Tanya Huff - Crystal 1 - Child of the Grove

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Genesis
In the Beginning there was Darkness and out of the Darkness came the Mother.
From her flesh She formed the Earth. With her tears She filled the seas and
lakes and rivers. She walked upon her creation and where She passed grew
grasses, trees, and flowers. Her breath became the winds. With her right hand
She created all animals that run and swim and fly. With her left hand She
created all animals that slither and sting. Her laughter became the song of
birds.
When She had walked all the Earth, She sat to rest in a circle of silver
birch. As She was lonely, She gave form to the spirit of one of the trees that
it might keep her company. And the form was that of a beautiful woman. Her
name was Milthra and she was the Eldest of the Elder Races.
When the Mother left the Grove, She gave form also to the other birches that
Milthra would never be lonely as She had been. It is said there is form in all
trees if the Power is there to call the spirit out.
And as the Mother walked the Earth, She bled four times. From her blood came
the other Elder Races, the Centaurs, the Giants, the Dwarves, and the Merfolk.
And so She could see what She created, each time She bled She hung a silver
light in the night sky.
Then another came out of the Darkness. His name was Chaos and He lay with the
Mother and She bore him a son. And the name of the Mother's son was Death. He
was very terrible and very beautiful.
7
8 Tanya Huff
As the Elder races were of the Mother's body and blood, they could see Death's
beauty but not his terror. Though they could be killed, they did not die; and
so they had no fear of him.
Death went to the Mother and begged her to create a people he could rule.
Because She loved him, She did.
But because She loved her newest creations as well, She gave them a gift so
they could keep Death in his place. She gave them the power to create. And She
gave them a promise that once Death had come to them, they would return to her
once more. She called them Humans, but Death called them Mortals which means
"to die. "
Humans used the Mother's gift to create Gods. They worshiped and made
sacrifices in the hope that their Gods could keep Death away. But the powers
of the Gods, being Human given, were of no use against the Mother's true son.
Soon Humankind abandoned the Gods and learned to face Death. Some even came to
see his beauty.
But a God once created cannot be uncreated and so, no longer worshiped, the
Gods grew bored. Those given the aspect of men by their creators took to
walking the Earth in human form. Eventually, they all lay with mortal women
and from those unions the race of Wizards was born.
The Wizards used the powers of the Gods to pervert the Mother's gift and their
first act was to turn on their fathers and destroy them. There would be no new
Wizards. They formed a great council and for many centuries ruled the
creatures of the Earth. Even the Elder Races feared them, for it appeared the
Wizards had conquered Death.
Over the years, as their powers grew, so did their corruption. By forcing the
breeding of man and animal, they created the Werfolk in a mockery of the
Mother's work.
And then the Wizards dared to create something using the very Earth itself.
They formed mighty Drag-
CHILD OF THE GROVE 9
Dragons, giant beasts with command of fire and frost, rulers of the air or
seas. But the Earth was the Body of the Mother and the Wizards could not
control it. They had created their own destruction.
The Dragons turned on the Wizards and in a battle that changed the shape of
the land, slew and devoured their would-be masters. The Dragons that survived
returned to the Earth from which they were made.
It is said that, at the end of the Age of Wizards, Death smiled.
One
"Mother?"
There was no answer, so the tall young man reached out a slender hand and
placed it gently on the bark of the silver birch before him.
"Mother?" he said again.
The tree stirred under his hand, as if, newly awakened, it sighed and
stretched. He stepped back and waited. Slowly, very slowly, his mother drew
herself out of her tree.
She was tall, with ivory skin, silver hair, and eyes the green of new spring
leaves. Her name was Milthra and she was the eldest of the Sisters of the
Sacred Grove. She looked barely older than her son.
She opened her arms and he came into them, then she held him at arm's length
and smiled.
"You have grown, Rael. You look more like your father every time I see you. "
He looked so much like his father that her heart ached with the memories. Not
for many years had Raen, King of Ardhan, come to the Sacred Grove, and Milthra
had to be content with seeing the man she loved in the face of their son. Raen
would not come to her for reasons of his own. She could not go to him for a
hamadryad dies away from her tree.
She hid a sigh from her too perceptive child and brushed a lock of blue-black
hair off his face. "Are you well? Are you happy?"
"I'm both well and happy, Mother. " Rael returned 10
CHILD OF THE GROVE 11
her smile, his eyes lit from within by green fires. Immortal eyes in the face
of mortal man.
Rael could no longer be content spending whole summers with only his mother,
her sisters, and the forest for company-the king's court held more attractions
for a young man of seventeen-but when he had time to spare, he spent it at the
Grove. It was peaceful there and, unlike his father, his mother had time to
listen. No courtiers or supplicants made demands on her, for no one found the
circle of birches without her help.
Until Rael's birth the Grove had been legend only. But when the king of Ardhan
showed his son to the people in the Great Square outside the palace gates, he
named Milthra as the child's mother and placed the Grove firmly in the real
world. It was fortunate the king was popular and well-liked, for many
disbelieved and not a few muttered of insanity. It was also fortunate that the
king was no fool and would not allow the acceptance of his son to rest on his
own popularity. He called the six dukes and their households together and had
them meet the infant's eyes.
Milthra had walked with the Mother-creator as She rested after birthing the
world. A fraction of that glory she passed on to her child. It was enough.
"My aunts still won't wake to greet me?" Rael asked, sprawled on the velvet
grass at the foot of his mother's tree. He dug into his pack for the food he'd
cadged from a sympathetic kitchen maid.
Milthra shook her head and accepted a piece of honey cake. She had no need to
eat-she drew nourishment from her tree-but did it to please her son as once
she had done it to please his father. "It has been a long time since the
Mother walked in the forest and we wakened. My sisters are tired and want only
to sleep. "
Rael looked around at the trees he knew as beautiful women, women who had
coddled him, fussed over him, and been as much a part of his childhood as his
12 Tanya Huff
mother and father. He hadn't seen them since... his forehead creased as he
tried to remember. Had it really been three years? He stretched out a long arm
and tugged on a low-hanging branch from a neighboring tree. Leaves rustled but
no hamadryad appeared.
"You're the oldest, can't you wake them? "
"Perhaps. But I will not try. "
"Why not? Aren't you lonely?" As much as Rael loved the Grove, he'd hate to be
the only creature awake in its circle.
"No, for when you are not here I also sleep. My sisters have no ties to the
world of men to wake them, that is the only difference between us. " If she
ever regretted the ties that bound her, or acknowledged that they had brought
her more sorrow than joy, it could not be heard in the music of her voice.
Rael scooped up his mother's hands and kissed them. "The only difference?" he
teased. "I refuse to listen to such foolishness. What of your beauty? Your
grace? Your wisdom? I could continue for hours... "
Milthra laughed and Rael laughed with her. He'd always felt his mother laughed
too seldom. In later years, Rael would recall that afternoon and her laughter
when his spirit needed soothing and the shadows needed lifting from his life.
He lay with his head in her lap and told her of the things he'd done since
he'd been with her last-well most of the things; she was, after all, his
mother-and he even told her of his feelings for the Duke of Belkar's blue-eyed
daughter, something he had confided to no one else... particularly not the
Duke of Belkar's blue-eyed daughter.
But he did not speak of why he had come to the Grove.
All too soon the thick, golden sunlight bathing the Grove began to pale. The
shadows grew longer and the breezes grew chill. Rael rose lithely to his feet
and extended a hand to the hamadryad. When she stood beside him, he kept her
hand clasped tightly in his and stared at the ground, unsure of how to begin.
"I... I won't be back for some time. "
CHILD OF THE GROVE 13
"There is to be war. "
He looked up and saw she gazed sadly at him.
"How did you know?"
"The breezes tell me. Even in sleep I hear them; they say men gather on the
western border clutching steel in angry hands. "
Rael spread his own hands helplessly. "The King of Melac has a new and
powerful counselor and the man plays the king's weaknesses and desires like,
like a shepherd plays his pipes. He's driving the king to create an empire.
Father says they begin with us because Melac hates my father for something
that happened when they were young.
"And my son will go to see they conquer no empire. "
"I have to do what I can. " He tried to keep the anticipation out of his voice
and wasn't entirely successful. This war would be his chance to prove himself.
His skill with weapons was his father's heritage, but he moved with a strength
and grace no man born of mere mortal could match. In his mind's eye he saw
himself a hero, returning from battle not only accepted but adulated by the
people he was destined to rule. In his heart, he only hoped he would not
disgrace his training.
"And your father?"
His voice was gentle. "The king must ride at the head of his armies. "
"Yes. " War had brought the young king to her so many years before. He
had staggered, lost and wounded, into the Grove, stinking of steel and
violence, Lord Death close by his side. Against the advice of her sisters, for
the Elder Races did not involve themselves with mortals, she had saved him.
Saved him and loved him, and Rael had come of it. Full dusk was upon them now.
"I must go, Mother. "
"Yes. " War took her son from her, replaced her loving child with this stern
young man, so ready to do violence. If he survived he would be further
changed,
14 Tanya Huff
and who knew if he would return to the Grove where nothing changed at all. She
held him. Held him tightly. And then she let him go because it was all she
could do.
"Rael?"
He turned; half in, half out of the Grove.
"Tell your father, I am always here. "
"He knows, Mother. " He waited but she said nothing more. "Mother?"
She shook her head, the brilliant immortal color of her eyes dimmed by a very
mortal sorrow. She was the Eldest. She could not beg for the return of her
love.
Accustomed to thinking of the hamadryad as his mother, and mothers as always
strong, Rael had never noticed before how young Milthra looked, or how frail.
He suddenly wanted to protect her, to take her in his arms and tell her
everything would be all right, but as he watched she faded and dissolved back
into her tree. Only the breezes remained and he had never learned to hear what
they said.
Although dark had fallen over Melac, the building of the counselor's tower
continued. In the flickering light of torches, long lines of naked and
sweating men struggled with block and tackle to lift massive slabs of marble
into position. As each slab reached its zenith, a slave was removed from the
coffle staked at the work site and placed beneath it. Some screamed, some
sobbed, some lay limp and resigned, pushed beyond terror. The slab dropped,
then the whole process was repeated for the next. The tower was to be the
tallest in the city.
If the men who built it felt anything at all, it was, for the most part,
relief that they were not beneath the stones themselves.
This night, as most nights, the king's counselor watched the construction from
the wooden dais that gave him an unobstructed view of the work. This night,
the king stood beside him, leaning into each death, his
CHILD OF THE GROVE 15
tongue protruding slightly, his breathing ragged and quick.
A new slave was unchained; a young man, well formed, who, in spite of lash
marks striping his back from neck to knees, fought so viciously that four men
were needed to escort him to the stone. He screamed, not in terror but in
defiance.
The king started at the sound and actually saw the slave. His eyes widened and
he clutched at the blue velvet of his counselor's sleeve.
"That looks to be Lord Elan's son. "
"It is. "
"But you can't... "
"He spoke against me, Majesty, and so spoke against you. To speak against the
lawful king is treason. The penalty for treason is death. " The golden-haired
man smiled and removed the king's hand from his arm. "At least this way his
death serves a purpose. Life makes the strongest mortar. "
On the stone, Lord Elan's son strained against invisible bonds, muscles
standing out in sharp relief. He threw back his head and howled as the slab
above him fell.
On the dais, the king swayed and he moaned deep in his throat.
Rael stretched the two-hour ride home from the Grove to nearly four,
dismounting to sit for a time in the moonlight. To his left, waited the shadow
that was the forest. To his right, a ribbon of brown led to the distant lights
of the town that spread like a skirt outside the palace walls. The Lady's
Wood. King's Road, King's Town.
His horse nickered and lipped at his hair, more interested in returning to the
comfort of stable and stall than in philosophy.
Grasping the gelding's mane, Rael pulled himself to his feet, mounted, and
kicked the horse into a trot. He had always known that someday he would be
king. He enjoyed the power and privilege, and even the re-
16 Tanya Huff
responsibilities, of being prince and heir. But sometimes, in the moonlight,
he wished he had a choice.
Hoofs thudded onto packed earth, and Rael turned up the King's Road.
The watch had just called midnight when Rael reached town. Because the King's
City was so close to the center of Ardhan, miles from any invading army and
surrounded on all sides by loyal subjects of the king, it had no wall. The
scattered farms and cottages of the countryside merely moved closer together
along the road until they gave way to the houses, shops and inns of the city.
At the Market Square-well lit even at this hour, for when business in booths
and stalls shut down, business in taverns and wineshops began- Rael turned,
avoiding the light, preferring to remain unseen in the residential
neighborhoods where the inhabitants had long since sought their beds. He told
himself he avoided the trouble that would arise if anyone recognized the young
man tucked deep in the worn cloak as the prince and heir, riding alone,
unescorted. He told himself he didn't need his pocket picked, an unprovoked
fight, or an escort back to his father.
He had just passed silently through the merchants' quarters and crossed the
invisible but nonetheless real line that separated their homes from the only
slightly larger ones of the nobles, when the dark and quiet were snatched from
around him.
"Bertram, aren't we home yet?"
"Very nearly, sir. "
"I'm sure it wasn't this far before. "
The whiny, self-indulgent voice belonged to a minor official of the court, one
Diven of House Tannic. Rael had endured too many hours of petitions to mistake
it, even distorted as it was by drink.
The torch-bearer rounded the corner first, followed by an overdressed man
leaning heavily on the arm of his body servant. A City Guard, hired as
evening's escort, brought up the rear.
Rael kept his horse walking. With luck they would
CHILD OF THE GROVE 17
be too interested in gaining their beds to pay any attention to him.
Luck was busy elsewhere.
"Awk, Bertram! Brigands!"
Bertram looked to the heavens, exasperation visible even to Rael, and patted
his master comfortingly on the shoulder. "It's only a single rider, sir. "
"Oh. So it is. " Any other would have been content to leave it at that. Diven
stepped forward, past the torch-bearer and directly into Rael's path. Drink
made him determined to erase the embarrassment of his fright. "You there,
state your business in this neighborhood. Speak up, or I'll call the patrol. "
Rael reined in. The torch-bearer grinned, obviously looking forward to telling
his cronies of how the drunken noble had accosted one of his equally noble
neighbors and threatened him with the patrol. Bertram, now up behind his
master, was thinking much the same thing, but not with amusement. The guard
looked bored.
"Well, boy, do you tell me your business or do I call the patrol. I will, you
know, don't think I won't. "
Rael wondered how a voice could whine and be shrill at the same time. He had
no doubt the idiot would do exactly as he said, and wake the neighborhood
doing it. And that would be the end of the dark and quiet, no mere
interruption. He sighed, made his smile as friendly as he was able, and pulled
back his hood.
"Highness!"
For a moment the smile held them-they began to return it-then the torchlight
flared in his eyes.
The guard saluted and all four men began to back away.
Respectfully, and nervously, they backed away.
From the torch-bearer and the guard, it was almost understandable for they met
the prince and heir for the first time. Bertram also; for all he served in a
noble house he was not accustomed to facing royalty so
18 Tanya Huff
closely and so informally. But Diven of Tannic saw the prince almost daily.
And still he backed away.
Rael held the smile until his horse carried him out of the circle of
torchlight. Once he would have said something, tried to find the camaraderie
his father seemed to share with every man, woman, and child in the kingdom.
Once. But all the words had been said and still the people moved away. Not
rejecting, not exactly, but not accepting either.
Let them move if they will, he told himself wearily, replacing his hood. I
have enough who stand by me. Then he moved back into the dark and quiet.
At the smaller of the palace gates, he allowed the guard to get a good look at
him, and passed unchallenged through the outer wall. Except for a sleepy groom
waiting to take his horse, and the men on watch, it appeared the palace slept.
It didn't, of course, for within its walls the palace was almost a city in
itself and the work needed to keep it running smoothly continued day and
night.
He walked quickly across the outer courtyard, slipped in a side door, and
began to make his way silently through the maze of stone to the tower where he
had his chambers. Once, he froze in shadow and an arguing pair of courtiers
passed him by.
At the cross-corridor leading to the king's rooms, Rael noticed the royal
standard still posted, the six swords on a field of green hanging limp and
still against the wall. His father had not retired for the night. Wide awake
himself, Rael turned toward the royal bedchamber, hoping the king would not be
too busy to speak with him.
The guards saluted as he approached and moved aside to give him access to the
door.
"Is he alone?" asked the prince.
"Aye, sir, he is, " replied the senior of the two.
Rael nodded his thanks and pushed the door open.
"Father?"
The king sat at his desk studying a large map, one
CHILD OF THE GROVE 19
hand holding down a curling edge, the other buried in his beard.
Rael was thinner than his father, his eyes an unworldly green, but aside from
that the resemblance was astounding. Both were handsome men, although neither
believed it. They shared the same high forehead over black slashes of brow,
the same angular cheeks and proud arch of nose, even the determined set to
their jaws and slightly mocking smiles matched. Those who had known the king
as a young man said to look at the prince was to look at a piece of the past.
The people of Ardhan might wonder at the identity of his mother, and they did,
but none could doubt that Rael was the king's son.
Raen looked up as the door opened and his face brightened when he saw who it
was.
"Come in, lad, " he called. "And shut the damn door before it blows out my
lamp. "
Rael did as he was bid and approached the desk, collapsing with a boneless,
adolescent grace into the sturdy chair across from his father. "The Western
Border?"
The king nodded. "And you'd best get familiar with it yourself. We march as
soon as the armies are assembled. "
Rael leaned forward to study the map. "You're surely not assembling all six
provinces here?" He wondered where they'd put everyone. The six dukes and
their households jammed the palace to the rafters during seventh year
festivals. The six dukes and their armies... !
"No, only Cei and Aliston will come here to Belkar. We'll join with Hale on
the march. " He traced their route with a callused finger. "Lorn and Riven
meet us on the battlefield. " His mouth twisted. "And it's to be hoped those
two hotheads will concentrate on fighting the enemy instead of each other. I'm
thankful you've no rival for your lady's hand. " Rael felt his ears redden.
"You can keep no secrets in this rabbit warren, lad.
20 Tanya Huff
It's a good match; her father and I both approve. You're lucky I've no need to
join you to some foreign princess to tie a treaty. "
"Join?" Rael repeated weakly. He'd barely gotten beyond worshiping from a
distance and his father spoke of joinings?
The older man laughed. "You're right, " he mocked, but kindly, "it's bad luck
to talk of joining on the eve of war. " He turned again to the map. "And on
the eve of war we are; I want the armies on the road in two weeks. "
"In two weeks? Father, it can't be done. " The Elite, the Palace Guard and the
Ducal Guards that made up the standing army, yes, and, he supposed, most City
Guards could adapt fast enough, but when Rael thought of the chaos involved in
turning farmers and craftsmen into soldiers his head ached.
"It's going to have to be done, " the king said shortly. "We have no choice.
Melac's moving very fast; he wants those iron mines in Riven badly and has had
plans to invade us for years. Though he's a fool if he thinks he's in charge,
not that madman he has for a counselor. " He looked down at the map and shook
his head. "Still, madman or not, he's a brilliant leader. I've never heard of
anyone getting an army into the field so quickly. " Teeth gleamed for an
instant in the lamplight. "If I didn't know all the wizards were dead.... "
The wizards had destroyed themselves before there was an Ardhan or a king to
rule it. Their dying convulsions had reshaped the face of the world.
"Father! You don't think... ?"
"Don't be ridiculous, boy. I was joking. " Raen leaned back in his chair and
looked fondly at his son. His expression hardened. "You're not wearing your
sword. "
Rael's hand jerked to his belt and he flushed.
"I saw Mother today, to tell her I wouldn't be back to the Grove for some
time. You know how steel upsets her. "
CHILD OF THE GROVE 21
"Well, your guards were armed, I hope?" Rael looked at the cold hearth, the
hunting tapestry on the wall, the great canopied bed, everywhere but at his
father.
"You took no guards. " The king's voice was sharper than Rael's missing sword.
"The guards won't go into the Grove. " "The guards will go where I tell them.
" And then he thought of Milthra's reaction to heavily armed men tearing up
her peace and reconsidered. Gods, he missed her. "Well, they can wait with
your horse at the edge of the forest, then. They needn't go into the Grove. "
An uncomfortable silence fell as both considered another who would not go into
the Grove.
"You'll take them with you next time, " Raen said finally. "I don't want a
dead son. "
Rael turned the brilliant green of his eyes on the king. "Who would want to
kill me, Father?"
"Balls of Chaos, boy, how should I know?" Raen looked away from the Lady's
eyes. "Melac's men. Madmen. You're prince and heir, my only son. When you ride
from now on, you ride with guards. " King's command, not father's. "I don't
care where you're going. I will not lose you. "
"Yes, sir. " Suddenly, Rael made a decision. He was tired, he decided, of
bouncing from the pain of one parent to the pain of the other and tired too of
pretending he didn't see that pain because they both so obviously tried to
keep it from him. He took his courage in both hands and asked what he'd never
dared ask before. "Father? Why don't you go to the Grove?"
Raen stared at the map without seeing it. He remembered ivory and silver and
green, green eyes and strong smooth limbs wrapped around him. He remembered a
love so deep he could drown in it.
"How did your mother look when you left her this afternoon?" he asked
hoarsely.
Rael thought about his last sight of the hamadryad as she merged back into her
tree.
22 Tanya Huff
"As always, beautiful; but worried and sad, "
"And her age?"
"Her age?" He remembered how he'd wanted to protect her. "She seemed very
young. "
"Now look at me. "
"Sir?"
"LOOK AT ME!" Raen stood so suddenly that his chair overturned. His hands
clenched to fists and his voice rose to a roar. "Once my hair was as thick and
black as yours. You'll notice that what I have left, and there isn't much, is
gray. There was a day I could defeat any man in Ardhan with my bare hands, but
no longer. I used to be able to follow the flight of a hawk in the sun. Now
I'm lucky if I can see the damned bird at all! I grew this beard to hide the
lines of age!" He paused, drew a shuddering breath and his voice fell until it
was almost a whisper. "Your mother hasn't changed, but I am growing old. She
must not sec me like this. "
Rael was on his feet as well, staring at his father in astonishment. "You're
not old!"
The king's smile was not reflected in his eyes. "Fifty-two years weigh heavily
on a man, and your mother is ageless. " He raised a hand to stop the next
protest. "I appreciate your denials, lad, but I know what I see. "
Unfortunately, there was nothing to deny. His father was a mortal man and his
mother stood outside of time.
"Mother loves you. It wouldn't matter to her. "
"It would matter to me. Let her love me as I was. "
Rael ached with the pain in his father's voice that was a twin to the pain in
his mother's.
"Father... "
"No, Rael. " Raen put his hands on his son's shoulders but avoided the
leaf-green glow of his eyes. "There is nothing you can do. Go to bed. We have
a busy time ahead of us. "
"Yes, sir. "
CHILD OF THE GROVE 23
Is he too old for me to hold? Raen wondered, looking for his child and seeing
only a young man.
Am I too old to be held? Rael asked the dignity of his seventeen years.
No.
It comforted them both greatly.
If I can only get him to the Grove, Rael thought as he left his father's room.
If I can only get him to the Grove, everything will be all right.
Two
"Out of bed, milord. The Duke of Belkar and some of his men rode in last night
and your father wants to see you in the small petition room. "
Rael buried his head under the pillow as the middle-aged man who had been his
servant/companion since before he could remember, pulled back the heavy
curtains and let in the weak early morning light. "Oh, go away, Ivan, it's
barely dawn. "
"It's an hour past. " Strong hands dragged the blankets away with the
familiarity of long service. "Get up or you won't have time for a wash and
bite before you see the king. "
There was time for the wash but not the bite and Rael's stomach complained
bitterly as he slipped into the room where the daily business of the kingdom
was most often conducted. Raen looked up at the sound, pushed the remnants of
his own breakfast across the table, and turned his attention back to the
document he studied. More than a little embarrassed, Rael took a chunk of
bread and slid into the only vacant chair. The Duke of Belkar smiled at him
and the other man, who by his armor could only be one of Belkar's two
captains, raised an edge of his lip in what have been either a greeting or a
grimace.
Finally the king scrawled his signature at the bottom of the document, set his
seal in wax, and gave the paper to the Messenger standing patiently at his
elbow. Then he looked up at his son.
24
CHILD OF THE GROVE 25
"Belkar and I have talked it over and it's been decided that you'll command
the Elite. "
Rael choked on the bread. The men of the Elite were the best fighters in
Ardhan. Every young man who could use a sword dreamed of joining their
company. And he was to command them. He suddenly thought of something. "But,
sir, the king commands the Elite. "
"The king also makes the rules, and I've changed this one. As prince and heir,
you must have a command. I thought of creating a company for you out of the
Palace Guard. You've trained with them and most of them know you, but the
Elite is already a self-contained unit, used to serving under a royal
commander. " Black brows rose. "Or don't you want to command the Elite?"
"Yes, sir!" The Elite, Rael thought. "As prince and heir, " the king
continued, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth, "you'll be obeyed,
but I hasten to point out that, training aside, you know little of actual
warfare, so defer to the captain. "
"Yes, sir. " Rael had every intention of deferring to the captain. He'd been
terrified of the thickset little man for as long as he could remember.
"Before you head down to the barracks, stop off at the armorers and get fitted
for a new helmet, breastplate, and greaves. Your sword's fine. " "Yes, sir. "
"Well, get going. " "Yes, sir!"
"He'll be in the thick of the fighting with the Elite, " Belkar pointed out as
the prince dashed out of the room.
"Aye, " agreed the king grimly. "But they'll have to go through the Elite to
get to him. It's the safest place I can think of. "
"You could order him to remain here, " suggested the duke, not at all pleased
to have both the king and his only heir in such danger.
26 Tanya Huff
"I could, but I'll be damned if I'll chain my son to the walls. " Raen smiled
ruefully. "And that's what I'd have to do to keep him here. "
By the time Rael arrived at the Elite's training yard, the euphoria was
beginning to fade. Though the news of his appointment had obviously preceded
him, the Elite weren't yet ready to change their allegiance from captain and
Icing/commander to captain, king, and prince/commander. Every one of them,
soldier and servant, politely ignored him as he made his way to the practice
ring.
Doan, the captain, perched on the top rail of the fence surrounding the ring,
looking like a well armed gargoyle. He welcomed the prince with a grunt and
slapped the rail in invitation, never once taking his eyes off the men
training.
Rael climbed up and sat down, a little farther from Doan than was strictly
polite. He couldn't help himself; something about the captain put him on edge.
It wasn't the man's appearance-although the barrel chest, bandy legs, and
habitual scowl made him far from appealing-it was more the feeling of
tremendous power just barely under control that he seemed to project. Palace
rumor whispered Doan had dwarf blood and Rael believed it. When he looked at
the captain through his mother's eyes, he felt the same strong belonging to
the land that he felt in the Grove but none of the peace or serenity.
Wood cracked on wood and then wood on bone and then one of the men in the ring
was down, blood streaming from a cut on his forehead, his quarterstaff lying
useless on the sand beside him.
"Get him out of there, " grunted Doan. He turned to the prince and pointed at
his sword with a gnarled finger. "The swordmaster says you know how to use
that thing. "
Rael's back stiffened. He'd never trained with the Elite, for theirs was a
very close fraternity, but Doan had seen him work with the Palace Guard often
enough
CHILD OF THE GROVE 27
to know he could use his sword. And his strength and speed were common
knowledge. "Show me. "
As regally as he was able, Rael shrugged and slid off the fence. He drew his
sword and tossed his scabbard to one side.
Suddenly, every Elite not on duty surrounded the ring.
Rael looked around at the grinning faces, swallowed nervously, and met the
eyes of the captain. They reflected the early morning light in such a way they
appeared to glow deeply red. Rael swallowed again and his chin went up. So the
new commander had to prove he was worthy, did he? Well he'd show them. "Who do
I fight?"
A slow smile spread over the guard captain's face. "Me, " he said. "Your
Highness. " And he dropped into the ring.
Doan's attack came so quickly, the fight almost ended before it truly began.
To Rael's astonishment, his strength and speed alone were not enough and he
was forced to use every bit of skill the swordmaster had drilled into him over
the years. The prince was a slender flame tipped with steel. Doan stood solid,
each movement deliberate and so slow next to the Lady's son that it seemed he
must be cut to shreds. But Rael could not get past his guard, and when their
swords met he had to use all of his unworldly strength to block the blow.
Less than three minutes later it was finished. Doan bent and retrieved Rael's
sword. "You'll do, " he said as he handed it over. "Commander. "
A cheer went up from the surrounding Elite and Rael became aware that a great
deal of coin was changing hands. Snatches of conversation drifted back from
the dispersing men.
"... told you he'd get his own in... " "... expected the captain to beat him
to his knees... " "... four coppers, you jackass, but then I've seen him fight
before... "
28 Tanya Huff
And echoed from more than one direction: "He'll do. "
"They'd follow the prince because they had to, " Doan grunted as Rael sheathed
his sword. "Better you make them want to. "
Rael straightened his shoulders. "And how do I make them want to?"
"You've started already. " Doan hacked and spit in the sand. "You've proven
you can fight. "
"But you beat me. "
"I know. I beat them too. But you showed them you could've made the company on
your own. "
Rael flushed with pleasure. "I could've?"
"Just said so, didn't I?" Doan hooked his thumbs behind his broad leather belt
and headed out of the practice ring. "Now if you'll come with me... " The
pause was barely audible. "... Commander, I'll fill you in on your command. "
"... but the strength of the Elite lies in flexibility. We fight on any
terrain, on any terms. It all depends on the lay of the land, the enemy, and
the Duke of Hale who runs mostly cavalry. We've fought beside his horsemen
before though, and it... am I going too fast for you, Commander?"
"Huh?" Rael flushed and dragged himself out of a pleasant daydream where the
摘要：

GenesisIntheBeginningtherewasDarknessandoutoftheDarknesscametheMother.FromherfleshSheformedtheEarth.WithhertearsShefilledtheseasandlakesandrivers.ShewalkeduponhercreationandwhereShepassedgrewgrasses,trees,andflowers.Herbreathbecamethewinds.WithherrighthandShecreatedallanimalsthatrunandswimandfly.Wit...

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