“May I?” Ellyesce asked, reaching out a hand.
Jahrra placed the card in his palm.
“Ah, the Dragon in spring. A very good card. Only the signs of magic could beat him.”
Jahrra quirked an eyebrow, and Ellyesce smiled, pulling his hood away from his face.
“How would you like to learn how to read and play Astral cards?”
Jahrra blinked. A game? Ellyesce was going to teach her how to play a game? She nearly salivated at the idea. Finally, something new to drive away her boredom!
She smiled brightly. “I would love to learn how to play.”
“Good,” Ellyesce chuckled and scooped up the rest of the cards. “These have been resting in Gliriant’s saddle bags for far too long now.”
He began laying the cards out on the floor between them, with the bloodrose image face down. Jahrra’s eyes widened with interest. Each card displayed a picture of a star pattern with a name. Some of them were green with that flower symbol she’d seen on her card, others were blue with snowflakes adorning each corner or red with leaves. She recognized a few of the star patterns, but several were only vaguely familiar to her. After a while, the patterns on the cards repeated, only the color of their backgrounds changing.
By the time he was finished, Ellyesce had made five rows. Four of the rows included sixteen cards each, while one of the rows, the cards that were purple in color, only contained four cards. The elf took a few minutes to explain the basics of the game to Jahrra, pointing out the different colors, symbols and constellations featured on each card and telling her the value of each one. The values changed depending on the color of the card and the symbol featured in the corners. Jahrra listened carefully, and after a few test runs practicing a few different versions of the game, Ellyesce invited her to try her hand without his help.
For the next handful of hours, Jahrra played Astral cards with Ellyesce. They went at a slow pace, the elf giving his human companion time to study each card in her hand; to decide its worth and its value compared to the others. For the first few rounds, Jahrra struggled, placing her cards in the wrong order against Ellyesce’s. Every now and then, they would switch the strategy of the game and before long Jahrra found she was able to keep up with less trouble than before.
When they both grew tired of the game, Ellyesce scooped up the cards and carefully tucked them back into their wooden box as if they were made of paper-thin glass.
Not for the first time, Jahrra wondered where he had gotten them, so she asked.
The elf grew suddenly still and slowly looked up at her. Jahrra hadn’t noticed before, but throughout the game, his customary hard, obdurate features had softened, the coldness in his eyes yielding to warmth. The lines around his mouth had disappeared, and his pale complexion had gained some color. But now, those lines and that ice was back. And some deep-imbedded instinct told Jahrra the Astral cards, and her question, had something to do with it.
Ellyesce relaxed his posture a little, then closed the lid to the box and gently tucked it into a pocket of his cloak.
“Astral cards can no longer be found in Ethoes, or they can’t easily be found,” he commented drily, his tone oddly detached.
So that explained why she had never seen or heard of them before.
“Why?”
The elf sighed and ran a hand through his long, dark hair. “Because of what they stand for.”
Jahrra leaned back against her boulder and considered him.
Ellyesce let out another breath and mimicked her. “Astral cards were invented by the Korli race of dragons, specifically to teach the human race about the stars and their importance. You see, Ethoes gifted her world with the stars so that no matter how dismal life became, we would always have some evidence of her guidance and inspiration. Furthermore, the stars and the constellations tell the stories and the history of our world. The cards became a very popular game shortly after their creation, but when the Crimson King rose to power in the east, he sought to destroy everything having to do with Ethoes. Except for the bloodrose, of course.”
Jahrra interrupted, repeating something she’d learned as a child. “The flower’s habit of sprouting over a battlefield holds great appeal to him.”
Ellyesce nodded. “Precisely. He views it as a symbol glorifying death and bloodshed.”
“But to Ethoes, the rose symbolizes that blood is the essence of life and that new beginnings can arise from sacrifice,” Jahrra put in.
Ellyesce smiled and tilted his head at her in agreement. Shortly after, he continued, “The cards remained popular after the fall of the Tanaan humans, but once the Tyrant learned of this, he had them destroyed. Not too many sets survived, and no one has bothered to create them once again. Perhaps, one day, they will make a comeback, when the Crimson King no longer threatens the people of Ethoes with his poisonous hatred.”
Jahrra shuddered. That only made her think of her purpose in this world and that wasn’t something she wanted to dwell upon at the moment. She cleared her throat.
“So, where did you get your cards then?”
Again, the elf hesitated, his entire demeanor retreating to some faraway place. The past, most likely, because his eyes grew so distant. Not for the first time, Jahrra wondered just how old Ellyesce was. Hundreds of years? Thousands? Had he been alive when the Crimson King rose to power? When human beings, her kind, had still existed in this world?
When he finally spoke again, his voice was so quiet she almost missed his words.
“A dear friend gave me the cards,” he said. Ellyesce drew in a deep breath and released it. “Someone who was lost to me long ago.”
Now that was a rather depressing, and intriguing, thing to say. Before Jahrra could come up with an appropriate comment, or think of a way to ask the elf more without insulting or upsetting him further, Jaax stirred from his nap.
The dragon blinked inquisitively in their direction.
“So,” he asked after a great yawn. “How did the two of you keep yourselves occupied while I slept?”
Ellyesce turned, brightening a little. Gone was the melancholy elf and back was her cheerful card playing companion. The way he could switch from dismal to chipper in the blink of an eye was enough to make Jahrra dizzy. And suspicious. Anyone who was able to mask their emotions that quickly, and that drastically, wasn’t someone she would normally trust. Only because of her guardian’s faith in this elf did she even bother trying.
Someday, I’ll figure you out, and figure out why my subconscious insists I know you from somewhere, she told herself. Then, I can truly start trusting you for your own sake, and not my guardian’s.
“I’ve been teaching Jahrra how to play Astral cards,” Ellyesce said, answering Jaax’s question.
Did Jahrra imagine it, or had that been discontent flashing in her guardian’s eyes?
“Astral cards?” he asked, his tone wary. “Where on Ethoes did you find a set of Astral cards? They were outlawed and destroyed several hundred years ago.”
“This set was gifted to me before that time, and I have been careful to keep them safe.”
Jaax furrowed his brow and tilted his head, studying the elf the way he sometimes studied Jahrra when he suspected her of lying. Jahrra knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that look, but she said nothing. Instead, she watched the two of them, the dragon clearly trying to enforce his will upon his friend, the elf taking it in stride.