The Light of Different Stars

Her room looked as if it was expecting his sister to return to it at any time. Rowan might have passed to the Summer Lands nearly thirty years past, but still her room bespoke her presence.

Ashe closed the door softly behind him and looked about, each second bringing back a rush of memories of his beloved sister. Here, on a table by the door, sat an oddly shaped green stone, worn smooth by the tides of some distant ocean. He recalled he and Yarrow giving it to her and how pleased they were when she exclaimed at its smoothness.

"Thank you. I shall treasure this always!" she'd told her younger sibs, then sat and laughed as they tore up and down the beach to find another like it. And here it was, still here, the first thing his eyes fell upon as he'd entered the room. "Ah, Rowan. We've missed you." He lightly traced a finger along the stone, then moved further into the room.

Of course, the room was cleaned daily by the castle staff, for all the furniture would have been coated with three decades of dust. His own adult quarters were maintained as well, but he'd hardly used them over the past few years.

He hadn't looked in Yarrow's room. He doubted it was being cleaned as faithfully as it once had been.

"I don't have time for this." he chided himself, then walked across to the cedar chest sitting at the foot of Rowans' bed. Opening it let loose the scent of dried herbs and wildflowers held in several cachets placed at different levels among the contents. Ashe smiled again, and blessed whoever honored the memory of their dead mistress in this way. He gently pushed aside the images in his mind and concentrated on his reason for being here, finally lifting out a parcel wrapped in soft doeskin. He briefly opened it to check the contents, then rewrapped it and set it on the bed. After checking that he'd left the chest as neat as he found it, he closed the lid and then retrieved the bundle. "I think you'd like her, Rowan. She makes my heart sing."

As he walked back across the room towards the door, the scent of wildflowers seemed like a benediction.

*********

The adult quarters were one floor up and to the west of the library. Ashe took the lesser stairway down, preferring to avoid the more heavily traveled grand stairs and any acquaintances he might meet along its length. Jera was waiting for him and he didn't want to be delayed by friendly greetings and the obligatory conversations. Reaching the main floor, he walked straight across the corridor to the door leading out to the inner courtyard, intending to cross it to the door on the opposite side and enter the corridor a few yards from the library door. But as he neared the fountain at the garden's center, he saw a figure sitting on its edge, and slowed his steps. This was one encounter he could not simply breeze by. "Good eve, Father."

Evaynanvathallion, Head of clan Silver Rose and ruler of the Sithryn, looked up at his son. Judging by the expression on his face, Ashe might very well have walked on by him unnoticed. "Ashe! Good eve? Is it that late already?" He looked about himself and frowned.

"Father, are you ill?" Ashe felt a moment of fear. His father looked gaunt, his face lined and tired, but it was this apparent confusion that worried him most. His own expression must have betrayed that worry, for Evaynan gave a soft laugh.

"Tired, yes, and perhaps a bit ill as well." He stood to face his son. "And no, definitely not about to Fade. It's mostly fatigue, Ashe. Relax."

"Then you should get some rest. What have you been doing to exhaust yourself so?"

"Cleansing the Silences. The taint your brother left spread very far before it was discovered, and the effects were…well, you saw them. It's taken nearly all my time and attention to turn the Green Silences back to what they were before. Or least as close to it as I can. Some of it will never be the same again."

Ashe frowned. "Could not some of the others share the burden? And why didn't you send for me?"

"You know the land is linked to its ruler. I'm pledged to the land. It was mine to do, no other." He turned his face up to look at the sky. "Sunset's near. Nearly time to sing." He took a deep breath, rubbed his arms a bit as if chilled. "Perhaps, if you've the time, you could help me with the last of it. I find I'm not as resilient as I once was. Bring young Shane with you if his parents permit. I'd like to see him again."

"Father, I'm sorry, I didn't know." Ashe wasn't sure whether he wanted most: to hug his father or to shout at him for letting himself reach this point. "Of course I've time. And I'm sure Iannon and Skye will let Shane come to visit. I'll speak with them tomorrow." Evaynan didn't reply, but merely nodded, his eyes still on the sky. "Father?"

"I come here everynight to sing the Sun to sleep, and bid the stars welcome, just as my father and his father before him. But they sang their song from the walls. I sing here, because this was your mother's favorite place. She used to sit right there at the fountain before all of you were born and talk to me of what our children would look like, of all the things they would do. I still feel her here."

Ashe felt of sympathy, something he'd never felt before for his father, perhaps because he'd just had similar emotions up in Rowan's room. "She's in the Summer Lands, Father. She's back among the stars."

"And which stars are those, Ashe?" Evaynan murmured. "The stars that shine down on our Home, the Home we left behind, the place where she died? Or the ones that shine down here? Look at them, and tell me they are the same!" The older elf turned to look at his son. "You know they are not. I sing the evening song by the light of different stars."

"And yet, were not they all made by the Mother?" Ashe stepped closer, at last daring to place a hand on his father's shoulder. "I miss her too, and Rowan. But I know they rest in the Mother's arms, and we shall as well one day."

"I know. It's just…Ashe, I miss Home. I miss seeing the pattern of the night sky there and more. But I've kept you too long from Lady Jera."

"You knew she was here?"

"Of course I knew. I had a great deal of respect for her parents, even if they and I didn't agree on many things. If she's anything like they were, she is a remarkable person. Do you love her?"

"Yes. She has my heart."

Evaynan smiled and then hugged his son. "Then best you go to her before she forgets about you in her studies. Let her know I'd like to meet her some time. I promise not to overwhelm her."

"As if you could. Jera is a force of her own." Ashe returned the hug and broke free. "But you are right. I have to go, but I will be back with Shane. You rest and make yourself ready, and we'll help you rid the land of the last of the Dark." He turned and walked away, before his emotions could cause him to cry.

*********

When they walked out of the library, Jera holding the cloak Rowan had woven so long ago, Evaynan's voice could be heard, singing home the Sun.