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Beyond them, I could barely make out the night-black sea.
This was not the first time in recent months that I had sensed Gilthanas in my sleep. On other nights, I
had awoken unsure whether it had merely been a dream. But tonight... tonight, I was certain. I had
dreamt about Gilthanas in the past months. I had sensed him on other nights, but the sensations had never
been as strong as they had been this night. Somewhere, nearby, Gilthanas was thinking of me. I could go
to him. The dream was still strong enough in my memory that I could find him. I spread my arms and
stepped closer the railing, preparing to take on my true form and to soar into the sky.
No. I would not do this.
Gilthanas never loved me. He loved Silvara, a Kagonesti elf. And she no longer exists.
I turned from the balcony and returned to the comfortable surroundings of my quarters. I caught sight of
myself in the full-length mirror in the dressing area. I paused to study the form of Lady Arlena Plata,
Knight of the Rose.
In recent years, I've found that I cannot adopt a form that isn't pleasing to the eyes of the species I am
trying to emulate. In the years immediately following my return to Ansalon from the Dragon Isles, I made
several attempts to do so I found myself longing to be among humans, but I did not want to attract
attention, so I endeavored to make myself plain. I failed. I made one last attempt a few months after I
had returned to Castle Eastwatch, but settled on the form I wear to this very day.
I let the robe slip from my body and studied myself carefully. I appeared thinner than what I've come to
know that most human males find attractive. As Sir Francis once put it, I appeared like the kind of female
who "dies trying to bring a baby into the world, but who kin dance circles 'round most Dark Knights
while carvin' 'em to bits." The bridge of the nose was too straight. The lips were too thin. The hair with its
plain straw color would never inspire bards to write songs. Nonetheless, everything was in perfect
proportion; I was as beautiful as the average woman, and more than many and that after an attempt to
not be attractive.
Still, this form was no Silvara. With that thought, my form changed, almost unbidden. My shoulders
narrowed as my body grew shorter and slimmer, my skin darkened, and my eyes grew larger and more
slanted. My hair turned a silvery-white. The image looking back at me in the mirror was Silvara, a female
who was the very pinnacle of what the Kagonesti considered beauty.
"We want your guidance," Lady Riva had said when I first came to Castle Eastwatch with the intent of
aiding the Knights here. Naturally, I wore the form of Silvara. "Your experience, wisdom, and insights
will be an invaluable aid as we gather strength to oppose Gellidus the White and his minions. But I cannot
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tolerate you appearing in that fashion. My Knights will find it difficult, and the mercenaries will find it
impossible to take you seriously when you appear like that. They will either view you as a fantasy come
to life, or they will treat you as a barbarian savage. I need you to be a Knight of Solamnia, not an elf
whom my troops might look down upon. "
This form had inspired bards to write songs. This form had set the heart of my beloved Gilthanas aflame.
This form had brought me much pain and suffering.
It was also the body of a woman who was dead as far as I was concerned. And with her, the bond I
had shared with Gilthanas had died. The day I became Lady Arlena was the day the pain ceased.
With a thought, I resumed the appearance of Lady Arlena. She was respected by her peers and feared
by those who would do evil both in Southern Ergoth and in the goblin nation of Sikk'et Hul. She was a
warrior whom other Knights trusted and whom they knew would always come to their aid no matter how
impossible a battle might seem.
Lady Arlena is a woman who has no need for love. The Knighthood is both her husband and child. She
has many friends and enjoys their company, but she never brooks any suggestion of romance between
herself and anyone else. She is married to the Order of the Rose, and she has no room for anything else
in her heart. Silvara loved a mortal and now she is dead. Lady Arlena now exists where once Silvara had
been, and Lady Arlena loves only the Solamnic Orders.
I am Lady Arlena now. The dreams of a dead woman mean nothing ... and Lady Arlena will not cry
over such trifles. The heat from the fireplace is causing her eyes my eyes to water.
Lady Arlena does not cry over the lost love of a different life.
I do not cry over the lost love of a different life.
I do not feel Gilthanas's love burning my soul. I feel nothing. I feel nothing.
*****
The creaking of the hull timbers was a steady rhythm, reminding the prisoner that he was in fact still alive.
The manacles, soaked with saltwater, had long since chafed his wrists raw. His tongue was swollen with
thirst, but Knights gave their prisoners only enough water to keep them alive.
Though he was barely conscious, Gilthanas knew that Lethagas was here, as were Banatharl, Carranias,
and the other elves. The Knights had told them something of their fate: They sailed toward the
mainland toward a destiny with a monstrous blue dragon called Khellendros. He had plans for the
prisoners . . . plans that were unknown, but clearly horrifying, to the Dark Knights.
Gilthanas leaned his head against the hull and closed his eyes. When he squinted hard, turning his
imagination back to a full remembrance of his past, he saw just a glimmer of silver scales.
"She's out there still," he whispered, making no sound but drawing comfort from shaping the words with
his lips. "And she waits for me ... I know she does."
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Using the Appendix
Each entry (or site) contains several sections, which contain information similar to that found within the
Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home book. All entries have an introduction, a history, and an
adventure seed. Each one also contains a section either on secrets or on present-day information, or
both:
§ Introduction: A brief paragraph or two describes a particular site, region, or phenomenon visited by
Gilthanas in this book. These descriptions provide cursory information that anyone on Ansalon might
know about the place. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]