundred years, not fifty.
Jeena knew prophecies were open to many interpretations. After years of research, the best soothsayers agreed that the reference to the ‘one ring’ in the prophecy was the ancient Letian meaning for two hundred years, not the old Letian meaning of fifty years.
That is backed up by the reference to ‘four rings,’ Jeena thought. Even Elisinsar agrees the prophecy says I will meet my bondmate again at the two-hundredth anniversary of my escape.
Jeena knew her bondmate, a short-lived human, would need divine intervention to be alive at the two-hundredth year. That’s what made her even more sure it was the two-hundredth year. Fifty years, on the other hand, wouldn’t take divine intervention.
Even if my bondmate were still alive, he would be seventy or eighty years old by now. Eighty years is a long time for humans. He would still be my bondmate, but I refuse to believe the Creator would be so cruel as to bring us back together at the fiftieth year. Jeena thought about the prospect for a moment. If the Creator did bring him back at the fiftieth year, age would not matter. I would try to spend as much time with him as possible before he passed from this world to the next. Then when my time came to leave this world, we would have all eternity to be together.
Jeena sighed. Sometimes she wished the Dalinfaust had killed her that night in the cavern. She couldn’t say she’d been all that happy since then.
“Lord Jeehanathoraxen,” came a deep voice. “Good. I had hoped I would be able to speak to you in private.”
Jeena closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. She didn’t feel like facing Lord Sheshna right now. Removing any trace of emotion from her face, she turned to her political adversary. “Lord Sheshna, I think we talked quite enough in the council chamber. I am tired. I want nothing more than to go home.”
“Yes, I have noticed you seem stressed lately, Lord Jeehanathoraxen. I apologize if I have been responsible in even the slightest way. I am only thinking of what is best for the elven race. Surely you know that.”
Jeena said nothing. She had no doubt Lord Sheshna was loyal to the elves. Even so, she knew his political maneuvering was strictly for him. It’d been common knowledge for several centuries that he coveted the position of High Lord. She had no doubt he’d use any legal means to get it, no matter how costly it was to others.
“Lord Jeehanathoraxen, Jeehana, please, let us set aside our differences a bit. Your parents and I were good friends. You may not remember, but I used to come over and hold Ceril, Meredith, and you on my lap when you were young. I used to tell you stories of elven heroes of old.”
“Yes, I remember,” Jeena said. “I was young, but I remember thinking those were good times.”
“Then you should know that when I say I am concerned about you, I truly am.”
Jeena snorted. “You have put me in a precarious position, Lord Sheshna. You know very well it is not going to be the fiftieth year. It is the two-hundredth year.”
“Why, Jeehana, how can you have so little confidence in the Lady. Have I not explained many times how the prophecy points to the—”
“Stop it, Lord Sheshna. We are alone here. You have done everything in your power to push ahead the part of the prophecy that has very little backing or basis.”
“Not so, Jeehana. There are many who think the fiftieth year is a significant part of the prophecy.”
“I will not rehash everything that was just said in the council chamber,” Jeena said. “What is it you want?”
“What I want, Jeehana, is for you to think over the consequences of making a bad decision.”
Jeena raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure where Lord Sheshna was headed.
“What I mean, Jeehana,” the old elf explained, “is that King Halmafad and the rest of the humans will be here tomorrow. They will appear before the Council of Light on exactly the fiftieth year of your escape from the Dalinfaust. An elf less intelligent than you might be tempted to pick a conveniently aged human and claim he was your savior.”
Anger welled up inside Jeena. “How can you say that? I have bonded already. Do you think I would give my bonding pledge to someone other than my true bondmate?”
“Jeehana, I am not going to argue the same words with you again either. You cannot have a bondmate. There was no pledge made before witnesses. If there were witnesses, they have never come forward to testify to the authenticity of your supposed bonding. Your human ‘savior’ has not appeared before the Council of Light, so he cannot be an elf friend. He has not appeared at a Midnight Blessing, and he has not been with you in the Presence of the Lady. Consequently, even if such a human did exist, he would not be your lawful bondmate. We have rehashed this over and over.”
Lord Sheshna glanced nervously over his shoulder apparently making sure the hallway was still clear. He looked back at Jeena.
“Even your bonded— Yes, do not look so surprised. I freely admit you have a bond link. Anyone can see that. However, even you cannot deny your bond is strange. Bondmates have two links; two, not one. They are one-way links. Yours is a single link that leads to nowhere. You claim it is a two-way link, but that is hard to prove or to disprove when there is nothing at the other end. If the person to whom you gave your bond link ever existed, he is obviously dead by now. I fail to understand why you do not realize this.”
“He is not dead,” Jeena said, trying to control her emotions. It was all she could do to keep tears of anger from flowing down her face. “I see now where you are headed with this, Lord Sheshna. You are not concerned about me. You fear I will give my bonding pledge to one of the humans, even if he is not my bondmate. Well, rest assured, I shall not. I have no desire to spend the rest of my life as a slave passed from one generation of humans to the next. Do you think I am so foolish that I would accept a life of servitude just to spite you?”
The old elf didn’t bother answering. It was apparent to Jeena that he did fear she would do precisely that.
“Cast aside your worry, Lord Sheshna. You can believe what you want, but I know my bondmate is alive. Our bonding was blessed by the Lady herself.”
“So you say.”
“Yes, I do say,” Jeena replied, beginning to lose control of her temper. “Regardless, you have put me in a position where I shall be forced tomorrow to go through the motions of preparing for a bonding ceremony. To appease the crowd, I must appear before the council wearing my bonding dress. Both you and I know it won’t be the fiftieth year. It is supposed to be the two-hundredth year. There will be no bonding pledge.”
This time Lord Sheshna snorted. “How wonderful it must be to be so young but yet have so much knowledge.”
Jeena mentally smiled. The old elf was becoming irritated. Good, she thought. The conversation is not going the way he hoped. At least I am forcing him into a position he would rather avoid. Jeena decided to make him even more irritated.
“For one so old, you seem to know so little. Do you think we are all fools? Everyone knows your agents filtered King Halmafad’s party to make sure no one over forty-five years of age is coming to Silverton. If I were you, I would be concerned the crowd might turn on you if they decide you have intentionally circumvented the prophecy.”
“Now, Jeehana, you have me all wrong. I was merely concerned that the trek to Silverton would be hard. I have no doubt the Tree of Light and the Lady will ensure your savior will appear here if that is their desire. Surely you do not think his age will be a hindrance? If the Creator wills him to be here, then he will be here,” A sly smile crossed Lord Sheshna’s face. “Even if your human is eighty or ninety years old, I am sure he will be able to perform his duties during your bonding night in the Presence of the Lady.”
The old elf’s last words cut deep. By sheer force of will, Jeena kept her emotions under leash. “Is that all, Lord Sheshna? I am tired. We gain nothing by arguing.”
“All right, Jeehana,” said Lord Sheshna as he glanced down the hallway again in both directions. “I am going to be completely honest with you. I admit that I do not believe the prophecy indicates fifty years. Like you, I have no doubt the prophecy references two hundred years. That is, if this were the time of the prophecy, I would believe that. However, I am not of that opinion.”
Jeena opened her mouth to speak, but Lord Sheshna raised his gnarled hand to cut her off.
“Let me finish. I do not believe a human could ever be an elf friend. That is unthinkable. I do not believe the Lady in her wisdom would hinge the fate of our empire on humans.”
Jeena lost the battle with her anger. “Are you calling me a liar, Sheshna?”
Again, Lord Sheshna raised his hand. “I have not finished. I did not mean to imply you lied, but I do believe you have skewed the facts in your own mind. You were held captive, and someone freed you; that is obvious. I do not believe that someone was an elf friend. You know as well as I that no one can be an elf friend unless he is declared so by the Council of Light. That has not happened in fourteen thousand years. I suspect it will not happen for another fourteen thousand.”
“Now who thinks they know everything?” Jeena asked.
“I did not say I know. I said I suspect,” said Lord Sheshna. “You and I are both mortals. We do not know everything, although I believe both you and I think differently sometimes. I freely admit I do not believe it’s the fiftieth year. I also do not believe the one who freed you has anything to do with the prophecy. However, if the Creator wills it, then it will be so. If indeed the Lady selected your rescuer to be an elf friend, then he will be even if he is a human. If it is the Lady’s will that he shows up tomorrow on the fiftieth year, and that the council declares him elf friend, then he will be there and an elf friend he shall be.”
“Then why have you done everything possible to prevent him from appearing?” Jeena asked more than a little confused.
“Everything I have done, I have done for a good reason,” Sheshna replied proudly. “Yes, I have done everything I can to make sure it will be physically impossible for your rescuer to appear. You are honest to a fault, Lord Jeehanathoraxen, but do not think that the high lord is any less politically minded than I. If it was within his power to set up a situation where someone could conveniently be named elf friend to further his political ends, he would do so.”
“That is a lie.”
“No, it is not a lie. I happen to know better. I have lived a lot longer than you, Jeehana, a lot longer. I have seen things that have caused me to be suspicious. So yes, I admit I have set up a situation where nothing short of divine intervention could make the council declare a human as an elf friend. My only concern is that in your desperation, you will give your bonding pledge to anyone just to keep the high lord in power.”
“I would not—”
“Are you that certain, Jeehana? Maybe you would, and maybe you would not, but let me tell you this. If tomorrow night you kneel before one of the humans and give your bonding pledge, the Council of Light will not declare him an elf friend. I have allies. I have more votes on the council than necessary to back me up. We also will not recognize your bonding. It would not matter anyway. There is not a human alive who would turn down your bonding pledge. If, in your foolishness and pride, you give your pledge to one of them, you know what that will mean; slavery. It does not matter if you have given your bond link to another. You will be honor bound by your pledge to serve the human. For the rest of your life, you will be a slave. You will be passed from one human to another, and he will share you with his friends. Once you give your pledge, there will not be a thing anyone can do about it.”
