“Noni, be careful!” Aully shouted. She ran up to her nursemaid and wrapped her arm around Noni’s slender waist, helping the ancient elf draw close to Bardiya. The giant slipped off his perch and dropped to one knee, hunching over so that his gaze was level with hers. Aully studied his face, the twitch of his lips, the furrowing of his brow. It seemed to take extraordinary effort for him to complete such a seemingly simple task.
“Nonallee Clanshaw,” he said, and Noni bobbed her head in greeting. It was the first time Aully ever remembered hearing her nursemaid’s full name come from lips other than her own.
Noni placed a withered hand on the giant’s cheek. “You have always been a fine lad, Bardiya. I was there on the day of your birth and helped bring you into the world alongside your Wardens.”
“Mother told me as much,” Bardiya answered. He seemed to melt beneath the compassion of her touch.
“And I was the first one to speak with you about Celestia’s glory when you were but a tot. Do you remember that as well?”
He nodded. “I was six. The stories you told…they implanted me with wonder, taught me that all gods were to be respected, not just my creator.”
“Then you know the way the goddess works.” Noni tilted her head, the side of her mouth lifting into a smile. “You know she would only interfere with our lives as a last resort, when the signs show that the balance she created might shatter.”
“And that is now?”
She nodded. “That is now.”
“So you are saying Celestia put these weapons here to force us into a war?”
“Not at all, Bardiya,” Noni said with a sigh. “She would never force anyone to do anything. Rather, she wished for you to have the choice. To have the opportunity to defend your life and land should the renegade god attempt to conquer all.”
Aully turned at the sound of a chuckle and noticed that Ki-Nan was standing behind the rest, laughing softly into his fist as he shook his head. She couldn’t decide if he thought her nursemaid’s reasoning absurd or if this was a nervous tic of his in unfamiliar situations. She liked Bardiya’s friend; he had been very kind to her and her people. So she chose to believe that latter.
Bardiya’s voice returned her attention to him. “I take it you will be accepting her gift,” the giant said, gazing at each of the elves in turn. “You wish to return to your home.”
Noni nodded.
“We do,” said Lady Audrianna.
“I cannot help you if you go,” Bardiya said, “and I cannot accept this gift from your goddess, if that is indeed what it is. Do you understand?”
“Of course,” Noni said. She then leaned in to place a kiss on the tip of the giant’s broad nose. Aully rushed back to her side to help her waddle away.
“We respect your sovereignty,” Lady Audrianna said. “We would never ask you to go against your own code of ethics. It is not our place. We simply wished to let you know you have…options.”
Aully passed Noni off to one of her father’s old assistants and then wheeled around. “We also did not want to disappear in the night without telling you.”
He bowed his head. “I am grateful for that.”
“And we are grateful for all you’ve done for us,” said Kindren. He draped an arm around Aully, kissing her on the top of one pointed ear. She squeezed him in return, grateful for the millionth time that he was by her side. “I am grateful. I will forever be in your debt, and when this is all over, should we both come out breathing, I will do all I can to close the rift between our peoples. That is my promise to you.”
The giant smiled warmly, looked first at Aully, then at Lady Audrianna.
“You have chosen a fine husband,” he said, “and an even finer heir. Young prince, I look forward to that day, should it ever come to pass.”
“As do I.”
“But how do you plan on retaking your home?” asked Ki-Nan. The giant’s friend had circled back and was standing beside the giant once more. “You cannot hope to recapture the forest with only thirty of you.”
“Oh, but we do,” said Audrianna. “There have been no disturbances for months, not since the death of Bardiya’s parents. I have known Detrick for a very, very long time. He is a much gentler soul than even his brother, my husband. He would never have agreed to such egregious horrors as have been committed in his name. The Meln family name runs deep in Stonewood. At worst, there is a rebel element that is making Detrick’s life…difficult. It has been quiet for far too long for us to consider any other possibility. We owe it to our people to return home, with a young prince and princess whose command of magic grows each day, and assist them in their fight for freedom.”
“And if you are wrong?”
“Then we shall meet our error head on rather than in hiding,” said Kindren.
“We miss our home,” added Aully. Her insides clenched. “I miss my home. We don’t belong here, Bardiya.”
The giant smiled at her, held out his hand. She went to him and accepted his embrace. His body swallowed hers like she was a mouse, but rather than being scared, she actually found it comforting. She suddenly wished Bardiya would cast aside his beliefs and join them. Should their assumptions prove wrong, it would be advantageous to have a giant on their side…even if that giant seemed to ache every time he moved.
“When will you be departing?” she heard him ask from above her.
“In two days,” her mother’s voice answered. “We will string our own bows and take what weapons we require from the cache, and then we will be gone.”
“I will miss you,” said Bardiya.
Aully leaned back. “Not too much, though,” she said, grinning. “We’ll be sure to come visit often after we retake the forest.”
“You do that,” the giant replied.
From the look on his face, she could tell he didn’t believe a word of it.
Bardiya watched as the Stonewood Dezren walked back to their camp. The sun was descending in the sky, casting a glow around the elves as they moved steadily away from him. It made them look like celestial beings descended from on high to walk among them, a thought that made him shudder.
He stole a glance at Ki-Nan, who shielded his eyes with one hand as he waved with the other. His friend was smiling, but he had known Ki-Nan for long enough to know that his expression was less than sincere. He had been much more terse than usual since his return, with occasional dark moods.
“What bothers you?” he asked finally.
Ki-Nan turned to him. “Nothing, Brother. Why?”
“You cannot lie to me. I know you too well. Tell me.”
“You already know,” Ki-Nan said with a sigh. “I won’t go over this again.”
Bardiya grunted. He and Ki-Nan had taken to debating the virtues of peace and nonviolence almost nightly since his friend had emerged grievously wounded from his skiff. Only recently had those arguments come to an end, and not because the two had reached an agreement-it was simply easier for them to ignore the issue. But there was no ignoring it now, not when his friend’s gaze constantly returned to the buried crates and the sharpened steel that resided within.
“I only ask you to trust my judgment,” Bardiya insisted. “These tools of destruction are evil. They’re not welcome in Ker, nor will they ever be.”
“We already fashion our own spears and arrows,” Ki-Nan said. “Is a sword really so different? Seems to me they serve the same basic purpose-slicing flesh, bringing blood. One is simply more efficient than the other. That does not make them evil.”
“Evil does not lie in the practicality of the tool, but in the intention. You know this as well as I. We use arrows and spears to feed our families. When we end an animal’s life, we put it to good use. Its meat fills our bellies, and its hide creates our clothing. We use it for survival. The sword, on the other hand, is used only to main and kill. There is no practicality, no pure intention.”