“There is wisdom in that,” Ashe acknowledged. “In addition, while the instrumentality as Gwylliam and Anwyn utilized it threatened to wake the Sleeping Child, the wyrm that sleeps at the center of the earth, Achmed seems to have discovered a way to power it, not from fire or from the Earth’s lore, as they did, but rather to utilize the light of the sun and the stars to do so, which should make it much safer to use, even though it still must be done judiciously. It should also be more powerful—each of the elements has greater power in the order it was created, so ether supersedes all, followed by fire, water, wind, and earth sequentially. Using ether to power our Lightcatcher should make it both immense in its effect and as safe as it can possibly be as well. If we can use it to guard the Earthchild and secure the mountains, scry to find the enemy and defeat them, it will have been worth the risk and the damage our friendship has sustained because of it.”
“I do not doubt your wisdom, Aria,” Ashe said, taking her hand in both of his. “It is perhaps petty, especially given all that we are to each other, but there is something that galls me about Achmed requiring secrecy of you that keeps us apart, even the smallest of ways. I guess it’s an immature resentment; chalk it up to the possessiveness of dragon blood.” Rhapsody kissed his hand. “There are no more secrets between us,” she said, “though there are some that only we know. There is a secret that you and I keep, alone, one to the other, and always have.” Ashe smiled ruefully. “Really?” he asked. “It seems to me that there are none between you and both of the Firbolg. You’ve known them far longer and in far different circumstances than we have known each other, even if we did meet first in time.”
“Yes, but only you know that, and only you know my real name,” she said. “I have only spoken it once in this world, and it was in the wedding ceremony we held in secret. Only in the grotto of Elysian can the reverberations of that name be found, and even the greatest of Namers would have trouble doing so. And they still do not know that we met first on the other side of Time; only we share the memory of that sweet night, something that has comforted me, and no doubt you, often over the intervening time. So, you are in fact the guardian of my lost lore, and of my heart. You are my past, and my future. And that will ever be.” Ashe sighed. “If only I could be your Present,” he said. The baby in his arms let out a squeal of hunger, and they both laughed. “I think someone is in line ahead of you,”
Rhapsody said. “And while you can roar with the best of your kind, he still wins for sheer volume and pitch.” She put the fussing baby to the breast, gently caressing bis golden curls. Ashe exhaled solemnly. “Aria, I am going to ask you to do something that I would rather die than see you do.” Rhapsody looked up in surprise. “Then don’t,” she said simply. “If you feel that way about it—”
“We have no choice,” Ashe interrupted. “You must leave here, with Meridion, tonight. If we hadn’t accepted the mantle of leadership, it would be one thing; I could spirit you and the baby away, take you across the sea or hide you in the holy forest of Gwynwood near the Great White Tree, and you would both be as safe as it would be possible for me to make you. But we have committed our trust and our fealty to a nation, to an Alliance, and now that war is looming, we cannot go back on our vows, even for the purpose of remaining together. At the same time, the rest of the world can be damned if it means that either you or our son is in danger; that is the one thing I cannot bear. I will not be able to remain sane should anything happen to either of you. The Rampage of the Wyrm may have been a fictitious manuscript according to Elynsynos, but I feel deep within me an undeniable belief that it would come to pass should I lose you. I have already set the forest alight more than once when I believed you were lost to me. Just the knowledge that there are entities out there, scrying for Meridion, makes the wyrm within my blood ascendant, longing for vengeance and destruction. “While I believe that Highmeadow has the strongest of fortifications possible, to keep you here when there are eyes watching, looking for our son, would be folly and selfish, not to mention unwise. There really is only one place that both of you will be safe as the world begins to cave in.”
“What are you saying, Sam?” Rhapsody asked, her voice shaking. Ashe lowered his head. “With your permission, I want to petition Achmed to take you into his care. You and the baby should leave with him and Grunthor tonight, before the light breaks, and travel off the road, probably through Canderre and Yarim rather than Bethany, and possibly through the northeastern corner of Bethe Corbair, where there is nothing but desert, no landmarks or fortifications where you could be found by one who has the power to scry from a distance.” He exhaled deeply. “I cannot tell you how much I wish to vomit at this very moment. Nonetheless, I believe we need to move in all due haste. If the Bolg can agree, and I have no reason to believe that they will not, and if you are willing, and feel that you are able to make the journey, as soon as this council ends I will set about making provisions so that you can leave before First-light.” Rhapsody leaned back against the wall as the child nursed. “What a beautiful love song,” she mused. “Pardon?”
“What you just said to me were perhaps the most beautiful words of love I have ever heard,” she said, smiling sadly. “I well know how much you hate this idea, how much it galls you to the very soul, how difficult it was for you to propose it. It will be similarly difficult for me to grant your request. But, as I don’t have a better idea, I fear you are right, and to do anything else were to insufficiently safeguard our greatest treasure.” She looked down at the baby, now drowsing at the breast. “You will do it then?” Ashe asked, his expression a mixture of relief and dread. Rhapsody closed her blouse and swaddled the child again. “I will, for him,” she said. “I will go to Ylorc and help Achmed with his infernal Lightcatcher, in the hope that it may both protect the mountains and help turn the tide to end the war more quickly. But I tell you this, Sam: when Meridion is weaned, and safe, I will return to the front. I am the Iliachenva’ar; I have no business bearing a sword of elemental fire in hiding. It would be an insult to Oelendra and the training she gave me to stand by for the sake of my own safety when others are dying.”