Silver Shadows

She nodded to her scribe and her honor guard and then touched the ring. The four elves emerged at once in a deep, forested glade. There were two figures waiting there: a large, silver-furred lythari, and a tall and slender moon elven female. As yet, neither had perceived the queen's arrival.

Arilyn looked with wonder at her ancestral home. A few butterflies fed upon the flowers that dotted the meadow grasses, and the ancient oaks that surrounded the glade were robed in the deep emerald hues of late summer. It was a scene such as might have been found in the virgin forest of many a land, except for an aura of eldritch energy as pervasive as sunlight.

"Evermeet," Arilyn whispered. ^

"I will leave you here and return when you are ready for me," Ganamede said, vanishing from sight almost as soon as the words were spoken.

Arilyn felt the tingle of magic at her side and glanced down at her moonblade. A faint blue mist rose from the blade.

Her eyes followed it, then widened in astonishment. The mist reached out like reverent fingers to touch a shimmering oval gate. Arilyn had seen it only once before, but she knew it well. It was the power that her mother had inadvertently given the moonblade-a link between the worlds of elves and humankind.

"Who are you, who dares trespass upon this place?"

The question might have seemed harsh, but for the sheer beauty of the voice that spoke it. Arilyn's throat tightened. The voice reached deep into her memory, recalled the lullabies her mother had crooned to her as a child. Liquid starlight-for some reason that was how Arilyn remembered her mother's voice. This one had the same limpid, shimmering tones.

Arilyn turned to face Amlaruil Moonflower, Queen of Evermeet.

It was the elven ruler's turn to jolt in astonishment. "Amnestria?" she whispered in a voice filled with longing and awe.

This startled Arilyn, for she did not think she looked much like her mother. Indeed, the queen quickly realized her mistake and composed her features back into the mask of regal serenity. Nor was Amlaruil much like Amnestria, Arilyn noted. The queen's features were more delicate, her hair like silk and flame. She was tall, taller even than Arilyn, with a pale, otherworldly beauty that reminded Ajilyn of the lythari females. And although Amnestria's inclination had been to be nearly aa solitary as her daughter, the queen was accompanied by a pair of gold elven guards and an elderly moon elf male-no doubt an advisor or a scribe.

At least they had one thing in common, Arilyn mused: each had seen Amnestria in the other. She herself would never have believed it possible, and she doubted the elven queen would ever accept the link between them. So be it. She herself had matters to tend.

The Harper drew the moonblade and fell to one knee. She placed the elven sword on the grass at Amlaruil's feet.

"I am Arilyn Moonblade, daughter and blade heir of Amnestria of Evermeet. As long as the fires of Myth Dra

There was a long silence. The elven monarch stood like a statue of marble and moonstone. Arilyn understood. All moonblades were pledged to the People, yet the queen could hardly accept the sword without acknowledging its wielder. With her next words, however, Arilyn gave the proud queen a way out. She took Amlaruil's commission, given her by the hand of Captain Carreigh Macumail, and placed it beside the sword.

"I have fulfilled my duties as ambassador of Evermeet and have come to give my report."

"Rise, and speak," the queen said at last. She waved the guards back and bid the elderly scribe to take a seat on a fallen log.

Arilyn gave a concise but thorough accounting of the events in the Forest of Tethir. When she fell silent, Amlaruil asked her a number of questions. Finally the queen nodded.

It is not the task I gave you, but nonetheless you have done well."

"Then permit me to name my fee" Arilyn said evenly. "Carreigh Macumail indicated that he'd been empowered to approve any request I might make. I certainly have no objection to such generosity, but in the future, you might want to fill in a figure before signing the note."

This seemed to amuse the queen. "You are definitely Amnestria's daughter," she said wryly. "She was ever one to speak her mind. Yet I see that there is much of

your father in you, as well."

"What you see before you is my doing," Arilyn said in a calm, even tone. "I am not a soup, made by tossing a little of this and that into a pot. As for my father, we met for the first time but three winters past." She paused and touched the gem in her restored moonblade. "You and yours made certain of that."

There was no accusation in her voice, just a statement of fact. By the decree of Amlaruil, the moonblade had been dismantled and the sword and stone divided between Arilyn's mother and father. This had kept the dangerous elfgate from becoming as powerful as it might have been, but it had also robbed Arilyn of her family and the knowledge of the sword's true power.

The queen's gaze did not falter. "I suppose you've wondered why we never sought you out after Amnestria's death."

"No."

Amlaruil raised one brow. "You're not going to make this easy, I take it. Very well-nor would I in your position. It is known that those of mixed blood are ba

"Yet here I am," Arilyn pointed out.

"Yes." The queen was silent for a long moment, and the gaze she turned upon the half-elf grew more searching. For the first time the queen's features showed a touch of regret. "You have done remarkably well. To my knowledge, no one has ever before had to discover a moonblade's powers alone. Had we known you possessed the potential to wield the moonblade, we would have taken another course. We knew, of course, that Amnestria's blade would pass to you, but we never expected you to…"

"Survive?" Arilyn finished dryly.

"Few elves are up to the demands of an ancient moon-blade," the queen pointed out. "Most have lain dormant for centuries, and only a handful of the swords retain their power. Many elves refuse their inheritance, with no dishonor. It was not unreasonable for us to assume that a half-elven child would be unequal to the challenge."

"But you let me try, fully expecting that I would be slain. I drew the moonblade that first time knowing nothing of this, or of the hidden requirements of the sword."

"And had you known all, would you have done differently?"

The question was shrewd, and Arilyn was momentarily startled by the queen's insight. Obviously, she could not deny the truth in Amlaruil's words, and she responded with the gesture of a fencer acknowledging a hit.

"What was done is done, and I am content to leave it so," Arilyn said. "But there is a reason why I speak of these matters now. My mother spoke often and fondly of her youngest brother, and so I have named Prince Lamruil as my blade heir. Will you tell him of his inheritance and see that he is properly prepared to receive it? I took up the sword unprepared. I would not see another do likewise."

The queen stood in silence for a long moment. "It will be done. On behalf of my son, I thank you for showing him this honor." She paused, as if considering what to say next. "You were speaking of your fee," the queen prompted, clearly eager to once again put the conversation, and the extraordinary half-elf, in terms she could understand and control.