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A shaft of sunlight crawls across the cool dark stone wall of the tiny cell to press it's warm rays against the face and eyelids of the sleeping Gavin. Roused from his slumber by its intrusion, Gavin stumbles for a moment to remember how he came to be in this tiny room. The last thing he remembers well is the perplexing and rather long-winded history lesson being told to him by the doddering old wizard. It isn't at all clear to him how much of the story pertained to his own search for his father, and yet several of the bits and pieces bore a familiarity that lay just beyond conscious memory. It is as if these tales of so long ago by the old man's telling were in fact dimly remembered fragments of Gavin's own past.
It seems so strange to him, now that he considers it, that he should have the vaguest foreknowledge of it. Although Gavin's mother always kept from him the affairs of the outside world he is dimly aware of the notion that the Faerie king had once left his palace in a distant land and wandered in a wild place and through his labors tamed the evil things he found there and made the land safe for people to dwell. It seems to him that the king added this new wild land to his kingdom and set princes to rule there in his stead when he returned once more to his own people in the land beyond the mists. After long ages the Faerie king once more grew restless and yearned to seek lands yet unseen so he left his kingdom in the care of his trusted minister and struck out once more into the uncharted vastnesses of worlds beyond the land of mists. Whereby Gavin came upon this tale he cannot rightly say for surely he never heard it spoken in his mother's house where he dwelt with her alone for all the years of his youth. Nor can he recall what became of the king or his kingdom or anymore of the tale.
Discerning that Gavin had no greater knowledge of these events, the wizard Burne had sought to turn him to his cause, entreating the youth to travel to the city of Llewellyn to aid in the interpretation of some ancient scroll of elven origin which the guild of sages had been unable to decipher. He tried to goad him to this path with the knowledge that the other elven traveler had been spotted of late in the nearby wood and with the tale that his father had himself passed through this city on his flight from the Faerie realm. Why the wizard could not make this journey himself he did not say other than that the city and its environs fell under the purview of another of his kind, the Pyromancer of Bannogallt Bluff by title. Burne spoke not well of this so-called pyromancer, claiming him to have intentions of conquest should he gain the secret of the magic elfroads which permeate the land of men. It seems to Gavin that whether he wishes it or not he is somehow already entangled in this rivalry between the two wizards. Surely the mystery of the elfroad is tied to his own father's second disappearance from the mortal world but without any knowledge of how to find and travel the secret road he can't imagine how else to pick up his father's trail. What seems clear is that if Thomas walked out of Llewellyn and disappeared from the world itself then he did it by way of the elfroad. In order to follow his father's path he will need to find a guide to show him the way.
With that revelation Gavin's mind is at ease. Whether he does the wizard's bidding or not he knows his path is predetermined, for he set out find his father and now he knows how he can achieve that. Throwing off the warm sheepskins that serve as blankets he sits up in the little cot, swings his feet to the rush-covered floor and looks about the narrow room. It is a cell indeed but no prison. Rather he has spent the night in one of the many tiny rooms in which the wizard's acolytes sleep. Upon a tiny writing desk by the single window are the letters penned by the wizard the night before. The first is a commission as an officer in the wizard's private soldiery. The second is a letter of introduction to Eleazar the Scribe in the city of Llewellyn. The third letter is sealed and marked for the eyes of the pyromancer only. The first letter and the embroidered surcoat draped over the chair will allow him to travel with a small retinue of guards on tomorrow's expedition east to Kingsbay on a mission to purchase supplies and recruit new soldiers. From there, if he consents to the wizards plan, he can hire a boat to cross the bay to Llewellyn and seek out the scribe. Once he has crossed the water, though, the coat of arms of the wizard will provide no further protection and may attract unwanted attention so it should be discarded before landing on the other side. The third letter should only be presented in the event that Gavin is arrested by the pyromancer's men. A pouch of silver coins has been provided to cover the expenses of the journey and should Gavin consent to the journey and to assist Eleazar he will be be paid in gold for his troubles. Otherwise he is free to take the silver for his troubles and do what he will. Strangely the wizard made no further mention of the other traveler beyond the admonition not to seek him beyond the gates of Llewellyn. Why he speak of it at first and then drop the subject suddenly Gavin cannot quite fathom.
In any case, he thinks to himself, the day is wearing on and he is eager to break his fast. It's far better to make decisions on a full stomach than on an empty one. With that in mind he gathers up his belongings and the new items bestowed on him by the wizard and heads down to the kitchens to see what is available to eat.
