The Silver Thread (2 page)

“Then what has become of her?” Ambrose asked quietly. “Show us what you aren’t saying.”

“The worst, Father. Nearly the worst,” Talvi said, and he finished his third glass of brandy before looking deep into his father’s eyes. Though his mind was laced with sorrow and strong brandy, he managed to relive a few memories of his journey, opening his mind so his father could see for himself. Ambrose witnessed his two sons, his youngest daughter, his nephew and many of their friends fighting for their lives against the powerful Pazachi. This sect of druids had strayed from their ancient beliefs of living in harmony with nature. Nowadays, they viewed living by example as weak. Over the past few decades, they had become exceedingly twisted and violent in their efforts to maintain a sense of control over nature, as well as those living among it.

Ambrose saw swords clash and spells cast, he saw fire blazing, arrows flying, and blood-stained snow. He felt his heart flounder as he watched his oldest son, Finn, be impaled just above the heart, followed by his daughter Yuri being struck down dead by a bolt of lightning, then falling onto the cold ground. His spirits fell further as he saw her brought back to animation as something undead; a vampire.

Talvi realized he had never seen his father come so close to crying. Ambrose took a moment to collect himself before he spoke.

“I had no idea such misery would befall anyone,” he said, looking pained to say it as he stared into his brandy glass. “How has it come to this?”

Even without looking into his eyes, Talvi knew what his father was thinking. Ambrose was known to others far and wide as an elf of great wisdom and fairness. His counsel had been sought to settle countless disputes throughout the region. In his eyes, all problems had peaceful solutions, and there was always a middle ground that could be reached, if one was willing. Violence was a last resort to him; he saw it as an act of desperation.

“We knew the risk of bloodshed when we embarked on our journey. Everything is all or nothing with them,” Talvi muttered. “They want the impossible, and the frightening thing is that they believe it
is
possible with enough force.”

“Were you truly unable to negotiate?” Ambrose knew the answer, but he prayed he was somehow seeing things wrong. From what he could tell, it was not the Pazachi who had struck first. It had been his youngest son.

Talvi took a long time before he replied with the answer that he felt summed it all up. He spoke slowly, carefully, not to insult his father’s intelligence, but to be perfectly clear.

“The Pazachi…
don’t
…negotiate.”

“It still doesn’t make sense why Yuri wouldn’t return,” Althea said as she continued dinner preparations with help from the fairies. “Konstantin has always been welcome here; we have never discriminated against him for being a vampire. Why should she stay away?”

Finn cleared his throat, and began to explain.

“After we defeated the Pazachi, we discovered that they had created a mechanical portal that ended all portals, so that theirs would be the only one that led anywhere. It was created with some of the strongest black magic I’ve ever encountered, and it’s the reason why Asbjorn and countless others were trapped in other worlds for so long.”

“And then we smashed it with the diamond from Annika’s ring!” Chivanni interrupted, and his orange wings fluttered with excitement. “Dardis and I broke it apart ourselves!”

“When it broke, all the missing people came flying out,” Dardis added. “But then poor Annika was pulled into it, and it fell to pieces before any of us could go after her.”

Talvi felt like someone had twisted a knife in his chest as he heard those words. That cursed moment never got easier, no matter how many times he saw it relived in his mind. Annika’s hands slipping out of his, her face disappearing into a black void. Her expression of terror was his last vision of his new bride, and it haunted him relentlessly.

“So there we were, bloodied from battle, with the Pazachi prisoners, and the missing people, all crammed in this tiny cave,” Chivanni added. “We told them that the Pazachi were responsible. They were relieved to be back, but some of them were quite distraught.”

“I can only imagine. There are many worlds I’d never want to be detained unwillingly in,” Ambrose said, and added a few small logs to the hearth fire. “But why hasn’t Yuri come back with you?”

“We were discussing what ought to be done with the prisoners,” said Finn, setting down his brandy glass. “Some of us were in favor of bringing them here, but there were too many children for them to safely make the journey we just made. Yuri and Konstantin claimed that there ought to be no prisoners taken at all, only executions. They are convinced that for every Pazachi converted back to the true Druid path, another two will rise in their place. Yuri’s exact words were, ‘If it were my choice, I would only show mercy to the young children, and send the rest of them to the afterworld.’”

“Has she lost her heart? That goes against everything we have taught her to value,” Althea said, wiping her eyes.

“No one ever claimed it to be a simple task, to rehabilitate the prisoners,” Talvi said, feeling so disgusted that he and his brother should have to upset their parents with such terrible news of their sister. “But it’s the right thing to do, in order to stop this violence. Yuri would rather make them martyrs, and create even more hatred.”

“Surely she was only speaking in a fit of passion,” their mother tried to reason. “You know how she can say unkind things when she is upset.”

“She is Konstantin’s future bride now,” Finn explained in a hollow voice, so foreign to him. Normally it was so warm and inviting. “Lines have been drawn, and she stands with him. Before we departed, we knew how much he hungered for Pazachi blood. I believe that he used us as pawns for his own personal gain, because he wanted that cursed mechanical portal to be his and his alone.”

“He claimed that the so-called ‘worthless pieces’ should be taken back to his lair for study, but we drew swords over it,” said Talvi, with contempt in his voice. “He was offended that we wouldn’t be content to simply hand over the pieces to him. He took us to be fools.”

“Then what has become of the dreadful machine?” asked Ambrose.

“We couldn’t decide who should be responsible for it, so we divided it amongst ourselves. This way it could be studied, but could not be reassembled and put back into use,” Finn said, trying to look hopeful.

“A wise decision,” admitted Ambrose, “but that still leaves the prisoners and the travelers unaccounted for.”

“We guided the travelers back as best as we could as we made our way home,” Finn said. “They were the least of our concerns. The prisoners will be relocated in the spring, and are in safe hands. No vampire will be able to harm them. Although they lost their way, they are being guided back to their true path by our friends and some very trustworthy souls that we met along the way.”

“You sound quite certain,” Ambrose said. He seemed unsure, but said nothing more to elaborate. He looked like far too much was weighing on his mind. Talvi took this as a sign that there had been enough talk for the time being, and started to put on his wool mittens.

“Where are you going?” Althea blurted out. He stepped over to his mother and kissed her on the cheek.

“It’s beginning to grow dark,” he reassured her, gathering the largest carrots which Dardis had set aside. “I’m only putting the horses up for the night before I take that bath.”

Outside the bright and warm kitchen, the snow was still falling in giant, fluffy flakes. The air was as moist and heavy as the snow on the ground, and Talvi could feel his toes beginning to freeze once again through his leather boots. Arriving at the stable, he gave a sharp whistle as he pulled the wide doors open. Ghassan emerged as a shadowy figure from within the trees, perking his ears as he caught the scent of the carrots. The two pudgy mares followed close behind, along with Finn’s palomino stallion Galileo, and all of them hustled towards their stalls, where they whickered and grunted for their dinner. They pressed their warm noses to Talvi’s coat pockets until he surrendered a carrot to each of them. Examining Ghassan, Galileo and Asbjorn’s horses next to the mares, Talvi noticed how thin they appeared in comparison.

He divvied out the oats and hay, giving extra-generous portions to Galileo and Ghassan, and made sure there was plenty of fresh water in each stall. It seemed strange to him, to be doing something so normal and routine, yet nothing would ever be normal and routine again. No more straw pull with Yuri to see whose fate it would be to treat the other at the local pub, and he wore a wedding ring after swearing his entire life that he would never marry anyone, no matter what was written in the stars.

After closing the last stall door, he stood in silence, listening to the sounds of the horses eating. They had none of these concerns, no troubles at all, just contented nickers and happy neighs intermingled with the swishing of tails as they focused on their food. Talvi walked over to where he had left the saddle and bridle from earlier, and hung them up before latching the barn doors shut for the night.

His stomach growled as he entered the house through the kitchen once again. The smells were beckoning to him, gnawing at him, but nothing sounded better than getting out of his cold, wet leather boots and pants, and settling into the hot bath that awaited him. He had brought a lantern with him into the bathroom nearest the kitchen, and was happy to discover that someone had already started a fire in the wood burning stove, which had warmed the room up nicely.

Against the exposed stone wall, there was a tall walnut cabinet lined with shelves. Each shelf was well-stocked with jars of lotions, oils, salts, sponges, and other bathing luxuries. A long, dark blue robe hung from a hook on the side of the hutch, and a thick, fluffy towel was already sitting out for him. Talvi squinted in the lamplight at the labels and then set the lantern down to carry a bottle and a jar over to a bench beside the large claw foot tub. He knelt down and put the stopper in the drain, then turned on the faucet. From the jar, he poured in a handful of bath salts scented with herbs and flowers, and from the bottle, he poured a thick liquid into the base of the tub, which instantly began to fill the tub with puffy, cloud-like bubbles.

Talvi went back to retrieve the robe, towel, and lantern, and set them on the bench. He shoved another log into the stove before peeling off his clothes, and sighed in relief as he stepped into the scented suds. He eased himself in until he was completely submerged, letting the heat seep into his skin. From underwater, he heard the muffled sound of the oak door opening and closing, which was not that unexpected, given that the enormous house only contained three bathrooms.

He rose back to the surface and there stood Runa, snuggled up in thick socks and a brown bath robe that was way too big for her. It dragged along the floor behind her like the train of a bridal gown as she approached the bath tub.

“Did you start the fire for me?” Talvi asked as he wiped the water out of his eyes and let it roll down his cheeks. “That was so sweet of you to do.”

Runa looked confused for a moment, and then smiled.

“No, I started it for myself. I’m about to take a bath in here,” she said, and pulled a wooden comb out of her pocket. She began to run it slowly through her blonde waist-length hair as she sat on the bench beside the long tub.

“I think you missed your chance,” Talvi said, and winked at her. “I’m planning on a nice long soak, so it may be a while.” Runa raised a pale eyebrow at him.

“If you’re going to be so selfish and unkind with me, then I won’t share what I’ve brought.”

“Come now, Runa, don’t be such a spoilsport,” he said, and sent a little splash of water in her direction, making her squeal as she recoiled from it. “What did you bring me?”

But she just turned up her little button nose and ignored him, focusing on combing out her long dirty hair instead. Talvi sat up and leaned over the side of the tub, dried his hands on her robe, and reached down to grab a small silver case from his pants pocket. He removed a cigarette from the case and lit it on the candle burning in the lantern, before dropping the case on top of his pants and resting his head on the back of the tub.

“I’m sorry I stole your bath,” he apologized, taking a long drag and blowing a few smoke rings. “I didn’t know you meant it for yourself.”

“It’s alright,” she said, not looking too upset about it. “I forgive you.” She slid her comb back into the pocket of her robe and surprised him by reaching down for his cigarette case.

“Runa, you rarely smoke,” Talvi chided his dearest friend. She put a cigarette in her mouth and he brought the lantern close enough for her to light the end of it on the candle.

“Well, it’s been quite a day, quite a winter, really,” she said, half joking, half serious as she took a dainty puff and began to cough. “It’s difficult to see your parents so upset. Remember last autumn? Remember when we went to a little book store in Sophia without a care in the world? And now look where we find ourselves.”

“Indeed,” Talvi agreed. He set the lantern back in place and tapped the ashes of his cigarette into the base of it. “Even with the prediction of all that has happened, I never imagined it would come to this.”

“Nor I, but all will be well, in time,” Runa said in her wispy, sing-song voice before taking another delicate puff, this time coughing less. Talvi watched her in silence. He wanted to master that very essence she carried. He wanted to own it and keep it in a jar, just like the bath salts on the shelf.

“How is it, my dear Runa, that you seem immune to all things melancholy, hmmm?” Talvi asked, looking up at her from the water. Steam rose up thickly from the surface, and he wondered if his frustrations were as visible as the vapors. In the firelight, his eyes were nearly black with ferocity, and the embers of rage crackled from someplace deep within. “What is your secret? I want nothing more right now, than to rip something to shreds.”

Runa didn’t reply right away. Instead, she lifted her slender legs over the side of the tub and let them slip into the hot water beside Talvi’s feet. She took her time finishing her cigarette before she responded.