Chapter Thirteen: Weddings
Tranith Argan: Book 6
The time has come for Felanar and Alessa to marry, but not just them.
When Felanar sailed into Larmoth Bay a few days later, he thought about the last time he sailed its waters and the vast fleet of ships it held in preparation for battle. Now on this fine late summer day he saw nothing but small fishing vessels and a few boats for leisure. The peace he felt in his heart was reflected in a world that feared no threat. When he was dropped off on the dock by the Erenár sailors, he stepped back onto Arenar land and felt at home.
Soldiers on horses met his ship and soon he was riding toward the Lofty Mountains accompanied by an honor guard. By late that day they approached the walls of Tranith Argan high up in the hills and a cheer rang up from the city that spread inward from the guards on the wall through each successive wall and into the palace area. Felanar rode through the streets of Argan as the conquering hero he was once again, but this time it was truly and completely so. Everyone knew that this was the man who killed—personally, mind you, with his bare hands—the Evil One, who as the telling continued grew in stature and strength in the mind of the city’s inhabitants. By now they were imagining Felanar wrestled a nine-foot ogre of a man, and when Felanar later heard this he laughed and did not try to correct the impression. Let the people have their fun, he thought, and what does it matter now?
Felanar dismounted his steed at the palace wall and he entered his home to cheers from the guards. Soon he was in the throne room and saw Kara sitting on the throne and he ran to her. She met him halfway, leaping from the throne as soon as she saw him enter the room. They hugged tightly in the middle of the throne room and kept hugging each other for a long time.
“We shall both live after all, I see,” said Kara.
“Yes, we shall both live,” said Felanar. “We did it.”
“You did it, brother,” said Kara.
“We both did, I couldn’t have done it without your encouragement and your willingness to sit on the throne and keep the city in good shape while I rode off. Thank you, sister.”
Kara called for a meal to be served and she and Felanar walked into the dining room next to the throne room. There with ale and wine to drink Felanar told Kara all about what had transpired, right up to the point where he told Alessa’s parents about their plan to marry.
“And then what?” asked Kara. “Shall you be giving up the throne in the end?”
“No,” said Felanar quietly, “I accept the throne as I told Alessa. Better to have power corrupt a sincere man rather than a power-hungry man. I will do my best, and I think Alessa will help me, for she does not desire power, and I suspect an elf’s view of what is desirable in life has little to do with palace affairs. That will help center me.”
“Then I am free!” said Kara.
“Yes, you are free, and what shall we do with you, little sister?”
“I shall do whatever you ask of me in service to the throne, but I would like to do it with someone.”
“Oh?” said Felanar, looking up in surprise.
“Yes,” said Kara, “I wish to marry Narón.”
Felanar raised an eyebrow but then smiled and said, “I suppose that makes sense for you always enjoy his company and he wishes to be more modern in thought. Hmm . . . it seems my idea of marrying an elf is already influencing others.”
“Nothing of the kind,” said Kara. “I would have married him regardless of your intentions for Alessa or the throne.”
“Does Narón know this?" teased Felanar.
“Yes, brother, we have been talking in recent weeks while he visited. He shall be back soon, he went to the Golden Lakes but should be back within a week. We talked about many possibilities, including the one where you give up the throne and I would be stuck on it, and he would be stuck with me in this palace. I don’t think he liked that possibility very much.”
“So now that you are free, what will you both do?”
“Sail the world on his ship, I think,” said Kara.
Felanar thought for a moment.
“Then perhaps there is something you can do for me.” And he told her about his plan to bring elves and men together.
“You could both be ambassadors for the throne, as it were, traveling from port to port and as you do so, you could find out their needs and let us know. I want to increase trade, so you could find out what they have too.”
“That sounds wonderful,” said Kara. “Ah, I get to see the world at last!”
“You haven’t seen enough?” laughed Felanar.
“I’ve seen enough of the Great Plain,” said Kara, “if that is what you mean, but there is so much more I wish to see of this world. I want to see Riverton By-The-Sea and sail down the Aran river to Anslo and Whitescar. I wish to see the Bay of Talenar all the way to Bay Tip. I want to know about the island of Doran, and Whale Island, and the famous Cove of the Dwarves, and even places that do not yet exist on any map.”
“You make that life sound very appealing, sister.”
“It is appealing, and there is no reason you and Alessa cannot come with us at times. We would enjoy your company, you know that. Wouldn’t it be fun to sail into Whispering Bay one of these years, the four of us, and surprise Dolen?”
“Yes, the four wanderers reunited again,” laughed Felanar. “So when is this wedding of yours to take place?”
“Whenever we want, I suppose,” said Kara. “We were just waiting to see what was to be my fate. When is your wedding?”
“When Alessa is ready,” said Felanar.
“Then we shall have two royal weddings,” said Kara.
“And thus twice shall men and elves join together in public ceremony,” said Felanar.
“The world is changing,” said Kara.
“We made it so,” said Felanar.
The next few weeks were spent with business of state and of the heart. Narón returned and heartily embraced his new ambassadorial role for the throne, though he noted that some of his crew would not approve of this, and that he would have to get new crew to replace them. He went off to see about that while the palace began making plans for a double wedding, the news of which brought immense joy and excitement to the city.
Anarth met with Felanar and the two got on well in the end. The old regent had been most grateful for Kara’s use of him in important ways throughout the city, and he loved the attention as always. But now that the idea of a rightful king had settled on his heart, he also acknowledged to himself that he was getting on in years and might do with a slower pace. In short, he embraced his new role wholeheartedly and sought nothing more than to remain as a figure beloved in the city. Felanar told him he would be useful for all his days, and for generations to come they would talk of the final regent who kept the city safe for when the king arrived. Anarth beamed at the thought.
Felanar also met with Ravesfel, and here the meeting was more wistful in tone. Felanar never forgot what Ravesfel had done to Kara, though he had forgiven him. More to the point, what was to be the role of the guardians now?
“I wish to name new dukes for Tranith Heron and Tranith Toar,” said Felanar. “Sevis can remain duke of Irular Istan for I think that city may fade in importance in time as the Tranith cities return to stature, and Sevis is just the man to rule over a fading city. But what of Joreth and Milon?”
“And what of me?” suggested Ravesfel.
“Well, yes,” said Felanar, “what are your plans and the plans of the other guardians?”
“We would like to stay and continue our work for a little while,” said Ravesfel, “for that was why we originally came here, and now that the throne is finally established, I would like to see it get off on the correct footing. Yet there is a feeling that we have stayed too long, it is something we have talked about of late. The world is changing, and frankly it is changing for the good from what I see.”
“What would you like to do, old friend,” asked Felanar gently, thinking of his earliest memories of the guardian back in Brindledown.
“It will soon be time for us to leave,” said Ravesfel. “We have done enough harm lately, it seems to me.”
Felanar caught the sadness in the old man’s voice and he felt pity for the guardian. Yet he said nothing, for that was the answer he was hoping for. It was time to move to a new way of ruling.
“Where will you leave to?” he asked.
“Our original home, of course,” said the guardian, “and it is not on any of your maps, though your lands are on ours.”
“So you will watch over us from afar?” asked Felanar.
“Something of that nature, when we take an interest,” said Ravesfel.
“Will you visit again?” asked Felanar.
“No,” said Ravesfel, “I grow tired of this physical body and wish to be free of it now.”
“I will honor you for what you did for the throne all these many generations,” said Felanar.
“That is generous of you considering what has come between us, not to mention what Vélakk did to this world.”
“I am feeling generous, my friend. Stay as long as you wish, but I am glad you are leaving in the end. It feels like I am finally grown up.”
“As you are,” said Ravesfel quietly.
Canar, the old advisor to Anarth who had been a spy for Vélakk was released from prison, taken by ship to Shanaar, and told he could start a new life on that island as it began to shift to a trading and farming culture instead of a war culture. Some advisors to Felanar had urged Canar be put to death, but Felanar refused, said enough lives had been lost, Canar’s sponsor was dead, his allies scattered, and there was no place on Shanaar for him to cause trouble. Elves were there helping to bring the land back to life, a new government was busy setting up trade routes and repairing damage from the war. New farm communities were being set up in both the mountains and along the coasts.
Canar could help these efforts, or he could sulk alone, but there was little else he could do even if his heart was still bent toward trouble. Just being cast away from Tranith Argan and its palace life was punishment enough for one like Canar.
Felanar freed the rest of the palace prisoners in a general reprieve to celebrate the upcoming weddings. For in truth the weddings were all the city talked about. They loved Kara for her leadership in a dark time, and they loved their hero Felanar who saved the city, and the thought that soon the two of them would be marrying elves was electrifying to the masses. Some said it showed the superiority of men, that elves wanted to join them instead of the other way around. Others shushed those down and pointed out that Kara was said to be going with the elves instead of staying at the palace, so what do you think of that? A few grumbled that local folks would make better mates.
Mostly the city was giddy with joy and tranquility. Already repairs were being made to any buildings that suffered damage in the past year of war, and streets were cleaned and bedecked with banners and flowers. As a steady stream of elves entered the city ahead of the wedding, they joined with men and helped make Tranith Argan more beautiful than anyone had ever seen.
Narón returned and he and Kara made plans for their wedding. Although Felanar wanted a double wedding, Kara ultimately thought it best that he be married alone. Kara would get married on Narón’s ship, an Erenár tradition that she embraced and one that she thought would sit well with Narón’s crew, new and old. So Kara would be in Felanar’s wedding, and then Felanar would be in Kara’s wedding afterward, and that satisfied Felanar.
Chafrar, Sera, Alak and Feld and their children arrived from Brindledown when the wedding was just a couple of days away. Both Felanar and Kara welcomed their family into the palace and treated them royally. Pross and Jela came with their family, and to Felanar’s surprise and delight he saw they each came with a Brindledown lad and lass who they introduced as the man and the woman they were each to marry.
Pross and Jela had accepted Brindledown life completely. Pross had taken to fishing with Chafrar and loved the life. Jela had found her life as a homemaker beyond satisfying and learned much from Sera that she intended to apply to her upcoming wedding that would be held in a month in Brindledown. Reception at the Slumbering Dragon afterward, with the whole town invited. Felanar delighted at the news and found it encouraging that Jela never looked at him the way she used to. In fact both Pross and Jela seemed at ease with her new Brindledown family, and looked nothing like the scared creatures they had been in the saark’s cavern prison.
The day before the wedding Llarand, Heléste, Dalonír and Alessa arrived in the city, along with Lloánan and Lledar, the lords of Faálla and Casilia respectively. Llafála, the lord of Melanaré did not come, and Felanar knew that things between them were not as settled as he had hoped. Llafála did not approve of an elf marrying a man, and he would not attend.
Helóne did attend and both Felanar and Kara warmly embraced their ancestor now come full circle back to Tranith Argan in the honored company of the leader of the elves. She would attend another royal wedding in this city, the city that had long ago given her such wonderful memories, and such painful ones to follow. She and Alessa had talked much about these things on the voyage over, and by the end of the voyage Alessa had convinced her that Alessa’s journey would not be the same as Helóne’s. That Helóne was once again honored among elves helped convince her of this as well.
The night before the wedding, with the entire city holding its breath in grateful anticipation, Alessa and Felanar walked along the roof of the palace looking out over the vast city.
“Are you ready to embrace this life, my love?” asked Felanar, putting his arm around her shoulders.
“I am ready to embrace any life with you, darling,” said Alessa.
“The palace life?” he probed.
“The palace life,” she said. “I look forward to seeing you rule over the people in a way that does not show Namonikkar’s insecure pride or Vélakk’s cruelty. I look forward to seeing this city made more beautiful than it has ever been. I am anxious to travel our realm and meet its people and herald in a new day of men and elves working together in harmony. Mostly I look forward to spending each day with you, to wake up in the morning and know I am with you, with not a dungeon or captors anywhere around this time.”
“Indeed,” said Felanar, “that has been our experience, hasn’t it, spending time together at night only when in prison or on the run for our lives. We will finally get to spend the night in quiet and peaceful sleep.”
“You may not get much sleep at first,” she teased.
Felanar stared at her.
"I suppose elves are extraordinary in this area too."
"You shall see," she said.
“I look forward to it,” he said as he leaned in and kissed her.
The next day arrived and it was cloudy with a hint of autumn cool, but still warm enough to enjoy without a covering. The people of the city gathered into large crowds that fanned out from the palace grounds. Some had been invited into the palace, but most stood outside and anticipated their new king and queen.
The ceremony was held in the throne room, according to the records (and confirmed by Helóne) the traditional place of weddings for Tranith Argan. Ravesfel explained how such events were held in the past, Helóne concurred and made some suggestions from her own experience, and she then gave Alessa a brooch of emerald that she said she had worn in her wedding and now wanted the young elf to own.
“In memory of my ancient beloved,” she told Alessa just before the ceremony began. “I find my memories rushing back into my head now and I remember how much I loved this palace. You will be so happy, my child.”
Alessa hugged her warmly and thanked her.
The ceremony itself followed traditions both of men and elf. Alessa’s family along with the lords of the elves walked down the aisle ahead of her and then turned and faced back and watched as she slowly advanced toward the throne. In front of it stood Felanar with Kara off to his side. Felanar tried to make out the color of Alessa’s long-flowing dress but could not. At times it seemed white with a hint of blue, at other times a multitude of colors cascaded past his eyes with green being dominant. It kept changing and Felanar had no idea how it was done.
Felanar had asked Anarth to conduct the ceremony, yet another handing off of the past to the future, and the old regent beamed as he did so. Then Felanar and Alessa were declared husband and wife, king and queen of Tranith Argan and the Tranith cities across the eastern lands, and honored lady of Elaria too. They accepted well wishes from both men and elf, the honored guests in the throne room, and then walked out onto the terrace overlooking the city where a wall of raucous joy reached their ears.
For almost twenty minutes they stood there and waved at their subjects, kissing each other from time to time and never failing to raise an even greater cheer. Anarth came out and stood to the side and smiled at the sight, and took comfort from the well wishes expressed toward him from the crowd. Kara and Narón stood on the other side and waved, Narón getting used to this sort of life, but knowing that he would spend most of his time on his beloved ship with his beloved wife. Ravesfel hung back in the throne room and felt wistful about all that had transpired.
Finally the event was over and Felanar and Alessa packed for a trip. First they would accompany Alessa’s family back to the coast and see them off to Elaria. Then they would board Narón’s boat and celebrate his marriage ceremony to Kara. Then they would all sail across the Straits of Arenar and down the River Falia. Felanar and Alessa would be dropped off near Falia Town where they would then ride a short distance to an isolated cottage in the Golden Lakes district. It was a cottage that belonged to the throne, and Alessa had fallen in love with it when she first saw it.
There it was that Felanar and Alessa had a month-long honeymoon. It was indeed memorable for them both.
