Chapter 4

The softest whisper of moving cloth was the only sound as Queen Kaelyndra walked down the corridor to her chambers. The late afternoon sun shone through the windows, throwing warm light over the stone walls and casting a golden aura around her. The delicate carving of vines interlaced with flowers and wildlife trailed along the wall while engraved birds flew frozen in stone clouds upon the ceiling. The two honor guards, who stood on either side of the doors to her rooms, clasped fists over their hearts as she drew near. She acknowledged them with a nod of her head before entering her chambers.

The large doors swung open at her barest touch and once through, they closed quietly behind her. Inside her outer rooms, the walls were adorned with intricate tapestries depicting great hunts and famous battles, even a particularly morbid one illustrating the fall of Atlantis. Those walls not covered by tapestries were hidden behind bookshelves filled with histories and important texts. Soft rugs were laid out over the floor, warming the otherwise cold room. Sets of chairs sat in front of the fire place or under windows. Small tables stood near them, holding vases with fresh flowers or half-read books. The whole room was illuminated by a steady warm light that emanated from where the glowstones were recessed into the corners.

Kaelyndra pulled one of the cords that hung near the door to summon a servant, before walking into the room. She was halfway to her favorite chair when the door opened again, admitting one of her handmaidens. The young fae woman waited silently while Kaelyndra retrieved her book and sat down with it.

"I will take my tea here, today," she said without looking up.

"Yes, Majesty," the servant murmured as she curtsied. She slipped out of the door as quickly and quietly as she had entered.

After hours of listening to the nobles squabble with each other over every possible thing they could disagree on, Kaelyndra was more than ready for the temporary shelter her rooms offered. Every last highborn faelord was in the palace as this summer would see the first solstice celebration since the fae had fled their homeland. Most nobles, having no land to tend to, had stayed in the new city. They resented faelords that had already been granted land, and the faelords with land complained about everything else– from native humans trespassing on their territory to unruly goblins. Some of the highborn did not want to hold the solstice now that the ritual would be wholly symbolic, while others felt that casting off the tradition would be yet another mark of decline. The only thing that they all agreed on was that Kaelyndra was not handling things the way her father would.

The door opened, drawing Kaelyndra back from her brooding. Her tea was placed on the table beside her, but her handmaiden did not immediately leave. Kaelyndra looked up from the book she was not really reading to regard the young woman.

"Majesty, if it pleases you, Countess Inaldel requests an audience."

"Oh?" Kaelyndra sighed inwardly– even her rooms were no longer safe. "Of course, send her in. And bring more tea for the good Countess."

"Yes, Majesty."

Countess Inaldel was one of the less demanding of the landless nobles. An older matriarch, she was mostly content to live out her days in the comfort the palace had to offer, and leave the carving out of territories to those with youth left. Even better, she only occasionally compared Kaelyndra's rule to her father's, a rare trait that was almost impossible to find amongst the older generation. This may have been in part due to the somewhat close relationship Kaelyndra used to have with Inaldel. When she was still a child, Kaelyndra would often summer on the Countess's lands, which were beautiful that time of year, and she had come to call her Aunt Inaldel.

Once more the door to Kaelyndra's room opened. The noblewoman who crossed the threshold was very similar to the woman in Kaelyndra's memories, only the silvering of her hair and eyes indicated her age. Kaelyndra stood and held out her hands palms down, "It is good to see you well, Countess Inaldel, to what do I owe this visit?"

The countess stepped forward and grasped Kaelyndra's hands, "Thank you for seeing me, Majesty. I know that your leisure time is rare and it means much that you would take the time to see me."

"I hope to always have time for old friends. Come, let us sit and you can tell me what troubles you."

Kaelyndra reclaimed her seat while Inaldel settled herself. More tea was brought and the countess busied herself with smoothing her skirts before taking a sip, then another. Folding her hands in her lap, Kaelyndra waited patiently for Inaldel to gather herself.

"'Tis my son, my youngest," Inaldel said. "He's missing."

"Missing? Truly?"

Inaldel nodded. "Virsard was to return a week past, he wanted to be here for the solstice... When he did not arrive as on time... I sent messages... He had left his post as planned, but nothing has been heard of him since. This is not like him."

"I see," Kaelyndra said. "He was working under Lord Eldryn, was he not?"

Marquis Eldryn was the faelord charged with keeping the goblin lands and trying to bring them back under control. When the faelords had been forced to flee the sinking Atlantis, they had brought as many of the lesser and wild fae as they could, among them the goblins. At the height of faelord power the goblins had served in their right and proper place as the foot soldiers in the faelord's armies, but ever since coming to this New World the goblins had become increasingly unruly. There was concern that the goblin's dissent would spread to the other lesser fae, so it was doubly important that the goblins be put in their place as soon as possible. However, lesser fae or not, the goblins had always been willful. The task set before Lord Eldryn was proving to be no small feat.

"I fear that something... dreadful has happened. I did not want him to be working with the goblins while all this bother was going on, but he wanted a military command, and he felt this... duty would set him apart from his peers."

As an adult and faelord in his own right, Virsard had every right not to return to his mother's household if he wished, but Kaelyndra did not think that was what happened here. Kaelyndra had not spent a great deal of time playing with Virsard as a child but she recalled the eager young boy who was always trying to grow up quickly so he could be like his older brothers. A third son would not hope to inherit much from his parents in the best of times. As such, a solid command would mean a lot to someone in Virsard's position, and he would understand how easily he could lose it. He would know that even actions made off duty would be judged, with so many applicants keen to take up the task, why give responsibility to someone who is responsible only half the time? If Virsard had said that he would be home, surly he would have done everything he could to keep his oath. Not to mention what simply disappearing without word would do to his mother. No, it did not seem likely at all that he had vanished of his own will.

Kaelyndra despaired over the reasons a young fae officer would go missing in goblin lands.

"Inaldel," Kaelyndra said, "I fear that I too share your concern over your son's absence."

"Yes, I knew you would."

Kaelyndra reached forward and grasped Inaldel's hand. "I swear to you that I will do all in my power to find your son."

Tears shined in Inaldel's eyes as she squeezed Kaelyndra's hand in her own. "Thank you, Kaelyndra."

The emotional exchange was interrupted by the door to Kaelyndra's chamber opening once again. Kaelyndra looked up at her handmaiden in surprise– Inaldel stiffened in her seat and turned to glare at the young servant.

"Goodness, you foolish girl, can you not knock?" Inaldel scolded, wiping tears from her face.

Kaelyndra pulled her hand back and sat up straighter in her chair. "Amira? What is the matter?"

"Begging your Majesty's pardon, Countess," Amira hastily curtsied. "I thought your Majesty would be pleased to know King Follyn has returned."

A smile lit Kaelyndra's face. "Thank you. Indeed, I am very pleased to hear this." She turned back to Inaldel. "This is good news for you as well, Follyn knows more of the goblins than I. He is just the person to go to."

Inaldel smiled as well. "I am sure. I know you wish to see him, I will not keep you."

Both rose from their chairs at the same time. The countess smoothed out her skirts as she stood and Kaelyndra offered her hands once more. As Inaldel took them Kaelyndra spoke softy. "I will come to you as soon as I have news."

"Thank you, your Majesty. I cannot express how grateful I am." Inaldel said as she bowed her head in respect. With that the countess quickly left the room, brushing by the handmaiden on her way out.

"M-majesty?" Amira asked timidly as Kaelyndra made to follow the countess out the door. Stopping, she raised an eyebrow in question at the young woman.

"I am sorry I didn't knock," she said quietly, staring at the floor.

A half-smile quirked Kaelyndra's lips. She gently placed a hand on Amira's shoulder. "'Tis no matter."

The girl blushed as Kaelyndra squeezed her shoulder before turning and striding quickly from the room. Follyn would still be in the grand hall talking with his advisors about his journey. Hopefully he would have better news than she did.

Kaelyndra barely noticed the servants and nobles she passed as she walked quickly forward, only giving cursory acknowledgements of their bows, curtsies, and murmured words of deference. Her mind was only on her destination, anything else was not worth her notice as her steps carried her to where she needed to be.

Through the last door the grand hall opened up before her. It was an awe-inspiring testament to the might of the faelords, that even in exile the fae lived in splendor, the grand hall was breathtaking. Stone pillars wrought to mimic trees held the ceiling high above their heads, which itself was fashioned to look like a dense canopy of leaves. Precious stones where interwoven with the canopy's silver and gold leaves– the gaps between were filled with either crystal glass to let in sunlight or glowstones, so the hall was always lit. Colored glass windows lined the walls, casting rainbows upon the tiled floor. Not all the flora was carved from stone, living vines crawled up the stone pillars and flowers grew sheltered within crevices in the walls. All of these were fed by fountains that ran down from the ceiling over bumps and grooves to the floor, filling the hall with the beautiful music of running water.

All of this was lost on Kaelyndra as her eyes fell upon Follyn.

Kaelyndra saw only Follyn as she made her way across the hall. She had not yet made it halfway to him when he stopped and turned to her. She did not know how but he could always tell when she was in the room. Ignoring the men around him he turned to her and waited, smiling, for her to come to him. They embraced and simply held each other for long moments, under the indulgent smiles of the advisers, content with the simple contact that reaffirmed that they were together again.

A more meaningful welcome would have to wait for later.

Finally they parted, although only so far as to stand next to each other, with Kaelyndra's arm held securely in Follyn's.

"My Queen, I was just telling our lords of my journey."

"Then I shall not stop you, I wish to hear of it as well," Kaelyndra said.

Follyn nodded to Ashther, his head advisor. "Let us then retire to the counsel chamber."

The royal counsel room was off the grand hall in the southwest wing. While much less opulent than the grand hall, it was still as beautiful as everything the fae built. It did not take long for everyone to gather and take their place at the long table that was the central fixture of the room, with Follyn and Kaelyndra at the head, the advisors to the right, and the other members of the royal party that had traveled with the king to the left. Kaelyndra frowned as she noticed that someone was absent from the left side of the table, she gave Follyn a questioning look. He lifted his hand in a gesture that asked her to wait and Kaelyndra fell into a speculative silence. Follyn began speaking once everyone was in their place.

"The tribal leaders of the Abenaki are concerned about our expansion. We are bordering some of their sacred places as it is and they fear that we will cut off their access to them, or worse, desecrate them, if we continue to grow at the rate we should like."

Follyn took a map from one of his companions and rolled it out on the table as he continued speaking. Kaelyndra listened with interest, even though she had little say over the expansion of fae lands or treaties with neighboring peoples. Such outside relations were the bailiwick of the king. However, once the lands were theirs, they would be her responsibility and she would be the one to decide which, if any, faelords would be granted the land. The counsel went on for some time. Eventually servants came with the evening meal, and the sun set, leaving the glowstones as the only light. After Follyn had finished, his companions added anything they thought might be useful before the discussion opened to the advisors. As it looked like everything that could be talked about had been said, Follyn rolled the map back up but motioned that his advisors should stay.

"My friends, I am afraid that I have troubling news from the goblins lands," said Follyn.

Kaelyndra sat up straighter in her seat. Did Follyn already know of the missing Virsard?

"Northmen have landed and established a colony, called Vinland. Their leader, Leif son of Eric, has been treating with the goblins."

"Northmen? Humans treating with the goblins!?" Ashther exclaimed. "They have not the right!"

Follyn nodded, his expression guarded, "I believe that the Northmen simply did not know the goblins place as lesser fae. Even then, it would not be their responsibility to see that the goblins do not over step themselves. No, 'tis not the Northmen that concern me. The goblins know their place and are willfully ignoring it."

"Something must be done and done now, before this gets any more out of hand," said one of the advisors, to the muttered agreement of the table. "Did Lord Eldryn not know of this?"

"Of course he knew. He informed me as soon as he learned of it. I have sent Sylvendar to the Northmen's settlement."

With the knowledge of her cousin's fate, as he had been the one missing from the return party, a sense of relief fills Kaelyndra. It was a good decision to send Sylvendar to the Northmen. He had met with them in seasons past and had overseen the trade that allowed the fae to have the ships needed to flee the home lands. Moreover, as a member of the royal family, he had authority where another envoy would not.

The advisors nodded their approval of Follyn's actions and Kaelyndra was filled with pride at the sight.

"We must indeed do something, and I fear something drastic, to bring the goblins to heel. I wish for suggestions from all of you in this matter. I want something we can give to Lord Eldryn when he returns to court for the solstice."

It was a simple dismissal, but little was needed. Kaelyndra and Follyn stood as the advisors gratefully took their leave. A small sigh escaped Kaelyndra once they were alone, for the first time since Follyn had left, three weeks ago. She turned to her husband as he turned to her, their kiss a silent reaffirmation and a long awaited welcome home. They were both silent for long moments after the kiss ended, Kaelyndra with her head on Follyn's shoulder and Follyn with his arms wrapped loosely around her.

With another soft sigh Kaelyndra pulled back from the embrace, lifting her face to look him in the eye. Before she could speak, however, Follyn smiled at her and used his fingers to smooth away the wrinkle between her brows.

"What dreadful news have you kept for me that makes you frown so?" Follyn murmured.

Kaelyndra almost smiled at his words– somehow he always knew when she was upset. "I fear that my news is dreadful, 'tis about the goblins."

Follyn's easy smile slipped from his face. The last thing he needed right now was more bad news about the goblins.

"A young faelord has gone missing from goblin lands. He was to come home, but he never arrived. I fear that he has met with foul play."

"Another?"

Kaelyndra stands stunned. "Another?" she managed finally. "This is the only one I know of!"

A grimace twisted Follyn's features. "Lord Eldryn informed me of three missing officers in his reports of the Northmen. Two had been traveling the borders of the goblin lands and the territory of some of the more hostile natives. It was possible that the goblins had nothing to do with the first two, while the third was perhaps... too harsh with his treatment of the lesser fae and his disappearance could have been an isolated case, if, in fact, the goblins had anything to do with it. But with yet another gone… it would be foolish to give the goblins the benefit of the doubt."

He sighed and looked out one of the high windows as if searching the night sky for answers. "I had hoped to have more than speculation before informing the counsel. They will call for blood, and with four lords missing, perhaps dead, blood may very well be the answer."

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