Ekleipsis (Fantasy Romance - LGBT, manXman)

3.8.

"Chancellor Rennarte showed me a piece of fringe from Alva's epaulette. Alva did not even notice that it was cut. Next time, he said, the knife would be aiming at his throat."

That's when the elf pulled out from inside his shirt and showed to the assembly the damning fringe.

Then it was pandemonium. The emotional Creedans jumped in their seats, trying to out-shout one another, and it took the guards a long time to restore order. The King, ready for this turn of events, ordered the Chancellor, who betrayed no emotion, detained. Alva fainted, from nerves and exhaustion, and came to in the embrace of Ithildin who was allowed, at last, to touch his beloved.

When the courtroom calmed down, the trial wrapped up quickly. Rennarte admitted nothing, and stood his ground, but he had lost all credibility. Coercing to have sex was a serious crime in Creede. There was still not enough proof to arrest Rennarte, but the King exercised the royal prerogative. Rennarte was to be dismissed from his post at court, as a Chancellor should not be tarnished by a scandal so outrageous.

When the King was ready to pronounce Alva's sentence, half the courtroom wept openly at the sight of two lovers, an elf and a human, who would not let go of one another. It was only the regal composure and strength of character that had saved Daronghi from weeping.

King Dancennou proclaimed that the outcome of any duel was, ultimately, God's justice. God had bestowed victory on the noble Chevalier Ahayrre, even though Prince Fairiz was a better and more experienced swordsman. Thus, the righteousness of said Chevalier's cause was confirmed. However, Chevalier Ahayrre was still guilty of breaking the Code of Duelling. The King pronounced that, for this offence, the noble Chevalier Ahayrre would be demoted from the officer's rank and sent for five years to the fortress of Shahsh in the far north-west, at the foot of HaelghiraMountains.

The proclaimed sentence was made to sound more severe than it was. Shahsh was a peaceful and comfortable place, a mountain resort, almost. Besides, the King would have never stashed Alva there for five whole years. Two at most, to give the chillier climes the time to cool his hot head. Once the rumors had died down, Daronghi would have transferred him to another garrison or sent him with a mission overseas. And he certainly was not planning to deprive Alva of Ithildin's presence. The elf would have joined Alva in secret a couple of weeks later, after settling some of Alva's affairs in Trianess.

Foremost, the King aimed to remove Alva from the capital where he would have been in danger. Though Rennarte was no longer Chancellor, he had remained influential in Trianess. The fortifications of Shahsh, thousands of leagues away from the Wild Steppe, would also protect Alva from the Enqins' wrath. Daronghi did not believe for a moment that Alva's sentence would sate the nomads' lust for revenge. Even Alva's execution would not have been enough to satisfy them – they would have wanted him alive, to torture him.

The King gave Alva and Ithildin twenty four hours to say their good-byes, and then the convict, surrounded by a large guard, left for Shahsh. Reza Rennarte was to remain under house arrest until both lovers had reached the security of the fortress walls. The elf, who had to stay behind in the capital for another two weeks, was given bodyguards as well, as he could not bear arms within the capital. Fairiz's body, embalmed, was sent back to his father, with a large ransom from the king. An honor guard accompanied the five Enqins from the prince's retinue all the way to the border, never letting the Enqins out of sight.

Seemingly, every precaution had been taken. But nobody knew that Reza Rennarte had long been in touch with the Enqins (no pun intended). The very night Fairiz died, Rennarte sent king Targhai a message and suggested how "the touchy situation" ought to be handled. The Enqin agreed. Money flowed, thugs stirred, a rogue mage was hired from Fanneshtou, and a three days' distance from the capital, all of Alva's guards were cut down and he was kidnapped. The same day, Ithildin was attacked, his bodyguards killed. The attackers had misjudged the strength and fighting skills of the seemingly frail elf, however. Ithildin, himself unscathed, killed or seriously wounded a few, while the others fled.

The King sent his soldiers all over Creede, but they never caught up the kidnappers. Every day made finding Alva alive and well less likely. Daronghi was inconsolable. Lady-Colonel Leitis Lisander never left the saddle, riding out into the Steppe, in case the kidnappers were getting back by way of Selkhir.

Ithildin, unnaturally calm and composed, wrapped up everything he had to do in Trianess in one day: sold, at Alva's behest, Alva's art collection, picked up from Alva's publisher the money for Alva's last manuscript, dismissed all servants, except the gardener who remained to keep an eye on the property, and disappeared from the capital, giving his new bodyguards the slip.

At exactly the same time, Kintaro left, after bidding the King good-bye and thanking him for the hospitality. He took his troop of fifty men in the direction of Creede's south-eastern borders, where lay the Essanti lands. King Dancennou figured that the timing of the two departures was no coincidence.

Kintaro, Alva and Ithildin, fanart by Talleran