“Once upon a time. . .”
Sir Roland laughed when I looked bemused to hear it used so literally.
“It may as well be a fairytale, Essa. Silvaria had been a land of tribes for many ages before the coming of Christianity; but after its coming, outsiders began to flood Silviara, intent on conquering her people. This set the disorganized peoples in a turmoil, and the first thought was of war.”
He told me that Ayeldra was not of Elvish blood, but an outsider herself, and had washed up on Silvaria’s shore after a shipwreck. She lived for a time in the ancient capital, since lost, in the days when Silvaria was a collection of tribes, each with its own little kingdom. In those days came a war, when outsiders tried to conquer the land.
There was one legendary warrior whom everyone immediately looked to, and this was Dannon – a tribal prince of great strength, who was wed to an Elven lady, and thus had ties of loyalty to the Elvish councils. Dannon was volunteered to put into place measures to protect Silvaria – while repelling the first wave in the summer, a wall was built on the eastern shores, not passing to the west, for at that time the Sargasso Sea made sailing so far around difficult.
Meanwhile, Ayeldra made peace efforts with the outsiders, having been one of them, with some success. Some factions continued the war, so reluctantly she went to Dannon, who had sensed the plan would fail, and asked him to protect the country.
Dannon was at odds with Ayeldra from the beginning, firstly because she was an outsider, secondly because she didn’t approve of his “action first, peace later” methods. Dannon always judged whether peace was possible and usually decided, for possibly good reason, that it was unlikely. However, he was mythic in ability and gentle enough as a friend.
He took his men, and the Elves of his wife’s clan, and successfully held the shores. For the first time, all of Silvaria was united when Ayeldra turned her energy to founding internal peace and trust; and by this, Silvaria repelled all attacks and was granted the grace of preservation from the coming modern world.
In the following wake of judgement against those outsiders living within the realm, which threatened the peace she’d helped to build, Ayeldra worked tirelessly to remind the people of what distrust had caused Christ to suffer, and that only by choosing to trust would there be peace. She managed to bring back stability with the Esta’s guidance.
Dannon himself suffered a great distrust of Ayeldra, and ensured that his half of the friendship was half-aggressive, helped by his warrior blood, and was prone to overriding her plans and ignoring her suggestions. There was often conflict between them as Ayeldra tried to restrain his ideas in favor of treaties and peaceful negotiations, and as he tried to show her that peace wouldn’t always work.
When this unified state was found to require a leader, Ayeldra and Dannon were both voted for, but neither took the title. Instead, they laid the issue before the Elders. After a series of Masses was said, on the seventh day the stars shone and one fell over Ayeldra’s head, blossoming into the tiara still worn by the Princess.
“Humbled, though Dannon was at odds with Ayeldra, he subsided into the southern territories, allowing her to rule. Equally humbled, Ayeldra placed the land in Mary’s hands and crowned her High Queen, leaving herself merely princess; she chose the Silvarian emblem of the star’s light, reminding the people of the beginning of creation and salvation, and the light of hope which shines in darkness; and her successors drew upon the imagery of the Swan, symbolizing how Silvaria had been rent from the rest of the world to rest in God’s Heart. . . .”
Sir Roland brought the story back to Estraea.
“Estraea passed before she wed, and so she had no heirs. She left behind a promise from Our Lady that the throne would be taken up again in time, and Silvaria again brought into the light; for even then, Typhon was beginning to darken our realm. Silvaria split into five kingdoms after Estraea’s death. The peace and unity Ayeldra fought for hasn’t been seen since.”
“That’s sad,” I murmured, imagining what it must have been like for Silvaria’s people to make that transition.
Sir Roland nodded methodically, watching me.
“Well, back to our tour,” he said briskly, abruptly changing the subject once more. He steered me back towards the heart of the palace, but a little to the west once more, so that we came into the ballroom.
The floor shimmered like gilt mother of pearl, and there were honey-colored columns supporting the soaring roof. These were inlaid with vines of travertine and marble roses. The sweeping staircase was the epitome of the grand entrance Cinderella would make, but what caught my eyes was the ceiling itself.
It wasn’t frescoed, nor even carved. It was all stained glass, like the western wall overlooking the gardens; the unapologetically luminant colors reminded me of Sainte-Chapelle and Saint-Denis in Paris. In a sea of pale celestial blue was the Silvarian swan – alabaster in majesty, but its breast bled like the image of the King of Hearts, and the droplets fell into the blossoming crown of thorns which surrounded it.
For a long time I held my head back to question its meaning, until my neck ached; and I soon realized that Sir Roland had left me in the echoing grandeur.
Once again, I was alone. But the streaming colored light and the soft gaze of the swan overhead kept me from wondering why.
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Dannon? Like the yogurt company?