Interludes
I-1
ELWYN
Elwyn waited by the rocks on the bay. The Shiraz port had been getting too crowded to spend a peaceful evening at these days. The traders preferred working during the summers, although today was overcast. More and more ships had arrived all through the last few days. It would be difficult to steer the docked ones out at this point. The locals had set up smaller vessels for the convenience of the traders who could only dock their ships a long way from the Shiraz high port. It had become increasingly hard to hang out in the waters surrounding the port.
Elwyn had taken to spending her evenings reading by the bay a little way off the Shiraz high port. It was a little beach with a long sandy walk inland. There were a few people scattered across the entirety of the bay, enjoying the warm evening.
Children played in the close waters, with some Feli making splashes around them. They laughed and splashed the water back. Elwyn could see fishing equipment, a sunken vessel and smaller water animals in the visibly green waters around the Feli. She tried to remember the last time she had spent an evening so carefree. It was years ago. Now, she was almost an adult. Almost.
As the evening dragged on, a group of soldiers arrived at the beach. They were not part of the imperial force. It was apparent from the color of their uniforms, which was green. Most of them just sat down and relaxed but two of them walked across the beach, their feet occasionally submerged in the coming waves. It was not uncommon for traders to bring soldiers from their cities. The richest of the traders always brought more security.
Elwyn returned to her reading. She was learning a new language. She had been looking at languages that had their origins in Fecaa dialect, spoken in Andel and the surrounding region. It was a fascinating language, where each word had a state of the person’s presence during speech. And part of the locals’ learning was to interpret the original speaker’s state of mind while learning a new word. As a result, people who spoke different languages that originated from the Fecaa dialect had very similar thinking and understood each other very well, even if it was hard for them to communicate for specific things between languages. On the other hand, it also made the languages difficult to learn for someone who wasn’t used to it by birth. She had finished learning discerning interpretations but was far from forming complete sentences.
“… grew up here. This place is something, eh?”
She heard a gruff, deep voice speaking in Nealen accent. She looked up. It was the two soldiers walking towards her side of the beach now. She returned to her book.
“Yes, Captain Liraz comes from good place,” the other soldier said.
Elwyn almost dropped the book she was holding. Liraz? Her Liraz?
The second soldier was a very large man, holding a steel spear that was much longer than his height. His face was covered in beard, and he walked with a small limp.
The first man laughed. He was shorter, but well built. His uniform had a green cloak that whipped in the wind.
“You say that about everything, Yuni. If everything is good, then it’s all the same. No, this place is be-t-uh-er.”
The man, Yuni, just shrugged. The pair of them passed Elwyn, not paying the slightest attention to the girl sitting alone reading behind a pile of books. Someone from Shiraz would have called the local guard.
“We are expected back soon,” the first man muttered to Yuni. “Everything seems in order here. Do you reckon we should see the captain’s family?”
She was sure of it now. They were indeed talking about her Liraz. Her friend, Liraz, of course. She blushed. Liraz had been imprisoned for stealing from her father. She had been part of it too, but it had ended differently for her because of her father’s involvement. The lie.
Book in her hand, she stood up and stretched, trying very hard not to seem too keen on what the two men were discussing. Then she followed them. They maintained a steady pace for a while, talking more about the traders at Shiraz port and the imperial force of Shiraz. They sure did like to laugh a lot, unlike her father’s guards.
After about five minutes, they turned around. Elwyn feigned the best expression of surprise she could muster and moved to the one side, letting them pass her by. The first man glanced at her and smiled. The two men then started walking back the way they had come, passing her.
“You better keep up if you want to listen in on us, lad.”
Elwyn cursed. She had been careful enough to maintain a safe distance between her and the soldiers. After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she turned around and looked at them. Why did she have to be afraid? They wouldn’t harm her in the open. Despite her fears, she smiled broadly at them.
“I am just reading my book,” she said loudly.
The man did not seem surprised by her confidence. He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. The other guard, Yuni, seemed uninterested in talking to her, a soft growl escaping his lips as he glared at his partner.
“Forgive Yuni here. He doesn’t like stopping once he starts moving. Inertia and all that,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. He then gestured at himself.
“I am Tliam. Who do we have the pleasure of talking to, this evening?”
He spoke in perfect Shirali. His gruff voice from earlier now seeming almost velvety. It still had the same gruffness, hidden behind the pleasant tone.
“Elwyn. I am Elwyn,” she said.
Tliam motioned that they walk together. “Please, let us walk you back to your books,” he said.
She considered the offer. At least this way, she would be able to ask them directly about Liraz. She nodded and walked beside them. Her eyes wandered to their uniforms again. Their attire was completely unknown to her and that was something. Her father had dealt with traders from many different places, and she had met people from all four continents. She had developed an interest in the different fashion styles donned in various places. Weather patterns played a huge part in the preferred form of clothing. Fashion had also evolved with age and style. The army of a particular city often had uniforms of a particular color. The Shiraz imperial force had chosen crimson uniform for their soldiers. The Cuheg city yellow. These soldiers had dark green clothing on. They continued to walk in silence.
“What were you reading, lad?” Tliam said, after a while.
“How do you know Liraz?”
The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. She regretted it instantly. Both Tliam and Yuni stopped in their tracks and looked at her.
“You know Captain?” Yuni exclaimed, talking directly to her for the first time. Tliam looked at her with a serious expression on his face for a fleeting moment, but his smile returned instantly.
“I… I knew him. Years ago,” she said, in a low voice.
Tliam burst out laughing again. “That’s why you followed us? Because of Liraz? I was coming to think you were spying on us, lad.”
Elwyn looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Spy on you? Why would I spy on you?”
Tliam was still laughing. Yuni answered her, unwillingly, it seemed.
“People hate Fell Guard. That is reason. Hatred.”
So, they were from the Fell Guard. That was unexpected. She had been sure they were soldiers of one of the traders from a new city. The Fell Guard were known for the unique blue tinge of their weird attire.
Tliam held up his hand to Yuni and turned to her. “Most don’t like us. Hatred is a strong word, Yuni. Captain Liraz is the head of our unit, lad. Did you know him well?”
“Yes, we were friends. He was arrested for stealing from my father,” she said.
Yuni chuckled but didn’t say anything to that. Tliam frowned. “Ah, he wasn’t lying about that after all.”
The light was fading slowly in the west. They were almost back to where they started.
“What happened? Where is Liraz?” she asked them.
“He is part of the Fell Guard. Fastest to rise to the rank of a captain, I think,” Tliam said. “The crimes are forgiven.”
He said that last sentence matter-of-factly. Yuni nodded beside him.
So Liraz had made it after all, even if he was with the Fell Guard in that horrid place. Nobody said the name of the place, of course. At least he was alive and well. It still hurt, but she smiled.
The remaining Fell Guard on the beach were making their way back towards Shiraz. One of them waved at Tliam and Yuni to join them. Beside her, both men picked up their pace. They arrived to where her books were lying, with Elwyn panting slightly.
“Farewell, lad. We will inform the captain of our meeting,” Tliam said.
“Wait… if he is the captain, then why isn’t he here?” she asked him, the desperation in her voice finally breaking free from the cage she was keeping it in. She dropped her book in frustration and it fell open at their feet.
Tlaim bent down and retrieved it. “I am sure he will make his way down here soon. Goodbye, Elwyn,” he said. He returned the book to her with a smile, unflinching. He pointed at a word that she had written while practicing her translations in the book.
“Oh, and the word here actually translates to blue, not green.”
She blinked and then gasped. The soldiers stood in blue uniforms in front of her, and the larger Fell Guard in blue walked past them. Tliam and Yuni gave one small nod and walked away.
The color blue was back.
the Broken Dragon 