Echoes of Harmony

The Garden of Tranquility

Mythal Saenora

10 Erebos, Epoch of the Crying Moon 253

The gardens within the Alarion Wode were a favorite spot for Custodian Naynn to attempt to relax. It had been over two hundred and fifty years since he took power, and, despite the appeals his royal guard made, he continued to insist on walking alone through the multicolored bushes and spiraling trees. Each blooming flower, each buzzing bee, each singing bird was another reason for his coming here. They served to ground him. To remind him why he ascended to the throne in the first place. To remind him why he served the Thalyssian Union as its guardian.

Naynn ran his hand across one of the leaves of the bushes, feeling the gentle petals against his skin. One of the flowers, half closed, opened as his fingers touched the bud and brought it to full bloom. The inside was a explosion of blues and and pinks. Smiling, he stopped and plucked it from its home. He brought it up to his nose, smelling the faint perfume scent emanating from within.

A rustle to his right and back the way he came attracted his attention. There was a faint movement on the side of the path. One of the bush branches snapped back into place, much too quick to have been affected by wind. Naynn smiled and let out a sigh.

“Brianil, you don’t have to hide. If you want to walk with me, that’s fine. I really don’t mind.”

Another rustle came, and a child, no older than ten, stepped out. Her head barely came up to his navel. She had long white hair that came down to her knees, partially braided into elaborate knots. The thin point of her ears extended beyond the strands that covered where they connected to her head. They stuck out another foot past the back of her head, tapering as they went. Golden eyes full of childlike wonder peered up at him.

“Sorry for hiding, Your Excellency,” Brianil said, lowering herself into a deep curtsy as she lifted the sides of her pristine white dress to prevent its touching the dirt path. Her voice was soft and melodic as always. “I saw you walking and didn’t know if you wanted to be alone.”

“I’m always happy to have your company, Little Star.” He held out his hand for hers. She smiled and took it without hesitation. Together, they continued down the path at a slower pace. “There is a lot for me to think about, young one, but nothing you need to worry yourself with. Walking through the wode helps me clear my head, if only slightly.”

Several minutes passed. The only noise was the sound of their footsteps on the dirt path mingling with that of the wildlife around them. Every now then, petals broke off of flowers and floated along the wind, swirling around them briefly before either continuing on or falling to the ground.

“So, what’s on your mind, Brianil?” Naynn finally asked, breaking the silence. He looked at her with a smirk. “You normally only seek me out here when you want to talk.”

“I… I heard there’s going to be a war.” She clung tightly to Naynn, wrapping her other hand around his forearm. The action caused him to stumble slightly before he regained his footing. “Some of my friends at school, they keep saying it. That’s not true, is it?”

Naynn managed a thin-lipped smile. The girl always had a way of knowing precisely what was troubling him. His diplomats to both the Druthagon Kingdom and Hyperion Empire recently sent similar reports back to Mythal Saenora. After six years of their war, with neither side gaining any meaningful advantage over the other, they wanted to recruit allies to aid them. Two hundred and six years of peace. Nothing more than a blip in the life of eyes of the Thalyssian. That was all they were allowed, apparently, as neither the dwarves nor the humans were going to take no for an answer.

And for good reason. The Thalyssian Union was the largest empire in the galaxy. Naynn command several fleets of hundreds of vessels each, a severely diminished number since the days of their constant wars but still enough to easily turn the tide of the war. Not to mention their position in the galaxy bordered both the Druthagar and Hyperions. They could strike either with ease. Not that such an action would’ve been Naynn’s first choice.

A pressure at his side reminded him it had been nearly a minute since Brianil asked the question. She shivered, sending vibrations up his arms. He squeezed her hand in an attempt at reassuring her.

“It will be alright, Brianil. Whatever happens, I will do what it takes to keep you and all your friends safe. That is my duty as Custodian of the Thalyssian Union.”

“So we’re really going to war?” Tears shimmered in her eyes and she ripped her hand free of Naynn’s, taking a step away. Whereas before she looked up at him in reverence, now she looked at him in revulsion. Her voice grew shriller with each passing word. “But our teachers always tell us how horrible it is. People die in war. Why would you do that to them?”

The anger projected in the girl’s voice struck Naynn to his core. Just barely keeping himself from recoiling, he knelt down and grabbed both of Brianil’s hands in his. Looking her in the eye, he breathed deeply and sighed.

“Sometimes, war is a necessary part of life. Sometimes, you have no choice but to stand up and do what is right.”

“So what’s right in this war then?” She sounded more exasperated than anything.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Naynn stared blankly for a moment, blinking dumbly as he tried to figure out what was right. Their joining the war on behalf of either the dwarves or the humans, both of whom they had fought against in the past, didn’t have a clear sense of right for the Thalyssian. Both were hoping to gain territory the other already owned. Technically, the war was a defensive one for the Hyperions, based off what Naynn had heard, but each side already attempted invasions of the other’s territory. Though they always ended in failure, countless lives were lost in the six years of struggle.

There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the conflict either. Only ten years passed from the end of their previous war, much too short a time for tensions to increase that much. For an elf, that was no time at all. Something or someone had to be behind the actions of one or both of them. And with the thought, Naynn knew what he would say to Brianil, even if it might not exactly reassure her.

“Nothing.” He stood, releasing one of her hands and continuing to hold the other. “Nothing is right in this war, Little Star. Which is why, if we do get involved, it will be to put an end to it.”

“And how are we going to do that?” She looked up at Naynn, tears flowing down her cheeks even as she desperately tried to stop them. “How can we stop it?”

“By doing what we can to show the dwarves and the humans that they’re wrong. By showing them that they need to get past their differences and understand that peace is an option. An option that, sometimes, is hard to achieve but is always worth the end result.”

Brianil launched herself forward and buried her face into Naynn’s side, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Immediately, he held her and knelt down to give her a proper hug.

“I don’t want to die, Naynn,” she cried, the words barely audible. A pang of guilt stabbed into Naynn’s heart.

“Oh, Little Star,” he whispered into her ear. He rubbed her back in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. “Like I said, I will do whatever I can to keep you safe. If I have anything to say about it, you will live a long and happy life, and I’m so sorry that you have to live through this period of uncertainty.”

Somebody clearing their throat drew both of their attentions to the path. Standing there was an older elf, his skin wrinkled and hair, tied into a single ponytail, gone gray. He wore a set of simple robes of black embroidered with gold. In front of him, his hands were crossed over a cane made of glass that sparkled with the pale light of the morning sun.

Naynn stood upright as the elf looked at the pair. He reached down and gently pushed Brianil down the path the way they were heading. She looked up at him, tears still filling her eyes, and started to ask a question before he shushed her.

“I think it’s best for you to run along now, Brianil.” Naynn watched until she disappeared around a turn in the garden before turning to the man. He bowed deeper than he needed to per tradition, and the man inclined his head in response, as was typical for him. Though it showed disrespect to his own station, Naynn ignored it as he had the last two and a half centuries. “Archon Thoranil Elyarus, what can I do for you?”

“Custodian, your guards told me you dismissed them so you could…” His eyes flicked to where Brianil disappeared before returning back to Naynn. “So you could, apparently, walk through the wode with a common child.”

“She is more than a common child, Thoranil.” Naynn stepped forward to walk back the way he came, towards Enwenys Palace. Silently, he seethed at the way Thoranil described Brianil, but he knew it would be pointless to voice his thoughts. As Naynn passed him, Thoranil fell in step, his cane clicking against the dirt with each stride. “There’s something special about her that I can’t quite put my finger on. Besides, it makes her happy when I allow her to walk with me. And who am I to deny a child happiness?”

“You are the leader of the largest empire the galaxy has ever seen,” Thoranil hissed. “You should be more careful when you are out in public.”

“We are experiencing the longest period of peace ever seen by the Thalyssian Union, Archon.” Naynn attempted to keep the disdain for the other man out of his voice but knew he failed judging by the look on Thoranil’s face. “Is that not something to celebrate?”

“Not when you hear what I am about to tell you.” Thoranil’s face suddenly changed, seeming to grow even graver than it was previously. “There has been an attack. It appears the Hyperions have grown tired of waiting for us to decide whose side we’re joining and took it upon themselves to strike at one of our mining outposts near the border. Emlenor. They attempted to make it look as if the Druthagar attacked but neglected to mimic the dwarves’ fusion drive signatures.”

“How many?” Naynn stopped moving. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steadying himself. “How many were killed in the attack?”

“Just under two hundred thousand, Custodian. The entire colony was destroyed, razed to the ground before they could even muster a defense.” Several moments passed before Thoranil stepped up to Naynn. “You know what must be done, Custodian. I know you do.”

“Of course, Archon.” Naynn looked directly in Thoranil’s eyes and held his gaze. An attack on their soil needed to be met with an equal retaliatory attack. Their constitution required as much. If he did not, then he would need to be removed from power, regardless of how he felt about it. “You need not remind me. Has the Court been summoned? Since you wish to lecture me on our laws, I’m sure you’ve already informed them.”

“Your Excellency, I wished to advise you on the matter first, as I was not sure how you would act.” Thoranil bowed his head ever so slightly. Naynn frowned. The manner in which the man made the gesture, his head titling just to the left, was a subtle signal of disrespect. “I did not wish to waste their time.”

“Archon, have I ever given you any reason to believe I would disrespect our laws?” He continued down the path, a new spring in his step that Thoranil caught up to after a moment’s hesitation. “Alert the Court that there is to be a war meeting in exactly one hour. After that time, we will deploy our fleet for the first time since the Epoch of Lost Whispers and wage war on the Hyperions.”

“As you command, Custodian.” Thoranil began to walk faster up the path, hopefully to carry out the orders.

“Oh, one more thing, Archon.” Naynn caught up to Thoranil and walked alongside him. “Open a line of communication directly with High King Thaseas Shadowbrand. I wish to speak with him on these events.”

“It shall be done, Your Excellency. Who should I tell him is calling? Have you finally taken a name?”

“You know my stance on that.” Naynn frowned. Thoranil had been pressuring him to take a name, as every Thalyssian did at the age of one hundred, for the last two centuries. Naynn, however, refused, believing it to be an unnecessary distraction. “Custodian Naynn is perfect.”

As he said the words, they reached a fork in the path. Both led to Enwenys Palace, though one was the eastern end and one the western. Thoranil took the one leading to the east, where the primary communications bay sat. Naynn went down the one to the west and to the royal apartments afforded to him as Custodian of the Thalyssian Union. He had a message to send of his own before talking with the High King.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!