The Town Whose Prince Was an Elf

The young elf wondered how many humans would die, today or during the night, in this smelly town...
To many human eyes, the city would have seemed a calm and wonderful one, far from the Djuhn's ways of authoritarian violence, and, had they been able to perceive them, such thoughts would have astonished many bypassers far more than the sight of the small blond, sun-tanned elf sadly pondering them.

For the Prince was now a well-known, though legendary, figure of good, in Yissmirr.

Humans had definitely brutal and violent ways, in Sunstream's eyes, and since Sama, the "Black Pearl", the region's mistress of assassins, taught him the harsh reality behind everyday life on the streets, he could not consider even cool Yissmirr's days and nights as peaceful.
And, accustomed as he had become to them, the human smells were still too much, sometimes, for his wolfrider sense of smell.

Cutter, his sire, frowned, when he explained he just HAD to take the risk of making friends with humans in a far more honest, complete and constructive way than ANYTHING that had been tried before.
Far more than simply "seducing" them.

Sunstream remembered only too well Winnowill's words.
Especially in times like this cloudy afternoon, when Sama's words about ways to kill resurfaced in his mind.

The Black Snake wanted to hurt him by showing him mortality, and how his tribe, too, was concerned with it.
With time, he had acknowledged it as a lesson and learned much from it.

Father, as a wolfrider, already had his own approach and answers about it all.
But since Savah's teachings, his son chose to explore and to understand...
...and to cut to the bone as cleverly as possible.

Sama, the Assassin, with all her cruelty, patiently explained even more to him.

Oh!... Of course, the Prince STILL hated to kill.
But now, he knew how to deal death.
And it had taught him even more respect towards life.

----

He waited in the old Lord's Palace, his steps leading him along the stone corridor to the great Hall of salt, the place where merchants paid their tribute for the huge benefits of their ever trading ways to the one insuring their security in Yissmirr.
He waited for the fall of the night, when he could speak with the old Lord himself.

The Hall of salt was a splendid room, with walls covered with great and subtle tapestries, each one worth two or three convoys of silk, worth months of efforts, worth even of his attention, used as he was to elfin art and subtlety...
This "palace" seemed both so huge, when compared to Sorrow's End, and yet so pitiful, when compared to the Palace.

Right here, in this room, only a few hours before, he had ruined three merchants, by publicly exposing their treachery.
The old Lord had heard of it and Yaggzi, the throne's advisor, a cold and clever man in his careful fifties, had sentenced them to pay immediately the double of the usual fee to the throne...
The other alternative was made crystal-clear by the guards' attitudes.
The merchants had paid, looked upon by their numerous competitors, there, with cool disdain.
"Just like thieves innerly mocking some colleague surprised by guards with a hand in a fool's pocket", as Sama pointed.

Hatred was intense, in the way the three merchants looked at the young elf.
No more of the usual fascination and respect, in their eyes.

He was still slowly adjusting to the clothes and shoes he had to wear, which made the Prince not as comfortable as he would have wished to be, in order to correctly appreciate the tapestry of Gaïoon, twice his height, twice as wide as a no-hump was long, and representing a vision of some deep jungle...
When confronted to the numerous and subtle hues of green, his thoughts wandered towards the Forevergreen and Jethel...

Only one of Sama's stern admonitions, during his repeated training sessions, saved him :
"When you follow a routine, when your mind wanders, when any diversion can catch you off-guard... the assassin strikes."

He kept his pace regular.
Despite the old Lord's coughs he heard from upstairs, despite the doors that swung open on the left, despite the specific odor he now smelled near his position, right in the direction he was following...
Some air move, with a tiny but not unexpected particular move on a section of the tapestry he was slowly walking to...
His shoes keeping a calm rhythm towards it.
And then he moved strangely, faster than a human could, with fluid, cat-like movements... ending with his dagger, firmly held by his left hand, striking at a precise point on the tapestry.

A scream of pain and surprise, a faint gurgle.

An arm suddenly tearing its way through the tapestry...

Sunstream pressed further, turned the dagger to get past the ribs.

...with a hand covered by a black glove, metallic nails...

The man died under the Prince's cruel three-bladed dagger.

...all soaked with a smelly substance that reeked of death.

The long nails never touched the elf's flesh.


"I have trained you well enough, it seems"
The voice was warm as velvet.
The tall woman was in her active fourties, her skin darker than Savah's, with long black braids ornated with pearls and canines. Most of them human canines.
At Sama's side stood a pale skinned young kid, a girl, her arms crossed, with a calm and steady gaze that seemed to record everything. Twelve years or so.

"You have trained me too well, Sama", muttered the elf, while cleaning the blades.
"Who is she? Your new apprentice? What's her name?"

Sama looked at the red-headed girl with a smile and, while pointing the incoming guards, told her :
"Go and tell them everything you just saw and heard."

Sheathing his dagger, Sunstream noticed : "You didn't answer me, Sama..."
"She has yet to earn her name. The one you just killed was named Nails. Very expensive. Good riddance."

They both listened in silence to the girl's complete report.

---- -

Long after the guards had removed the assassin's corpse and the ruined tapestry, and erased all traces of what happened in the Hall of salt, Sunstream was allowed to meet Gieoff, the old and wise Lord of Yissmirr.
The Prince had spent nearly an hour speaking with Sama's young apprentice, his heart deeply troubled, his hands still shaking.

What he had learned from the young girl was even more upsetting.
She was condemned from the start, daughter of slaves as she was.
She was only seven years old when she had fled the slaves' prison and she barely survived into the streets for two years, before the thieves' guild took her under its wings.
Sama then picked her and patiently trained her as an apprentice and after she proved her value by eliminating her first two targets, Sama decided to let her earn her name by leading her on the delicate path of spying.
After the last two missions she excelled at as a spy, she only needed to bring enough results from a third one to finally earn her name.
A name she would choose by and for herself.
This created echoes in the mind of an elf who had earned his name by getting rid of a dormant evil...

While entering the old Lord's private chamber, Sunstream suddenly realised Sama had been mysteriously smiling all along the girl's explanations, as if the Black Pearl was prying on his thoughts...

He sat before the sick Lord, and, while staring at his open hands before him, he said :
"I killed a human..."
After three heartbeats, the elf suddenly realised the old Lord had fallen abruptly silent.
Gieoff was looking at him just like someone suprised to find some ugly spider in his plate.
Despite his surprise to meet such a tense and hostile gaze from someone he considered as a friend, Sunstream suddenly felt something familiar, some sensation he had felt only in Savah's presence, when he was still the young "Suntop".
Some lesson to come.

He adjusted his mind just like he always did, in such occasions, figuring it to be some surface of sand, sheer and ready for anything to be drawn upon it.

It took almost eight more heartbeats before the Lord's voice whispered, slowly and purposefully clear :
"Most of us 'humans'... have standards about those of us deserving to be called 'human beings', young ELF. You eliminated a FIEND, not a 'human'."
Sunstream gasped... and pondered even more when the old man added :
"The assassin named 'Nails' had killed at least thirty-five persons in Yissmirr or around, and among those people were three very respectable 'humans' I still mourn, Prince..."

As the elf remained silent, the Lord muttered :
"Therefore, you have all my thanks for properly dealing with that piece of trash. Let his name never be pronounced anymore."

At a sign, servants brought a game of 'Yarri' on the table, and the Lord began by moving three pieces.
Sunstream was not in the mood for the game, but he understood it was part of the lesson.

The game was complex, asking for much more subtlety than what most elves thought humans able of, with such strange notions as hierarchy and individual value of pieces intervening.
Sunstream played routinely, with the active and fast way he had learned to develop in months of play with the Lord and Sama.
Oddly, this time, his opponent didn't comment any move and played offensively.
Soon enough, the threats got multiple, pressing, and Sunstream had two of his three 'Hierr' pieces, the special ones offering the multiplicity of moves, captured.
It was totally new and unlike the Lord's ways.
Sunstream was soon forced to defense and even to retreat...
...and he faced a final devastating attack he had foreseen only partly and only two game turns before.
Lowering his 'Lord' piece and crossing his arms in sign of abandon, he heard the Lord asking him :
"What did you learn from this ?"

"You humans are unpredictable..."

In anger, the old man wiped the table and threw the game, the pieces and the drinks everywhere, and, panting, barely keeping his rage at bay, he whispered :
"You urgently have to get that threats are more to be feared than attacks !"

While the servants helped Gieoff to get back to his bed, Sunstream left the chamber, thinking to himself about it all.
He had hoped to make friends with humans, but now... the fact most elves clearly didn't know an eighth of what was needed to be known about their old "foes" was all too clear.

He finally got the lesson's aim, as a punch in his face, when the Lord screamed, from his bed :
"You are soon to be in charge of this town, Prince ! We 'humans' do not disappoint our friends..."

The long and painful coughs that followed, as well as some specific smell he had perceived in the chamber, that had his wolfrider instincts nearly having him growling, some moments ago... forced Sunstream to correct what he had estimated : it would not be months.
But weeks.

At best.

---- --

Wandering in the empty corridors, Sunstream's thoughts were still at the game. So complicated. Just like the human rules in this town. He remembered how shocked he had been, first, by some of them. A woman who had been recognized... - no: MARRIED to a man, with special vows of faithfulness along with other notions, most of them terribly strange to him... This woman had been seen sharing furs - no: "sleeping with another man", and the Lord's justice had her condemned to have her two hands severed, and to be raped in public.
And since no one would help her, she soon died on the spot.
Sama had to physically refrain him from intervening...

Suntream reconsidered his feelings at the time.
Surprise shook him far more than shock and horror, in fact.

The game... The Lord piece could not rule without some pieces to relay his orders. When pieces were too far from the Lord or from one of his relays, the pieces became independant and were to be regained.
Yet, all pieces with a lesser hierarchic position than the Lord or his relays were faster, more efficient, and did almost all the work.

He had noticed that protecting the Lord and following the decided global attacks slowed them all down and proved dangerous.
Which was why he played in a way that must have seemed strange, to most human players, by moving his Lord piece and relays almost constantly, spreading them all around, thus multiplying the targets, looking frail... but in fact many strong players admitted their surprise in finding very difficult to attack him efficiently. They had to aim specifically at his Lord, which was made uneasy, considering his global mobility...

Walking almost alone in the asleep Lord's Palace, the elf's reflexions went deeper.

Such games reflected the human society...
No: this game, for one, was DESIGNED to TEACH some humans HOW to rule !...

What if humans... no: what if human beings could live better without any "Lord", any "Djuhn", any kind of leader !?
Or elves, for that matter ?

He concentrated and almost instantly proposed this idea to his sire and to his sister's minds, and their respective answers came :
"A tribe needs a chief, lad..."
"...and a chief needs the tribe above all, cloud-head !"

He repressed his honest and urgent "WHY?!" question.

He already knew there was no real anwer to this.

Savah's wisdom had reached her goal, about this precise point, when she patiently showed him how she "ruled" Sorrow's End.
Or, more exactly, how there was no NEED to "rule", to "give orders", for a peaceful and efficient community to work just fine.

Power...

He knew his sire's mind.
He was aware of his sister's inner fight.
He remembered Lord Voll's dign and distant ways.
He recalled only too well Winnowill's insane obsession.
He had been told about the Djuhn's authoritarian system.

Sama. She knew much about what power meant, for humans...

---- ---

Sunstream entered Sama's private room, near the Palace's main entrance.
She was training herself, naked as always at that time of the night, desperately trying to exhaust herself in exerting her muscles, nerves and coordination in complex and acrobatic moves and fake attacks and defenses.
Almost silently so, to human ears.

Though a human would have considered her desirable, with her nearly black skin gleaming with perspiration, the elf was used enough to humans to saw the first signs of age on her.

Accustomed to his presence and ways, Sama didn't even break her rhythm when he stepped in.

Sunstream's thoughts went to Brill, though, and, after showing the scene to his recognized love, she shared with him : "Some landers ARE beautiful, in their own ways, too..."
As gently as possible, after some more intimate emotions and words, he soon cut the silent communication, though, for one thought was coming back to his mind :
"Sama, Gieoff is going to die. Soon..."

To that, Sama reacted by STUMBLING, right in the middle of one of her most usual training jump-and-roll-and-hit maneuver.
She stared at the elf for two heartbeats...
And suddenly erupted in an incredibly JOYFUL laugh !

Sunstream was shocked, the memories of the Black Snake's ways all too fresh in his still young mind.

But, strangely enough, he soon had to admit it was not mockery, not even Sama's usual cruelty.
Real joy.

"Are you..."

"Mrrrfff... Oh, you ARE the one to be in charge of this town, for sure !",
interrupted the dark skinned assassin, looking right into his eyes.
"BECAUSE you CARE for us, while you're not a human, and you are eager to LEARN a lot about us.
You MIGHT even learn that if there is ONE certainty in our universe, it's that we ALL die !..."
And with an ice-cold tone, she sternly added :
"...and I'm the sanest mind, in this room, young elf."

She stood before him, dign in her nudity, and considered him for a while, while Sunstream, forced to think by such a Savah-like stance and attitude, pondered, hesitantly, feeling not so sure that he was not a child anymore, after all...

His eyes were suddenly drawn by a great parchment hung on the next room, with two bodies drawn on it.
One of a human male adolescent, and the other one... HIS body !
He came closer to it, still attentive to Sama's moves, though she simply smiled and watched.

Precise drawings. Very precise, in fact...
And with small dots at specific points of both anatomies.

Sunstream shivered, as he suddenly realized.

Sama's voice confirmed it all :
"Yes, we've been studying you... as you've studied us, haven't you?".

"We?..."

"Master Feather, the fighting master. He's guessed your nerve centers, and I have had all the time to confirm most of them, when you slept."

"I... I trusted you, Sama !..."

"And you did well, since no one else will EVER see this."

"Why do you always try to frighten me ?"

"THIS is my job. Assassins are here to send a message of FEAR. Not only to kill, you should know it, by now !"

Long moments passed.
Sama put a robe on, an elegant one that went soaked by her sweat.

She sat, waiting patiently for the young elf she had come to befriend to gather his spirits - she had noticed that after such shocks, he most usually had THE interesting thing to say...

But this time, the elf simply turned his back on her.
As if rejecting her, her ways, her very being.

And when he finally sat at the table, in front of her, he only said, looking down :
"Sama, I came to discuss about power."

---- ----

The Lord's favourite assassin gazed at the young elf, remembering the last months, and Sunstream's arrival in Yissmirr.
He was barely disguised, speaking with a strange tone and an accent that made evry head turn at him.
Fortunately, Sama's spies had quickly identified him for what he actually was and warned her, and with the Lord, they lost no time in arranging a somewhat official and very profittable meeting and unveiling, the "spirit" having "graced" Yissmirr and the aging Lord by his visit.

And the Lord even proclaimed :
"Let Him be considered as my son, our new Prince !"
After all, his two sons, his official heirs, had died some years before...

Or so it was presented to the witnesses, and the tale confirmed, arranged and repeated on hearsay to everyone else's attention.

And Sunstream since adapted to the city's ways and made his best to make friend with almost everyone, from peasant, beggar, thief, to the Lord himself, and his cruelest assassin, with time.

But BECAUSE she REALLY was his friend, Sama was not fooled by the elf's ways.
To most, he was a "spirit", a legend, triggering awe and seducing many with his ways and wise and clever words.
But Sama hadn't earned her rank by being unable to judge a character, be it a non-human one.
She knew quite well that Sunstream was NOT naive.

When he finally looked at her, she abruptly asked :
"Who would you reward?"

"HUH!? Ummmm... Why, I would reward those who..."
But Sunstream's memories of Savah's lessons were too vivid to his ever-awake intelligence.

"WHY would I be the one to decide ? Why not let them decide ?"

It was the assassin's turn to be taken by surprise and shocked :
"Let THEM decide!? You cannot be..."

And then she realized the elf had ALWAYS been serious, all along.
As if some heavy weight had been put on his shoulders.
On his conscience.
Since long.

The strange pair fell silent, at the table.

An elf waiting for answers to questions he could not express...
...and a well trained official killer with a multitude of new possibilities suddenly invading her brain, most of them strangely pleasing and interesting.

Only one of her most promising students had triggered this in her, many years ago, by calling to her intellect in an extremely delicate situation, where some assassination seemed impossible.
She reminded how the young bravo answered to her problem by a riddle :
"If the target is secluded, guarded day and night, knows how to fight, and is rich... why not invert the situation ?"

What it all implied, however...

The enigmatic and mischievous smile she now glimpsed on the elf's face clearly showed he was MEANING it !


She hand-signed him to take his dagger in hand, and took hers.
Then, silently, she disposed the three-edged daggers on the back of each other's right forearm, and whispered :
"I am with you in this only if you swear by your blood, with me, to follow that path up to the end..."

After a score of heartbeats, not smiling anymore, the elf simply nodded, and the three cuts were done, and the bloods mingled.

Sama was now sure Yissmirr would soon be a great and splendid city. A "Phâ", as they called it on this part of the continent.
And since many nicknamed Sunstream "Aïn", which meant "clear source", the assassin smiled, despite the burn and the risk of the fresh cuts on her arm, that would never be tended and could infect, according to the conspiracy oath's rules, for she guessed that the city she had come to despise, with years, would soon be known as "Aïnpha", and eternally renowned as "the town whose Prince was an elf".

_______________________________________________

Almost one year had passed since the old Lord's death.

Sunstream was impressed by the amount of things that a whole city of humans could accomplish during such a short time.
Most inhabitants of this city he now ruled called him 'Aïn', ie 'clear source' (of wisdom). It mainly amused him.

Now, Yissmir had representatives from every domain of activity, all of them gathering, on some planned occasions before the Prince, for him to decide for the whole city's fate.
An Assembly.

This morning, the subject was the death penalty.
Inside the great Hall of Salt, now named 'Hall of the Assembly', before the small throne where Sunstream sat, all the representatives had exposed for nearly an hour most of the related positions and arguments.
Shortly, clearly and calmly.
None of those representatives could afford spending more than one day per week away from their activities.
Practical people.
Everything was written down by various scribes, and a multitude of messages were still being emitted and received from the representatives to almost the whole city's population.
Within the Hall, all discussions were whispered, and all the representatives were sitting. Only the guards were standing.

Sunstream had heard all points, and was hearing even more than most thought he was, but the nature of most discussions was saddening him.
Killing a human being seemed normal, to the vast majority, in an incredible amount of situations, most cases sounding silly or crazy to the gentle elf's mind.

The crowd fell silent when the Prince said: "Please, all.." and he stood, crossing his arms.
"Hear my question."

Sama loved the way all those powerful representatives and their assistants fell even more silent.
The Prince's voice was firm and clear, making the question even more significant.
"CAN A CORPSE RETRIBUTE THE VICTIMS?"

Sama observed and recorded the reactions to that seemingly naive question. It would be repeated and commented throughout the city and the whole country.

What worried her the most were Aïn's personal guards' attitudes.
To those words, many guards were briefly kneeling towards their Prince, their palms flat on the ground. Awe on their face.
Kids, Sama thought.
Some guards now stood more proudly, in a very dign attitude, expecting their Prince to lead their city to new heights of glory.
Kids.

The crowd fell dead silent, as the sounds from the scribes were stopping.
They all thought and pondered the question.
After many heartbeats, one by one, some representatives stood.
Only one, T'gerren, a very respected Ancient, the representative of Justice specialists, was spreading his arms, his hands open, thus meaning he would speak in the name of the whole Assembly.
The Prince pointed him, thus allowing him to speak.
"This Assembly requires having the power of life and death".
After two heartbeats, the Prince nodded, meaning he had heard and understood.
Sama sadly observed that the respectful silence was almost immediately replaced by an explosion of whispers, guards even having to stop many from raising their voice.
Kids.

Sama then stood and stepped forth, and said:
"Security requires the use of force, and the occasional dealing of death".
The silence was now a fearful one.
Kids.

The Prince sat down. Obviously disappointed.

Fortunately, some representatives soon expressed the need of organizing retribution.
A few even proposed limiting the use of death penalty to the most severe cases.

The scribes had finished noting the main points and the Prince stood again. For decision. His right fist raised, directed to the crowd.
"The Prince grants the Assembly the charge of deciding of life and death, as well as the duty of insuring retribution to the victims of crimes. Security will be guaranteed."
He opened his hand, meaning this decision was his gift to Yissmir's people, and he sat again.
All of the representatives soon stood and saluted their Prince. And they left the Hall, one by one.

"Well played, Sunstream" Sama thought. "Very well played".
Sunstream was sad, she perceived it, and thought:
"Yes, elf.. Power is at the core of most human beings' concerns."

Soon, Aïn would discuss for hours with the few ones clever enough to prove to the guards that they had THOUGHT about the question and his decision.
Sama would have to NEGOCIATE for months with many representatives and powerful ones about the WAYS the Assembly would be allowed to adopt..

From now on, she had much more power, and her assassins would have MUCH work. For long.

----

Leaving the Assembly, Sunstream, the Prince of Yissmir, whom many there now called Aïn, was deeply disappointed and disgusted.
With his armed escort, saddlemen on his sides, he and his personal guards, counselors and friends were coolly walking on a wide muddy street towards a rich tavern, 'The Deer', invited for lunch by Arrlam, the representative of the region's hunters.
Sunstream was thinking: "Even Sama didn't care about how absurd it is to kill for a kill or such deeds.. But what did I expect? She's an assassin. Maybe I was wrong in accepting being the old Lord's heir. Maybe I should let go of that path, abandon this smelly, evil city, go back to Brill, our cubling, the Palace, dear Savah, Timmain.. my search for other elves.."

At his side, and all around him, in the street, the people, the guards all looked at him nervously, with awe, deep respect, gratitude and even emotion, for some.
Only a thirteen year girl, clad in dark clothes, who had chosen 'Slitter' as her name, was walking at his side and looking at him with calm, neutral eyes.
He thought: "Sama wanted me to play this game one step at a time, but it's all about power. Humans are not able to choose by themselves. I should warn father about it."
But then his thoughts drifted to his sire's attitude, to Shuna, and he reconsidered.
"Or maybe.."

Only HE perceived the sound in time, and he dodged, swifter than any human might have.
The huge metal bolt coming from a house ahead of the street missed him, but it hit the horse of one of his escorts, behind him.
The horse was completely pierced, armor and all, and died almost instantly.
Seeing this, another tragic scene, a hard memory hit his mind back and had him freezing, standing rigid and motionless.
"Voll!" He had even uttered that name aloud.

The guards reacted quickly, some of them shielding the Prince, many galloping and running towards the house.

The last assassination attempt was already five months old.
Sunstream only heard the cold, chilling voice of the young 'Slitter', near him, muttering: "They will not find them.. I will."
She left as the guards secured the Prince and his group, still in the middle of the street.
Sunstream was now shivering..

Believing him to be under shock, his counselors and friends among his personal guards tried to reassure him, telling him no one was wounded, that everything would be alright soon, and the like idle talk.
His eyes fixed into nothing, Sunstream finally muttered: "Too many of you humans crave for power. It desperates me."
Abruptly, he sat on the muddy street.
Some of his friends had heard and understood, and they sat before him, gently searching for his eyes.
Sunstream eyed them all, one by one, with an intent gaze, and whispered to their ears only, when sounds around finally allowed it:
"There MUST be another way, my friends. Power MAY belong to EVERYONE."
Symbolically enough, only four of them, a hand, had really understood what he meant. He knew it from the startled and then very thoughtful and worried looks on their faces.
Sunstream told the other ones to go back to the palace, but he kept those four with him.
They were whispering when they heard the guards coming back, empty handed and shameful.
They were still whispering as they were all coming back to the Lord's palace, a message of formal excuses being sent to Arrlam.

Later, in the afternoon, 'Slitter' was admitted into Sunstream's private room, and simply said: "Two of them talked."
The elf nervously eyechecked the red-headed girl's belt, and, under her coat, he noticed the three freshly severed thumbs attached on it.
He began: "Who.."
The girl interrupted him: "The city of Garrij. Salt taxes. I shall report further to Sama".

---- -

This morning, the Prince had a private audience with Doma, the woman who had been chosen as the representative of salt merchants.
Probably the most powerful person in Yissmirr, after the Prince.

She was a dign and calm woman, only impressed by the elf, with a very neutral attitude that had won her a huge level of respect among other merchants, along the years.

The audience had been asked and organized in the highest room of the Lord's Palace, windows opened to a splendid and global view of the magnificent city.

A very private audience, with only one guard, at the bottom of the stairs leading to the top of that tower.

The discussion was ending, mainly about some taxes, and the Prince and Doma had been negociating for some specific conditions of trade.

Then, after a pause, Doma stood, went to a window, contemplated the town, and muttered:
"I guess what you have set in motion.."

The Prince stood too, fully aware he was alone with that woman, who might very well attack him, but he kept his calm, eager to hear what she would add.

"My elder son was approached by one of your whispering friends, and he finally found the nerve to tell me everything."

Sunstream was now ready for violence, yet he stepped towards the calm woman, stopping two steps behind her.

"How your hidden organization plans to get rid of the ruling elite, of slavery, of the expression of power in this city. Your hope for this city to get rid of hierarchy and its abuses."

A tense pause, then:

"At first I was very angry about it all, very disappointed, elf.
I am convinced that all human beings are defined by their social place.. and that if you destroy this, you destroy their very identity."

After pondering this, Sunstream calmly answered:
"I mean to BUILD, Doma.. A system where power would EXIST.. but would be SHARED by everyone."

And he added:
"And sharing comes with RULES. The clearer, the better."

Doma gave this reply some moments of silent reflexion, and concluded:

"I see. Indeed..
Without hierarchy, only representatives would be needed."

To the elf's surprise, she made the secret hand sign of the growing conspiracy, meaning she agreed to actively participate to it.

Pride had her saying:
"Most representatives would not show much love or respect for you anymore, if they knew what is brewing. I must be the first one to join your whispering revolution, hmmm?.."

Smiling, Sunstream merely commented:
"Only one of them, far as I can tell.."

---- --

It had taken three days.

The former masters had found their home deserted by former slaves and servants.
The workers from almost all activities had not come to their working places.

On the first day, all were gathering before the Palace.
This simple thing took the whole morning.

In the afternoon, the whispers had been replaced by calm, organized discussions, the Prince intervening from the main balcony.

All seemed peaceful, but on this day Sama, her assassins and the guards had MUCH work, to prevent violence from erupting.
Mainly from the "masters" who slowly understood their personal power was at stake.

The inhabitants of Yissmir would call it the "whispering revolution".
After three days, they had finally established a new ruling system, with only representatives, who would be "elected", a new conception meaning that EVERYONE concerned and informed could and WOULD vote for this or that representative.. AND that any important decision would be voted for or against, as well.

Sunstream, exhausted, had a final saying, from the balcony:
"Now, you do not NEED a Prince anymore!"
and right after these words, he jumped from the balcony, scaring the guards.

He had changed back to his elfin clothes, and he landed safely, four heights of man down.

The acclaims finally erupted, and his friends organized the final escort, all hands trying to touch the elf who had changed their lives forever.

Before he could depart, a group of representatives stopped the escort and proclaimed that, in memory of this revolution, they would change the name of the city to "Aïnpha".

Out of the city, Sama joined the escort and detailed to the elf what actions had been needed to insure the revolution would succeed.

Six days later, the escort had reached the isolate place Sunstream had asked to be escorted to.

He left his friends there, alone, without food, telling them he entrusted them to make sure Aïnpha would not need another revolution again.

Many were overcome by emotion, and wondered why he would be left alone like this, but after some hours of intense discussion and even begging, they finally left him.

The Palace came to Sunstream's mental call after six more hours.

Of course, some humans had found the nerve to stay around, and they saw the elf entering the huge and eerie magical structure..
..and those few witnesses, among them Doma, saw it flying towards the south east, towards the great sea.

When Sama heard the first reports, she smiled.
She intended the tale to grow into a legend..
..and she delighted in the way she would harp on it.

---- ---

"Through you, I have learned far more about humans than I would have thought possible, Sunstream."

Timmain's words were more thanks for his actions than anything else.

She simply added, while the Palace was heading towards Brill..
"I will make sure this knowledge gets shared among us all."

Before Sunstream left her, on the island the Palace had landed on, Savah reminded him his duty:
"Like you found your soulmate, remember you can find and unite all elves of this world.."

Brill in his arms, he nodded, and replied:
"I will".

 Always an excellent read, PC!

I've said before how your story really makes a reader think and muddle over their own humanity... especially when seen through the eyes of our beloved elves   

Now it's my turn to get to work! ^^

Wow...I liked this...the imagery and message...very nice...

  

WOW.. Coming from you, Shaman, I'm flattered!

But really, it was only a little try.
English is not my native luggage, you know, and I simply had this tale in my head for years, before I finally found the nerve to post it, in the official Scroll.
Know I never corrected it, and there's almost a one year delay between the two parts.

Today I just sneak in to drop a belated Easter gift.

I really regret Wendy Pini considered Sunstream as able only of sending " the Call ".

Here, with this little try of a tale, I tried and show he would have been the perfect agent for obtaining a true, lasting peace with human beings.

What a cute belated Easter Gift, Embala! You keep charming dreamer Suntop alive this way.

@PC: I think your visions of Sunstream and how he really USES his overwhelmingly powerful, mystical and underestimated powers suits him wayyy better than just letting this character send a call...

... your story and how Sunstream accepts his "duty" in the end by saying "I will". Loving this powerful and heroic answer!

Prayer wrote:

..
your story and how Sunstream accepts his "duty" in the end by saying "I will".  Loving this powerful and heroic answer!

Glad you read and appreciated that (first pitiful try of a) tale, dear.

I wrote it long ago, already.
( After some months of having it maturing inside my poor head... )

I had it for loooong in my mind, during the old SoC era, but I feared that elfmom would want my skin for it and that elfpop would go 'TSK' about the awful writing style.

Yet, I eventually found the nerve to post it there, then.. and, since some elf-friends appreciated it (to my utter surprise), I posted it here, too..

Will someone ever try and draw this story..?