Sorry I took so long to get this chapter up, now that track has started, that in combination with soccer has kept me away from my dear and beloved computer. Any plot suggestions should be e-mailed to me, any pictures of Llyraen should be e-mailed to me, etc. etc. etc. In this chapter we get to meet the Bad Guy, Llyraen takes a car apart, and well, it's mostly a connecter to the next chapter which will be up as soon as possible. I don't feel like writing another disclaimer, so don't sue me for anything, I didn't do it, and in the 'rare' instance that I do something illegal, I didn't do it on purpose. (Unless it was toilet papering someones tree, burning an outhouse, you know, the stuff that SHOULDN'T be illegal. Have fun and continue to fly Insanityward Airlines, we love you're reviews more than you're money. Might be a poll about what Llyraen's past is like coming out sometime soon, I love polls.
Lorcan Dhu crumpled the letter he had been reading and threw it into the fire pit, his expression dark. It was from one of his allies, pointedly suggesting that, since Llyraen Seaeyes was at Fairgrove, he might move to destroy both her and Keighvin Silverhair all together in one giant stroke. He had expected that, but the letter went on to hint that he was not living up to his allies' expectations, they were becoming agitated and that he might expect hostility if he did not remedy the situation. As if the fools could ever do anything to him anyway! He paced irately back and forth across his throne room, considering this new situation. He might as well attack Fairgrove, he had plenty of Lesser Unseleigh minions to field a satisfactory fighting force, and he just might get Llyraen, or Keighvin, or both. At least if he made the attempt, his allies wouldn't turn on his quite so soon, and he could count on doing some damage to Silverhair's precious establishment.
"Dorril!" He barked, his voice echoing eerily in the vaulted room. A shaggy creature of unspecified race scampered into the hall. "Inform the goblins and the trolls that we will be mounting an attack on Fairgrove tomorrow evening. I want everyone ready by noon tomorrow- topside. Oh, and remind me to contact some of my more reliable allies, I might need their assistance." As his underling scuttled off, a ghost of a feral smile passed over his lips and he began composing a challenge to Keighvin Silverhair.
* * * * *
"Llyraen! Where ARE you?!" Conal's voice came from the left of the Victor, which Llyraen was working on, and she thought she could see his feet.
"I'm under the Victor!" She shouted back, propelling herself back out into the light of day. "Whaddaya want?" She squinted up at him, trying to discern his outline against the blazing sun. "You look a bit sour."
"I'm supposed to brush up on my sword fighting. Keighvin suggested that I ask you to practice with me, give me some pointes on my technique." Conal scowled.
"Poor Conal, Keighvin tells him to seek the weapons expertise of a maid, and a younger one at that. Don't worry; I've improved my style since last we met. I'd be honored to cross blades with ye." She stood up and dusted off her bright red 'I'm a race car driver!' coveralls and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Why would Keighvin suggest that now? From all I've heard and seen he's more likely to encourage working on the racing aspect than the fighting, and besides, we canna do it here. I wonder that it's you he wants brushing up."
Conal shrugged. "He said he had a premonition, Lorcan Dhu's big on exploiting opportunities, and with you here we make a nice juicy target."
Llyraen sighed dramatically. "Ah, but think how much I can improve you backwater provincials in the arts of racing and fighting. After all, Keighvin suggested the great Conal learn from me." She snickered and ducked as he took a swipe at her head.
"At least the great Conal can tell the difference between kitchen appliances, I still remember how you put a fish in the dishwasher for dinner last time you were here!" He looked incredibly smug, and Llyraen couldn't come up with a good rejoinder to that one so she changed the subject.
"So where are we gonna go to chop each other up into itty bitty pieces? I'm sure an exhibit of pointy eared warriors in practice armor with giant swords would really improve business."
"There's a weapons room deep in the heart of the complex. It's for elves who want to take a 'break' from the hard physical labor of racing."
* * * * *
Trudging back out to the track after narrowly 'defeating' Conal, Llyraen reflected sourly that Keighvin had probably provoked Conal like that intentionally. She had needed to re-acquaint herself with her sword after nearly 3 months at Fairgrove without a single fight, and better against Conal than some Unseleigh Knight who had been fighting the day before. And so, after reporting to Keighvin on the outcome of their mock-battle, she and Conal headed their separate ways. Back under the Victor, happily dissembling the car in a supposed attempt to change the oil, Llyraen was startled to find that it was growing dark. When she couldn't see well enough to work anymore, she headed in. By that time the rest of the racetrack staff had gravitated into a group and were waiting for Keighvin to come with the end-of-the-day announcements.
Conal, Tannim, and Dotty were discussing something in a smaller group off to the side with Sam, the legal brains of the secrecy front.
"... Said he had a premonition, I suspect he's investigating it."
"Told me he had a premonition too, had me and Llyraen practice today- But I don't think anything'll happen tonight. Even they have to follow the rules if they don't want the King coming after them, and they haven't challenged us yet."
Llyraen picked her moment to join the conversation. "Who exactly is it that would be challenging us? Nothing's happened since I got here, so I don't know who the enemy it this time around."
"Lorcan Dhu. He showed up about six months ago, stirring up a little trouble here and there, some minor skirmishes. Ever since we routed him last time he's been pretty quiet, but I don't trust his silence, when the enemy's quiet, that's the time to really worry. We think he's planning something big." Dotty frowned. "He's completely mad. He and Keighvin have been enemies for a long time, a matter of human treatment, I believe. He was supposedly over in Europe before this, but we don't know if that's true or not."
Llyraen frowned. "So he's Unseleigh now, was he ever at court? What does he look like?" She was becoming suspicious.
Conal took up the debriefing. "Yes he was. A fair time ago it was too, then he left because the King was getting agitated with the way he treated humans and he didn't want a public expulsion."
Tannim snorted. "That's you're opinion. I think he just thought he could cause more trouble if he didn't have to be careful about who was watching him."
"Anyway," Conal glared at Tannim, "Madoc, or whatever his name was fell in with him for a while, but the Unseleigh, especially the more powerful ones, don't like sharing power so he left. He's tall, has long blonde hair, the usual. What's the matter? You look like you're choking on a particularly vile piece of sushi." Llyraen's dislike of raw fish was notorious.
"I thought the name sounded familiar," She snarled, clenching her fists, "Lorcan Dhu was one of the leaders of the Anti-Human faction. It wasn't THAT long ago, I'm only about 215, and I remember it. My father, King Ailin, was worried about what trouble he might stir up once he was out of sight."
"Ah." Tannim nodded sagely. "Now it fits. King Ailin wouldn't condone his treatment of humans, forcing him to leave court. You're King Ailin's daughter, and King Oberon's sister, so getting rid of you would be a nice way to say hello to the family. He and Keighvin came to blows over a human on several instances, I'm suspecting, and if he's got any allies, he's probably under pressure from them to attack, with such a nice target sitting under his nose. Keighvin had you and Conal practice you're combat skills, since you have touched your sword for several months." His eyes twinkled. "I be Conal almost got you a couple of times, didn't he?"
Llyraen grinned. "Aye laddie, it was a close thing. I'm suspecting I won't be so lucky next time." Conal just snorted and smirked in a self satisfies way. Keighvin had mandated regular practice sessions after learning how close it had been, first just her and Conal, then after a while all the elves would do it, with uneven odds and everything.
Abruptly the gate alarm went off, the clamoring of the bells and the flashing of the lights caused everyone to levitate in surprise. Conal, Tannim, Dotty, and Llyraen rushed out to the front where Keighvin stood, silhouetted by the flickering lights as he bent to pick something up from the ground. Llyraen and Tannim dashed over to the gate to try and locate the intruder, but to no avail. Conal and Dotty were hammering Keighvin with questions as Llyraen and Tannim jogged back over to them. Keighvin was holding an arrow in one hand and a slip of paper in the other and looking very grim indeed.
He handed the message to Llyraen who read it, her expression darkening with every word.
"A challenge. Tomorrow at Five P.M." She glanced up at Keighvin, "He's very specific. Here he says '...Challenges Keighvin Silverhair and the establishment of Fairgrove Racetrack, including all beings currently employed at said establishment...' He sounds like a damn politician!"
Wordlessly, Keighvin retrieved the message from Llyraen's hand and replaces it with the arrow, which, she now noticed, had a glove wound around it. She unwound it and examined it. "Left hand glove, He wants to kill somebody, presumably several somebodies." She wracked her brains for the rules of group challenges; it had been so long since she had done anything in a group- since California. "Despite the left hand glove, it can't be to the death by virtue of it being a group challenge. It won't be to the first blood either, same reason. In fact, the actual challenge remains the same as it would have been with out the glove, just a little more malicious intent shown- so why did he include it?"
Conal scowled, "So we can stand around arguing about it while we should be informing the rest of Fairgrove what the problem was."
Tannim nodded solemnly, "We should explain what set off the gate alarm, speaking of which, who turned it off?" Only then did they notice that Dotty was missing.
"Dotty must have done it then, she's always thinking one step ahead of everyone else." Conal shrugged. "Let's share the news." He gestured for Keighvin to precede him.
"Alright. I want to meet you three in my office after we get things cleared up a little. Don't mention the glove- I want to keep quiet about that until we have an idea of what it means." The rest nodded at the wisdom of that and followed him inside.
Lorcan Dhu crumpled the letter he had been reading and threw it into the fire pit, his expression dark. It was from one of his allies, pointedly suggesting that, since Llyraen Seaeyes was at Fairgrove, he might move to destroy both her and Keighvin Silverhair all together in one giant stroke. He had expected that, but the letter went on to hint that he was not living up to his allies' expectations, they were becoming agitated and that he might expect hostility if he did not remedy the situation. As if the fools could ever do anything to him anyway! He paced irately back and forth across his throne room, considering this new situation. He might as well attack Fairgrove, he had plenty of Lesser Unseleigh minions to field a satisfactory fighting force, and he just might get Llyraen, or Keighvin, or both. At least if he made the attempt, his allies wouldn't turn on his quite so soon, and he could count on doing some damage to Silverhair's precious establishment.
"Dorril!" He barked, his voice echoing eerily in the vaulted room. A shaggy creature of unspecified race scampered into the hall. "Inform the goblins and the trolls that we will be mounting an attack on Fairgrove tomorrow evening. I want everyone ready by noon tomorrow- topside. Oh, and remind me to contact some of my more reliable allies, I might need their assistance." As his underling scuttled off, a ghost of a feral smile passed over his lips and he began composing a challenge to Keighvin Silverhair.
* * * * *
"Llyraen! Where ARE you?!" Conal's voice came from the left of the Victor, which Llyraen was working on, and she thought she could see his feet.
"I'm under the Victor!" She shouted back, propelling herself back out into the light of day. "Whaddaya want?" She squinted up at him, trying to discern his outline against the blazing sun. "You look a bit sour."
"I'm supposed to brush up on my sword fighting. Keighvin suggested that I ask you to practice with me, give me some pointes on my technique." Conal scowled.
"Poor Conal, Keighvin tells him to seek the weapons expertise of a maid, and a younger one at that. Don't worry; I've improved my style since last we met. I'd be honored to cross blades with ye." She stood up and dusted off her bright red 'I'm a race car driver!' coveralls and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Why would Keighvin suggest that now? From all I've heard and seen he's more likely to encourage working on the racing aspect than the fighting, and besides, we canna do it here. I wonder that it's you he wants brushing up."
Conal shrugged. "He said he had a premonition, Lorcan Dhu's big on exploiting opportunities, and with you here we make a nice juicy target."
Llyraen sighed dramatically. "Ah, but think how much I can improve you backwater provincials in the arts of racing and fighting. After all, Keighvin suggested the great Conal learn from me." She snickered and ducked as he took a swipe at her head.
"At least the great Conal can tell the difference between kitchen appliances, I still remember how you put a fish in the dishwasher for dinner last time you were here!" He looked incredibly smug, and Llyraen couldn't come up with a good rejoinder to that one so she changed the subject.
"So where are we gonna go to chop each other up into itty bitty pieces? I'm sure an exhibit of pointy eared warriors in practice armor with giant swords would really improve business."
"There's a weapons room deep in the heart of the complex. It's for elves who want to take a 'break' from the hard physical labor of racing."
* * * * *
Trudging back out to the track after narrowly 'defeating' Conal, Llyraen reflected sourly that Keighvin had probably provoked Conal like that intentionally. She had needed to re-acquaint herself with her sword after nearly 3 months at Fairgrove without a single fight, and better against Conal than some Unseleigh Knight who had been fighting the day before. And so, after reporting to Keighvin on the outcome of their mock-battle, she and Conal headed their separate ways. Back under the Victor, happily dissembling the car in a supposed attempt to change the oil, Llyraen was startled to find that it was growing dark. When she couldn't see well enough to work anymore, she headed in. By that time the rest of the racetrack staff had gravitated into a group and were waiting for Keighvin to come with the end-of-the-day announcements.
Conal, Tannim, and Dotty were discussing something in a smaller group off to the side with Sam, the legal brains of the secrecy front.
"... Said he had a premonition, I suspect he's investigating it."
"Told me he had a premonition too, had me and Llyraen practice today- But I don't think anything'll happen tonight. Even they have to follow the rules if they don't want the King coming after them, and they haven't challenged us yet."
Llyraen picked her moment to join the conversation. "Who exactly is it that would be challenging us? Nothing's happened since I got here, so I don't know who the enemy it this time around."
"Lorcan Dhu. He showed up about six months ago, stirring up a little trouble here and there, some minor skirmishes. Ever since we routed him last time he's been pretty quiet, but I don't trust his silence, when the enemy's quiet, that's the time to really worry. We think he's planning something big." Dotty frowned. "He's completely mad. He and Keighvin have been enemies for a long time, a matter of human treatment, I believe. He was supposedly over in Europe before this, but we don't know if that's true or not."
Llyraen frowned. "So he's Unseleigh now, was he ever at court? What does he look like?" She was becoming suspicious.
Conal took up the debriefing. "Yes he was. A fair time ago it was too, then he left because the King was getting agitated with the way he treated humans and he didn't want a public expulsion."
Tannim snorted. "That's you're opinion. I think he just thought he could cause more trouble if he didn't have to be careful about who was watching him."
"Anyway," Conal glared at Tannim, "Madoc, or whatever his name was fell in with him for a while, but the Unseleigh, especially the more powerful ones, don't like sharing power so he left. He's tall, has long blonde hair, the usual. What's the matter? You look like you're choking on a particularly vile piece of sushi." Llyraen's dislike of raw fish was notorious.
"I thought the name sounded familiar," She snarled, clenching her fists, "Lorcan Dhu was one of the leaders of the Anti-Human faction. It wasn't THAT long ago, I'm only about 215, and I remember it. My father, King Ailin, was worried about what trouble he might stir up once he was out of sight."
"Ah." Tannim nodded sagely. "Now it fits. King Ailin wouldn't condone his treatment of humans, forcing him to leave court. You're King Ailin's daughter, and King Oberon's sister, so getting rid of you would be a nice way to say hello to the family. He and Keighvin came to blows over a human on several instances, I'm suspecting, and if he's got any allies, he's probably under pressure from them to attack, with such a nice target sitting under his nose. Keighvin had you and Conal practice you're combat skills, since you have touched your sword for several months." His eyes twinkled. "I be Conal almost got you a couple of times, didn't he?"
Llyraen grinned. "Aye laddie, it was a close thing. I'm suspecting I won't be so lucky next time." Conal just snorted and smirked in a self satisfies way. Keighvin had mandated regular practice sessions after learning how close it had been, first just her and Conal, then after a while all the elves would do it, with uneven odds and everything.
Abruptly the gate alarm went off, the clamoring of the bells and the flashing of the lights caused everyone to levitate in surprise. Conal, Tannim, Dotty, and Llyraen rushed out to the front where Keighvin stood, silhouetted by the flickering lights as he bent to pick something up from the ground. Llyraen and Tannim dashed over to the gate to try and locate the intruder, but to no avail. Conal and Dotty were hammering Keighvin with questions as Llyraen and Tannim jogged back over to them. Keighvin was holding an arrow in one hand and a slip of paper in the other and looking very grim indeed.
He handed the message to Llyraen who read it, her expression darkening with every word.
"A challenge. Tomorrow at Five P.M." She glanced up at Keighvin, "He's very specific. Here he says '...Challenges Keighvin Silverhair and the establishment of Fairgrove Racetrack, including all beings currently employed at said establishment...' He sounds like a damn politician!"
Wordlessly, Keighvin retrieved the message from Llyraen's hand and replaces it with the arrow, which, she now noticed, had a glove wound around it. She unwound it and examined it. "Left hand glove, He wants to kill somebody, presumably several somebodies." She wracked her brains for the rules of group challenges; it had been so long since she had done anything in a group- since California. "Despite the left hand glove, it can't be to the death by virtue of it being a group challenge. It won't be to the first blood either, same reason. In fact, the actual challenge remains the same as it would have been with out the glove, just a little more malicious intent shown- so why did he include it?"
Conal scowled, "So we can stand around arguing about it while we should be informing the rest of Fairgrove what the problem was."
Tannim nodded solemnly, "We should explain what set off the gate alarm, speaking of which, who turned it off?" Only then did they notice that Dotty was missing.
"Dotty must have done it then, she's always thinking one step ahead of everyone else." Conal shrugged. "Let's share the news." He gestured for Keighvin to precede him.
"Alright. I want to meet you three in my office after we get things cleared up a little. Don't mention the glove- I want to keep quiet about that until we have an idea of what it means." The rest nodded at the wisdom of that and followed him inside.
