King Edward, Part IV                                            Anonymous                                                       history                 ghosts                                                                     )	
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    <  {  !  &  +  /  F4  8    King Edward, Part IV    Chap 4: Stories    Edward faced his mother defiantly. "I'm not sick and I'm not a baby. I can stay here by myself. I don't need Mith."  There was a dangerous glint in Moraelyn's eyes. Aliera's lips thinned. "You will mind him, Edward."  "Yes, madam," Edward said sulkily.  "Come on, wife. Mith knows how to deal with princes who don't want his company." The three adults laughed a bit in their irritating way at a joke he didn't understand.  The weather was drizzly and Edward had the sniffles. His mother had decided that he should not go out, even though they were only going  visiting. Moraelyn had taken his side, but threw out his hands and raised his brows at Edward in a helpless gesture when Aliera insisted that he  stay behind. Mith, whom Edward liked the least of the Companions, had volunteered to stay with him. Even Ssa'ass would have been better. Mith  was -- scruffy looking. Like a stableboy. And cheeky, even for a Companion. Edward sulked silently for awhile longer. Mith had fetched a  broom and was sweeping the house out, brushing dirt from the room above into the room Edward was in. What on earth was the use of staying in when  there wasn't really any 'in' to stay in? Edward got tired of sulking, fetched a broom and went up to help sweep.  "Mith", Edward said. "have you ever been to the Crystal Tower?"  "I have. It's an unchancy place at first, but you'll grow used to it." Mith was applying his broom with energy and whistling. Sweeping was kind of fun here. There weren't any sides to the platforms so all you had to do was brush the dirt and leaves over the side. You started at the top and worked your way down.  "You're quick with the broom, Mith. I haven't half finished my side yet. Will there be others there like me?"  "Oh, some children, I'd think. Most'll be somewhat older. And I should be quick with a broom. My father had me sweeping out the king's stables when I was your age. I used to dream and talk too much like you; he beat me for it. So I learned to be quick."  Edward swept faster, stirring up dust. "Not like that, boy. Watch me. Anyway, there's no hurry; it's just habit with me. Moraelyn'd serve me my  head on a platter if I touched you. My father, heh, he was always ... well, he was a hard man to please. He was a Nord."  "Your father?" Edward stared at Mith, but Mith looked much like the other Dark Elves he'd seen. Not many. Dark elves didn't come to Daggerfall;  Corcyr had banned them. But he'd seen some on his rare trips to other courts. And there were some in Firsthold besides Moraelyn and Mith. "Did  he have red hair?" Mith's hair was a dark red. Corcyr had red hair. "He tended the stables for Moraelyn?" No wonder Mith looked like a stableboy.  But Edward kept his tone polite. Mith had a sharp tongue ... and Edward knew that neither of his parents would be sympathetic if he complained  that Mith had been impertinent.  "He did have red hair. Maybe I got mine from him ... but mostly mixed elf and human children come out dark elf. No, Moraelyn wasn't a king then or  expecting to be ... 'sides this was in Blacklight, where I was born. Moraelyn's brother was king in Ebonheart in those days. He came up to visit our King and brought Moraelyn along. To keep him out of trouble, he said." Mith grinned. "I grinned when I heard him say that, and I saw the boy looking at me out of the tail of his eye, but he wouldn't take notice. Like I was the dirt or something worse. His brother tossed him a pouch and told him to go into town and get his knife mended. Jerked his thumb at me and told me to show him the way.  "Moraelyn said he didn't need an escort to find a store and stalked off like princes do." Mith grinned knowingly at Edward. But the grin was not  unfriendly. Edward smiled back a bit, and Mith went on. "Our king eyeballed me, so I took off after him. Moraelyn didn't spare me so much as  a glance. Went four blocks out of his way, down by the wharfs, and when I tried to tell him where the store was he shoved me right off the pier. I could Levitate, of course, but he caught me by surprise and I went in with a big splash ... and everyone laughing like jackasses. I got myself out and went straight to the store and waited for him ... but not so he could see me ... and when he finally showed up, I lifted the pouch right off him. He  didn't even know it was gone. So in he goes and tosses the knife on the counter and tells the smith to fix it right off. Which he does. Only then  Moraelyn can't pay him ... tells the smith he's the King of Ebonheart's brother ... the smith just laughs and says, "And I'm the Archmagister" ... then the smith calls the guard and three of them show up.  "Well, Moraelyn wasn't what he is now -- three  guards wouldn't even warm him up nowadays -- but he was even faster then. He was out of there so fast he nearly knocked me over at the door. He lost the guards pretty quick; all that armor slows  'em down. I found him crouching in a hedge maze in the park. He was doubled over out of breath but still I stood a good ways off while I asked him real nasty if he needed an escort back to the Palace. Not that I was planning to go back. I was gonna take the money and run and never look back, I tell you. But I had to have the last word. I wasn't born high but I was born proud.  "He glared at me for a minute or so, catching his breath, then he just rolled over and started to laugh that laugh of his. Prince or no, I started to like him then. When we'd finished laughing, more or less, we started talking. I told him I didn't want to go back. Nor dared to.   "'Princes don't get blamed, Prince,' I said, 'Stableboys do.' He said that wasn't entirely the case, but he saw my point. Then he said that as I was his escort then he must obey his brother and come with me. And that his name was Moraelyn, not Prince. We've been together ever since ... more or less."  Edward smiled politely. He could see why Mith had run away, but not why Moraelyn had gone with him. Unless he was afraid to face his brother about  the stolen money. Edward tried to imagine Moraelyn being afraid to face anyone and failed. "I wish I was brave. Like you and Moraelyn."  "Why, you are brave. And your courage will grow with the rest of you."  "Are there only High Elf boys at the Tower?"  "There'll be other sorts, too, most likely. A few Dark Elves, for sure. D'ye miss your own kind?"  Edward shook his head. "Human boys don't like me much anyway. Nor High Elf boys..." His eyes filled suddenly and he turned his head away. But Mith's  voice was unexpectedly gentle. "I thought you wanted to go to the Tower."  "I do. But--"  "You'll be lonely."  Edward nodded.  "That's a hard thing to face."  "Did you go there alone, Mith?"  "No. Moraelyn did, but he was older than you, by a good bit. A grown man, in fact. They didn't take any but High Elf students in those days, you  know. But Moraelyn heard of them and said he wanted to go there. We were together already, the seven of us, save for Aliera, and a handy bunch in a  fight. Moraelyn had already gotten that Dragon's Blade he wears, and the Dragon's Tooth to go with it ... remind me to tell you about that sometime ...  and he was a famous fighter already. And the rest of us ain't bums neither. But he thought we could be better at the spellcasting and the Tower was the place to learn that. Well, no one goes near the Tower  without an invitation. No one. No one would even tell you where it was. But they'd tell you where NOT to go. So he went there. Alone. One morning he was gone and there a note saying for us to wait for him. So we did, here in Firsthold. He was gone two weeks, then he came back one night, rowing across with the tide. He just said they'd accepted him, but he  couldn't say anything more about it. But he asked me to come back with him.  "'They want me?' I asked him.  'Well, they've accepted one Dark Elf,' he said. 'One more shouldn't bother them too much.'  So we go there, and bless me if the Archmagister himself didn't meet us at the door and demand to know the meaning of this. I wanted to turn myself into a rock. I was wishing hard that I was stable dung. And figured I was like to get my wish soon. But Moraelyn speaks up real polite that this is the friend he'd mentioned and the Archmagister had expressed an interest in his abilities, and naturally he'd want to see for himself ...   "But the Archmagister was real interested. See, they don't wear armor or carry anything but a staff and a dagger. They think it interferes with their spellcasting, all that metal. But Moraelyn could cast pretty well even with chain and with any one-hand weapon at all. And I could cast wearing leather and as much as a saber, though it's an unwieldy weapon; I  like my short sword better. Truth, they didn't think that much of me, but Moraelyn ... he'd camped outside their door. And when they tried to move him he just sat there. They threw all the spells they had at him, the troll guards ... everything. Nothing. He laid the trolls out flat and left 'em to regenerate. If they tried to beat him with their staffs he'd ward them off with his blade ... and the spells didn't turn him a hair."  Edward's mouth gaped open. "How'd he do that? He said--"  "Well, it was a trick, in a way. He'd picked up something that came natural to Willow. See, Willow is different."  "I didn't know Willow could cast."  "Well, she doesn't have any magicka, ordinarily ... but she can absorb it if you cast a spell AT her, see. O'course it wasn't much use to her, since she'd never been able to learn what t'do with it once she got it. Couldn't get it back once it was gone, so she couldn't practice. Until Morelyn got hold of her and trained her. Well, Moraelyn had figured out pretty much how Willow did what she did ... though it cost Moraelyn magicka to do what came natural to Willow. So Moraelyn sat there absorbing everything they threw at him and burning it off into a big shield. Drove 'em wild."  "He said the Archmagister could best him, though." Edward suspected that Mith was making up the whole story.  "Well, so he did, when he finally came. But all the rest of 'em together couldn't do it. And all Moraelyn wanted was to study with them. We were a sight, the two of us dark elves in our battle gear among all that white and gold. I felt like a fish out of water, but Moraelyn was interested in what they had to say ... and you can bet they hung on every word he said.  Not too many words at first. After a fortnight or so, he told me one night to tell the Archmagister that he'd be back in a couple of days. And he shows  up with Silk. 'Course he'd been telling 'em about the Khajiits ... and they'd been asking questions.  "The Archmagister's no fool. He just stared at Silk, and she purred real loud and rubbed up against him and asked "How ya doin', Archmagister, baby?"  "The Archmagister kinda pushes Silk away and says in a whisper, "How--many--more?"  "'Just two, sir.'  "'What are they?'  "'Wood elves, sir.'  "'Just wood elves. Plain ordinary wood elves. No horns, hooves or tails.'  "'Yes sir. Ah, one of them has an extraordinary Absorb ability with some very unusual features. The other's just a Bard.'  "'Very well. You may bring the one with the Absorb. We don't want a Bard. They are not true mages.'  "'Well, that's most generous of you, sir, but the Bard's her brother, sir and I swore to their parents that I wouldn't separate them. So it'll just be the three of us.'  "'Her brother.'  "'Aye, a pair of twins.'  "'You may bring them both.'  "So three days later he's back with the twins AND Ssa'ass AND Slave. The Archmagister looks at them and sort of bobs up and down, but he speaks real quiet. 'Dark Elf, by pair of twins, did you mean TWO SETS of twins? Are you going to tell me that these -- these are twins?'  "Well, I could see that Moraelyn was kinda sorry he hadn't thought of trying that, but he said, 'No sir, the twins are Beech and Willow. The Argonian and the Nord are not prospective initiates. They are specimens. For your collection. You don't have any like them so I thought--'  "'You thought. I do not have a dragon either. Are you going to think to bring me that next?'  "'Oh, aye, I could. Would you like one?'  "'Tell me you are not serious.'  "'Well, I couldn't promise. And it would take quite a long time, a year maybe, but--'  "The Archmagister's eyes rolled up toward heaven. 'Thank you, All-Mother, I have at least a year to prepare,' he whispered."   Edward was shocked, though fascinated, "I don't think Mats and Ssa'ass should have been made specimens. They're people. Even if they aren't elves."  Mith shrugged, "Oh, they made Ssa'ass an initiate when they found out that he had some interesting Heal spells."  "But Mats?"  "Mats never minds anything. He hasn't a bit of magic; he couldn't be an initiate. Anyway he'd have hated it. He spent his time gaming with the guards. When he wasn't being studied. Seems he has some interesting magic  resistances. Anyway, since then, the initiates aren't just High Elves. And they don't all follow the Mage way."  "I shall. I shall be just like the Archmagister."  "Oh, aye, exactly," Moraelyn's voice sounded lightly behind him. "I'll cut the ears off a donkey for thee and dye thy skin with saffron. Bleach thy hair white and stretch thee a foot--" Moraelyn swung him high. "Art well, son? Told thee so, Aliera. He's not ill at all. Good, because the Archmagister's returned. We go to the Tower tomorrow."  "We" was just Moraelyn and Edward. Aliera had caught Edward's cold and they took some pleasure in insisting she remain in bed. Moraelyn rowed them across the river in a small boat and they walked for most of the day, resting a little at midday. It was evening when they reached the tower and the setting sun was glinting off it. Even the sea far below looked red.   There was a hush over the countryside.  "It's tall, isn't it?" Edward paused to look.  "Towers generally are."  "Did you really--" Edward broke off. Questions starting in that fashion did not draw satisfactory answers from the elf.  "Has Mith been telling thee tales? He's had ten years to polish that one. I doubt not it glistens like the Tower."  "He told me how you met, too."  "I thought he would."  "I didn't understand why you went off with him? He was a thief and a stableboy and you were a prince."  "You have just named three excellent reasons, Prince."  "You never give me serious answers."  "A serious charge. Very well, then. I saw myself through Mith's eyes and misliked what I saw: a callous bully and a coward, fit to be neither boy nor man nor prince. Why did you run off, Prince?"  Edward hung his head mutely. "Nay, I do not require answers. Come, it grows late."  Moraelyn reached his hand for Edward's, but Edward shook him off. If Moraelyn was a coward what did that make Edward? He looked at the Tower door where Moraelyn had demanded and won entrance, though all would shut him out. Edward could never do anything like that, but at least he could walk in on his own as an invited guest.  