Chereads / SILVERTREE CHRONICLES / Chapter 24 - CHAPTER 24

Chapter 24 - CHAPTER 24

He helped them slide out from the corner table, and they headed back to their room. He got undressed and walked over to the bed, and took a step back. Eldar looked at the ladies, "Tell me I'm not seeing things?"

They stood there with their mouths open, and Eldar asked again, "This is strange. You see what I see right?"

Charlemagne looked at him, "If you mean the wet spot on the bedding, then yes."

Annette looked at it, "I have never seen or heard of anything like this."

The wet spot had partially dried while they were away, but the parts that remained wet took the shape of the double crescent moons. Sized from their earlier lovemaking. It was no surprise that it went from the shoulders to the middle of the thighs.

Charlemagne looked at Eldar, "Thoughts on this?"

Eldar looked at her, "A calculated risk, a necklace that's non-magical, finding out about a birthmark I was never told about, and now this? Some people believe things come in threes, and there are 3 of us here who have witnessed the events of tonight. I think we lay down. Me in the middle, Annette on my right, and Charlemagne on my left, as you're my twins."

He crawled up on the bed, and the bed was dry. Their efforts had somehow stained the bed with the shame of their passion. He looked at them, "It's dry but stained."

They joined Eldar and Charlemagne asked, "Why this side?"

Eldar shrugged, "When you had me do Annette with my hand, you put her on the right side, afterward, you laid on the left."

She nodded, they settled onto the dry bedding and slept overtook them quickly. Eldar dreamt. It was a crazy dream. They were at the falls, and the crowd was much larger than he expected. It looked like both villages', 3 Grand Masters, including Yetto, a high priest, if not the high priest, for Seharina Moonbow the Lady of Dreams.

Another high priest of Corellon Larethian was in attendance as well. He stood next to his bride, and he handed his sword in its sheath to Doc. He instructed him to throw it into the lake. His father and Jarron looked to stop him, but he let it fly and that was followed by a blinding flash.

Eldar awoke and felt refreshed, but confused. It looked like directions for him, but also to inform him of additional guests. The entire population of both villages. He looked over at Charlemagne, who sat on the edge of the bed. Eldar asked, "What did you dream about?"

She looked at him, "A voice, I think it was the Lady of Dreams, gave me a phrase or message. I'm not allowed to repeat until I see our village elders. I don't know what it means."

Eldar looked over at Annette, "What did you dream about?"

She gulped, "I had the same dream as her, I think, but it was all Wood Elves I was talking to. I think it was your village because I could see the falls in the distant background. I was given something to say, and I can only say it when they are present, but I don't understand it."

Eldar got up and got to the end of the bed, and the bed was no longer stained, but dry.

He sighed, "I won't tell you everything about my dream because it seemed like instructions. I will say, Charlemagne, you look lovely in that dress, and Annette, you're beautiful in the formal blouse and slacks. The only thing I don't know is how you got the upper-breast sections of both to be a dark blue with little stars and the double crescent moons on them."

They both looked at him, "You didn't get into the packages, did you?"

Eldar shook his head, "No, I didn't. One other thing was off, but I think it's important and breaks with tradition. All our men were off to my left, next to Charlemagne. All the ladies were lined up to my right. Annette was at my side, but facing you and me, until something happened."

Eldar told them, "Look at the bed..."

They both backed up in shock at the missing stain on the still-rumpled bed. "We keep this to ourselves until the time is right?"

They both shouted, "AGREED!" in that weird twin unison fashion. They got dressed, went downstairs, and sat down to eat in the same corner booth, too shocked to speak until a Half-Elven serving girl came over to us, "Morning special and coffee?"

They all nodded. She smiled at them, "Very good, I will have that to you in just a minute. I hope the Lady of Dreams was kind to you last night."

As she turned and walked away, they looked at each other.

---

Nobody noticed the Lady in white enter except the waitress at the bar. They did not notice she did not cast a shadow or make a sound while walking. She had her hood drawn up and her ornate bow on her back with a full quiver.

She smiled but kept her head bowed down, "Elizabeth, I would like to pay for the 3 meals for the people in the corner booth. Give the woman on the left, Charlemagne, a few pieces of fruit to go with her meal for the unborn children. She is expecting. The three of them are doing good work for me and they all have very promising futures ahead of them as they know what they are doing."

Elizabeth took the coins from the counter, "Alright. How did you know my name?"

The woman had a slight smile, all Elizabeth could see of her face was the smile and a lock of her silver hair, "I heard someone call you by your name."

The woman turned and walked toward the door without gaining the notice of anyone else at the inn. When Elizabeth turned around she was gone. She had disappeared at the door into the rays of the morning sun that shone through the glass.

---

The Server was back with their food soon, and set a couple of pieces of fruit in front of Charlemagne, in addition to her meal. She looked at them, "Your meals have been paid for already, and a lovely lady said to be sure to give you the extra fruit for the unborn children. You are Charlemagne, right?"

Eldar looked at her, "Describe her?"

She stopped and thought, "I don't remember her face. She kept it bowed down but I could see traces of a smile. She wore a white ensemble of clothing with her hood up. I do remember seeing a trace of her silver hair, and the beautifully designed bow and quiver on her back."

Eldar asked, "Did she say anything about us?"

She looked, "Oh, you mean besides requesting the extra food for you? Yes, she said you did good work for her, and you all had very promising futures because you know what you're doing. She even called me by name and almost nobody does around here."

The server was called away to another table, and both of the twins looked at Eldar. He looked at the plate, "We have a long journey ahead of us, and some shopping to do. We better eat up now."

They ate in silence and Charlemagne took the fruit with them as they left. Finding armor for Annette wasn't a problem, and they were in and out as soon as the store opened.

They got onto the wagons and headed out with hardly a word to the rest of the team, who seemed a bit bleary-eyed. Except for Hunter, who probably got the most sleep. The next 6 days went by with no conflict at all as they rolled into Junction.

Charlemagne ordered the others, "Give us a head start. Let us deal with the brunt of the backlash, as it should be ours to deal with."

They nodded, and Hunter piped up, "We will give you a 15-minute head start."

As expected, Jarron was in his office and waited for them. He was surprised to see 2 Charlemagne(s) and realized the other had to be her sister, he did not remember they were twins and he had not authorized her recruitment. This was a break in protocol. He started screaming, "What in the Nine Hells?!"

Eldar looked at Annette, she looked at Jarron and thought, "Sit down, stay calm, and let Eldar explain."

He shut the hell up and sat down.

Eldar asked Jarron, "Do we have your attention now?"

Jarron asked calmly, "Explain what just happened, and what happened in Grand Falls."

Eldar looked at him, "Thank you for allowing us to explain. Here is my report on the events in Grand Falls..." He slid some parchment onto his desk. "First, let me answer your question. During one of my evening conversations with Annette, I questioned her lack of combat skills while still being able to maintain her own home outside the city.

I came to find out she was bartering information to select customers on things like pending assassination attempts; when the information panned out, she was paid. She didn't come by this information by her ears but by her mind; she's a rare psionic. She has known of our order for years and has done nothing to compromise us.

She would make one hell of an exclusive agent for our organization. Placed in a busy inn or store on a trade route. Just the kind of thing Charlemagne and I have discussed for her downtime with the children. I did advise Annette to have you stop yelling, so we could get through this report before the rest of the team arrives.

They are aware of her status and have had a similar demonstration to prove the point of what she could do to aid the group in regards to combat. When you're ready to start yelling again, feel free. I won't ask her to stop you again. The floor is yours."