5. “Gran”
“Gran”
R halyf could feel Finley seething. The young man did not trust him, which was wise.
When one had knowledge that others didn’t–in Finley’s case, knowledge of the location of a rift to Illithor–others would surely come to get that knowledge, i.e.
, Rhalyf himself. It was lucky that everyone else was a fool and hadn’t recognized the magnitude of what Finley had found.
Finley could have been lulled into a false sense of security by all of these idiots, believing that this knowledge wasn’t useful, but that had not occurred.
No, Finley had become highly alert the moment that Rhalyf had honed in on his sketches, which just confirmed Rhalyf’s intuition that the young man was extremely intelligent.
Even those who might realize that Finley had seen Illithor likely thought that since the rift Finley had seen was now closed, it was useless to know where that rift had been.
But that was not true. If Rhalyf knew the exact location of where it had appeared, he might be able to open another.
If I want to do that…
Hadn’t he told himself that Illithor was a poison chalice?
Hadn’t he reminded himself how everyone who had gone after Illithor had died?
Add to the mix that the area was likely swarming with Leviathan–because, like Darcassan, he did not believe that the Leviathan were in any way reduced in the Under Dark in terms of numbers–made going after Illithor that much worse.
That the Leviathan, or at least some of them, were coming from Illithor made terrible sense.
Those damned Kindreth! What I told Aquilan about the Kindreth being the likely culprits in terms of weakening the wards was a wild guess.
But it was the most logical one, Rhalyf reasoned.
What if it were the Illithor wards that were weakened by them?
What if Vulre was coming to warn the Sun King of that?
Not to mention, if Illithor’s wards were weakened then Vex would know about it…
A shudder went through him. If Vex knew that someone had found Illithor, wouldn’t he return to the city to find out what had happened?
Maybe Vulre was warning Aquilan of that possibility, too.
But it had been over a decade. Yet what was a decade for Vex?
A second in terms of even elven perceptions of time.
But Vex had always reacted in an almost mortal way in the sense that he did not hesitate often. That had given him an advantage.
I need to go to Illithor to check if those wards are affected. And that’s the only reason I need to get this information from Finley. It’s completely selfless!
“You look a little gray and sweaty,” Finley remarked with narrowed eyes.
“That’s rather rude!” Rhalyf wiped the cold sweat that had broken out on his upper lip at the thought of Vex.
“I was just calling it as I see it,” Finley said, but he actually looked a little guilty at being “mean” again.
He has a good heart. Excellent, the easier to get information out of him!
“Are you feeling okay, Rhalyf?” Gemma asked sweetly as she regarded him with worried eyes.
“Yes, dear lady, I am quite well. It was just a momentary hot flash.” He cast a spell on his clothes to have them cool him down.
“I’m so glad. You still look very handsome, but you did appear… uhm…”
“No need to go farther, Gemma. Handsome is good enough.” He smiled at her.
“Speaking of how you look,” Finley began.
“I thought we were done with that discussion?” Rhalyf glared at the young man.
“You can’t go into Hope looking like you do. Elves aren’t welcome there,” Finley said.
“Really? Keeping Aravae out? That’s quite bold of them,” Rhalyf remarked.
“You can go in, but it will be unpleasant,” Finley admitted.
“And you’re all right with this?” Rhalyf lifted an eyebrow. “Me being treated differently because I’m an Aravae ?”
The full irony of this, of course, was not known to Finley. If people knew he was Kindreth, they’d be seeking his blood or running away from him in terror.
More guilt filled Finley’s face. “No, of course not! I’m just letting you know that you won’t likely enjoy the experience. So you should go to the palace and not experience it.”
“No, no, I don’t think so.”
“But–”
Rhalyf held up a hand to stop Finley’s protests. “While I would have quite a good time being ostracized, I do not wish to adversely affect your shopping adventures in Hope.”
“We’re not going to let their discrimination stand, Rhalyf! If they discriminate against you then they don’t get our business,” Gemma said firmly as she linked her arm through his and looked meaningfully at Finley to do the same.
Finley slowly, reluctantly put his arm through the one Rhalyf offered him. Rhalyf squeezed both of their hands. Finley sighed. Gemma beamed.
“I so appreciate this support, but there really is no need. Look!” Rhalyf requested as he cast the amended glamour on himself.
“What? What are we supposed to see?” Finley asked with a frown as he studied Rhalyf minutely.
“Uhm, are you supposed to look different?” Gemma asked.
“My ears! I have rounded ears!” Rhalyf glanced between both of them.
They were both squinting.
But then Gemma brightened and said, “Oh! Yeah! Your ear points normally stick out of your hair, but now… now they don’t!”
Finley sighed. “Pointed ears or no, no human could mistake you for one of us. You’re just too… too…”
“Too?” Rhalyf lifted his right eyebrow.
Finley ground his teeth. “ Handsome . But you know that! You clearly know how attractive you are, which is why you used a powerful spell to only change your ears rather than the rest of you. Because you’re vain .”
Rhalyf blinked. It was true. A little bit. Maybe more than a little bit.
“Finley, you’re being mean to him again,” Gemma said with a shake of her head.
“He has all this power to make himself look like anyone , Gemma, and he rounds his ears? That’s all he does to fit in? So when it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it is a duck. A very vain duck.”
Rhalyf narrowed his eyes. “Really? Would someone who was vain do this?”
He let a pulse of magic flow through his entire being.
He suddenly took over a foot from his height.
His back curled forward. His dark hair went white and thinned.
Well, it didn’t go his natural white but more steel gray from age.
His nose went from attractively patrician to much longer, thicker and hooked.
His chin also extended and a few long, white hairs sprouted from a large mole at the tip.
He then hollowed out his cheekbones and made his skin bloom with age spots.
He developed a paunch and bowed legs to boot.
But it was not just his body that changed.
So did his clothes. His attractive tunic, leggings and boots all in a deep blue with gold embroidery turned into a shapeless black dress with small white flowers and a lace collar.
A tannish-brown cardigan flowed over his stooped shoulders.
A cane appeared in one, shaking hand. And a pair of small pince nez glasses perched on that prodigious nose. The look was complete!
Gemma let out a gasp. “R-Rhalyf?”
Finley had gone very still. He was blinking hugely behind his glasses. His first action was to reach forward and poke Rhalyf’s cheek. He jerked his hand back and held it against his chest.
“It feels… feels real ?! Is this just a glamour or… no, no, it isn’t!” Finley shook his head wildly as Rhalyf tapped his shins with the very real cane. “It’s real . You transformed yourself!”
He had. It took quite a bit more magic use than a simple glamour, but when one was changing height, body shape, etcetera, the glamour would fail rather spectacularly if anyone simply reached out and touched him.
The difference between his usual form and his “Aravae” version was a simple change of hair and eye color.
Everything else was the same, but this was far different.
Touch him and he would feel how he looked.
No one except a very powerful Mage would know he wasn’t a human grandmother.
“Do you still think me vain now, young man? Would you say that of your dear Gran?” Rhalyf’s voice was now that of a creaking elderly woman instead of his own laconic tone.
“Wow! You don’t look–or sound–like yourself at all!” Gemma laughed, completely delighted with his use of magic.
But Finley appeared stunned. “You did that without any use of rune circles, meditation, vocal spellcraft or an enchantment!”
That wasn’t quite true. His Adiva helped him to anchor the transformation spell much like it did the glamour he usually wore. And, of course, it still provided him protection against sunlight. But, all in all, yes, he had done it with little to no help.
Take that, you foolish Aravae! Only Aquilan could likely do as much, he thought rather smugly.
It was only then that he realized he might have made a mistake by doing it so easily. Because unlike Gemma, who had no understanding of the power or skill it took to cast such a spell, Finley did know exactly how rare what he did was.
“You must be a very powerful Mage,” Finley murmured as he stared hard at Rhalyf.
“Yes, of course,” he answered and fussed with his dress.
“But, again, I haven’t seen anything written by the Neres family,” Finley pointed out, frowning deeply. “Let alone you .”
No, he wouldn’t have. The Neres were a far flung branch of the Vex bloodline, but of no real great magical prowess.
Well, not entirely. There had been a few of them in Ailduin’s court, but that was ages ago and those elves had died in the Under Dark, following after mysteries there.
And, of course, he had been in the Kindreth Empire himself and wouldn’t have been caught dead sharing even the least of his magical secrets.
“Of course, you haven’t. If you’re a truly powerful Mage, the last thing you would do is write about it,” Rhalyf said pointedly.
Finley gasped. “But that’s not true. All the greats–”