King Edward, Part IIIAnonymoushistoryghosts) \0  $). 3King Edward, Part III Chapter 3: Lessons The golden days passed swiftly. Edward spent most of his timein the company of his parents. He saw few other children. Noneat all lived in 'their' tree, only their wood elf host andMoraelyn's six Companions, an oddly assorted, cheerful lot.Disrespectful, Edward thought. None of the Daggerfall courtor servants would dared have addressed his father as these didMoraelyn and Aliera with their constant raillery. But theseweren't servants or courtiers. Just ... Companions. Onlyone was a Dark Elf. There were a Khajiit woman, two wood elves,brother and sister, a Nordic man, even bigger than Moraelynand a strange looking lizardlike man, who spoke with such ahissing accent that Edward couldn't understand him at all.The Nord man was called "Slave of Moraelyn" or just"Slave" for short, although Moraelyn usually called him"Mats" of "My-slave." Mats tended the group's weapons andgathered wood for the evening fires. But it wasn't unusualfor the others to bring wood; Moraelyn himself often borrowedMats' axe and fetched and split wood if there was need, or ifhe just felt like it. They spent much of their time roaming the woods and fields,hunting and gathering produce, in twos and threes. UsuallyMoraelyn, Aliera and Edward and Shade went off together.They carried bows for hunting. When Edward asked Moraelyn toteach him to shoot better, he was told to ask his mother, as shewas the better shot. And it was Aliera's arrow that broughtdown a handsome buck, although both arrows had struck, andthey quarrelled over who's arrow had killed as they rantoward the buck. "Bah!" Moraelyn exclaimed as he pulled his black fletchedarrow from the hindquarters. "I don't know how I managed tofeed myself before I married you." "You had the Companions." "Aye. Mats, Mith and I starved together, before we met Beechand Willow." Moraelyn pulled out his black dagger, Tooth,and began to skin the animal's body, calling Edward to comeand watch. "You want to learn about animals, don't you?" "Live ones." Edward said with distaste. His dainty mother wasripping the skin away with enthusiasm. "Such make tough eating," the dark elf said. "Give me yourcloak; I'll make a package for you to carry." "I am a Prince, not a pack horse!" "You'll carry your share or you'll be a hungry prince thisnight." The elf had lost his good humor. "I won't. I don't want any. You can't make me." Moraelyn stood erect and appeared to think this over. "Can'tI?" he taunted. "Edward, please--" Aliera appealed to him. "Tell me, Lord Prince, how then does one get the meat to one'stable if one may not carry it. If Princes may not carry meatthen certainly Kings and Queens may not ... or do Princesgrow out of the incapacity when they become Kings?" "They have servants!" "Serve ants? What a clever idea. Only a human could think ofthat! Ants are excellent at carrying, I have noted, althoughI have not the trick of commanding them. Perhaps you can teachme." "Servants! Like Mats here," Edward shouted. He hated beingteased. Mats and the other companions had come up, havingheard their shouts over the kill. "Mats? You think I cannot make you carry deer meat, yet Icould command Mats to do so?" Moraelyn stared up at the blond giant. "Well, one never knows until one tries. Mats, carrythe deer." The blond scratched his head and jaw thoughtfully. "Highness,nothing would please me more ... .but it is a large deer andmy old wound is troubling my back ... perhaps if you kill asmaller one." "Well, Prince, what now?" "You beat him." "At what? I can outrun him. Mats, if I reach that oak first,will you carry the deer." Mats shook his head slowly. "You beat him with a stick!" Edward yelled. "What promise you show as a Healer, my Prince. You willforgive me if I refrain from consulting you until you havefurther training. It is my judgement that beating with a stickwill not improve Mats' back. Of course, I may be in error. "Silk, you carry the deer." "Me, milord? I am sorry, but I have just remembered that I amfourth cousin to the fifth house of Dibella, Queen of Heaven.My dignity forbids that I carry anything at all." Willow and Beech claimed that a mage had forbidden either ofthem from carrying any part of an animal while the moon Jonewas risen. "Prince, are you truly certain about this rule? It seems tomake life most inconvenient. We could bring the wood to thedeer, which will take many hours and leave us benighted here.We could consume the meat raw on the spot, but I own my bellyis not yet empty enough to make that option attractive.Aliera, can you help us? How do the High Rock folk get meat totable?" "Milord, when I lived there it was my firm belief that itappeared by magic. There were servants, but they were anirritating, lazy lot, more trouble than they were worth.Edward, my son, is it possible that this rule applies only inHigh Rock?" "I suppose so ... ." Edward carried a share of meat that bent his back, but he didnot complain. And so it was settled, and the meal that nightwas a merry one. But for several days after, if theCompanions caught him carrying anything at all they wouldinquire anxiously as to whether a High Rock Prince might do so. "If Mats is not a servant, then why do they call him'Moraelyn's Slave'?" Edward asked one drowsy afternoon. "Well, he is my slave. I paid gold for him, all that Mith andI had. We came on a man beating him near Reich Parthkeep. Helooked near death; when Mith and I tried to stop the beating,the man said Mats was a runaway slave, and he'd do as he likedwith him. So I threw down the gold and told him he could take itand leave, else I would kill him out of hand. He chose thelatter, so I told Mats to take the gold as his master's heir andgo where he would. He chose to come with us, so we buried thegold with his master and Mats has been with us since." "Could he leave if he wanted to?" "Of course." "May I go pick some of those berries over there?" Edward asked,and Moraelyn nodded. Aliera was sleeping curled on her side. Moraelyn sat next toher, leaning back against a tree, his hand playing with herlong dark curls. His eyes and skin were sensitive to the brightsun. Shade slept stretched in the sun nearby, his dark furglinting with silver in the light. Edward wandered over to thebushes and picked the bright glowberries, so called becausethey glowed at night, although right now they were a ratherdull gray. But they tasted very good. If he ate enough, wouldhe glow at night, he wondered. Or if he smashed them andcollected the juice ... the bushes caught at him, then he found asort of tunnel through them and trotted along it, wonderingwhere it led. It ended in a small clearing before a pile of rocks. There wasa hole and something in it. Edward stepped back, making asmall noise in his throat. The something heaved and presented atusky snarling face and hooves that pawed at the earth. The boy backed away slowly. The beast's head went down, theshoulders heaved and the immense bulk lumbered into a charge.Edward tried to throw himself into the bushes ... there was noroom ... and then, incredibly, Moraelyn was in front of him,between him and the beast. There was a flash and a crash, andthe elf seemed to leap backwards for several feet, landingcrouched just in front of Edward's face. The air whistled as hisblade seemed to jump out of the sheath of its own accord.There was a sparkle in the air around him, and a burnt smell.Silence. "Get out of here, boy! Now!" Edward fled, yelling for his mother, who was running towardthe bushes and calling him. She clasped him to her, and beganshouting for Moraelyn instead. There was no answer, then,somehow the elf was there, unharmed, his blade sheathed again.But he was breathing hard. "Did you kill it? Are you hurt?" "No and no. I was shielded. Barely. You disturbed a sow inher den with her litter. Fortunately, she thought she'd hadenough after the first impact. I daresay she's unaccustomedto finding her enemies still standing afterwards." "Why didn't you kill her?" Edward demanded, feelingbloodthirsty after his fright. "A katana, even the Ebony Blade, is not the weapon I'd chooseagainst a mother sow. A spear, maybe. The longer the better.Besides, if we leave her be, there'll be six pigs here nextyear, with luck." "You made a magic shield," Edward said, wide-eyed. "Aye, barring the shield, she'd have left a few marks even on atough old dark elf." "Edward, it would be gracious to thank your rescuer." Hismother prompted. "Thank you," Edward said automatically, his mind busy withmore questions. How had the elf known of his danger? How did heget there so quickly? "There is scarcely need to thank me for saving my son's life.Thank Shade," Moraelyn said. "The cat told me there wastrouble." Edward knelt and hugged the smug purring cat. "Good oldShade. I can always count on him." "My son". "Our son". The words rang proudly out at theleast excuse. Edward puzzled over this for awhile; it wantedan explanation. The one he favored was that Moraelyn simplydidn't know him very well yet, and was prone to give thebenefit of the doubt to strangers. Eventually ... but in themeantime he might as well enjoy it. It was ... nice. Having afather that was proud of you, that liked being with you, tookyou places, talked to you, listened to you. And mostremarkably of all, let you alone when you needed to be.Moraelyn only really liked being alone when he was composinga ballad. Edward told Beech and Willow about the mother pig. "I ranwhen he told me to. Would you? Because he said to. I couldn'tthink of any way to help, but ... " Willow and Beech listenedcarefully, exchanged glances, and said they'd think about theproblem. After supper around the evening fire, Willow took up hersmall harp and began to sing about the joys of an autumnafternoon and berries ... .except that Moraelyn sent the boyoff to pick berries. They'd got that part wrong. Moraelyn satup sharply and looked around, but the others had slipped awayinto the darkness and Willow wasn't looking at him. Mith strolled into the firelight, taking mincing steps,picking pantomime berries and eating them noisily. Moraelynput his head down and groaned. Mith pantomimed findingsomething then skipped along in delight. Mats' head andshoulders lurched into the firelight. Mith reached a hand topat him, then leapt back with a squeal as Mats tried to rip himwith a tusk. Huge tusks and a pig nose adorned his face. Mithcrouched, hands to his face in exaggerated horror. And Silk, clad in black, leaped between Mith and Mats with a shower ofsparks, jerkin backwards, hose about its knees, shoeless. Itreached for its sword, but Mats charged and knocked it flying;it spun out of sight. Mats, scrambling on all fours, missedMith, but tore his hose. Mith scampered around the fire withMats after him. Silk, sword in one hand, the other tugging atthe hose chased after Mats, beating him with the sword. Another figure appeared, clad in Aliera's blue gown withBeech's head sticking out above wearing a long dark wig. Mithcowered behind her skirts. She glared at Mats and he froze. Silktripped and sprawled behind him. Beech tossed his hair back,patted Mith reassuringly on the head, wet one finger andsmoothed an eyebrow, then leisurely picked up his bow, aimedand twanged. Mats leaped backwards, collapsing on top of Silk with a veryrealistic death rattle. Beech and Mith embraced, ignoringSilk, still flat beneath Mats. Moraelyn had begun laughing when Silk first leaped out.Aliera had waited for Beech's appearance. Now tears wererunning down her cheeks. Moraelyn was doubled over, poundinghis fist against a tree. Ripples and giggles of silverylaughter sounded all around and showers of gold coins fellinto the circle. The Companions gathered themselves togetherand bowed, as humans did. "Again, do it again!" "Noo-ooo!" Moraelyn gasped, still laughing. "Ah, you camenearer killing me than the sow did! I beg mercy!" "Another night, gentle persons ... our king has had a verylong day. We thank you all." Gods, had the entire town seen? Edward stared behind him, butthey were all melting away into the dark. "That's not whathappened." he yelled. "You were a hero. They made fun ofyou." "Yes, yes and yes. Especially the last. By Jephre himself,that was funny!" "They all saw that! And you're going to let them do itagain?" Edward was scandalized. They had all lookedridiculous. "Let them? It'll be done all over Tamriel for centuries tocome, I doubt not. But never again so well." "But it didn't happen like that at all." "It would have if Mats--I mean the sow had charged again.Ariana's bow would have been far more effective than my poorblade. And she'd have seen Moraelyn leap like a khajiit!" Hisfinger smoothed an eyebrow in a gesture typical of Aliera andhe went off again into a long laugh. "Aye, she'd have slainthe beast with a look, if she couldn't find an arrow. Mats,you were more like the sow than she like herself. Bigger, too, Iswear! Mith, you old rogue, only you could look soinnocent." "Bu-uut--it's not true!" Edward protested. "Boy, you think there's only one truth? Was what you saw todaytruth? Did you see all the truth? Even of what did happen?What you saw here tonight will light up truths unseen, if youallow it ... you could spend a lifetime reflecting on itand yet not see it whole, for it goes ever further and deeper,spreading like ripples in a pool, beyond us all and out intothe deep stillness of forever. What happens is only a tinypart of truth ... maybe the least part. And what you see issmaller yet." Edward still thought that a king really ought to have moredignity. But he didn't say so.