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itself was large enough to sleep four grown elves and far too soft for the
prince's taste. It seemed strange to him that humans should prize comfort
so excessively.
The rain struck the roof of the tent with a rhythmic beat, but that did
not lull Sithas to sleep. Instead, his mind wandered to thoughts of
Hermathya. He would have to work harder to reconcile their differences,
he decided. But his wife's face did not remain long in Sithas's thoughts.
Kith-Kanan soon pushed to the forefront. His twin would probably have
enjoyed Sithas's little gesture of bringing turtle and barge to the
ambassador's very door.
Kith was a long way off now, Sithas thought. So many miles and so
much time lay between them. As the prince closed his eyes, he felt the
faint but persistent tie that had always existed between him and
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Kith-Kanan, but now he concentrated on it. The rain grew louder in his
ears. It was like a pulse, the beat of a living heart. Feelings began to come
to him?the smell of the woodland, the sounds of night animals that no
longer lived in the more settled parts of Silvanesti. He opened his mind
further, and a flood of sensations came to him.
He saw, as in shadow, a dark elven woman. She was strong and
deeply connected to the Power, even as the high clerics and the Speaker of
the Stars were said to be. But the dark woman was part of an ancient
group, different from the gods, but almost as great. Sithas had an
impression of green leaves, of soaring trees, and pools of still, clear water.
And there was a battle raging inside this woman. She was trying to leave
the Power, and it did not want her to go. The reason she wished to leave
was clear, too. She loved Kith, and he loved her. Sithas felt that very
strongly.
A word came to him. A name.
"Anaya," he said aloud.
The link was broken when he spoke. Sithas sat up, his head
swimming with strange, unexplained impressions. There was a struggle
going on, a contest for possession of the dark elf woman. The struggle was
between Kith-Kanan and the ancient powers of nature. The storm ... not
the work of human magicians, or any magicians. The storm was a
manifestation of the struggle.
As Sithas lay back on the ridiculously large bed, a twinge of sadness
entered his heart. The short connection had only emphasized how truly far
from home his twin had journeyed.
And Sithas knew he dare tell no one what he'd learned.
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18
In the Forest, Year of the Ram
(2215 PC)
The changes in the keeper continued. Anaya s toes and fingers, then
the points of her elbows, became light green. She felt no pain and suffered
no loss of movement, though it did seem she was becoming less sensitive
all the time. Her hearing, formerly so acute, became duller and duller. Her
eyesight lost its uncanny focus. Her stealthy tread grew slow and clumsy.
At first she was short-tempered with the changes, but her spirits gradually
lightened. Things the Forestmaster had told her during her long sojourn
away from Kith-Kanan were now making more sense, she said. These
changes, Anaya believed, were the price of her life joined to Kith-Kanan's.
While she might bemoan the loss of her preternatural agility and hunting
skill, her new life did make her very happy.
The winter was long and, as the forest was no longer Anaya's to
command, very hard. She and Kith-Kanan hunted almost every day that it
wasn't actually snowing, They had some success; there were rabbits and
pheasants and the occasional deer to be had. But they more often ate
Mackeli's nuts and berries. As their bellies shrank and their belts
tightened, conversation diminished, too. When the wind howled outside
and the snow drifted so high the door became hard to open, the three sat
within the hollow tree, each wrapped in his or her own thoughts. Days
went by without any of them speaking a single word.
Mackeli, too, was changing, though his metamorphosis was more
easily understood. He had reached the time in a young elf's life when the
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physical limitations of childhood give way to an adult physique.
Compared to the great life span of an elf, these changes take place rather
quickly. Even without an abundance of food, he grew taller, stronger, and
restless?and often rude, as well. The boy's impatience was so high that
Kith-Kanan forbade him to accompany them hunting; Mackeli's fidgeting
scared off the already scarce game.
While his wife and friend changed in outward, tangible ways,
Kith-Kanan grew, too, but inside. His values had changed since coming to
the forest, certainly, and now his entire attitude toward life was
undergoing fundamental change. All his life he had played at being prince.
Since his brother Sithas was the heir, Kith-Kanan had no real
responsibilities, no true duties. He took up warrior training and hunting as
hobbies. He taught Arcuballis tricks and practiced aerial maneuvers. These
activities had filled his days.
But it was different now. He could glide through the forest, silent as a
wraith. He didn't have to rely on Mackeli s gathering skills or Anaya's
hunting any longer. In fact, more and more, they relied on him. This was a
good life, the prince decided, and he could now bless the day his father
had taken Hermathya from him. Though he had cared for her, Hermathya
was much better suited to his twin?both of them so correct, proper, and
dutiful. And with his forgiveness of his father came a sense of loss. He
found himself missing his family. Still, he knew that his life was in the
forest, not the city.
Another, more natural, change had come to Anaya. She was pregnant.
She and her husband had been staring dreamily into the fire one night
when she had told him. At first Kith-Kanan was stunned. His astonishment
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gave way to a great, heartfilling joy. He embraced her so hard that she
squealed in protest. The thought that a new life, one he had helped create,
was growing inside of her made Anaya that much more precious to the
prince. It made their life together that much richer. He showered her with
kisses and declarations of his love until Mackeli grumbled for them both
to shut up, since he was trying to sleep.
The day came, not too long after, when the first icicles began to melt
off the oak's bare branches. The sun came out and stayed for a week, and
all the ice melted and ran off the tree. The snow retreated to the deep
shadows around the rim of the clearing.
They emerged from the tree, blinking at the bright sunshine. It was as
if this was the first sunny day they'd ever experienced. Anaya moved
stiffly, rubbing her arms and thighs. Her hands and feet were fully colored
green by this time.
Kith-Kanan stood in the center of the clearing, eyes shut, face turned
to the sky. Mackeli, who was nearly as tall as Kith-Kanan now, bounded
around like a deer, though certainly not as gracefully.
"We've never had such a winter," Anaya stated, gazing at the snow
still hiding at the base of the trees.
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