Amelia Merlin and the Game for Okamila

Part 102: The Songs of the Elves

"And what's your genius name?" she laughed.

"Isaac."

"Well, Isaac the Man, I'm Effy the Elf and I've been watching you." Her voice was musical and happy and made him think about birds singing and babies laughing.

"Really? That's a little creepy."

"No, no. It's smart. I'm trying to figure out what you're doing here."

"I'm with the gypsies-"

"No, what are you doing in the library? I haven't seen you pick up a single book the entire time you've been here." she walked around him so he had to turn and look at her. Effy was smiling but her eyes searched his every move.

"I can't read." Isaac shrugged. "Lot's of people can't where I'm from."

"Didn't anyone want to teach you?" she gasped.

"Nah, my boss knew if I could read than I could overthrow him, which I would never do but he thought I might. So he never taught me."

"What about your parents?"

"Dead. And couldn't read either." Isaac laughed at her expression. "Don't look like that. It's fine."

Effy paused, opened her mouth to say something then stopped. "You can't spend all this time in the library without reading anything. How about I read something to you?"

"Sure." They walked until Effy found the book she wanted and they sat down on the floor between aisles of bookshelves.

"The Songs of the Elves." she beamed at the large, silver, leather bound book. "It has all of our prophecies in it."

"Sounds interesting."

Effy laughed and the sound filled the air and it made Isaac think about green pastures and little white lambs. "I know you think it'll be boring but let me tell you, this is the best book in this entire library."

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah." she nodded. "This has everything a good story needs in it."

"Really?" he couldn't help laughing around her.

"This has revenge, war, great battles, the rise and fall of every dynasty, and best of all: true love." Effy sounded like she had just given him the best present in the entire world.

"So tell me your favourites." he leaned back against the book shelf and listened as she opened the book.

"The Great Families of the Kingdom of Kalishterya-"

"No, no. You tell me, don't read it to me." Isaac shook his head. "I'd rather hear from Effy the Elf than whoever wrote that."

"Alright." if elves could blush she did. "I'll tell you about the Girl Queen. One day Amelia Merlin will be crowned, she will rule and bring the greatest era of peace this world has ever seen. She's going to be the best monarch we have known. But she's going to lose and so will he."

"Who's he?"

"He is the Lord of Dreams, and this game they're playing, it won't end well for either of them. And the end is approaching."

"What game?"

"The Great Game. The one between magic and dreams, the one where they each represent a side of a battle that is older than this kingdom. Each of them will lose something they never wanted to bargain but had no choice. The game where they have to present a champion who will complete the game for their side."

"How do they complete the game?"

"They'll know when it's over." she said mysteriously.

"Why is this your favourite story?"

"Because it's wonderful. It's two powerful sides of the same coin, how different are dreams and magic really? Yet their at odds due to a rivalry that started centuries ago. I love the duality and the harmony-"

"But it's a war." Isaac said. "And people die."

"That's true." she mused. "Do you want to hear another one?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Have you ever heard about the Flovios family?"

"Only that no one knows anything about them." he smiled.

"It starts with the Dragon-Riders of the Pendragon family. Centuries ago, the Pendragon family were the biggest supporters of the Merlins. So when Akkedis triumphed and the Merlins fled to a new world, the Pendragons were in trouble. They asked the druids to hide their dragons from the Lord of Dreams so the druids joined the life of the dragons with the life of water. They were placed in the land as all the rivers and streams we see in the kingdom until the day when the Merlins returned and they can fly again. The Pendragon family followed the Merlins to the new world and changed their name to Flovios." Effy talked in hushed tones, her white hair shadowed her pale face and Isaac tried to memorize her face while he listened to her stories.

"You know the Merlins have returned."

"Yes, I think I'm aware of that." she laughed her wonderful musical laugh that made him think about sun dappled beds with fur blankets and fluffy pillows.

"So where are all the dragons?"

"They're coming." Effy winked. "Just wait for it."