Chapter !

The dusty road twisted itself around the hill, reaching upwards toward the cabin at the top. The man, neither young nor old, walked slowly, one step in front of the other, barely noticing the dirt clinging to the bottom of his black robe. Neither did he notice the breeze rippling through his long beard or the birdsong in the air. His sharp blue eyes stared straight ahead, their usual twinkle gone.

Step by slow step, he walked the hill. His companion followed slightly behind in
silence. They were going to the elf-girl’s cabin, the place few were welcomed
and even fewer ever went. He wanted none of this. Bad business, Cordoba
thought, gathering his own robes above the dusty road. All of this was bad
business. And why did His Exaltation insist on seeing the girl before
leaving? Just give the Wizard Council what they wanted and slip away to
the elf world. Vaalem should just go, thought Cordoba bitterly.  Go
somewhere with his books and his writings, slide quietly out of public view,
and let the council clean up the mess they had made. Just leave now, Cordoba
thought. Go seek your peace behind hte elf city walls.

But Vaalem had refused to leave until he made this journey, and the Wizard Council had sent Cordoba with him. Vaalem had initially argued, then finally agreed to
take Cordoba, as long as Cordoba would swear to keep their destination
secret. They had agreed to this; yet both Cordoba and Vaalem knew he never
would.

           She had dreamt of them the night before; a displaced wizard and his reluctant
companion. There was no surprise, then, when she saw their robes dancing
in the wind. Vaalem was one of the few who had ever made the climb up her
hill and sat at her table. He had long found peace in the company of
elves; even one who had left the walled city and lived in the
world. Aurelia had no particular interest in wizards and their curious
ways, and for the most part, the council had ignored her existence in their
realm. Vaalem, however, had found his way to her cabin one predictably
stormy night, seeking shelter.  Though Aurelia preferred her solitude, she
was an elf, and would never deny food nor shelter to anyone. Not even a
Wizard with a barely crinkled white hat, who had no idea how or why he had just
been made the head of the Wizard Council. She’d given him tea that night
and set his wet cloak by the fire. Over bread and cheese, Vaalem had told her
how very unqualified he was for the position of Exalted Wizard. How he was
afraid of failing at this most important job. He was both excited for the
opporutnity and yet longed to go back to the elf world of Mier. And in his
kind, confused eyes, Aurelia saw the childhood home she had nearly forgotten.

           Cordoba knocked on the door. Even a former Exalted Wizard should not knock, Cordoba thought. He should be escorted, with pomp and grandeur, for that was how it was
done. Or perhaps he was not a former Exalted Wizard yet, or maybe he would
be something entirely different since he had been asked to resign. Cordoba had
no idea; there was no precedent for any of this. Cordoba very much liked
precedence.

           The door opened swiftly; she had been standing there. Of course, thought
Cordoba. She’s known for days we would come. 

           “You will not enter,” Vaalem said to him. “The agreement was you would wait
outside.” 

           “Of course,” Cordoba said smoothly. That had been the
agreement. They had wanted to know where Vaalem was going, not what he
would say. The Wizard Council had as much interest in the elf girl as she
had in them. Regardless, Cordoba thought, he would stand outside the
window and listen. You never know, he reasoned, what might become useful
in these times. Such times, when a Wizard Council would overthrow their
own Exalted One. No precedence, Cordoba thought again. No precedence
for any of this.

Aurelia looked past Vaalem, her eyes resting on Cordoba. He had never seen
her. Few had. “Is he thirsty?” She asked Vaalem.      

            “Water, Cordoba?” Vaalem shrugged.

           The young Wizard nodded. “Water, please.” he said. That, at least, shouldn’t be elf enchanted, and the dust from the road had reached his throat. Aurelia
nodded towards the well. 

           “You can draw it,” she said to him, then, ushering Vaalem inside, shut the door.
“Cordoba’s a fool. Why did you bring him?”

          ”They made me," Vaalem answered

       “Who made you? You’re the Exalted One.”

      “I was,” Vaalem said.  “Potkan arrived at my doorstep yesterday.  He announced that the Wizard High Council had decided I should step down as the Exalted One.  I met with the council this morning and it was agreed. Here, here is my letter I wrote.  I refused to give it to them until they allowed me to come see you.”

           She read it quickly. It was simple. His resignation as the Exalted One, his humble request to leave the Wizard Council and retreat to Elf Land, to the Mier, to live and study among the elves for the rest of his days. He admitted his failings—too much humility, she thought, for too few failings—and acknowledged their request that he resign. 

           “It’s witnessed,” Aurelia said finally. “By Potkan, that fool.  They couldn’t even send one of themselves to summon you?  They sent their secretary instead?”

           “He came to my home,” Vaalam said again. “To my home. Told me they gave
me no choice. They said I am mad, Aurelia.”

           “Potkan is mad,” Aurelia snapped. “Mad for gold. Mad for power. It consumes
him like fire, and he’s willing to burn everyone his path. It wouldn’t surprise
me if this was entirely his idea.  He has far too much influence over the High Council.”

            “Everyone has good in them. Even Potkan.”

           “Where are you going? You can’t stay here in Sibiel.”

           “No. As soon as they release me, I am going to Mier.”

           “Will they release you?”

           “Once we negotiate the terms, yes, I believe so. They are not evil,
Aurelia. They are blinded. They do not know what they are doing in
their quest for power. I am of no use to them any longer, whatever use they
thought they would get when they elected me.”

           Aurelia picked up the letter and re-read it. Her eyes then scanned the shelves of
books lining her small cabin, searching for the volume on Wizard Law Vaalam had
once brought her. “This has never happened before,” she argued. “This
is not the way of the Wizard Council.”

           Vaalem smiled. “So much confidence for one who chooses to know nothing of the ways of wizards.”

           “I am right, though.”

           “Yes,” Vaalam said quietly. “You are right. Never before has an Exalted Wizard been asked such a thing.”

           Aurelia paused. “They’ll release you soon, then?”

           “I hope as soon as I get back. This journey was one of my requests in order
to leave peacefully. I wish them well, Aurelia. But I wanted to speak to you first.”

           “You won’t be back, then.” 

           “No. I will not be back. You do, however, still know the way to Mier, I trust?”

           Aurelia paused. “I have forgotten,” she said finally. “And I do not want you
to show me the way.”

           “Nevertheless,” Valaam said, setting his walking stick on the ground and rising from his chair. “Nevertheless, I will be in Mier as soon as I am released. I will write.”

       Aurelia raised her eyebrows. “You said you wanted to speak to me first? You could have said goodbye in a letter, without making this journey with Cordoba. We are friends, Valaam, but not such friends for that.”

           “No,” Vaalam’s voice was kind. “Perhaps not. I came to warn you. The
Wizard Council has changed. They seek power and gold, as you said. They
seek new ways. Some new ways are good. Some are not.” 

           “They’ve never been interested in me,” Aurelia replied. “I stay to
myself. They stay to their wizard selves, except you. I’m not the first elf to choose to live outside of Mier.”

           Vaalam took a deep breath. “No,” he said, “You’re not. And they have always left you alone. But times are changing, Aurelia. The wizards no longer
trust each other. The council doesn’t trust each other. They are no longer united. Fraction is coming to the wizard world, and it may reach you in ways you don’t understand now.”

           “Then tell me,” Aurelia snapped. 

           Vaalam glanced out the window, to where Cordoba stood, pretending to look at the sky. He looked back at Aurelia. “I will be in Mier,” he said finally.
“When you need me. But my companion won’t wait much longer. This was to be
a short visit.”

           “Companion? Or jailer?”

           “Kindness, Aurelia. Cordoba is as lost as any wizard these days. He is only
doing what was requested.”

           “This is why I am an elf,” Aurelia said, “And not a wizard.”

           Vaalam smiled. “I will be in Mier,” he repeated. “You can write, though it
will likely be intercepted.”

           “They have no interest in me,” Aurelia said again. Vaalam opened the door and
stepped out.

           “Things are changing, and that may be something that changes. Or perhaps not. One never knows.”

           Cordoba rushed from the window as the door opened, positioning himself as if he'd been standing outside it the whole time. “Thank you for the water,” he said
courteously. Aurelia glared at him. 

           “Is he telling the Council of Fools where you’ve been?”

           Cordoba opened his mouth to protest her lack of reverence, but a swift glance from Vaalam stopped him.

           “Again, Aurelia, kindness,” Vaalam cautioned. “And I am sure he was sent
specifically to report where I was, though we agreed otherwise.”

           Cordoba started to speak again, and then gave up. Vaalam had spent too much time among elves, he reasoned, and that has caused him to be daft in the head to
start with. Why did the wizard council elect him anyway? Cordoba would never understand any of it. He shivered, though the air was warm.  Bad business, it was.

           The wind picked up, spinning the dust around their ankles. Aurelia turned, and
when she did her cloak hood fell off her hair, spilling it down around her
shoulders. Even Vaalam had only once seen her hair, the night he sought
refuge from the storm. She had been sleeping when he knocked on the door. She
had thrown her cloak on quickly, but Valaam had still seen it. When the
storm passed, he had sought wisdom in the ancient books, scrolls in languages
few still understood, the ones only a member of the High Wizard Council or an
Elf Lord would be able to access.

           Cordoba stared at her as she pulled the cloak back over her head.

           “Come, Cordoba,” Vaalam said as he began the descent down the hill. “It is time to leave.”

           The birds stopped singing as the Wizards walked slowly down the hill. There
was only the sounds of walking sticks striking the ground, the swish of robes
and the scattering of small pebbles.

           “She has red hair,” Cordoba said finally.

           “Yes, Cordoba,” Vaalam answered patiently.

           “But only wizards have red hair.”

           “Yes, that is also accurate.”   

           “I don’t understand.”

           “Not everything is for our understanding.”

           “But—”

           “Tell no one what you have seen, Cordoba. Tell them where I’ve been. Tell
them I talked like a madman, or took off my robes and danced in the field, or
that I’m more incompetent than they can imagine. Tell them whatever you
wish. But not that. There is darkness creeping into the wizard council, and she is not safe outside of Mier. Not only is she not safe, but she does not know why. She’s been gone from Mier since she was a child, and I do not suppose she knows why her hair is unusual.”

           “Take her with you, then, Your Exaltation.”

           “You cannot force anyone to Mier. The doors are open to anyone who wishes to
enter, but the Elf Lord does not compel anyone there. Neither will I.”

           “I will keep her safe, then.”

           Vaalam looked at the western sky, at the sun just beginning to set, spilling the day’s last colors across the blue canvas.

           “Greed has entered your soul, too, Cordoba. Come with me to Mier. Come live
with the elves, and leave the wizard council behind.”

           Cordoba’s gaze fell to the ground. “They are going to elect me to the high council, Your Exaltation.”

           “Ah.” Vaalam’s eyes danced with amusement. “You don’t say.”

           “I will keep your secret, though.”

           “Do so. Now take me home, so I can give them their letter and be released to
Mier. I’ve had enough of all of this political power nonsense. I did not wish it or seek it, and though I tried my best, I will yet be glad to be rid of it.”

           

           Aurelia closed the door behind them and took her cloak off. She should have asked to go with Vaalam, she thought, then looked around her cabin. No. Mier was a long ago memory, faded and tattered with time. She did not like the way Cordoba had looked at her when her hood fell. It disturbed her, somewhere deep in her soul, somewhere she had no words to reach.