Dragons of Winter Night - Margaret Weis [28]
Tanis, leaning against a building, looked around with interest. What remained standing of the buildings on this street was impressive, much more beautiful than the modern city. He saw that Tarsis the Beautiful must have deserved its name before the Cataclysm. Now nothing but huge blocks of granite lay tumbled about. Vast courtyards were choked and overgrown with weeds turned brown by the biting winter winds.
He walked over to sit down on a bench with Gilthanas, who was talking to Alhana. The elflord introduced him.
“Alhana Starbreeze, Tanis Half-Elven,” Gilthanas said. “Tanis lived among the Qualinesti for many years. He is the son of my uncle’s wife.” Alhana drew back the veil from her face and regarded Tanis coldly. Son of my uncle’s wife was a polite way of saying Tanis was illegitimate, otherwise Gilthanas would have introduced him as the “son of my uncle.” The half-elf flushed, the old pain returning forcibly, hurting as much now as it had fifty years before. He wondered if he would ever be free of it.
Scratching his beard, Tanis said harshly, “My mother was raped by human warriors during years of darkness following the Cataclysm. The Speaker kindly took me in following her death and raised me as his own.”
Alhana’s dark eyes grew darker until they were pools of night. She raised her eyebrows. “Do you see a need to apologize for your heritage?” she asked in a chill voice.
“N-no …” Tanis stammered, his face burning. “I—”
“Then do not,” she said, and she turned away from him to Gilthanas. “You asked why I came to Tarsis? I came seeking aid. I must return to Silvanesti to search for my father.”
“Return to Silvanesti?” Gilthanas repeated. “We—my people did not know the Silvanesti elves had left their ancient homeland. No wonder we lost contact—”
“Yes,” Alhana’s voice grew sad. “The evil that forced you, our cousins, to leave Qualinesti came to us as well.” She bowed her head, then looked up, her own voice soft and low. “Long we fought this evil. But in the end we were forced to flee or perish utterly. My father sent the people, under my leadership, to Southern Ergoth. He stayed in Silvanesti to fight the evil alone. I opposed this decision, but he said he had the power to prevent the evil from destroying our homeland. With a heavy heart, I led my people to safety and there they remain. But I came back to seek my father, for the days have been long and we have heard no word of him.”
“But had you no warriors, lady, to accompany you on such a dangerous journey?” Tanis asked.
Alhana, turning, glanced at Tanis as if amazed that he had intruded upon their conversation. At first she seemed about to refuse to answer him, then—looking longer at his face—she changed her mind.
“There were many warriors who offered to escort me,” she said proudly. “But when I said I led my people to safety, I spoke rashly. Safety no longer exists in this world. The warriors stayed behind to guard the people. I came to Tarsis hoping to find warriors to travel into Silvanesti with me. I presented myself to the Lord and the Council, as protocol demands—”
Tanis shook his head, frowning darkly. “That was stupid,” he said bluntly. “You should have known how they feel about elves, even before the draconians came! You were damn lucky they only ordered you tossed out of the city.”
Alhana’s pale face became—if possible—paler. Her dark eyes glittered. “I did as protocol demands,” she replied, too well bred to show her anger beyond the cool tones of her voice. “To do otherwise would have been to come as a barbarian. When the Lord refused to aid me, I told him I intended to seek help on my own. To do less would have not been honorable.”
Flint, who had been able to follow only bits and pieces of the conversation in elven, nudged Tanis. “She and the knight will get on perfectly.” He snorted. “Unless their honor gets them killed first.” Before Tanis could reply, Sturm rejoined the group.
“Tanis,” Sturm said in excitement, “the knights have