Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 01 Ch. 24

Eldar nodded, "Good idea as Doc needs to keep an eye on the church construction. With Eagle-eye overlooking the Archers. You will find the four of them in bed together so you can let them know."

Annette laughed, "That vision stuff is getting stronger."

Eldar shook his head, "I can hear them fucking from here."

Her jaw hit the floor as he walked out of the room.

Annette whispered to Charlemagne, "Do you think that is true?'

He yelled from outside where the horses were, "Yes Annette it is true. You know what to do to have a private conversation."

He heard Charlemagne laugh. He finished getting T'Suras done, "You two do not have time for that right now, we gotta get going."

Charlemagne grunted, "Fuck his hearing is out of this world."

Eldar chuckled, "They told you I would know when I realized it, Charlemagne. Now get your asses moving ladies."

He heard Annette giggle, "He can even tell us apart! Yes, I know you can hear us you fucking stud."

Charlemagne laughed now. He finished getting the two ladies' horses saddled as Annette got to her father's home. Charlemagne brought the horses around to the wagon.

Eldar grabbed his bow and nocked an arrow. Charlemagne watched him as it was still pitch black. He drew the bow back, held it with his eyes closed. He let an arrow fly; she heard a thud of something or someone hitting the ground. Eldar looked over at Charlemagne, "You might want to get Eagle-eye to drag it out of the woods, it is a doe or a buck. The shot went straight through the heart and we will not be here to eat it tonight."

Charlemagne looked over, "That is scary stuff."

Eldar nodded, "Works well when things are quiet, less so when there is a lot of noise."

Charlemagne yelled over to Annette, "Tell Eagle-eye, we need her out here."

Eagle-eye came rolling out of the house, she looked at them, "It is not even light yet."

Charlemagne pointed, "My husband says he just dropped a deer with a single arrow in this dark."

He nodded, "About 125 feet away give or take in that direction it fell immediately. It is dead, the heart is stopped." Eagle-eye went over and walked back, "You made that shot in the dark?"

Eldar got up on his horse and looked at the sky. She rolled her eyes while he chuckled, "Yes I heard its heart beating."

Charlemagne looked over, "Clean kill shot?"

Eagle-eye shook her head, "Straight through the throat and into the heart. Not a side shot."

Eldar nodded, "We will not be here to eat it so I wanted you to grab it and get it to Skinner and Cook. You know they are going to say bullshit to that shot. Charlemagne stood right there and watched me launch the arrow."

Eagle-eye sighed, "Will grab my horse, it is around 700 pounds and one large ass buck, technically an elk but in the deer family."

Eldar nodded. "Well, smoke some of it for our return then."

She laughed, "I think you got a trophy for the wall in your inn. I could not count the points in the dark. I will get Skinner now."

He heard her talk across the village, "You are not going to believe this. Eldar took down a 700-pound elk buck with one arrow in the dark."

Skinner looked at her, "What kind of dream are you having?"

Eldar yelled over, "Skinner it is no dream she needs a hand."

Eagle-eye shook her head, "Bring a torch. I will grab my horse and a rope." Eldar waited for everyone else to get mounted up and ready. They watched Eagle-eye drag the elk from the woods. Charlemagne looked at Eagle-eye as they cleared the tree line showing the arrow completely buried to the fletching. Skinner looks at Eldar, "How in the hell did you do that?"

Eldar looked at him, "I am going to tell you but you are not going to believe me. I aimed at the beating heart; technically about two inches above it just to cover the distance."

Skinner looked at it, "Hunter is going to be pissed when he sees this. That is a 7x7 a rare find, I think Hunter's best is a 7x6 and it took more than one arrow to drop it."

Eldar smiled, "Just remind him better lucky than good. I could not even see it."

Eagle-eye shook her head as they rode off. He heard Skinner, "I have to find Hunter."

Eldar yelled back, "When you find him, Skinner, let him know it is one of his Hunter arrows. He can have that one back."

They rode to the crossroads and picked up the 2 squads and 2 prisoners. He looked at his guys, "Tie off 3 of the horses to the back. I want two on the front and two ridings with the prisoners."

They got moving. He looked at the Lieutenant, "So, what is your name Lieutenant?"

She looked at Eldar, "Lieutenant Alirora Silver Bow, Arcane Archer. I was about 10 years ahead of you at the Academy. I saw your first win; I was dating the guy you beat that year. Needless to say, he was pissed while I found it humorous at the time. Now I know from what I hear you are indeed a rare Blade Singer. I saw that maneuver you pulled on the Ogre Magi. I was with your wife's team."

Eldar smiled, "Send a rider ahead. Have them send a message to my father at House Silvertree. Another to the Palace, that we have a couple of high-value prisoners for the Palace. If either knows how to get a hold of Jarron then he needs to know the pot is stirred."

She yells out and one of the riders took off at a good but steady clip with an extra mount. Should have been at least a few hours ahead of them by the time they got to the City.

The journey went well though the horses were tired. They got to the gate and the city guards for once cleared the way for them. They had 20 Royal Guards and his father with a couple of bodyguards. Eldar rode in and saw his new favorite Captain, "Good to see you again."

She chuckled, "I thought I should be here to keep you from blowing through gates."

Eldar smiled at her, "I am the head of House Silvertree so they should not be stopping me at those gates." She looks to Heliar who nodded to her.

She just sighed, "I guess that does change things a bit."

Eldar nodded, "But your assistance is appreciated. I would like my men relieved, Father can you have one of the guards take them to House Silvertree as guests. Have their horses tended to? The wagon will need a man of yours to drive it. I have the Queen's nephew with us who will wish to see the Queen as well."

Eldar rode over to his father, "Did you get a hold of Jarron? If so let him know the General and the Mason are both in custody. I expect the shit is going to start flying in both kingdoms."

Heliar sighed, "Give me a minute."

He rode off to the side and pulled out a crystal, then waved Eldar over. "Jarron wants to know why shit is going to fly?"

Eldar sighed, "Because he knows in the space of a couple of hours, I captured 2 of his spies and Lord Barimus was unhappy on the other side of those communication crystals. When I used the crystals for target practice while they were active."

Jarron yelled, "What the fuck happened?"

Eldar smiled, "You said if they came into my area to detain them. In the case of the General, he tried to attack me while I was doing a protection detail for the Queen's nephew. 14 of my archers killed his horse, counting myself. His second assumed command after we spoke with the human King. We got Lord Barimus crystal first.

As he was after me specifically, he knew who got the General. The mason had 2 crystals one went to Prince Fireaxe the traitor. While the other went to Lord Barimus. He was rather pissed. If your friends have been observing him and they were looking for an opening, they may have one.

I figure he left his lair while I was en route to the Palace. That would be a complete guess, but as my guesses are usually way off-course I do not know if you can rely upon that. The two Kings are my big concern. Getting them protected."

Jarron grunted, "I will make contact and get the Kings guarded and warned right away. You are becoming a pain in the ASS!"

Eldar shrugged, "You want to fire me?"

Jarron chuckled, "Like that is an option. No, I will deal with the other 2 tonight. Are you taking those 2 to the palace?"

Eldar nodded at his father, "I realize you cannot see me nodding but yes they are going to the palace under the watchful eye of the Royal Guard. We just entered the City gates and I sent a man ahead to try and get in touch with you and my father. You need to get me one of these crystals, they would come in handy for when I stir shit up."

Heliar laughed, "He has a point there. We should get him a communication crystal."

Jarron sighed, "Yeah if we have to keep him and he is going to be this much trouble then we should get him a crystal to at least communicate with me."

Eldar looked at his father, "You can also get me one for house resources so I can communicate with you, father."

Now Jarron laughed, "Looks like he is taking this whole House Silvertree leadership a little more seriously than you thought."

Eldar chuckled then yelled back, "All of the Moon Blade holders who are here are requested to join me at the palace. We now have 10 active Moon Blades."

Eldar looked back at his father, "You will want to be there for this as well."

He heard Jarron, "Fuck, give me a briefing of whatever he gives the Queen."

Eldar headed over to the group and they made the slow ride through the city. Heliar caught up, "You know how to stir things up."

---

Jarron was in his office with the Silver Dragon Queen, "He got 10 of them activated. That will be seen as a big win and confirmation to many that he is indeed the Champion of Corellon. These 2 remaining spies worry me. I don't have assets in place yet to handle them.

I am working them, the Mage is the bigger pain in the ass because he is involved in necromancy. I could see a serious set of arcanes take him down and they have to do that in private. That will not be easy to set up, Royal Majesty."

She shook her head, "It is just the 2 of us. Speak plainly. What is this about him having a protection force with a member of the royal family?"

Jarron shook his head, "I do not know. He has no way to contact me and I did not think to ask that. We will learn soon enough."

She sighed, "He is eliminating threats and that will attract attention. We cannot interfere in those courts. You don't have enough assets to speed this along at the moment. I do not have a good answer. I have secured 4 more Blades for him, he has the means to activate them to go from 4 to 10.

I will hold on informing the Metallic portion of the council, it might speed things up even further and they would be required to report it to the rest of the council. Which we do not need at the moment until we have the evidence against the Red Dragon King and the others working for him. Any way you can get control over Eldar?"

Jarron shook his head, "The Queen, maybe. He did what I asked if they came, to detain them. That means 2 more assets to be interrogated and 2 fewer we have to deal with. You would be within your rights to investigate that when we get them secure."

The Silver Dragon Queen nodded, "Let us wait for Heliar to report back. I want to know what your Queen and Eldar are doing, I cannot interfere but I need to know where they are taking this investigation."

---

Eldar was still riding toward the Palace and looked over, "Callium Silverbar would you come over here please there is something I want you to see."

Callium rode forward. "Father is my acting proxy."

Eldar turned to Heliar, "I want you to draft up changes to the house ruling body. I want to retain leadership for the next 100 years, at which point the council of 9 will decide on which member of the council will rule for the next century. The council will be evaluated for change every 100 years.

The only static position on the council is the current sword wielder or his Blade Singer proxy chosen by him or her or the senior Blade Singer alive if the sword is unassigned and from your line. Starting from my line only if possible. I may have my brother filling that role initially.

The other 8 positions are to be held by those under 600 years of age with the most prodigy under them. Love and fucking, have lots of children so you have a say. For the first 100 years, that council will be selected by me. They will include the 3 members who did not try the coup.

5 of the 6 formally disowned family members that you contacted on my behalf. The sword wielder in the future will never rule the house. They are there to ensure the family stays true to benefit all of the Elven people.

The consciousness and moral compass of the Elven people over the House. I wanted Callium Silverbar to hear this, after getting his sword and hearing my plan in 100-200 years from now he could set his family on a similar course."

Callium Silverbar thought about it, "I agree the sword is not a status symbol but a promise to the Elven people. After seeing Corellon Larethian I have never been a more fervent believer in the Gods and the code as I was at that ritual. Advising the family but being free of corruption is the best way to keep that promise."

Heliar nodded, "I will work on a draft of that for you. It sounds like a solid and tumultuous plan that will shake the house even further."

Eldar nodded, "Good it is time to drain the swamp and get it back to being a forest again."

Heliar looked over, "Corellon Larethian appeared at the ritual?"

Eldar looked over at the blade holders and witnesses that were with him. Heliar saw lots of heads nodding up and down.

His father shook his head, "One goddess was enough for me and some of you have seen them both."

Eldar sighed, "I not only saw him he did something to me when he put his hand on my shoulder. My perception and acrobatics are insane now."

Charlemagne piped in, "He shot a 7x7 elk through the heart in the middle of the night with one arrow and dropped it. It was over 120 feet away in the woods!"

Heliar laughed, "How did you do that?"

Eldar stared at his father, "I heard its heartbeat and that is what I shot."

Heliar sighed, "Yeah I would say your perception has increased."

Annette chuckled, "You were right, the four of them were going at it. I told Doc and Fireball to keep it down a bit. Because you could hear them from our house and they just laughed as they continued."

Eldar nodded, "You got work to do tomorrow, pull more funds for the farmer's crops."

Annette sighed, "Alright, I will take care of that. What will you be doing?"

Eldar looked down, "Returning another 7 grave markers."

Things got quiet after that until they arrived at the Elven Palace. As usual, they left the horses out front and set the park on the wagon. He looked at the groom and shook his head, "Just leave them, we are not staying the night. They are going nowhere as the horses in front of the wagon are boxed in by my trained War Horses. The wagon is bringing in prisoners."

He walked into the palace unchallenged but was asked to wait as usual. A few minutes went by and they walked into the main chamber and walked forward to the appropriate spot.

Eldar stopped, "Your Majesty, the ritual to activate and claim the Moon Blades was more than successful. Corellon Larethian appeared at the ritual to give his guidance and words to the wielders. Shortly thereafter I took Apprentice Goldeagle with me to meet the farmers I was going to invite to join us. I took a few extra officers and two full squads.

We arrived in the town just as it was being attacked, yet again. My troops interceded while 4-5 squads of human military watched from the hillside who did nothing. I regret to say I lost 1 of my sergeants in the battle but we decimated the enemy force."

The Queen interrupted, "How many were attacking?"

Eldar looked at the Queen, "Your Majesty, 6 giants, 6 ogre lieutenant, 36 orcs, and 1 Ogre Magi Commander. I kept Apprentice Goldeagle with me on the outskirts of the main battle as I closed the gap and took down the Ogre Magi.

Apprentice Goldeagle helped to thin the ranks with his spells. Along with our Battlemages, Blade Singers, and Arcane Archers. Apprentice Goldeagle do you want to show the Queen what was recovered?"

Apprentice Goldeagle approaches the Queen and opens his hand with the rings. She looked back at Eldar, "7 more?"

Eldar nodded, "That makes 37 that I have brought back since leaving the Academy. Your nephew is now blooded in battle as the saying goes as he has encountered, fought, and lived through his first battle with enemy forces."

She looks a little displeased, "Why did you take him with you?"

Eldar sighed, "There was a choice. Your nephew was safe regardless. It was a choice of 41 dead and over half of their forces retreating or 1 dead elf and decimating the enemy force. 7 of those 41 would have been Elves. The rest would have been the 34 farmers we brought back to our town to work the land under our protection.

The second reason he was brought along was to show the farmers of your support for our efforts. Lastly, as an escort for a member of the Royal Family, the human military had no authority to detain us. That was attempted. I was later threatened with arrest.

Even after I offered to show the Commanding officer the sections of the treaty. Instead, he tried to charge me himself. My archers and I shot his horse out from under him. Using a communication crystal, we have spoken with the Human King. As these last acts occurred in our area of protection, we took the General into custody."

Queen Goldeagle looks shocked, "A General?!"

Eldar nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty. He has similar ties to as a couple of former guests of yours as does the dwarven mason we have brought in."

The Queen looked back, "We will discuss that in further detail in closed chambers. Guards, please take the prisoners away."

The Queen looked over, "Anything else to report?"

Eldar nodded, "More good news. The Gods confirmed that my actions through an unnamed third party will result in the return of 4 more Moon Blades at some point soon. I also confirmed through an open dialog with Corellon Larethian and Sehanine Moonbow that you are on the right course. Your kingdom and children will be fine. They told me my task with you in that particular matter is over as you are doing what needs to be done, Your Majesty."

The Queen smiled, "I would ask for you and your wives to step forward and take a knee."

He followed her instructions as did his wives, one to either side of him and they took a knee. The Queen stepped down with a sword in hand and stood in front of Charlemagne, "I hereby dub thee Dame Silvertree." She then walks over to Annette, "I hereby dub thee Dame Silvertree."

She stepped in front of Eldar, "I hereby dub thee Knight Protector of the Elven people. I know you are already the Knight Champion but I want the people to know that you and your wives have gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping to protect the Elven People in ways they may never know.

You are a shining example of the Elves and Elf-blooded people that we want our kingdom to aspire to. I believe this is the first time that I am aware that a non-gold elf has received this title let alone Elf-blooded.

Hard to say for sure with the lost records of the 5th Age and earlier. But I believe this is true in this Age regardless. This is based upon the merits of the 3 in front of me. I thank you for your service and your continued service in the years to come.

You may rise. The cloaks you have designed for you and your wives are very symbolic. I like them. I suggest having the design incorporated into your coat of arms. I would like to offer this gift to you as well; I heard you would like to have these books on court etiquette and heraldry. I think you will find them useful in the future."

Eldar nodded and smiled at the Queen, "Thank you, Your Majesty." As did his wives in unison again, in the crazy twin speak thing.