Elea quietly stole into her old room at the Tower. She had instructed that all her original possessions be packed together in a bag. After grabbing the pack and tossing it over her shoulder, she realized that she was not sure where she was going to go now. 'I don't care. Somewhere. Anywhere. Far away from all of this.'
"Tower, where is a map the North Kingdom?"
"Most of the maps are in your study, Mistress." Her - no, THE tower responded.
She nodded. "Take me there." Reality shifted around her and Elea found herself standing at the large wood desk. Laid out before her was a map of the Greyhawk. She frowned, considering the various places she could go where she did not think anyone would come to look for her. Especially Donnan.
"I think you should go to the North, past Iuz. No one would think to look for you there. They would figure to look to the South as a likely place for you to hide." The familiar male voice of Be'ornhelm startled her, causing her jerk as she looked up at him. She felt her face flush a deep crimson as the mage wandered over to the desk and leaned forward, considering the map. He continued on in her silence. "Yes, let's see. What about here?"
Elea did not even look at the place he pointed out for her. Nor did she answer. She stood ramrod straight and looked out the window, arms crossed before her. Emotions whirled in her head as she silently cursed, furious but feeling helpless.
Be'ornhelm had known Elea was in the Tower from the moment she arrive. She did not know that he had set up an automatic spell to alert him whenever someone entered or left the tower. Be'ornhelm figured that this was not the time to mention it to Elea. He had watched her preparations and immediately figured out what she was doing. 'Now to see if I can remedy the situation before it gets worse.' "Come now, Mistress. If you intend to run away before morning, we need to set your plan in motion. There is no time to waste." He paused significantly. "You are running away, aren't you, M'Lady?"
The question was tinged with a touch of sarcasm that made her embarrassed flush renew its bright shade and caused her to clench her fists. "Why are you doing this, Be'ornhelm?" Her teeth ground together in a mixture of shame and anger. She was not sure who she was more angry at: Herself for her cowardice or Be'ornhelm for catching her.
"Mistress?"
Elea snapped. "Don't call me, Mistress!!" She whirled on him. "I'm not your mistress. I'm not anyone's mistress." She glared at him. "And I know what you're trying to do! So you can just stop now." She resisted the urge to stamp her foot at him.
"What do you mean, M- Lady? I'm trying to assist you. That's my job." He stood up straight and tall. "Even if that means to assist you in running away, to watch you gallivant about the countryside, shirking your duty and trying to avoid your destiny until such time as you grow up and return to your rightful place." His voice was soft and carefully neutral.
Elea inwardly winced, his words stinging. "You don't have any idea of what I'm going through." She responded sulkily.
"Oh, don't I?"
The softness of his voice made her hair stand on end. Suddenly, she knew that she was treading on dangerous ground. A man can be pushed only so far. Elea warily watched the Mage in silence.
Be'ornhelm nodded once he saw that he had Elea's complete and undivided attention. 'This is so familiar. Was it really so long ago?' He felt the pain of the loss of Bretonius sharply as he began to follow in his mentor's footsteps, replaying a scene from the past. He remembered when he stood in the exact same place as Elea. He gestured for Elea to sit. She was obviously nervous. ''Good, perhaps she will listen where I did not. Perhaps it will save her some heartache.' 'Be'ornhelm sat across from the young bard.
Elea crossed her arms petulantly. She did not want to hear what he had to say but her survival instinct kicked in long enough for her to realize that Be'ornhelm would have the last word, whether she liked it or not. Watching the mage across from her, she suddenly noticed the lines of age in his face and the look of a man who has been through much in his life. Grudgingly, she inwardly admitted that he deserved her respect.
"I was once young and foolish like you." He wanted to smile as she bristled but remained silent. "All young are foolish, my dear. Now, when I was told of my destiny to assist Bretonius and that I would always be "an eternal companion" of sorts, I rebelled. I did not want to play second fiddle to anyone, ever. I wanted power and glory for myself." Be'ornhelm shook his head as he remembered. "I was determined to be a great adventurer. I was not going to be like my father, a lackey to Ta-Mar. Everyone knew about Ta-Mar. No one remembered or cared about Ardendour, his assistant and my father. In truth, I was ashamed of him."
Elea uncrossed her arms, wanting to speak; to tell him that is not shameful to assist a great mage. The right "eternal companion" made or broke the hero in the songs. Every bard knew that. She forced herself to stay quiet as Be'ornhelm continued his story.
"One night, my father and I had a huge argument about destiny. I would not be a mindless Pawn." He saw her recognize her same feelings; that they were not so different after all. "That night, I left my home, went to my lady's home and convinced her to run away with me. Dalia, my love, agreed. We fled south. I was young, arrogant, so sure that I could take care of us both. I was wrong."
The bard listened, enwrapped in the tale.
"I forgot the old saying, 'Enemies of the Father are enemies of the Son.' We headed south, straight into Iuz's territory. Within one day, minions of Iuz had recognized me for what I was." His voice cracked and then went flat, devoid of emotion, as he remembered Dalia's screams. "I fought bravely. But not bravely enough to save her. They killed her like a common animal, intent on capturing me." Be'ornhelm's voice was barely a whisper. "Bretonius came towards the end of the battle in time to save me but not Dalia. Ardendour had told him as soon as he discovered me missing. Bretonius had immediately set out to find me, knowing that I would be in great danger."
Elea was quiet, misty-eyed at obvious Be'ornhelm's pain. "I'm sorry." She whispered.
He ignored her, wrapped within his memory. "He took me home after we buried her body. I wanted to die with her. She had been my world. I was alone. Bretonius released me from my duty to him. When I asked him what would happen to him now, he said, ''Do you want the answer you want to hear or do you want the truth?' ' I remember not wanting him to answer me at all. Later, I realized that I nothing left to live for and decided to just 'go away' so that no one could hurt me ever again.
Be'ornhelm looked up at her. "I was sitting where you are now when he came in and offered to send me any place I wished. I felt cowardly before him. Like he did not want or need me anymore." Elea's face flushed again and he knew he had hit a sore spot. "I tried to be brave while we were discussing where I was to go. Suddenly, a message came that Midmeadow was being attacked. He immediately got ready to do battle. I offered to come with him." He smiled at the remembered conversation. "Well, suffice it say, I stayed at his side, assisting him as he needed. And I have thanked the Gods that he allowed me to do so."
He gave her a penetrating gaze. "Now, you can leave if you want. I will not stop you. But I will guarantee that it will cause you hardship and heartache. Do you have any instructions before you go?"
Elea swallowed hard and shook her head.
"I assume you have left a note for Donnan, explaining your absence?"
"Yes." She whispered. "I -" her voice faltered as there was a soft knock and the door opened.
It was Britage. He quickly clasped his second set of arms behind him in an unconscious gesture to appear more 'normal.' Clearing his throat, the massive man spoke. "Excuse me, M'Lady Elea. I did not mean to interrupt. I came to speak to Be'ornhelm."
"It's OK, Britage." She half rose from her chair.
"I will come back another time. It's not important." Britage ducked back out of the door before Elea could stop him. She sat back down feeling incredibly guilty. She had completely forgotten about Britage and the quest. She had been feeling put upon and miserable because she was lonely and Donnan was getting married. But that was nothing compared to the one hundred and eighty years of pain and exile that Britage had known because of his curse.
Be'ornhelm took this unexpected opportunity to remind Elea that her actions affected many more people than just herself, playing on her sense of honor and duty. "Oh, yes. What arrangements have you made for your friends to continue their quest for the Cup and Talisman of Al'kabar?" He paused to think. "Donnan should be able to open Ta-Mar's tomb. He is of the blood. I think." Then he frowned. "Or maybe we should find another female descendant." He mused to himself, letting Elea considered her actions.
Elea was waging an intense war within her, battling between her adolescent desire to flee her pain, misery and wish to wallow in self pity and her growing maturity to 'do the right thing' regardless of personal sacrifice. She felt horrible for Britage as she compared her life to his and her problems to his. She also knew that she would hate herself if she did run away.
Finally she acknowledged that she needed to stay and take care of her duties. Anything less would shame her and her family as well as hurt many more people than she had first thought of. With a soft sigh, she looked at Be'ornhelm. "You're right. I need to stay."
"Are you sure, M'Lady? I will not force you to stay." And fulfill your duty, was the unspoken add on to his statement. Inwardly, Be'ornhelm was smiling, pleased that he had somehow managed to deal with his tempermental charge.
She nodded, thinking of Britage. "Yes. I'm sure."
Be'ornhelm smiled. "Good. I was hoping you would say that." He got up and fussed in a corner. Then he brought over a tray of food. "I have some things to discuss with you."
Elea nodded, listening to the tone in his voice. She figured that he was going to give her more Facts of Life and she was not going to like all that she heard. Feeling a bit cowed, she still felt better about herself now that she had decided to stay.
*
Be'ornhelm sat for a few moments collecting his thoughts, watching his young Mistress eat. Elea had not realized how hungry running away could make someone. Be'ornhelm looked into her lovely eyes, "First, young Lady you are the Mistress of the Tower and as long as I am here you will be referred to with that Title. You have a destiny and with that destiny comes obligations and responsibilities. You are over 40 standard years old, young for a half-elf maid, true. However, this still does -not- relieve you from the obligations".
Elea gulped hard at the mild rebuke she was receiving from her father's former assistant. She was not accustomed to being address in such a manner, not even from her best friend, Donnan. However, like an obedient school child being lectured to by the Head Master, she sat there, not daring to say anything. She just listened, wide eyed and nodding her head in the affirmative when she thought she was supposed to. The lecture went on for some time.
Be'ornhelm reminded Elea of her parentage, who her father was and many things about her family tree she had not heard before. Winding up with that the only real choice she would have in the future was whether or not she would join the council of Seven when she achieved a high enough ability in her arcane studies. She could choose to turn down the position. He had stopped in time, knowing another five minutes of lecture and Be'ornhelm would have the young half-elf maid in tears.
After he had appeared to finish that subject he went straight into another subject hardly taking a breath in between or giving Elea chance to dwell on what had just been said. "Mistress, have you noticed anything unusual when you think about your tower, not calling on it verbally, but when you have it in you thoughts?"
Elea shook her head in the negative with a questioning look.
"Excellent." Be'ornhelm continued, "Now that your initial connection with the Tower has run its course, your powers will reside in the verbal and somatic spheres. I will teach you a verbal gesture spell that will bring you safely to your study, and a reverse spell that will send you to anywhere you are very familiar with."
Elea interrupted, confused. "But, I can already do that."
With an all knowing smile, Be'ornhelm stated manner of factly, "I'm afraid you cannot, little Mistress. I can. Had I not had the warning Glyph on, your first attempt at teleportation to the tower would most assuredly been yours and Donnan's last." He smiled at Elea's shocked look. "Oh yes, Elea, you can launch yourself in and out of the tower like a catapult missile, but landing in the correct spot and in the right way is something else all together."
As Elea sat there and listened to him, she began to feel really sick at what could have happened to her and Donnan if she had been on her own when she attempted to return to the tower the first time. The idea of landing one thousand feet above or below your target was very un-nerving. She now knew she had to be more careful in the future.
After his stern lecture, Be'ornhelm took pity on Elea. He knew what kind of pressure she was under. He patted her hand and smiled. "Eventually, it will get easier. Why don't you get some sleep. I'll send you back to your chambers in Reynald's keep."
Elea nodded. She was suddenly exhausted. "Thank you." She whispered as Be'ornhelm send her to her bed.
Continue on to: 11. A New Beginning