speirr: that is an interesting idea and one that actually speaks to Florina's character. Whether or not it will happen is yet to be determined, but I kinda like the idea. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I am looking forward to seeing how this may change your opinion. ;)
Enjoy!
Nëa paced the study while she waited for her father. She needed his advice. She needed to know what her mother would do now. There had been no new news about her mother's movements. They had no idea what she was doing or what she was preparing for. She had heard a few days ago that Riders tried to come from the mainland but the wild dragons had kept them from crossing the ocean. They had left shortly afterwards and nothing had been seen since. All it told Delinnëa was that her mother was preparing for something and she needed to know what. She entertained the thought of reaching out to her uncle again for his spies, but she doubted he wanted to talk to her after her last suggestion.
A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts and she called for them to enter. She looked up, expecting to see her father. Instead, Elva was standing in her door.
"What is it, Elva? Is everything alright?"
"No, it's not. We've looked everywhere, but we cannot find him."
"Find who?"
"Your father, Nëa. He's gone. We checked the house he shared with your mother and he wasn't there. After that, we scoured the island. Unless he is hiding from us and blocking his mind, he is not on Vroengard. Some of the young dragons say they remember seeing him talking with a group of older dragons."
"The older dragons, the ones currently on the main land protecting the path from Florina's Riders." Nëa paused a moment. This was the first time she had used her mother's name when talking about her as an enemy. She had refused to do that. "Have you tried scrying him?" Delinnëa asked, pouring water into a basin and calling on her magic. She said the spell before Elva could answer her, focusing on her father. The water stayed black a moment before turning white with him on the background. He was standing and talking to someone, but she couldn't see who nor where. Then he was walking and she thought she saw Riders she knew. She let the spell go and moved so Elva could try. The older Rider frowned, confirming Delinnëa's fear. "He's gone to Ilirea."
"It would appear so." Elva answered. "I cannot say for sure if he has already met with the queen, but it seems that it may be his intention to do so. Why would he do that? I've known Lord Lifaen for a long while and he never seemed the one to turn on his allies."
"He hasn't turned on his allies, at least it doesn't seem so to me." Nëa said. "To me it seems that he is going to try to end this himself. He is going to try to bring mother back to us. And, if in failing that, he'll do what needs to be done."
"But how does he plan to do that?"
"Do you remember the witch, Angela?"
"I do. She cared for my namesake. Elva the Silverbrow."
"Right. She examined my blood and found it protected by dragon magic. The same dragon magic that is in my mother because of her Rider bond with Kuldra, a bond that has now been tainted by the blood magic because it has become such an integral part of them. She, at her first Blood-oath celebration, during the war, my father gave my mother a rose. She was wearing it when the dragon's touched her and uncle. But it was also that night that he made his love for her known. It has that memory. Angela believes that if she is given the rose by someone who she trusts once it has been touched again by the dragons, that the truth will break through with the help of the dragon magic. Father remembered where she had hidden the rose in the elven capital city and it was there we had been keeping it when we were attacked. He went to get the rose from the armory and also grabbed her old sword to use. I pulled him out and that's when we lost the rose. We assume that she has it."
"Could it be tied to his presence?" Elva asked. Delinnëa looked at the portrait of her parents. It was a fairth that one of the elves had made after the war while the two had still lived in Du Weldenvarden. If she remembered the story right, Arya had actually done it after she had been told that the two had joined themselves. It had been a present on the day they had established Vroengard as the Riders' home. The look in her father's eyes in that fairth said everything to their daughter. He would do whatever he could to save his wife and his family, even if it meant killing her to spare his children the pain of having to do it themselves.
"He might believe that this rose is tied to his presence as a golden rose whose petals are lined in white can only be found in one place."
"And that place would be?"
"My parents' home. Aside from the one that is now in her possession, she kept the others in the house I grew up in. He gave them to her all the time, especially when she was afraid. When I was little, I didn't know what she was afraid of. I put one in my hair one time and walked with my back straight as a board to keep it from falling out." Delinnëa laughed at the memory. "I didn't know mother had been watching me until it fell out of my hair. I was so frightened that I would be in trouble. But she was smiling as she secured it into my hair, making sure that part it was in was tied back enough to hold it. She never asked for it back. She told me it would stay with me no matter what happened to me when I wore it." Elva smiled. "What?"
"I know of that rose. My mother told me of it. Lifaen had given it to Florina before she left to return to the Varden before the Battle of the Burning Plains. Through all the fighting and the tortures that she endured, she never lost that rose. She would sometimes wear it around here and I never saw it fall from her head like others would." Elva placed a hand on the young Rider's shoulder. "Don't worry, Nëa, we'll get them back. All three of them. We'll get them back safe and sound and your mother will be herself again."
"But what if we can't, Elva? What if we have to kill Mom because there is no way to bring her from this madness? What if she finds out what Dad is trying to do? Oromis could already be dead."
"Then you honor them in the only way you can and that us remembering them as you just did your mother now. You remembered her laughing and giving you something precious. You keep that with you and let it give you strength. Strength that you will need to lead these Rider's to the end of this war. They are looking to you instead of the oldest among them."
"Right," Delinnëa breathed and looked at the portrait again.
"Are you going to tell me what I want to know or do I have to force it from you?" She asked the young Rider as she sat in her chair. It had been her father's that he had used when watching the torture of Nasuada. She had sat in it once or twice to watch while he worked and had sat in it more now that she was the one doing the torturing. The Rider didn't answer and she sighed in frustration. He was well skilled in keeping his mind blocked and seemed to be reciting some lullaby which helped his concentration. It was an admirable effort, but one that would fail. "I see. Well, since torture at the hands of Murtagh has not loosened your tongue, I must resort to more drastic measures."
Florina got to her feet, pulling on her metal glove and walked up to the Rider. She raised her hand.
"Majesty," she frowned as the voice of a Rider reached her ears. She lowered her hand.
"You know the rules."
"I know, but there is an elf here who wants to see you. He claims that he has information but he refuses to speak to any but you."
"Why would an elf come here? They should all be hiding since I took the forest."
"Who knows their reasons?" Kuldra said. "But be careful. He could be planning to trick you and either kill you or steal you away."
"I know."
Florina ripped off her glove and threw it on the chair and hurried out of the dungeons. She was handed her sword and she belted it on while giving orders that she would speak to the elf alone in her study. There was no need to have an audience. Besides, if this was to be a fight, she wanted it to herself. It had been a while since she had had a good fight.
As she waited, she fixed her hair, making sure it was tight in its leather tie. The door opened and an elf with hair as dark has hers and eyes that looked like the sea. She knew him. He was the same elf that she had seen in her vision with the two half elves. He didn't wear a sword. She figured it must have been taken when he entered the castle. It meant that they thought he was a threat. She looked him up and down, trying to determine if he was indeed a threat. His mind wasn't guarded and it made her suspicious.
"Why have you come?" She asked in the ancient language.
"I have come to be with my wife."
Hehehehehe, yes, I have had this planned for a little while now, it was just getting it written. Thanks for reading and please review :)
