High Loremaster Teclis

A meeting on the road.

"This is not the time to be shortsighted!" He stomps the ground with his staff

"Then you wish to do what? Show some respect! I am not a fool to play around with. Be proper or be gone from my presence!" ‘Isha’s blessing – don’t talk to me about rough weather. This is bad enough.’ "You are not exempt from making the Assur proud. We all have a duty, not only to Ulthan, but to order itself as well."

"Calm your nerves, young prince! You must use all your fury in the coming battle..."

"Although loneliness sometimes gnaws in the corner of my heart... My duty is first and foremost to the province of Saphery and Ulthan itself..."

‘Our father is a wizard and a scholar. Perhaps he has come to consult him and the warriors are his bodyguard.’ ‘My plan involves lying on my back here and hoping my stomach settles and the room stops spinning.’

Tyrion saw that Teclis was twisting events to suit his own views and fantasies. He wanted one of those riders to be a scholar and the others, the warriors, to be in the inferior position. It stung. He felt like he should say something but he could not think what, then Teclis laughed.

‘We really are country mice, aren’t we? We sit in our rooms discussing strangers who may or may not be coming to visit us. We read of the great battles of the Caledorian Age but some horsemen in search of a night’s shelter are a source of great commotion to us.’

Tyrion laughed, glad that he was not going to have to argue with his brother. ‘I suppose I could go and ask them what they want,’ he said.

‘And rob us of a delightful mystery and the anticipation of its solution?’ Teclis asked. ‘We shall have those soon enough.’

Even as he said the words, the great gate bell rang. There was something ominous in its tolling, and Tyrion could not help but feel that it heralded some massive change, that for some as yet unknown reason, their lives would never be the same after today.

‘You would be Teclis,’ she said. ‘The cripple.’

‘And you would be Malene, the rude.’ Teclis replied.

‘You may address me as Prince. It is my title.’

‘Why don’t you start practicing now?’ Teclis said. ‘We can pretend that we are all well-bred elven nobles together.’

‘Tyrion is the soul of charm. People like him. He knows how to put them at ease.’

‘Very good, Lady Malene. And further let us make an agreement that I won’t enter your chamber without knocking if you don’t enter mine.’

Teclis grimaced. He did not like being told he had to do anything. He was naturally contrary that way.

‘What is the matter, Prince Teclis? Are you afraid I am going to poison you?’

Teclis stared at her. ‘Do I need to be?’

Teclis nodded. It was not a mistake he was going to make again. ‘If I do find a way to kill you, it won’t be accidental,’ he said. It came out more ominously than he meant it to. Tyrion just grinned his idiot grin, as if certain that nothing in this world could really harm him. Teclis sincerely hoped that really was the case.

Teclis was anything but amused. He was embarrassed and frightened by what he had done. He could easily have hurt his twin, possibly injuring him permanently. ‘I am so sorry,’ he said. ‘I did not mean to do that.’

‘What exactly are you doing here with your soldiers and your over-muscled lover?’

Lady Malene cocked her head to one side and stared at him. He met her gaze and for a long time neither of them looked away. A slow smile, almost of understanding, crossed her face. ‘Are you jealous?’

Teclis was annoyed because he had not realized that he was, in part, until she had asked him. He knew how ludicrous that must look to her and beyond all things he disliked being made to look ludicrous.

Teclis strode back into the death chamber and studied the inscriptions on the walls. He knew enough about the ancient slann writings to know that he had stumbled across something important.

‘I am not judging you, brother,’ said Teclis. ‘I thought you were happy to be a simple warrior. I had not dreamed that you aimed so high.’

By Isha, he was in a sour mood tonight. He took another sip of the wine. It tingled on his tongue. He knew he was simply a little depressed. The great Lustrian adventure was over and he was back in Lothern with work to do and all the tiny, encroaching obligations that entailed. He should start inspecting Sunfang but at this moment he struggled to find the energy.