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Burne regains his focus and glances down at the papers spread out before him before continuing."I did not ask you here so I could reminisce but these events from so long ago play an important role in current affairs. After the Goblin Wars the elven kingdoms began to close their gates to human envoys. With the lines of communication broken the reasons for the elves' retreat was something of a mystery. It has long been held by the sages that their attention was directed inward toward the land of Faerie whence they came, that the elven lords were summoned to the Seelie Court. Alas what we lacked all this time was a messenger from Faerie to tell us what was the matter. It has been only recently that I have learned the identity of the last man to set foot in the Faerie Lands since the gates were shut. That man was a wandering minstrel who went by the name of Thomas. I imagine you know something of this man of which I speak." As he pauses to retrieve his spectacles and take a moment to gauge Gavin's reaction.
"You have information about my father?!" Gavin blurts out, so thrilled by the possiblity of learning more about what has become of Thomas, that he forgets is rouse for a moment. Then, stammering, he tries to recover. "Umm...I mean, you have heard of Thomas the Rhymer? Do you know his current whereabouts?"
ReplyDeleteThe old wizard allows himself a wry smile, clearly pleased to have piqued the young man's interest. "The story of Rhyming Thomas was well known in years past. He was renowned throughout the land as a poet of unrivaled skill with a voice sweet as honey. It was said that he came from across the sea and visited in turn the courts of each of the seven kings of the isles. One year he would spend as an honored guest of each king and then on the first day of Spring he would he take up his satchel in one arm and his harp in the other and without further word would take to the road to visit a new land. No one could convince him to stay a day longer no matter what riches they offered. On the seventh Spring he set forth from Caer Corwell and it was said that having performed for all the kings of men he was determined to play before the queen of all the elves. The last they saw of him in Corwell he was headed down the ancient elf-road, which once was plied by heralds and traders between the kingdoms of elves and men but now was choked with weeds and shunned."
ReplyDelete"So, he went looking for the Elves?" asks Gavin, surprised. "My mother ... I mean ... I was always led to believe that he'd been taken away to the Faerie lands against his will and that this was why he was so eager to return, as though he'd had some unfinished business here." Gavin stops himself, taking a moment to notice the growing ease with which he has begun to discuss his father with Burne. Accepting that this secret is now revealed but determined to keep the rest of his family's history hidden, he continues. "But in truth, I know little of my father, little, that is, about the real man behind the stories and songs." Gavin pauses, ruefully. And then asks, "Tell me, have you received news of him since his return to the world of Men? Do you know where he is now?"
ReplyDeleteBurne pauses before he answers, searching for the best way to continue. "The Rhymer's tale is not so easily told. At Caer Corwell I uncovered two distinct versions of the tale. It would seem the official story is that he was in fact sent as a herald of the King (who at that time was Bran the Black) to the court of Celene to enchant the queen with his song that she would unlock of the gates of her kingdom to the world of men once more. According to that story he returned with gifts from the elves and a message for King Bran from the Lady Rhalta herself. Bran was so pleased that he betrothed Thomas to his youngest daughter and made him Lord of Cranreuch Isle in the North where his descendents rule to this day. However I also learned that another was whispered out of earshot of the royal family; that Thomas had in fact got Bran's daughter with child and fled, and that the King's soldiers had chased him down to the old forest of Celene where he was dragged back in irons and locked in Corwell's high tower. I doubted the latter story's veracity but one does not simply ask a king to see his dungeon or he may well get exactly that. As for the former, Cranreuch Isle is in the icy waters perilously close to the country of the Northmen. Travel to and from that land is impossible for much of the year and Northern raiders harry it's coast. It is as much a prison as a high tower, hard to get into and harder to get out of. It is not difficult to imagine the truth could lie somewhere between these two tales but I could disprove neither outright. I departed Corwell with scarcely more than rumors and half-truths."
ReplyDelete"It was not until I attempted to retrace the harper's steps myself that I came across a very different set of tales. I first heard the tale in the village of Eildon near the ruins of the elf-road from ancient Celene. Thomas had become something of a legend among the local people who generally hold that he was in fact one of their own. According to songs still sung in this region Thomas was something of a gallant who traveled from village to village wooing young maidens with his pleasing face and coaxing words. It was said he could tempt the sun to shine at night were it his will. The legend goes that charming was this youth that one day as he stood at the edge of the ancient elf-road the queen of all elvenkind, the Lady Rhalta herself did chance to look upon him as she passed and was captivated. She in turn used her faerie glamour to lure him deep into the forest of Celene to her secret court. Here again the story diverges, for in some versions she made him her consort and gave him the gift of true vision while in other versions she imprisoned him for many years in punishment for drinking from the Well of the Moon. In the latter tale he returned to the world of men as an emissary and advisor to kings while in the latter he wandered as a tortured and broken madman uttering his twisted visions of the Faerie Realm to any who would pay him heed. If the first story is true it is not recorded thus in the annals of history and if the second story is closer to the truth then if he still survives he is of little use to anyone. For now is the time when an envoy between elves and men is needed most."
ReplyDeleteGavin takes a moment to absorb all he has just been told. He can feel his excitement begin to sour within him as it becomes clear that coming to know his father's true story and current whereabouts may prove much harder than he'd hoped. With so many legends, rumors and half-truths left in his wake, Thomas the real man has begun to seem far less real than Thomas the Famous Storied Bard of Great Reknown, or whatever name they've given him lately. Turning it over in his mind, Gavin must admit to himself that he feels a slight twinge of pride at the thought that his father has garnered such reknown, whether by charisma or skill, or both. And now, it appears he has an important role to play in the larger tale of Elves and Men, something about a war ...
ReplyDelete"Why, Burne?" he asks, finally. "Why is it so important that Elves and Men reestablish contact with one another? What is happening?"