What Is Done

Chapter 14 - Plans and Propositions

It was still snowing in Arün and it would continue until late March. It had only been a couple of days since Laverne's birthday. The other annual holiday the elves celebrated was approaching quickly, the midwinter festival otherwise known as Fodder for the Elder Gods. 

Laverne had called upon Essaerae to make plans with Sellion and him.

Essaerae had found Sellion in the castle courtyard, burning massive amounts of snow away with fire magic.

"Um, what are you doing?" she addressed slowly.

"King Laverne assigned me the task of shoveling snow out of the courtyard," Sellion stated as he made another burst of flame shoot from his palms, burning away everything in front of him, "but I don't get paid enough to deal with several tons of white bullshit!"

"Okay...Care to take a break and come with me to meet with King Laverne about what we will do next?"

"I guess."

---

I stayed in the High Council's meeting room after everybody else had vacated to study maps brought up from the library. I gave Sellion the task of clearing snow from the courtyard while we waited for Essaerae to show up. He wasn't interested, yet it was something to keep him occupied for the intervening period. The library in the Castle of Glass was among the largest collection of scrolls and tomes gathered in existence. I had had servants bring me the necessities, tidal charts among them. Papers and open books were littered across the length of the table in front of me.

If Zalzreog's story had been historically accurate, the charts would have the answer. Unfortunately, I did not understand how to read them. 

For the rest of the relics, we were at a loss. We had no leads.

Sellion held the door open for Essaerae to enter, being nice for once. She curtsied upon entering. "Hello, Your Highness. I have not seen you since your birthday celebration."

I got an odd tingling sensation when I saw her face for the first time in a few days. I felt like I had dreamed about her or something similar the night I turned a hundred and forty-three. 

"Hello."

Essaerae didn't know the rest of the High Council very well. Sellion had been my father's second in command, a dog if you would. He was consistently there, trailing him like a shadow or lost street mutt looking for its owner while remaining in the comforting arms of somebody who cared. I had seen her briefly speak to the three females of the High Council at some point. The men, besides Sellion, prefer not to linger about the Castle of Glass. Though, I figure she could have easily picked them from the crowd of servants and guards trudging through the foyers from their clothing. The servants all dressed in the same bleak gray robes that were worn by both genders. The style of their garments were similar to those of the royal family, though monochrome and without any pattern.

I instructed Sellion to walk Essaerae through the meanings of the things we'd found from going through the papers. Essaerae took a seat, near me but not too close, either. Sellion remained standing. During the High Council meetings, he always chose the seat directly to my right.

"If what the dragon said was true, the famous sword that seals the darkness away would have been swept along the coast of Elven Guard and south Icast," he laid the charts in the middle of the table and traced a couple of lines with his pointer finger. We had gone through this with the rest of the High Council but most of them were useless when it came to doing research so I ended the meeting early. "Then, if it made it all the way here," Sellion tapped his index finger in the center of a group of islands that Essaerae seemed to recognize off the southwest Icast, "there's a bunch of unruly currents swirling around between the Islands of Elderon."