Council of War (46 page)

"You were only a babe on the day the world shook," explained the king. "It was believed that Morro died that day. Now we know better."

"Still," frowned Prince Saratoma, "I am familiar with most families in the Heart. I should recognize the name of one of our lost people."

"His name was never to be spoken," explained the king. "He was one of the plotters of rebellion, along with your father."

"Plotters of rebellion?" snapped Morro. "How can you…"

"Stop," scowled Prince Rigal. "You gave me your vow, and you will keep it."

Morro turned to Prince Rigal, his face a mask of rage. Slowly the rage drained from his face, and he nodded in submission. "I apologize. My words are not helpful to this discussion."

"Is Morro now one of your men?" the king asked Prince Rigal.

"He is," nodded the Alcean elf. "I also apologize for his behavior. Morro is a valued ally in our fight against the Federation. If his presence here disturbs you, I will send him away until he can regain a calm demeanor."

"No," the king shook his head. "If we are all to work together, he needs to speak his mind. A wound should never be allowed to fester. I now understand that better than most. Let him speak."

"I do not think that is wise," cautioned Prince Rigal.

"I think it is necessary," retorted the king. "There can be no doubts between us if we are to succeed in anything. Release him from his vow."

Prince Rigal stared at Morro, and eventually he nodded and sighed. "You may speak your mind, Morro."

Morro remained silent with his hands curled into fists. He glared at the king, but he held his tongue.

"Let it out," prompted the king. "Tell me how you wish I were dead instead of Ellak."

"Isn't that the truth," snapped Morro. "Ellak was a true Dielderal. He would never have suffered our people to live under the boots of the emperor. The day you turned him over to the Federation, I swore that one day I would kill you. Only the freak occurrences of the day the world shook saved your life. I saw a chance to flee this forsaken forest and make my own way in the world, but I always dreamed of coming back here for you. It should have been you that died that day, not Ellak."

"There has not been a day since then that I have not said those same words myself," the king said with a tear in his eye. "I wanted so much to die instead of my son, but I knew that his path would lead to the destruction of the Dielderal. Right or wrong, I did what I thought was best for the people, but that does not mean that I liked it. I have lived since that day without emotion like a rock upon the ground. Had Prince Rigal not come through the Elfwoods, I would still be as unmoving as that rock."

"Oh?" retorted Morro. "So now you finally realize your mistake, and we are all supposed to forgive and forget? I don't think so, Elengal. You killed one of the greatest Dielderals of all time. I can never forgive you for that."

"I do not ask for your forgiveness," stated the king, "and I would never expect you to give it. I cannot forgive myself, but if we are to work together to free our people from slavery, we must work together. After they are free, I will offer up my life for you to take in revenge. It is all I have left to offer you."

"No!" interrupted Prince Saratoma. "You will offer no such thing." He turned towards Morro and stepped in front of the thief in a threatening manner. "I don't know who you are, Morro, or what you have gone through in the last twenty years, but I doubt that my father would approve of killing King Elengal, and I certainly don't. My father is dead, and I have felt his loss my whole life. I, too, have lived with hatred in my heart, but elf killing elf has got to stop, and it stops now. If you have any thoughts of taking out your revenge on King Elengal, you will have to kill me first."

Morro stared at Ellak's son with confusion on his face. The resemblance to Ellak was startling, and his fiery temper was what he remembered most about his friend. He glanced at the king and saw tears in the old man's eyes, and his hatred began to fade. He stepped away from Prince Saratoma and looked into the king's eyes.

"Are you prepared to wage war against the Federation?" he asked.

"We are," nodded the king. "Our people are training everyday, and we are stockpiling weapons all over the Elfwoods. The only question is when to attack. The timing must be right, and we have promised Prince Rigal that we will hold off until he agrees the time is right. In the meantime, we continue to act like meek little lambs, but you will not find a people more determined to throw off the yolk of slavery."

"And what of the children in the reeducation centers?" questioned Morro.

"I do not know if they can be saved," frowned the king. "We are making plans to attack the center in Despair, but the elves in the other cities will be doomed when we revolt. This has been a point of great despair for our people, but there is no other choice. Once again I seem to be making decisions that send innocent people to their deaths."

"Maybe not," Morro replied with a hint of a smile coming to his face. "For the last twenty years my goal has been to free the children so that the Dielderal no longer have a reason to remain passive. We do need to work together, King Elengal. Perhaps Prince Saratoma is right about how Ellak would feel. I truly don't know, but I do agree that elves should not kill elves. It will be a fight for me to control my bitter feelings, but I intend to try hard to so."

"Then a truce we have," declared the king. "Whenever my temper flares these days, I remind myself of what is at stake. Perhaps you can try that as well. We both fight for the preservation of the Dielderal, and nothing else should matter. Go and see your father."

"Is that wise?" asked Prince Rigal. "I do not want our presence in Elfwoods known to the Federation."

"The Dielderal are united as they have never been before," said King Elengal. "Your presence will not be reported to anyone. Every single elf has pledged his life to ending the reign of slavery. There are no traitors among us."

Morro nodded and left the room. Prince Saratoma watched him leave and then turned to look at his grandfather.

"Who is his father?" asked the young prince.

"Legaulle," replied the king.

"The historian?" Prince Saratoma frowned as he remembered forcing the old man to reveal information about his father's death. "He has never mentioned him."

"Morro and Ellak were very close," said the king. "They planned the rebellion together. When the Federation came and killed Ellak, Legaulle had expected his son to die, too. As the Federation often holds families responsible for the crimes of their kin, Morro's family were afraid to say his name. They didn't know if Morro had been captured and taken away, or if he had died as so many others had that day. It will be a bittersweet reunion for both of them."

"Morro is a good man," interjected Prince Rigal. "He has been helping my people for some time now."

"Can he really rescue the children from the reeducation centers?" asked the king.

"He cannot do it alone," answered the Alcean elf, "but I think it may be possible. Morro has made a lot of friends since he left Elfwoods. I did not make it clear the last time I was here, but there are more Alceans in Zara than me and my two men."

"Like the four men who rescued you?" smiled the king. "That was well done. When the Federation did arrive at the Heart, there were no repercussions for the elves. In fact, they were pleased that we had alerted them to the presence of the foreign elves. I think it has quelled their fears that we might be working with the Alceans."

"How many more are there?" asked Prince Saratoma.

"There are four that you have not seen," answered Prince Rigal, "plus some sailors who manned the ship from Alcea. When the time comes, we will all help rescue the children, but that time has not yet arrived. We are working on finding places to hide the children. That is what brings us back to Elfwoods."

"You seek to hide the children here?" frowned King Elengal. "The Federation has free access to all parts of Elfwoods. We could not possibly hide them here for long."

"That is not the plan," replied Prince Rigal. "We have located one spot up north to hide some of the children, but we are searching down south for another. Are you familiar with the Isle of Despair?"

"That is where the dwarves used to live," nodded the king. "It has not been used in ages, but I can warn you about a wrinkle in your plan already. Any ship approaching the coast of Elfwoods would immediately draw attention of the Federation. There is no way we could get anyone onto that island."

"Which makes it the perfect place to hide someone," grinned Prince Rigal. "Some of my people have been on the Isle of Despair recently. We believe that the dwarves did not die there. In fact, we believe that they tunneled to Elfwoods and escaped to the mountains."

"You mean the dwarves still exist?" asked Prince Saratoma.

"I wouldn't go that far," replied Prince Rigal. "We do believe that they escaped, but we don't know if they still live. The point is, we must find the tunnel the dwarves used to escape the island. If we can locate it, we can use it to get the children to safety. If we had enough food, we could even make all of the Dielderal disappear until it is time to attack."

"I will strip this forest clear of game if we need to," vowed the king. "Let's not let a lack of food get in the way of what we need to do. Where will we find this tunnel?"

"We only have a rough estimate of where to look," stated Prince Rigal, "and we have no idea how concealed the entrance might be. Dwarves are excellent tunnel makers, and you could walk right over an entrance without knowing it."

"I can supply thousands of elves for the hunt," offered the king. "We will inspect each blade of grass singularly if that is what it takes."

"The Federation would notice such a large number of elves," Prince Rigal shook his head. "The plan is for me and my three men to perform the search. I wanted to stop in here first to warn you that we will be in Elfwoods. If your people stay well away from where we will be, there should be no trouble brought to them."

"What area of the Elfwoods are we talking about?" asked Prince Saratoma.

"Due south of the Isle of Despair," answered Prince Rigal.

"That is at the very edge of the Badlands," noted King Elengal.

"I know the area," nodded Prince Saratoma. "I used to sit there and stare out at the sea while the others went to work at the mines. I don't recall anything that looked like a tunnel."

"It won't be obvious," stated the king. "What can we do to help with the search, Prince Rigal?"

"You might have Legaulle search the archives," suggested Prince Rigal. "See if there were any dwarf sightings at any time in Elfwoods. If there were, have them plotted on a map and get it to us. Maybe that will supply the small hint we need to find the tunnel."

"That's all?" frowned Prince Saratoma.

"The Dielderal have plenty to do to prepare," answered Prince Rigal. "Train your people in the arts of warfare, establish weapon caches throughout Elfwoods, and stockpile as much food as possible. The day of liberation is not at hand, but it will come before you know it. Use the time wisely."

General Skye guided the small craft towards the shore and ran it up on the beach. Princess Jeanel jumped out of the boat and began to pull it up on the beach.

"Leave it," called the general. "I have to sink it so they don't know where we landed. I want them to think we took the boat all the way to Zarocca."

The princess let go of the boat and looked around. At first she thought that no one was nearby, but she soon saw a man riding towards her with two saddled horses. She called softly to the general to warn him.

"His name is Garth Shado," replied the general. "He is an ally. Wait with him while I sink this."

The princess nodded, but she was apprehensive about being with a stranger, and this particular stranger looked deadly. It was not the sword on his back nor the quiver and bow that were visible that caused her to sense danger in the man. It was the way the man handled himself. He sat calmly enough on the back of the black stallion, but his eyes constantly scanned the area as a predator might, as if he were looking for something to kill. The princess hesitated and glanced back at the general, but he merely waved her away as he thrust his sword to break holes in the bottom of the boat. The princess reluctantly moved towards the man on the black horse.

"Can you ride?" asked Garth.

The princess merely nodded. When the princess made no move to mount a horse, the stranger slid off his mount and grabbed her. He lifted her up effortlessly and placed her in the saddle of one of the horses.

"I am Garth," he said softly. "I will be your guide tonight. Do not be afraid. No one will harm you. Your father waits just on the other side of the hill."

The princess glanced at the hill, and the urge to flee from the stranger grew stronger. She grabbed the reins and tried to turn the horse around to flee, but the animal would not budge.

"Be patient," Garth said to her. "The general is coming with us."

That was it. He did not scold her for trying to run away, and he did not make any attempt to take the reins from her. It was as if the stranger had some type of magical hold over the horses. General Skye watched the boat sink and then turned and ran towards Garth and the princess. He leaped onto the third horse, and Garth started moving towards the hill. The other two mounts followed.

"I hope you know some secret pass through the mountains," stated the general, "or we will never make it to Zarocca."

"We will make it," Garth said with confidence.

"I think he is a mage," the princess whispered to the general. "He is controlling the horses."

Garth smiled inwardly when he heard the comment, but he did not show that he had heard the princess' remarks. After a few minutes of riding, they came to the rest of the group. The princess leaped off her horse and ran to her father. Garth immediately stopped and the general halted alongside him.

"Did everything go all right?" Garth asked the general.