Free Master Mage by D.W. Jackson Page B

with
them holding hands under the moonlight,” Thad replied in a false
hurt tone.
    “Eloen was devastated after you fell.
She was always an honest woman, and she cared for you deeply. She
lost a lot of her mirth and smile after you were taken. She almost
immediately broke orders, and me and Ballard followed. The first
few weeks were hard on Eloen. She constantly blamed herself for
your capture.”
    “It wasn’t her fault,” Thad
interjected.
    “I know that, you know that, and
somewhere, I think she knew that, but she still blamed herself. We
trudged across Abla, making good time, and finally caught up with a
guarded prison transport. Thinking it was yours, we attacked and
freed the captive, who turned out to be the crown prince. We took
the prince to a nearby town and learned that his uncle had wrested
control of the kingdom. If we promised him support, then he would
aid us in your recovery.”
    “Doesn’t sound like much of a bargain
on the prince’s end,” Thad said questionably.
    “I don’t know. He painted a good
picture of how we could aid him, but in the end, I think he was in
love with Eloen from the moment he saw her. We continued toward the
fort that was supposed to be holding you and even picked up Eloen’s
new daughter along the way,” Darryl added slyly.
    “Daughter. That sounds awful fast,”
Thad replied, the shock evident in his voice.
    “She took a notion out of your book and
picked up a random kid. I think it was more out of the need to do
what she thought you would more than her own desires. We reached
the fort, but we were too late, and we heard of your demise under
the mountain. We all feared that Eloen would be crushed, and I
don’t know if something snapped, but she became cold and uncaring.
She didn’t even rebuke the prince for this, and when he asked for
her hand, she simply agreed. Honestly, I felt sorry for the man. It
was obvious to everyone around that she would never see him in the
way he desired.”
    “I wish I could have gotten word to her
that I was still alive,” Thad said, his voice full of
remorse.
    “That would have been nice and would
have saved a lot of people a good amount of trouble. On the other
side of the coin, if you had, then Abla would most likely still be
in unfriendly hands. After the wedding, the two newlyweds traveled
across Abla, looking for allies, and soon started a rebellion
against the false king. During the war, the king hired a band of
Katanga to hunt Eloen and the prince down. When they caught up to
us, they recognized me as one of their family and switched sides.
After that, there was a lot of fighting, and a little over a year
ago, we finally wrested the throne from the king’s rather-limp
body.”
    “I bet there is plenty that you are
leaving out, but I understand the heart of the tale. It is amazing
that things worked out as they have. Maybe the gods have a larger
hand in the affairs of men than they led me to believe,” Thad said,
looking off into the distance.
    “Fair is fair, Thad. It’s your turn to
tell me all that has happened while you were away. I am sure it is
a much more interesting story than mine was.”
    Thad told his story from where he and
Darryl had last seen each other. As the story unfolded, the three
other members of Darryl’s party moved closer to listen. It had
become a tale told too often for his liking, but at the same time,
with each telling, his words flowed more smoothly, and his voice
took on the tone of the storytellers one often found in the inns on
midsummer nights.
    Thad left off his meeting with the
different gods as he understood the rule about their existence. He
wasn’t sure why it was kept so secretive, but he didn’t want to
anger them by divulging information better left in the dark. When
his tale reached the point where he had woken up on the elfin
island, the door to the audience chamber was opened, and a young
page announced the queen was ready.
    So engrossed in the telling of his own
story, Thad