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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7432169" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 166Glori didn’t sleep well.  Her dreams had been troubled, battles from the Silverpeak and before overlaid with new dangers that remained vague but terrifying.  She woke early, and despite feeling drained she dressed and went for a walk in the gardens.The natural beauty of the place helped still her nerves somewhat.  It was quiet, the surrounding city still asleep.  As the sun started to rise colors bloomed around her, adding to the sense of calm and life that pervaded the place.She wondered about Bredan and how he was faring among the dwarves.  Then she remembered that he probably hadn’t even reached them yet.  It had only been a few days, but she still missed him.That thought led her to Quellan.  She hadn’t really had a chance to think about him, or the complicated web of feelings that connected them.  He’d been honest with her.  She owed him the same, if only she could somehow unlock what her own feelings were.Distracted by those thoughts, she didn’t realize she was no longer alone until a familiar melody shook her from her reverie.She turned to see Majerion slowly approaching along one of the paths that wound through the garden.  The source of the music was his golden lyre, which he was playing softly with one hand as he walked.  The tune was one that he had taught her years ago, shortly after they had left the elven domain to begin their journeys back and forth across the surrounding lands.For a moment Glori felt a thread of uncertainty.  She had left her own instrument in her quarters, along with her armor and weapons.  But after a moment she steeled herself.  Everything that she needed to confront this encounter was inside of her.She turned to face him and waited.  He finished his song with a flourish as he greeted her.“Glorianna,” he said.“Majerion.”“I have heard something of your exploits,” he told her.  “Your dwarven companion was quite loquacious at last night’s dinner.  I am impressed.”“‘Loquacious’ is not a word I would have ever used to describe Kosk,” she said.“Well, it was not easy.  But I have a talent for getting people to come out of their shells.”“Yes, I remember that about you.”He tilted his head slightly as he quirked an eyebrow, another gesture that she remembered intimately.  “You are angry about something, my dearest?”“My dear… what makes you think you can call me that?”“It has not been so long since we traveled together.”“Since we… you abandoned me, Majerion!”The elf bard looked genuinely perplexed.  “I left only when I knew that you could take care of yourself.  I thought you understood.”“I thought you cared about me.”“I do, my… Glorianna.”“Not enough to stay with me, though.”“My life was here,” he said.  “You could not stay here, so I did my best to help you find a life outside, one where you could be happy.  And from what I have heard, you have that life… a place in the world, friends, people who care about you.”“So, I was just an obligation to you.”“No.  Perhaps at first, but I did honestly come to care for you, Glorianna.  When your parents died, there were none others to step in.  You and I share blood, through our fathers’ lines.  The same ancestor, three generations back…”“Among humankind, we wouldn’t even rate as cousins,” she said.“We elves are different,” Majerion said.  “It was my responsibility… but I do not regret those years spent.”“I suppose you think I should be grateful,” she said.“I do not know what else I could have done,” he said.  “If there is another solution I did not think of, I hope you would tell me.”“Obviously staying here was not an option.”There was an edge to her words, but Majerion nodded seriously.  “Of course not.  You know that individuals of mixed heritage like yourself do not fit in to elvish society.  Humans are only permitted to dwell in the outskirts of our lands, and are only permitted in Tal Nadesh under strictly limited circumstances.  Your father knew this when he chose to leave, to take a human wife.”“It must have been quite the blot on your family,” Glori said.This time the elf could not mistake the scorn in her words.  “It has nothing to do with my feelings for you,” he said.  “The mixture is bad for both races.  Humans have no more affection for elves than we do for them, as I am sure you have learned.”“I’ve met plenty of tolerant people.”“Certainly.  As have I.  But I have also witnessed pettiness, judgment, and rank racism.  It was everywhere we traveled, and I tried to teach you how to confront it, how to deal with it.  How to survive.”“Life is more than survival.”“I tried to teach you that as well.”She shook her head.  “Racism is not just a human trait.”“Of course not.  But that is the world that we live in.  I could not change it even if I dedicated my life to that cause.  But the reality of the separation of elves and humans is not just founded in attitudes that have calcified over time.  There are real reasons why the two races cannot, should not intermingle too closely.  What happened to your parents is illustrative.”“What do you mean?”Majerion hesitated a moment, but finally answered her question.  “The disease that killed your parents… such pestilence is almost unheard of in places like Tal Nadesh.  But such outbreaks are common in human lands.”Glori just stared at him.  “So it was… my parents’ fault that they died?”“That is not what I was trying to say.  And in any case, you were blameless.  You did not choose to be what you are.”“I see.  Well.  In any case, I thank you for your training.”“Glorianna… I did what I thought was best.”She was spared from having to come up with a response as she spotted Kosk approaching them from the direction of the guest cottages.  From the look on his face, whatever news he brought was urgent.“What is it?” she asked.“Something’s happened to Javerin,” Kosk said.  His eyes flicked briefly to Majerion, but that was all the attention he spared for the elf.Glori felt a cold feeling in her gut.  “Show me,” she said.</blockquote>

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