If you are just joining the adventure and wish to start at the beginning, you can find it in the link to the Overture - “The Scent of Time”.
For the complete immersion into the story, the following resources are available: The Map for the Twilight of Kings and the Language Underlying the Story.
Return to the Table of Contents, click here.
I hope everyone enjoys!
Erin left her brother’s room, churning with emotions. Part of her rejoiced that her brother was awake and in his right mind. Anther part of her raged against the folly of the people of Pannather. Another part of her just hurt with the raw edge of grief. It is not fair, she silently screamed.
She dashed tears from her face, composing herself as she walked toward the rooms shared by Rinalleen’s Wards. Her mind went to Jen and Katya and thought them a soothing balm in the kingdom’s center of power with all the politics. Life was so much simpler in Duunevaal, she thought.
Entering the room she shared with Jen and Katya, Erin found herself looking at another young woman of average height with almond-shaped hazel eyes and honey-colored hair. The stranger looked up from her height deficit and blinked. Erin closed the door behind herself.
“Who are you, my lady?” asked the stranger.
“My name is Erin,” she answered. “Are you Meridith?”
A brief frown creased the young woman’s forehead.
“Aye,” answered Meridith. “But you have the advantage of me. I do not know you.”
“I am newly arrived,” Erin said. “From the east.” She thought, I should have thought how I must speak of myself without revealing my true identity!
Meridith’s mouth curved in a smile but her frown remained.
“I know of no lord from the Forest Hills,” said the young woman. “Who are your parents?”
Erin took a moment to speak, her hands twisting around each other.
“My parents are dead,” she answered.
“Ah,” Meridith said. “As are mine. So…you are to be a Ward of the Flower?”
“I do not know,” she answered. “The king said that the princess will decide when she returns.”
Meridith nodded, her eyes glinting with sudden humor.
“She will say aye,” said the Ward. “She always does. If anything can be said about our royal benefactors, it is that they are generous and kind.” But Meridith’s tone did not sound warm or fond.
The matter-of-fact statement made Erin uncomfortable. She could not tell if Meridith approved of the Royal Family or merely tolerated them. How can anyone take such generosity and not be grateful? Erin wondered to herself. Having lost everything and everyone—except for Revven—she could hardly believe the good fortune of having a benefactor in Royal Family of Pannather.
“You must be the one sleeping in my bed,” Meridith observed, moving closer to the bed and gazing critically at it.
“I am sorry,” Erin said. “I woke up there.”
Meridith looked at her, seeming to be impressed.
“You must have a good tale to tell,” said the Ward. “But no matter about the bed. I shall find another bed until the Flower returns. Let me gather my things.”
Erin watched Meridith efficiently packing her things.
“What is your story, Meridith?”
Meridith glanced at her in surprise.
“I am an orphan,” came the answer.
“What happened to your parents?”
Meridith went back to packing.
“They were killed when Bergensland attacked.” Meridith’s tone was quiet. “I was but a young child. They found me with the bodies.”
Erin closed her eyes, feeling a wave of sorrow. Her memory replayed a spray of crimson blood. Her eyes snapped open as Meridith’s voice broke the silence.
“By the Songs! Are you well?”
“I am sorry to hear of your parents’ deaths,” Erin said.
“It happened a long time ago.” Meridith studied her. “What does it matter to you?”
“It is close,” Erin answered, “for I too lost my mother recently.”
The Ward’s chin lifted, her eyes narrowing.
“I heard a rumor that Koto’ol made it over the Bridge on the Danling River,” Meridith said. “And I heard a man and woman brought word. They were covered in blood. But by all appearances, you are unharmed.”
“My brother was wounded,” Erin replied, looking at her hands. “But it was us.”
Meridith nodded slowly, still studying her.
The door opened and Erin stepped aside, turning in the same motion. She smiled as Katya and Jen entered the room, both ladies beaming. Upon seeing Meridith, Katya exclaimed, “Ah! You two have met!”
“The dress really suits your eyes, Erin,” Jen bubbled. “Is she not lovely, Meridith?”
“I suppose so,” Meridith answered, stopping her packing to look. “Where have you two been?”
“We went for a walk,” Katya answered, removing her yellow cloak.
“To catch a glimpse of a certain lieutenant if the Citadel Guards?” Meridith asked, looking innocent.
Erin saw Jen’s neck color with a deep blush as the Ward slowly removed her green cloak. Looking at Meridith, Erin saw the young woman’s smile and thought it anything but kind. There was a bitterness in Meridith, Erin could feel it. She wondered how Meridith dealt with Rinalleen.
City of Mellind
Kingdom of Pananther
“Alleen, you must stop pacing,” grumbled Lady Serra. “You are wearing a hole in my rug!”
Rinalleen heaved a sigh and stopped walking. But she did not stop moving. Her fingers tangled and knotted. She gazed out the window of the room. The chandelier received a passing glance. When she finally met her grandmother’s gaze, she went still, knowing she looked like a child.
“Time will not pass any faster being anxious,” Lady Serra told her dryly. “If anything, it makes the wait torturous.”
“I know,” she replied. “I just feel so useless here.”
“Useless to visit your grandmother?” Lady Serra’s eyes were wide. “Useless to be a comfort in my grief? Useless to have learned so much at the Lord-Mayor’s ball? My dear girl, you have much to learn about being useless!”
Rinalleen made her way to the divan and sat beside her grandmother.
“I did not learn much at the ball,” she sighed. “I did not learn if the Lord-Mayor had any secret aims in this meeting. Nor did I learn who was supporting the Lord-Mayor’s cause.”
“Did anyone seem opposed to the Sunlanders?”
“The Sambreeans?” Rinalleen thought for a moment. “The Bergenslanders avoided them as did the Unioners. Of the Pannan, Sir Davvid Vendensvii is certainly against any Western entanglement. But as I told you, I was not there very long and—”
“Aye,” interrupted her grandmother, “and the Sunlander envoy disturbed you. You handled yourself well with him, but you should not have let him disturb your whole evening. What could he have done? If he had laid a finger on you, everyone in Mellind would have torn him to pieces—literally!”
“I did not fear for my safety,” Rinalleen mused. “I could not believe my ears. A grown man speaking superstitions like a child….” She shook her head. “Even if Muukran tells his master about me, what does it matter to me?” She laughed. “Will they try to take me by force?”
Lady Serra laughed with her.
“Nay,” said her grandmother. “I would not fear the Sunlanders at all. But we must be wise. If the Death Lord is advancing on our eastern borders, we can be certain that his silent songs are stirring up trouble in the West. I think the Long Silence is ending.”
Rinalleen’s mind went to Erin and Revven. She straightened, intending to rise, but her grandmother laid a hand on her arm. Startled, she met Lady Serra’s dark eyes.
“Rinalleen,” said her grandmother, quiet and serious. “If the the Long Silence is ending, as Allaan foresaw, then we cannot allow our emotions to rule our heads. The Death Lord waited more than sixteen-hundred years to strike at Duunevaal. And Duunevaal fell more than four-hundred years ago. He has been planning and preparing for all this time. And by removing the Duunedii, he can operate freely on the east bank of the Danling and he can strike at any place along our eastern border without warning. I do not doubt your father has seen this, but you must see it. You must see that Pannather is the last line of defense between the Death Lord and the complete ruin of Erreth. You must keep focused. You must not let your heart distract you from what needs being done.” Tears filled Lady Serra’s eyes. “I am sorry you must face these days so young, but when did Mortals ever choose the times of trials and testing?”
Rinalleen placed her hand over her grandmother’s, feeling the frailness. She nodded, knowing her grandmother was right. Then she smiled.
“To remain focused, I must hold to hope,” she said. “Like Queen Allaan wrote.”
“Aye,” Lady Serra agreed. “And when you cannot see any hope, you must hold to the hope that there is hope beyond the shadows, beyond your sight. Only then can you defeat the Shadow’s silent songs.”
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