Thalonn Tayn

6 - Words of Wisdom

Thalo was in the woods one day—he would have been a proper young man by then—when he spotted someone sitting a short way off in a holly bush, a short, slender man clad only in a small skirt around his waist. When Thalo went to him, he saw the man was an elf. That was Knale. He was wounded all up his arms and across his torso, and Thalo wondered how many of the wounds were from the holly bush.

'Who are you?' asked Thalo.

'I am me,' said Knale, 'as you are you.'

'You are an elf.'

'You can call me that, if that is what you wish to call me.'

'What do you mean by that?'

'I mean what I say, and I say what I mean.'

'Are you hurt?'

'Yes.'

'What happened?'

'A wounding.'

'Who wounded you? Why?'

'Who? Someone. Why?' Knale glared at Thalo. 'A grudge.'

In truth, Knale had dealt his own wounds, that he might determine Thalo's willingness to tend to them.

'Who is this grudge with?' asked Thalo.

'Me. Hence my hurts. Are you stupid?'

'Not to my knowledge, no.'

'And yet you ask such stupid questions.'

'I simply want to know where things stand. I have heard enough stories about elves to know something is amiss here. They say your sort are cunning and sly, often crafty folk, who are prone to tempting people with hollow words. Is it true?'

Knale put a sultry look in his eye. 'It is not for me to prove what elves are and what they are not.'

'Is it true of you?'

'It is not for me to prove what I am and what I am not.'

For a moment, Thalo looked upon Knale in silence. He was terribly pretty—there was proof enough of that—and wore a face among the most beautiful Thalo had seen. It moved him to overlook Knale's poor manners, and also all good sense.

'Would you,' said Thalo, heat-stricken, 'let me at your wounds?'

'Perhaps I might. What would you expect to get out of that?'

'Many things, or few. Your wellness, if nothing else.'

'Does my wellness mean much to you, a stranger?'

'Apparently so. How about it?'

'Very well,' said Knale, rising from the holly bush. 'Do what you will.'

Thalo took Knale home and sat him on his bench. He cleaned his wounds and dressed them where they needed dressing, and he brewed him a herbal drink, one Asfoa used to make when he hurt himself at play. Throughout this, Knale sat silently, watching with an unwavering smile.

When all was done, Thalo sat beside him and said Knale's wounds were more plentiful than they were severe. 'The only treatment left is some sound advice: don't sit naked in a holly bush.'

'That is sound advice indeed,' said Knale, 'not that I will keep it. I will repay you for what you have done to me.'

'What repayment would you give?'

Knale's eyes widened with delight, almost glowing with a golden light. 'You deserve a great many things, and I wish to give you every one. But let us start with this: wisdom! I will give you some advice of my own, if you will hear it. I can tell you things important to know. That, after all, is the best reward a fellow can give.'