The Drifting (21 page)

I’m shock
ed
to hear how Ziri’s mother’s just left him, “That’s awful.  Poor Ziri, he was just a baby.”

Mellis nods and continues, “Until Ziri was fourteen he lived with us as brother to Tharin and Tolan
, which we accepted
.  He was close
st
to Tolan and Alorn
,
and they protected him from the other young Sidhe
who didn’t accept him because of his Lithi blood
.  I’d like to think that we are above petty feelings, but the truth is, greed, lust and jealously
are
as common in Velesi as
they are
in the realm of man. 

“
Ziri would be mocked, teased and sometimes bullied when Tolan or Alorn weren
’
t around. 
He was scrawny and skinny back then and quiet.  He was an easy mark for the others to pick on. 
Tharin was already in training by the time he turned six
so he wasn’t
around to witness
the abuse
.  When Tharin
was around
, I remember Ziri following Tharin
everywhere
, but always several feet behind him.  He would hide when Tharin would turn around.  This went on for a while until one day Tharin backtracked and snuck up behind Ziri.  From that point on Ziri walked by Tharin’s side as we all did.  No one said or mistreated Ziri
after that
, at least not when we were around.

“Two months before Ziri’s fifteenth birthday, his Grandfather Zorn, the Cithonai of the Lithi, came for him.”

“Cithonai?” I ask, interrupting him this time.

“It’s the Lithi’s term for
‘
king,
’
” he answers, before moving on.  “Zorn had been to the north all these years and word of what his daughter did to her only child
finally
reached him.”

“Wait,” I interrupt, yet again.  “It took
ten
years for Ziri’s grandfather to get the news of what his daughter did to his own grandson?”

“That’s ten years in your time.  It’s almost twenty years our time,” he corrects. 

“What?  Are you serious?” I blurt out in shock.

“Yes,” he replies.  He sits staring at me. 

“What?” I ask.

“Are you done?  We only have a few weeks before the Seating, and I’d like to finish before we have to leave.” 

“Fine, whatever…go on.  Go,” I prompt when he still
sits
quietly.  I roll my eyes at him, “I promise…I won’t interrupt again.”

He nods
and
continues, “Zorn came to the Oak Clan immediately and spoke to my uncle
to allow Ziri to leave with him so that he would know his Lithi heritage.  As Ziri’s father, Thilthen had the right to refuse, but he knew Zorn was a proud
man
. Although he had four
grandson
s older than Ziri, Thilthen knew that Kali, Ziri’s mother
,
was his only daughter.
Besides, Zorn was adamant about not leaving the Tower without Ziri. 
My uncle
gave the decision to Ziri and without hesitation
Ziri
chose to leave with Zorn.  Just like that.  We had no idea
that
he wanted to leave.  My uncle loves all
of
his son
s
,
but he wanted
to give Ziri his support
, so
he relented.  He
let Ziri go with his grandfather
on the condition that Ziri return before his eighteenth birthday.  Zorn agreed. 

“We were all
shocked
by Ziri’s decision, but it was harder on Tharin and when he went to embrace Ziri farewell, Ziri moved away from
him
.  We were stunned and the look of anger and
betrayal
on Ziri’s face
hurt Tharin deeply
.  Without another word, Ziri walked
away
with Zorn and never looked back.  Until this day, we still don’t know what happ
ened. 

“Through
the
seasons
, Tolan and Alorn would try and stay in contact with him
.  At one point, Alorn even rode
out to Cithon, the valley of the Lithi, but returned saying he was turned away.  On the occasions when we did meet, Ziri seemed to always provoke Tharin into a fight and Tolan or Alorn would have to step in between the
m. 
Alorn took
Ziri’s attack against Tharin
personally.  Alorn
is F
irst
Greaneth
,
Tharin’s
protector,
and takes his responsibility
seriously.

“
When Ziri returned as promised, the wall he built between him and Tharin was solid and one that Alorn couldn’t tear down without facing Ziri in
a fight
.
”  Mellis turns to me shrugging, “Ziri is big and can hold his own in battle, but not against Alorn.”

“I can’t imagine it, they’re so big,” I remark absently.

“Lily, everyone is big compared to you.”

I smack him on the arm. “Whatever.  So what happened next?”

“
Well, after his return, i
t took a few months, but the love and
bond
once shared between Ziri and my uncle grew stronger
each day
.  Often you would find Ziri at Thilthen’s side, almost always finding them in laughter.  We were happy to have Ziri back, T
harin too, even from a distance
. 

“A while back,
Ziri received news Zorn had passed away.  He was called back to Cithon by his eldest cousin and new Cithonai, Brenam.  It was a formality, of course,
and Ziri left
to pay his respect
s
. 
But
, once the funeral was over, jealous of Zorn’s love for his younger cousin, the new Cithonai banished Ziri from their valley claiming Ziri betrayed the Lithi by returning
to
Thilthen’s side.  Upon his returned, we
had already heard
of the banishment, but there was something else eating at Ziri.  He stayed a wee
k, often
times in quiet conversation with Thilthen.  At the end of that week
,
Ziri left, but this time he shunned Alorn, too.  It hurt Alorn more than he would admit
.
 

“Tharin was furious and he confronted
Ziri on
the
bridge from the
Oak
Tower
. 
Ziri
remained quiet, not saying a word
until Tharin was done.  Then he said, ‘It’s not enough that you’ve betrayed me, but you now accuse me of not having any feelings, as well.  You should look to yourself, brother.’ 
Tolan and
I rode behind Tharin so I was close enough to not only hear what Ziri had to say, but see the look of confusion, anger and hurt on Tharin’s face.”

Mellis sat quietly reflecting on all that he shared.  Then he looks over at me saying, “That’s all I really know.  Alorn never spoke of his time when he went to see Ziri.  And they haven’t spoken since.”

“Wow,” I reply shaking my head “seems like there’s a lot of drama in your family.” 

Mellis laughs, “Yeah, you can say that.”

“What about you, Mellis?  Are you angry at Ziri, too?”

Mellis shrugs. “Nah.  I used to look up to Ziri, like I did with them all.  And, yeah, I was sad when he left, but I figured he did what he did because he had a good reason to.  That, unfortunately, didn’t work for the others.  They wanted answers.”

We sit tending to our own thoughts.  I decide that where Ziri is concerned with Tharin, Alorn and Tolan I’ll follow Mellis’ take on it.  Whatever their issues, I’m staying out of it.  I have too many of my own to deal with, especially the ones dealing with my future husband.

I
look
out at the landscape before me
and push Alorn and Ziri from my mind
.  My eyes are instinctively drawn to the patch of giant oaks.  One thing
is
for certain
–
as long as I’m here in Velesi
,
I will never be alone.  No, that’s not right.  As long as
I’m
Tharin’s betrothed
,
I will never be alone.  One of them, Mellis, Alorn or Phoris
and even Ziri
will always be near when Tharin isn’t.  And then there’s Cessa.  I close my eyes and quietly call her.  I feel the leaf move beneath me and when I open my eyes the black cat is sitting next to me looking out toward the
Oak
Tower
.

“Hey, Cess!  What’s up, big cat?” greets Mellis. 

Cessa stretches her neck across my lap so that Mellis can rub the back of her ears.  I laugh as I place an arm around her neck, hugging her to me.  We chat about everything and nothing.  We finally make our way back when the cloud-hidden sun dips behind the distant horizon.  As we approach closer to the thela Sema calls us in for dinner.  I slow our pace when I realize what dinner was…chicken pasta.

~ * ~

Chapter
Fifteen

~
Tharin
~

I met up with Tolan, Phoris and Julia a few miles out from the tower.  Within the hour, we approach the Great Oaks pathway leading to the bridge of the Oak Clan.  Julia, who after spending some time with Mili, is somewhat out of her self-imposed time-out, although she has kept quiet for most of the trip.  Every now and then, Tolan would attempt to start a conversation with her, but her silence would kill any effort on his part, leaving him solemn and withdrawn.

As we pass the first giant oak tree, I watch as Julia looks about her taking in the breathtaking view.  It is a day’s walk through these old giants to the gates of the city, and a week’s walk to complete the circle from one end to other.  The acorn planted that created this natural barrier was from Eirrell, brought to this new realm by Kalinest’s queen.  She crumbled the seed within her hand and with a blow of her breath she spread the pieces until the circle was complete.  If the barrier created by an elfin queen isn’t enough to keep unwanted attacks, the silver wolves of Velesi are the guardians of these woods and there is not much that escapes the beasts of the forests. 

The wolves’ size matches that of the giant oaks.  The height of the silver wolves stands at ten-feet tall and can devour anyone within a couple of bites.  They are called silver wolves because of the pure white of their fur, but their formal name is Kufftai.  The Kufftai have been guardians of these woods since the rending of the realms.  Motai, the leader of the pack, was tied to Kalinest as Cessa is tied to me.  Some of the Ancients have whispered that Motai is alive and still leader of the Kufftai.