Title: King Edward, Part IV
Author: Anonymous
IsNaughty: False
Price: 300
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Content:


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[/center]King Edward, Part IV



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[/center]Chap 4: Stories

[/center] 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 shouldn't 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

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 shouldn't 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. 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;  Gerald 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.
Gerald 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 wasn't  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 one of those hedge mazes 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 aren't  slackers. 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?' '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 mana, 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 mana 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
li
ke 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."

e 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. 

 "I don't think Mats and Ssa'ass should have been made
specimens. They're  people. Even if they aren't elves."

 "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? I 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.

 
