Mortance: A Miscarriage of Hope

Angus Ⅳ

"You look just as I'd expected," Sha Orion declared when he saw me. "Your resemblance to Richard the Conqueror is nearly uncanny."

"Thank you," I said in return. The sha had invited me to his great temple the morning after my knights and I had arrived. "You are kind, to let us into your capital."

"You are kind, to extend the hand of Sacreon," the sha said. He was not so tall as the other elves, but he likely would be in a year or two. Sha Orion had light brown hair falling just past his shoulders and light green eyes, and he wore green and brown robes lined with silver and gold over his pale skin.

"It was my father's idea," I told him. "I only bring you the words he would speak himself."

"I know," Sha Orion smiled. "We exchanged a few letters before, as you most likely are aware of."

"The king told me of the letters, of your conditions, and of the terms we might agree on," I said. The two of us were alone in a great chamber. They had taken my weapons before allowing us to be alone, though there wasn't much point to it. I surely wouldn't make it out alive if I slew Sha Orion now, and my life was of much higher value at the moment.

"Then I need not explain to you the things I will not allow, I trust?"

"Of course not," I said quickly, hoping I hadn't forgotten any of them.

"Good," Sha Orion sat in an ornate chair, though I'd been assured it was no throne. The great chamber was open to the sky, with walls of gold and living trees. The sha's temple was said to be made half from stones and gold, half from living trees, and half from magic. Three halves. Whoever came up with that must've thought they were oh so funny. "I should like to discuss this proposal of yours with my generals, now that they've returned."

"You should," I agreed. "I will go, if you wish, but there is one thing I must ask of you first."

"Ask away, prince."

"I don't want to seem ungrateful, but the housing you gave my knights and I is... somewhat less than ideal," I hated the false courtesy I was forced to use.

"You would like somewhere a bit more suited to your status as ambassadors of Sacreon," the sha guessed.

"We all would," that part wasn't exactly true, but I wanted it to be.

"No," Sha Orion said.

"Excuse me?"

"If we were allies, when we are allies, I would offer you to stay in any place you like, but we are not," the sha ran a hand through his hair. "Would that I could, but I cannot. We are still enemies, and I cannot place the needs of my enemy over those of my people. I'm sure you can understand."

"Of course," I lied.

The sha offered to have one of his witch advisors guide me back, but I declined as politely as I could manage. I can find the way back on my own, I told myself. In truth, a guide might have helped, but I would never trust a witch for it.

The sha's temple was the most grandiose of all buildings in Shali, but it was not alone. Not in any sense of the word. All around me, snow melted atop grand, shining, golden buildings. It was architecture unlike any I'd seen in Sacreon, save for a few ruins. It was magic that had shaped this place, magic that had mixed gold and stone with living trees. It's beautiful, I observed, but it isn't right. Magic was a sin, a curse upon us, and it was not anything that could improve life. Maybe it's a good thing that the sha placed my knights and I in a ruined tower and not a palace built of evil.

Shali was built on both sides of the Elnut River. The sha's temple was on the south side, and my ruined tower was just on the northern bank of it. The closest crossing was a school of magic, but I had no wish to travel anywhere near such a place. The second most magnificent building in Shali, I scoffed. What a waste.