said Nakor. ‘I’ve been married twice. First when I was young to … you know to whom.’
Calis nodded. The woman Nakor knew as Jorna had evolved into the Lady Clovis, an agent of the Pantathians they had faced more than twenty years previously the first time Nakor and Calis had ventured south to Novindus. Now she was the Emerald Queen, the living embodiment of Alma-Lodaka, the Valheru who had created the Pantathians, and the figurehead of the army building across the sea that would someday invade the Kingdom.
‘The second woman was nice. Her name was Sharmia. She got old and died. I still get confused when dealing with women I find attractive, and I’m six times your age.’ Nakor shrugged. ‘If you must fall in love, Calis, fall in love with someone who will live a long time.’
‘I’m not sure what love is, Nakor,’ said Calis with an even more rueful smile. ‘My parents are something unique in history and there’s no small magic in their marriage.’
Nakor nodded. Calis’s father, Tomas, had been a human child, transformed by ancient magic into something not quite human, not quite Dragon Lord – as humans called the Valheru – and that ancient heritage had been part of what had drawn Calis’s mother, Aglaranna, the Elf Queen in Elvandar, into a union with Tomas.
Calis continued. ‘While I’ve had my share of dalliances no woman has held my attention –’
‘Until Miranda,’ finished Nakor. Calis nodded. Nakor said, ‘Perhaps it’s the mystery. Or the fact that she’s not around very much.’ Nakor pointed to Calis. ‘Have you and she …’
Calis laughed. ‘Of course. That’s not a small reason I feel drawn toward her.’
Nakor winced. ‘I wonder if there is any man alive who doesn’t think he’s in love between the sheets at least once.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Calis.
Nakor said, ‘I forget that while you’re past fifty years of age, you’re still considered young by your maternal race’s standards.’
‘A child,’ said Calis. ‘Still learning how to conduct myself as a proper eledhel should.’ He used the name his mother’s people used for themselves, the race humans called elves.
Nakor shook his head. ‘Sometimes I think those priests who take vows of chastity understand what a drain it is to be constantly thinking about who you’re going to bed with.’
‘My mother’s people are not a bit like that,’ said Calis. ‘They feel something grow between one of them and their destined mate and at some point they just … know.’
Calis again looked out at the shore as the boat began to head in toward the inlet that led to Port Shamata. ‘I think that’s why I’m drawn to my human heritage, Nakor. The stately progress of the seasons in Elvandar has a sameness that I find only slightly reassuring. The chaos that is human society … it sings to me more than the magic glades of my home.’
Nakor shrugged. ‘Who’s to say what is right? You are unlike any other, but like every other man or woman born on this world, no matter what your heritage at birth, ultimately you must decide who you are to be. When you’re finished with this “childhood” of yours, you may decide it’s time to live for a while with your mother’s people. Just remember this much from an old man who really isn’t very good at learning things from other people: every person you encounter, whom you interact with, is there to teach you something. Sometimes it may be years before you realize what each had to show you.’ He shrugged and turned his attention to the scene before him.
As the boat headed in to the reed-lined shore, smaller boats could be seen wending their way along the coast, fowlers hunting ducks and other water birds and fishermen dragging their nets. The riverboat moved quietly along, and Nakor and Calis were silent for the remainder of the voyage.
Sho Pi awoke as the sounds of the town grew in volume, and by the time the boat rested at the docks, he was standing beside his ‘master’ and Calis. As he was the Prince’s envoy, Calis had the right of rank in departing, but he moved away from the gangway and allowed the other passengers to depart first.
When they at last left the boat, Calis studied the shoreline and the town of Port Shamata. The city of Shamata was separated from the port by almost eighty miles of farmland and orchards. Originally a garrison to defend the southern border of the Kingdom against Great Kesh, Shamata had turned into the Kingdom’s largest city in the south. A squad of soldiers waited for Calis on the docks, and instead of heading down toward the city of Shamata, they would follow the shore of the Sea of Dreams until they reached the river that flowed down from the Great Star Lake. They would follow the river to the lake and then to Stardock town, which sat on the south shore of the lake, opposite the magicians’ community on Stardock island.
Along the docks the usual assortment of beggars, confidence men, workmen, and hawkers moved, for the arrival of a boat from the coast meant opportunities, legal and otherwise. Nakor grinned as he said to Sho Pi, ‘Watch your purse.’
‘I don’t have one, Master.’
Nakor had finally despaired of ever getting the young man to stop calling him master, so he just ignored it now.
Calis laughed and said, ‘It’s an expression.’
They left the boat and were greeted at the foot of the gangway by a sergeant in the tabard of the garrison of Shamata. Like the border barons of the north, the garrison commander at Shamata answered directly to the Crown, so there was little court formality observed in the Vale of Dreams. Pleased to be free of any need to pay a social call on local nobles, Calis accepted the man’s salute and said, ‘Your name?’
‘Sergeant Aziz, m’lord.’
‘My rank is captain,’ said Calis. ‘We need three horses and an escort to the Great Star Lake.’
‘The pigeons arrived days ago, Captain,’ answered the sergeant. ‘We have a subgarrison here at the port, with ample horses and enough troops to provide for your needs. My Captain sends an invitation to dine with him this evening, Captain.’
Calis glanced at the sky. ‘I think not. We can ride at least four hours and my mission is urgent. Send your Captain my regrets at the same time you send for mounts and provisions.’ Casting around, he pointed to a disreputable-looking inn across the street from the docks. ‘You’ll find us there.’
‘At once,’ said the sergeant, and he gave orders to a soldier nearby, who saluted and spurred his mount away.
‘It should be no longer than an hour, Captain. Your escort, horses, and provisions should be here quickly.’
‘Good,’ said Calis, motioning for Sho Pi and Nakor to follow him into the dockside inn.
A genial setting, the inn was neither the worst any of them had seen nor the best. It was what one would expect from an inn located so close to the docks: fitting for a leisurely wait, but not somewhere one would choose to frequent if better accommodations were available or affordable. Calis ordered a round of ale and they waited for the return of their escort.
Halfway through their second drink, Nakor’s attention was diverted by a sound from without. An inarticulate cry and a series of monkeylike hootings followed quickly by the sounds of a crowd laughing and jeering. He rose and looked through the closest window. ‘I can’t see anything. Let’s go outside.’
