Avandor's Gift
Epilogue

I was standing at the bow looking out at the open ocean before me. It was twelve weeks ago that I left my brother, the Grey Mage and my father a former intervener, but now his chief councillor on the shores of Envladane. It was there I told them goodbye for the final time as I knew that I would never see them or my home again.

“It will be any day now.” said Princess Noräin who came to stand beside me.

“I am hopeful.” I said and continued looking out at sea. She simply nodded and continued looking past the horizon as well. I was wrong about the princess. I had assumed duty and love for her country had come first. I had sorely miscalculated the depth of her love for Gareth.

Her eyes were sad behind the black veil of mourning that she wore for him, for her mate. Avandor had blessed her in the same way he blessed the twins. She had regained her sight and he changed her into what we were now. I chose to call our new race fae or the fair folk.

Folks, for there were more than just the two of us, the deck was littered with our kind. Some of them were changelings who had chosen to be this way, Lishpa the captain of this ship and his brood of ten were part of this crew.

Garima had chosen to stay in Gé Addar and rule, so her fangs receded and was again fully human. She would make a fine enough queen I thought. She had good men like Sonis and Alehondria around her. Bufrak Dominic was most sympathetic towards the human race so peace between them would exist within their lifetimes. Beyond that, it is uncertain, the hearts of men and gods were quite vacillating.

I heard footsteps coming from behind me and I turned to face Lishpa, whose wrinkles had been erased but whose face was lined with worry. I knew why he was worried so I spoke first.

“We are not lost, this was the course set for us and it is the course we must follow.”

“I cannot help but to be antsy Tetjana. These are uncharted waters and the sailor in me is getting nervous. Soon we will be running out of provisions and if we are even to turn back now, we would starve before we could set foot on Gé Addar.”

“I am not worried for myself as much as the children.” His worry lines deepened as he turned and looked at his brood who were busy playing with each other and the three bloodwolves on board.

“I understand your concern Captain, but Tet wouldn’t carry us on this trip only to lead us to our deaths. Have a bit of faith, it has carried us this far and it will last us well past the time we finally get to our destination.” answered Noräin who lifted the veil to speak to him.

That was the most she had said to anyone for weeks and I could understand why the captain seemed dumbfounded. He nodded his head once and then walked away.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You were one who worked out of logic and careful supposition, emotional dealings are a gift you are yet to hone.” she said turning back towards the sea.

“I am learning.” I replied.

“Hmm.” She replied. “I am going to the galley now, it is almost time to prepare for dinner.” She said as she walked away.

So many of them had put faith in my words, my greatest fear was that I would let them down. That he would let them down. On the bloody battlefield at the foothills of the Diadem I had asked for my mate back, he gave me this journey instead.

“I want back my mate.” I said.

“We need to talk.” He said as he led me over a daffodil covered mamelon and into the forest. “Evander is no more on this land, he made his choice and we all have to abide by it.”

“This was never our war, so why should we suffer the punishment?”

“I will not argue with you on that point for it is the truth.” He paused looking up into the tree at a charred branch. He touched it once and the ash fell away and new leaves sprung forth. He then walked from tree to tree administering the same treatment to each. I followed him with my eyes until he was done.

“So what is the point of you leading me here?” I asked.

“You and several others when they choose to be, are of my making and none of you have a place in this land or in Gé Addar. I cannot offer you my full protection if you stay but if you go I will do the best that I can.”

“Go? Go where?”

“To an uninhabited isle leagues across the Agean.”

“There is no known land further west than Oracabeza.” I said.

“You are right, there is no known land. I am sending you and the others into the unknown. That is the only place you will be safe.”

“And if I chose not to go?”

“You can remain, but you will become a changeling once more and will be free to live your life as you please. But if you decide to leave, there will be a ship waiting in four days off the coast of Rhoenna. From there you will sail to Indué. The other remaining passengers board there. Go north to the southern tip of Oracabeza and then sail due west until you replace the land I speak of. The ship leaves Rhoenna in four days follow at your will.” He said before shimmering from the earthly plane to that of the gods.

On the first day I brooded. The second day I wandered into Talithá to my family to tell them of my decision. The third day I ran across the country like my life depended on it and by the fourth I was on this ship where I have been ever since. Twelve weeks going west and still there was no land in sight. I sighed heavily and went into the galley.

...

It was thirteen weeks now since Gareth saved the city and then died at my feet. I attended the state funeral where his bravery was celebrated as his brother’s. I stood silently as his pyre was lit and end song sung not by me the one who loved him most but the woman to whom he was married.

There was much rebuilding to be done throughout the land but my taste for power had disappeared, my reason for living gone along with it. It was in a moment of deep depression and loss that he first spoke to me.

“Follow the wolves to the shore and you will replace the solace you seek.” The wolf Greyshanks and her mate Silver-paw along with their cub found me first. Their howling and caused me to rise from a fitful slumber. I didn’t know why I was to leave or where I was going but I knew I had no reason to remain.

Waiting on the shore was where I saw it, the first thing I had seen in years. A white vessel sitting like a swan a top the ocean. On boarding I first met a woman with small delicate face and beguiling eyes. “Welcome princess Noräin.” She said and I knew that this was the witch Tet.

As Anolis rose over the horizon, we set sail towards my promised peace.

...

“He said that we should prepare for their arrival, they will be here any day now.” I said to my brother who was in one of his brooding moods again.

“You have been saying the same thing for four months now Evander, it is getting to be a little less believable each time.”

“I have to believe that they will come. You lived through a magical burnout and I died in a volcano yet here we are, alive.”

“Alive and alone on a strange land, with odd creatures waiting for our mates to arrive. If they arrive. Suffice to say that you actually love your mate, mine I will have to tolerate.”

“You were the one who picked her. I didn’t force your hand.”

“Except you did, indirectly. Your disappearing act forced me to marry her.”

“You are never going to let me off the hook for that one are you Gareth.” I chuckled.

“Not by a long shot.”

“They will soon be here. I can feel it and I know you can as well.”

“With so much to get used to in this body, I am not exactly sure what I am feeling.”

“Always the pessimist.”

“We may be twins, but hardly the same side of a dinala.”

“I suppose I would be the head and you the rump?” I laughed and ducked out of the way as he kicked at me.

“Do you really think that they are coming?” he asked as he leaned on our newly built wall.

“I have to. The alternative would mean me being stuck with you alone for the rest of my life.”

“What if there is a storm at sea? What if they get lost?”

“We will have to pray to Avandor that they don’t.”

“Avandor,” he miffed. Despite everything that had happened he still held some resentment towards the god. “I am going to fish. I will see you later.”

He gathered the net and I watched as he trekked down the hill and out to the beach.

Never in a thousand years would I have thought that I would spend four months alone with Gareth of Tel Anir and not want to kill him. Fate had twisted our lives in unspeakable ways and then threw us together not as enemies, not quite friends but as brothers.

Our upbringing had made us different but as we came to know each other, we understood each other better. I could appreciate his faults, admire his virtues and through it all, recognise that we weren’t so different after all.

I also realised that if I were to be stuck on an island with any other person apart from Tet, it would be him. Solitude aside, if anything happened to him while we were here I would miss him. Not quite love, as what he did to Curly still weighs heavily on my heart. But in time maybe I could forgive him fully.

I looked out at the ocean. The suns were bright and the water was a shimmering turquoise. I looked beyond the beach and out to the horizon. Despite what he said about not feeling anything, I could sense the once slight tug on my heart getting stronger. I knew that she was out there and that she was coming.

...

The fish weren’t biting in the shallows so I had ventured further out to deeper sea. I baited my lines and cast them overboard. I then stared lazily into the horizon waiting.

I must have been staring too long and was half asleep as I was sure that I noticed a speck of white coming over the horizon. Clouds didn’t fall this low from what I had noted here. I sat up rubbing my eyes. It was definitely not a cloud, but like swathes of cloth which transformed into a giant white ship as it came closer.

Could it be? I let myself hope for a second. The heaviness and longing in my chest lessened as it came closer. I unfastened all the lines and grabbed the oars and paddled over to where they were in my direct line of site.

I waited for an hour or so for it to sail beside me. Men were on the deck shouting orders and I shouted back at them. A ladder was then hauled over the side and then I clambered aboard.

This couldn’t be happening. There were so many of them and all of them were like Evander and me. I could tell by the musk they emitted.

There were females on this ship as well, their scent was more flowery than their male counter parts. One of them came to greet me, tears welling in her eyes.

It was the changeling Tet. “Gareth you are alive.” She said. “It is good to see that it is so. Is Evander...” she bit back her uncertainty, not wanting to hope only to be disappointed. I knew that feeling well.

“He is back on land. My raft is just below if you don’t want to wait.” I said and watched her face transform completely into unadulterated joy then it became again serious.

“I will accept your offer gladly.” She said and if forgetting herself she turned back to me. “You will replace her in the galley or maybe not.” She said pointing to a woman who was decked in full black with a heavy veil of mourning on.

These damn Láetian women and their veils. I thought. “Thank you.” I said but I was sure that she heard nothing as when I turned around she was nowhere on deck.

The woman in black seemed to be looking around wondering what the commotion was about. She then halted as she spotted me among the throng. She stilled and then fainted.

I ran headlong towards her and gathered her in my arms. The damn veil in this heat must have been near suffocating. I thought as I pulled away the mesh fabric. The sight underneath nearly made me want to faint.

“Noräin,” I said as I brushed tendrils of her hair away from her smooth coppery skin. Her eyes opened and she looked at me, like she never had before. Her eyes which were stained by a cloudy growth were now a clear green with hints of grey, which I had never noticed before. “How is it that you are here?” I said as I outlined the frame of her face with my fingertips.

“I came to replace solace and I found you instead. Which probably amounts to the same thing in any event.” She said sitting up and placing her hand around my neck.

“Where is Garima?” I asked.

“Do you really want to know where Garima is right now?”

“Honestly, no.” I laughed and I watched her eyes light up even more. “I love you Noräin. It has always been you.”

“I thought as much,” she smiled and then leaned in to kiss me.

The first of many in our new life.

...

It was mid-afternoon and Gareth had still not returned. He must have gone into deep waters which he tended to do sometimes. He said that the shallows were empty but I doubted that. He had just gone looking for something else.

I had fallen asleep after finishing our chores and I stepped outside into the hazy evening heat. I looked out at the ocean. The view was the same as it always was at this time of day except for the huge ship anchored in the bay and the dots of people I saw walking on the beach.

“By Babu’s boots!” I swore.

“I was always very partial to your swearing technique.” said a voice coming from inside my house. I turned and noticed that she was sitting on a chair on the other side of my cot.

“Am I imagining things are you actually real?” I gapped.

“I would like to think that I am.” She said coming to stand in front of me.

She was real. Every fibre of my being and every strand of hair told me that it was so. My mate, my body sang. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“Awhile.” She smiled and my heart stopped.

“So why didn’t you wake me?” I said still caressing her form with my eyes.

“I waited until you were lucid so I could do this.” She said a she pulled my lips down to hers. The animal in my escaped and my fangs elongated as I tasted her for the second time in this form. I looked at her in wonder and she smiled.

“Do you think I am lucid now?”

“I need a bit more convincing.” She said and I didn’t hesitate. What she offered I took and as we lay together in our version of paradise.

The End