* * * * *

For all the excitement of fleeing Kirsoden and covering such distance to reach Menna’s house, the travelers were exhausted. They relaxed inside the small, one-room house while Menna bustled around, first cleaning off her face, then throwing together what little food the pirates had left in her house. It interested Will to know that they had apparently not thought far enough in advance to carry food with them. For all the thought they had put into their mutinee, they weren’t being too smart in the follow-up.

“How old is your brother?” Legolas asked as Menna handed him a wooden bowl of fish soup. He had been interested watching her pull several fish out of the saltwater tub just outside the door where several dozen live fish were kept. He had stood just off her shoulder to study her effortless movements as she quickly gutted the fish and tossed them into the pot over the fire.

Menna took the last bowl for herself and sat on the floor near the hearth, answering after a bite, “Ten years old. He’s just a little thing, though, and Papa’s so old . . . you don’t think they’ll hurt them, do you?” she asked, frantically turning to look up at Will. He fortunately managed to keep from letting his fear show.

Hopefully, but only slightly honestly, he offered, “It sounds like they’re using your father’s knowledge of this region, in which case no, they wouldn’t hurt him. They need him.”

“At least not as long as they need him,” Rowan agreed off-handedly. Stretched on her stomach, she once again perused the maps, looking for anything they might have missed. It was a straight shot to Tygar as long as nothing rose up to impede them, and she doubted it would. Located in the middle of a dense forest, the city hadn’t been known commonly for its ancient name Tygar for a good three or four hundred years. On more recent maps, it received the name “Ponlan,” or “Tree-People,” after the ancient tree-dwellers that had built the city. Of course, they had since disappeared and the city fallen into almost complete disarray with only a couple dozen residents living in the hollowed out trunks of thick trees.

“So you’re from the Other World, then, aren’t you?” Menna asked Will several minutes later once the awkwardness that Rowan hadn’t realized she’d created had dissipated. When Will nodded, she added, “Bill Turner used to tell me all sorts of stories about the Other World. I never believed a word of it, you know. About weapons that fired small rocks faster than you can see, and so many countries, each with their own king, spread out all over water that would take you months to travel, and . . . and silly boxes that women wear underneath their dresses to make their skirts stand out. I never believed a word, but then those terrible men left this here . . .” She pointed at the gun that Will had set by his side.

“How is it that your family has been entertaining sailors for years and you’ve never seen a gun?” Rowan inquired, glancing up briefly from the maps.

Menna shrugged, “Like I said, I’d heard about them, but maybe Papa made it a rule that no one could show them to us. Bill Turner used to say that he hoped no one ever set those weapons loose in Alrianto.”

“Agreed,” Will sighed. “All they do is give unfair advantages and take away the skill and purpose of combat.”

“Well now they’re set loose, though. There’s a band of pirates wandering around Alrianto with guns now,” Kai pointed out darkly. Will cringed as though the words wrenched his gut. His father and grandfathers must have carefully selected crews before coming to Alrianto, if they had been visiting here for so long and not introduced guns to the area. But now here his own crew had gone and done it. He was not the sailor his father had been, and apparently not the man his father had been, either. Not the leader.

“We’ll find them,” he promised, pulling the gun closer. He would check the premises before they left to see if there were any more bullets lying around. At least against him, those murderous pirates wouldn’t have the advantage.

Menna offered kindly, “I don’t doubt it. Really, though, if we’re going to get them, we should all get some rest tonight.”

Legolas began to suggest that he, being an Elf and not needing sleep the same as the rest, could be given a task to see to through the night when Rowan suddenly looked up and repeated, “We?”

“Well I’m coming with you, of course.”

“Woah woah woah, this wasn’t part of the deal,” Rowan argued, sitting up and pulling her feet in beneath her. “Where was the contract we signed saying we’d take you along just for letting us stay here the night?”

Menna frowned, “I can’t just let them take my father and brother and do nothing about it.”

“And you think you’re really going to be able to do anything that we can’t? How about this. You light a candle for us every night, and we’ll go save your boys,” Rowan suggested, nodding to answer for her.

“I can’t just sit here and wait.”

Legolas offered gently, “You of all people know how dangerous it will be, Lady Menna. We have a long journey ahead of us to catch up with these men and then–“

”Well I’ll just go with you for that part, and then perhaps father and I can help you with whatever else it is you’re looking for. Besides, I can probably help you.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, Lady,” Menna returned, and Rowan frowned, having momentarily forgotten her elite garb. “Many of the peoples in these regions know my family and will be willing to help should I ask, and I can help you interpret the maps.”

Kai pointed with his toe to Rowan’s symbol on the map and reminded, “Maybe she’ll remember what your symbol means, Rowan.”

If Menna found anything odd in Kai labeling one of the markings “Rowan’s Symbol,” she didn’t say anything. However, Rowan was unwilling to give in, as valid a point as she and Kai made. Legolas, at least, seemed also to sense the illogicality in inviting yet another untrained warrior into their ranks. When Menna turned her big grey eyes to Will, though, he shrugged.

“Well, I mean, she does have a point. She knows more about the maps than any of us.” What was Rowan to say? She could argue all she wanted, but winning and leaving Menna behind could mean going without her help if they required it later in the interpretation of a map. And she truly did want to know what her symbol meant. Menna seemed the best candidate to tell her, if given the time to remember it.

With a sigh, she rolled onto her back, using her cloak as a pillow, and insisted, “Just don’t expect me to take a bullet for you, because it isn’t happening. I warned you.” As an afterthought, she added, “Oh, and don’t ever call me ‘Lady’ again.”

“Yeah, there isn’t much lady about Rowan once she’s out of costume,” Kai nodded, kicking at Rowan’s limp curls playfully.

She batted at his foot without opening her eyes, then ordered, “Sleep. We leave at sunrise if we want to make Tygar with some daylight still.” Menna offered her father’s bed and the loft she and her brother shared to whoever wanted them, and Will accepted the bed after a bit of encouragement while Kai curled up on the ground beside Rowan. Legolas watched Menna clamber into the loft, then settled down by the campfire with the book of mythology Rowan had brought along. Who knew what was real in this country anymore.

* * * * *

Rowan beat everyone save Legolas awake the next morning and spent the last fading moments of darkness outside, watching the sky melt into daylight while Legolas looked over the maps, assigning locations to the places he had read about in the book of mythology. The first of the maps from Warian had almost every location listed except two: Nuvain and Aggwathiel, the latter of which Rowan had already admitted to never hearing of before. Menna soon rose as well and had flat cakes ready by the time Will and Kai came to, rubbing their eyes and each yawning loudly enough to elicit laughter.

“Come, Will, Kai. Eat up. Where did those other two go? Rowan! Legolas! I have food before we leave.”

Breakfast was quick, and packing was even quicker, Will perusing the yard and house for any unused bullets or powder while Legolas, Rowan, and Kai loaded their bags back onto the horses. None were to be found but Rowan said she thought she knew where to get both bullets and powder, possibly even in Tygar. This seemed unlikely to Will but there was no point in contradicting her because Rowan was nothing if not surprising.

Because both of the family’s horses had been either stolen or set lose, Legolas kindly pulled Menna up behind him on his horse, and the group was off, their newest member casting one final sorrowful glance back at the home that she had never before left. Nor had she ever truly wanted to leave her cozy little seaside cabin, but desperate times called for extravagant, often undesired measures. She wanted her family back and refused to accept Rowan’s declaration that she could do nothing to save them. Sure, she might not be brave or strong or trained in any weaponry . . . but she would find a way to help. She was sure of it.

Menna added an entirely new element to their entourage. Despite the obvious anxiety she suffered over the welfare of her father and brother, she was otherwise far cheerier and hopeful than perhaps any save Kai, and chatted quite easily with Legolas, Will, and Kai as they trotted South. Rowan had little to say to Menna, more out of stubbornness that Menna had come along than anything, and mostly rode in silence, only offering her input when Kai asked her specifically.

“Rowan, did you hear that? I bet Will’s better with a sword than you,” Kai teased after Will had explained his apprenticeship and abandoned occupation. Rowan bit her lip to squelch the nasty retort. Will could practice twenty-four hours a day without breaking to eat and drink, and he still wouldn’t make up for the fact that in one month, she would be no less than three-hundred-and-forty-three years older than him, at least.

Legolas, however, kindly pointed this out, mentioning, “However, I believe Rowan’s age predates Will Turner’s, quite possibly mine.”

“How old are you?” Menna inquired, then shook her head. “I’m sorry, that was rude.”

“I am seven-hundred and forty-seven years walking Arda,” Legolas answered, unphased. Kai’s jaw dropped, followed quickly to the ground by Menna’s and Will’s.

Will managed to stutter out, “What, is that another of your Elf-y things? That you live forever or something?”

“Yes, it is one of our ‘Elf-y’ things,” Legolas returned and was genuinely surprised to feel the amusement bubbling up inside him. Not since he had first met Sam Gamgee had someone been seemingly so ignorant yet fascinated by the Elves. “Elves do not die unless killed in battle or by a broken heart.”

He was surprised, however, to see that Rowan was listening just as intently, though obviously attempting to conceal this. Her eyes had narrowed and taken to staring at the ground beneath the hooves of his horse.

“Rowan?”

Her head jerked up and she glanced over her shoulder at Kai, “Yeah?”

“I asked how old you are.”

“Oh, I . . . At least three hundred and forty two.”

“At least?”

Rowan shrugged as nonchalantly as she could, “I don’t remember before that.”

“So you’re an Elf, too, then?” Will posed at the same time Menna asked, “Why can’t you remember before that?”

“I don’t know that I’m an Elf, though I’ve never heard of any other creatures except fairies that can live so long, and I don’t know why I don’t remember.”

“You mean you just can’t remember being a kid?” Kai pressed.

“No. My earliest memory is as an adult.”

“What’s your earliest memory?”

Instead of answering him, Rowan chose to reply to Legolas’ surprise, “Of course I’ve heard of Elves. They’re here in Alrianto; they’re just hidden.”

“Why?”

“Well, the word is that Elves were once very active in the affairs of Alrianto,” Rowan explained. “But then the royal family ran off, the Royal Bureau was created, and all creatures except men were forced into slavery or killed.”

“What?” Legolas gasped. He had never imagined such a genocide was what had led to the lack of Elves in Alrianto. “When did this happen?”

Rowan shrugged, but Menna offered, “About three hundred and fifty years ago, I think.” When Rowan gave her an odd look, she reminded, “My family worked closely with the royals. My father told me the story quite often.”

“Well tell us! I’m listening,” Kai grinned, ecstatic to be learning this previously unknown aspect of Alrianto’s history. How fortunate he was in his company!

Menna’s cheeks flushed at the role thrust upon her but consented, “The royal family was betrayed by an advisor. I’m not sure how . . . or what exactly happened . . . I’m sorry, I’m not telling this well.”

“It’s all right,” Will encouraged. “You know more than any of us.”

“Okay, there was a man who served as advisor to the king. Etriena –that’s where you’re from, isn’t it, Legolas?- and Alrianto were fighting, though I don’t know why. It doesn’t matter, though. This advisor gave the king terrible advice, tricked him into something, and then suddenly the entire family went missing. The advisor insisted that the royal family had fled and that the only way for Alrianto to survive the war with Etriena was to close off all contact with them, banish the monarchy, and put up a new bureaucracy.”

“What’s a bur– whatever?” Kai interrupted.

“The Royal Bureau,” Rowan answered quickly. So far, this was new to her –the idea that the royal family had been tricked away. She knew the Royal Bureau was corrupt, and that in many cases wealthy men like Warian truly ran affairs, but she had always believed that the royal family really had fled.

“Yes, the Royal Bureau. The advisor got the people to agree to this bureau, but then filled the positions with people he selected. That’s when he got the laws passed –the censorship, the extermination or enslavement of everything except men, the destruction of cities and maps and any historical records that predated the Bureau,” Menna finished.

Will shook his head, “Well it’s terrible but genius. Except what about the people close to the royal family? Wouldn’t they know something was up? Like your family?”

“My family was forced into hiding, same as I’m assuming the rest were. There were several groups –I mean, mine were the scholars, along with two other families. There were the advisors –the ones that went bad-- and the guardians and the warriors. Everyone in connection with the crown went missing, though. I’m assuming they were all killed; that’s what my grandfather always said. The guardians and warriors wouldn’t have stayed in like us scholars, I don’t think.”

“And this all happened less than four hundred years ago?” Legolas pressed. It seemed so recent to have so quickly been covered up and forgotten.

Menna nodded, “Yes. With a country as scattered and divided as Alrianto is, it was easy for corrupt power to take control. Grandfather said the king was kind but not a very good leader to begin with. Easily led astray.”

“Well if the Elves are all in hiding, can’t they just come out and kill the Royal Bureau? I mean, if Legolas and Rowan are like most Elves, they seem to be pretty smart and good fighters,” Kai pointed out.

Rowan shook her head, “But then who would take power? It’s the same reason that the advisor didn’t become king, I bet. Where’s the crown? Replacing one corrupt bureau with another wouldn’t do any good, and no one can take kingship without the crown, which also strategically disappeared when the family did.”

“The legend is that it’s hidden in Nuvain, isn’t it?” When Rowan and Menna both gave Legolas surprised looks, he explained, “I read the book of mythology last night, the one you had Rowan. Although some of what was in there sounds like it’s what actually happened–“

”And has just been labeled mythology as part of the censuring,” Will finished for him. “That makes perfect sense. But why not just go find the crown at Nuvain?”

“Because no one knows where Nuvain is,” Menna answered. “It’s not a real city. I mean, who knows, maybe it’s a code name for a real city, or just a hidden city, but my family doesn’t know–“

”I think it’s a real city,” Rowan interrupted. A fly landed on her hand and she brushed it off while reminding, “What Will’s father wrote about in his journal: when his men were at the Benella Plantation, they were asking me about Nuvain.”

“The mythology book says that the only way to find Nuvain is to ask the talking bird that builds its nest on a rock that weeps real tears,” Legolas offered.

Rowan nodded and Menna supplied, “The question, though, is whether there’s actually a talking bird on a weeping rock that tells the way to a real city, or if it’s all a metaphor of some sort. A riddle. That wouldn’t be surprising.”

“What about that advisor?” Will pointed out. “You think he’s looking for the crown? Is he still alive?”

Menna made a face, “I don’t know for sure. He probably is looking, though, if he is still alive. My family hasn’t seen or heard from anyone since the last time Bill Turner was visiting, thirteen years ago.”

Will started to nod, then stopped and frowned, “He died longer than that ago. Sixteen years now.”

“No, thirteen,” Menna corrected. “I remember, he left the day before my seventh birthday. He was in a terrible mood, said he’d made a terrible mistake, and we never saw him again. He even left some of his men behind here, though I don’t think they did anything noteworthy, not like the ones that just came here.”

“If he was still alive then . . . no, there’s no way,” Will insisted, shaking his head. “He was strapped to a canon and tossed into the ocean. When the curse was lifted, he drowned. There’s no way he–“

”What curse?”

“Story for another time,” Will answered off-handedly. “But I mean, there’s no way he could have survived . . .”

“There’s always a way,” Rowan corrected. “Obviously. She saw him. I didn’t meet him, but Piero, the man I did meet, was definitely with his Captain Turner. My question is, what mistake did he make? They were only looking for Nuvain, as far as I knew, and I wasn’t much help.”

“You’ll have to finish reading the journal,” Legolas told Will. “Maybe your father will have written about his mistake in there, or about whether or not he found Nuvain.”

“But how did his journal get into Warian’s hands?”

“And why was he writing in French anyways,” Will added to the pot. “English was his first language, and I think he only learned to speak French when he married my mother, who was French. I never knew he could write it.”

No one knew what to say, and the list of questions seemed endless as Menna presented the idea, “What if he did find Nuvain? I mean, what if . . . what if he actually found Nuvain?”

“Then we could find it, too, I bet!” Kai insisted.

“To what end?”

“To recrowning the man who’s supposed to be king,” Kai returned with a roll of his eyes, as though he couldn’t believe Rowan would overlook so obvious an answer. “The king could reclaim power and get rid of the Royal Bureau and–“

”Then all would be right with the world, huh Kai?” Rowan interrupted wit ha roll of her own eyes. “It doesn’t work that way. Where’s the royal family now? Probably dead or else hiding from their own responsibilities. Finding the crown would just mean another corrupt ruler could claim it and take power. Maybe Bill Turner found it already and–“

”Or maybe that’s what my men are after,” Will pointed out, his face suddenly lighting up at the idea. “They’re in search of treasure. They’ve got some map. What if my father did find Nuvain and made that map they’ve got. They think it’ll lead them to some great treasure.”

“It would,” Legolas corrected. “If the myth I read is correct, that is. Nuvain, the City of the Crown, is supposedly as wealthy a city as has ever been seen in the entire of Arda.”

“If Bill Turner found the crown, he would be king now, wouldn’t he?” Rowan pointed out. “But he’s not. He didn’t find it.”

Will frowned at her and insisted emphatically, “Just because he found it doesn’t mean he would want to be king. Maybe he did–“

”Find the single most important possession in Alrianto and leave it hidden? I doubt it.”

“I don’t.”

“Of course you don’t. You’re his son. Of course you can’t know him very well if you haven’t seen him in over fifteen years and thought he was dead when he wasn’t,” Rowan retorted. Will fell silent but his flashing eyes showed clearly the remark had hurt. Rowan didn’t care because she knew she was right.

Menna offered to placate, “Well, say he did leave the crown hidden. Maybe that was his mistake. He couldn’t have given it to anyone because otherwise we would have a king right now, even a bad one.” Rowan’s jaw suddenly hardened in thought as a new idea occurred to her. “Maybe his mistake was leaving it hidden, or destroying it, or rehiding it so it could never be found.”

“Nuvain is real,” Rowan suddenly announced. “And even if that journal doesn’t tell us exactly where Nuvain is, it must hold a clue. At least as far as Warian is concerned.”

“Why do you say that?”

Rowan smiled and said over her shoulder to Kai, “Do you really think Warian cares so much that you and I are gone? You’re a little boy and I’m more trouble than I’m worth. But the journal’s gone and he knows we’ve got it. That’s why he’s let only a few pages of this strange language be shown in Kirsoden, and I bet that’s why this entire meeting between us and Etriena is going on. Warian thought someone from there may be able to interpret the pages, and I bet as soon as someone did, he would snatch them up and have them interpret the journal. And that’s why he has those maps.”

“What, Warian is looking for the crown?”

Legolas added, “Why would he not? I’m sure he would love to be king of Alrianto.”

Rowan quirked an eyebrow up and almost laughed, “I bet he’s been looking for Nuvain ever since he created the Royal Bureau.”

Kai’s jaw dropped, “You think Warian’s the–“

”The Royal Bureau eats out of his hand,” Legolas nodded, the obvious conclusion making clear sense to him as well. Rowan smiled that at least one member of their party was keeping up. “He must control them.”

“But the Royal Bureau are all men,” Menna argued. “As must your Warian be. But the advisor was probably an Elf, and must be if he is still alive, right? But no Elf could be a plantation owner now. He would have been killed or–“

”Only if he was recognized as an Elf,” Rowan argued.

“No one would wonder why this man is never dying?”

“Who’s going to question him? The Royal Bureau are all his appointees, and if one questions him, they’re easily killed and replaced. Men get old and die and new ones come in without any idea of how old Warian is. Only other Elves would be able to challenge his censured version of personal and national history, which is probably why he wanted them all killed.” Everything was so clear before Rowan’s eyes that she wondered it hadn’t occurred to her in the beginning of Menna’s tale. Warian was the most powerful creature in all of Alrianto, only hiding as simply a very powerful plantation owner. Perhaps even other plantation owners didn’t realize quite how powerful he was. And if, when, once he found Nuvain– he would be in absolute control.

Legolas’ eyes suddenly widened as he gasped, “What have I done?”

“What?”

“I go missing from my party at the same time you and Kai disappear from your plantation, the journal goes missing, a stranger stays only a day in Kirsoden, the maps from Warian’s plantation are stolen, and the pages are taken from the palace at Kirsoden? If Warian is as intelligent as you give him credit for, he will put two and two together and my father and my companions will–“

”Probably be used as leverage to reel you in,” Will suggested with a grimace. “Except then won’t all of your country be at war with this country?”

“Which will perfectly set the stage for Warian to find the crown and take power,” Rowan nodded. “He’ll insist the Bureau isn’t working and that only a single ruler, he, can save us all.”

Menna insisted, “Then we have to find Nuvain.”

“My men have the map,” Will pointed out, shaking his head.

“As well as my father. We’ll follow the map. My father will know more than I do.”

Kai practically leapt in the saddle behind Rowan and repeated rapidly, “We’ll follow the men, get the map, find Nuvain, get the crown, crown the king, and Warian will be out of luck. And Alrianto won’t have to deal with the Royal Bureau anymore! All the elves can come out of hiding.”

“Any one of us would make a better king than this Warian,” Legolas mused. “Which seem to be the two options.”

“You still haven’t answered my question, though,” Menna pointed out in the lull. “You said no one would know Warian’s an Elf, but what about these?” She reached up and tapped Legolas’ ears, apparently feeling comfortable enough with him to do so. “You can’t just hide them.”

Kai shrugged, “I didn’t know pointed ears meant being an Elf. But she has a point that he doesn’t have– oh!”

Rowan nodded, knowing he had realized what she had, and grinned, “I hope it hurt like fire when he had the tips of his ears cut off.” Everyone visibly winced, most notably Legolas.

“He cut his ears off?” Menna cried.

“He’s missing the cartilage here,” Kai explained, running his finger along the top of Rowan’s ear. She batted his hand away. “It’s really smooth, though, like he had it rounded off. Ugh!”

“We’ve got to find Nuvain,” Menna repeated, shaking her head. “That’s all there is to it.”

A momentary silence, a silent agreement, took hold, and for the first time, the loud chirp of flocks of birds noticeably wrapped around them. In their intense concentration, they had paid little mind to the changing scenery, to the abandonment of the fields and the rise of the forest around them. The sun had grown gentler and softer until now it offered only the kindest of glows through the overbearing branches stretched above their heads.

Rowan whistled for them to stop, then offered in a much lower voice, “As much fun as story time has been . . . we’re here. Tygar is only a bit further, and then–“

”If my men are here, be ready,” Will concluded. His hand felt for the pistol in his belt and Menna bit her lip. She wasn’t going to be much good.

Legolas reigned his horse back a bit and suggested, “You go first, Rowan. You’ve been here before?”

“Yes, a long time ago. I’ll go first. Kai, why don’t you ride with–“

”I’m fine here. Let’s go,” he insisted, already reaching for the sword hanging awkwardly across his back where Will had helped him strap it that morning. He didn’t pull it out, but it was a comfort to know it was there nonetheless, even if he didn’t really know what to do with it. He’d probably slice off his own head pulling it out.

“Fine. Quietly now. The city of Tygar, it is,” Rowan nodded and took the lead. All she could think of though, was how badly it must have hurt Warian to cut his ears off, and she grinned.

Chapter Nine || Main || Chapter Eleven