“Well, you are young yet,” she replied. “Doubtless, if you practice diligently, your skills will improve with time, as mine have.”
Aedan frowned. “You cannot be much older than I.”
Sylvanna curiously cocked her head at him. “I don’t know. How old are you? It’s difficult to tell with humans.”
“I am eighteen,” he replied.
“Ah. Well, I am somewhat older.”
“Indeed? You do not look it.”
“Let me think….” she said, frowning slightly “By human reckoning, I believe I would be in my fifties.”
Aedan’s jaw dropped. “Your fifties?” he said with disbelief.
“By elven standards, I am still a mere child,” she replied with a smile. “And most of the people you saw practicing today were younger still.”
“You said ‘by human reckoning,’ ” said Michael as they started walking back to Gylvain’s home. “Do elves reckon time differently?”
“It is not that we reckon time differently,” Sylvanna replied, “for being immortal, the reckoning of time does not concern us as much as it does you. But the difficulty lies in the fact that time often passes differently for us than for humans.”
Aedan frowned. “How can that be?”
“I cannot say,” Sylvanna replied with a shrug. “I once asked my brother that same question, but he was not able to account for it, either. It seems no one can. But in the elven lands, time appears to pass differently for humans. What may seem like a few hours to you while you are in Tuarhievel may actually be days on the outside, and what may pass for weeks while you are here may actually be years in human lands. This effect on humans seems to increase the longer they remain with us, so it is difficult for us to reckon time in your terms. At best, we can but estimate its passage.”
“You mean that if we remain here for a week or so, a year or more may pass back in the empire?” asked Michael with astonishment.
“It is possible,” Sylvanna said, “though by no means certain as far as anyone can tell. We once had a human trader remain with us for several weeks, studying our crafts. When he returned to his village beyond the Black River, he discovered that eight years had passed, and everyone had thought him dead. On the other hand, when traders have remained with us for only a few days, there has been no noticeable difference when they returned, except for one man, who found that he returned a mere hour after he had left.”
“It sounds like magic!” Michael said.
“Perhaps it is,” Sylvanna replied. “Gylvain seems to think so. He believes something happens when enough elves gather together in one place, but he cannot say how or why. It may have to do with our being immortal, or with the way we practice magic, or perhaps there is some other reason. Anyway, no one knows for sure what causes it.”
“So then the longer we remain here, the more likely that a great length of time will pass back in the empire?” Aedan asked in a worried tone.
“That would appear to be the case,” Sylvanna said.
“Then the longer we remain here, the more time Lord Arwyn has to strengthen his position, if I understand correctly,” Aedan said with concern. “I did not realize this before. Why didn’t someone tell us this?”
Sylvanna shrugged. “Doubtless because you did not ask. But there is no reason for alarm: there is a way this effect may be counteracted. My brother explained to me once. It is not without some risk, of course, but it has been the way your message has been sent back to Anuire.”
“How?” asked Aedan.
“Through the Shadow World,” Sylvanna said. “A halfling took your message back to the capital city of your empire. In this same manner, when it is time for you to leave, a halfling guide will take us. He will open up a portal to the Shadow World and we shall travel through it to reemerge into the world of daylight at another place and time.”
“You said, ‘a halfling guide will take us,’ ” Aedan said. “Will you be coming along with an escort to take us back?”
“No, I shall be returning with you,” she replied. “Gylvain and I are both going with you to Anuire. Prince Fhileraene wishes to be kept apprised of how events unfold back in the empire.”
“You mean he wants someone with us to look after his interests,” Aedan said.
“Does that seem unreasonable to you?” she asked.
“No,” Aedan replied, “of course not. We owe Tuarhievel much, our lives included, though it is your brother who personally holds that debt as far as I’m concerned. But even if that were not so, I would still be pleased to know you were going back with us.” He blushed, then quickly added, “The both of you, that is.”
“I am looking forward to it,” said Sylvanna. “I have lived all of my life in the Aelvinnwode and never been outside Tuarhievel. I would like to see the human world and find out what it is like.”
“It is different,” Aedan said. “Our cities are not much like yours, nor are our villages. Our streets are not as clean, I fear, nor do we live among the trees, as you do. We build our houses and our palaces differently, and we live behind stone walls. There is much to recommend your way of life. It is more peaceful and calming to the spirit. Perhaps that is why time seems to pass more slowly here.”
“Still, I would prefer to be back in Anuire,” said Michael. “After all, I am emperor now, and I must claim my throne.”
“As I must serve you and the empire,” Aedan said. “Duty calls. But,” he added sadly, “except for that, there is little for me to go back to now.”
Sylvanna frowned. “What makes you say that? You would not wish to see your family?”
Aedan swallowed hard before replying. “My parents were my only family,” he said. “I had no brothers and no sisters, and now I fear my parents are probably both dead. Perhaps my mother survives, but my father would have been too great an enemy to Lord Arwyn for him to have been left alive.”
“But… your father lives,” Sylvanna said.
Aedan stopped and stared at her. “What?”
“A message was received from him this morning,” she said. “You mean you did not know?”
Aedan could not believe his ears. “My father is alive? There has been a message from him? Are you sure?”
“My brother mentioned it to me this morning when he had word from the palace and was summoned to the prince’s presence,” she replied. “Perhaps he meant for me to tell you, but I thought you already knew.”
“This is the very first I’ve heard of it!” said Aedan, his heart giving a leap.
“What was the message?” Michael asked eagerly. “Did Gylvain say?”
“Something about how Lord Tieran had safely reached Anuire along with the empress and her party,” said Sylvanna. “There was more, but that is all I can remember now.”
“You have remembered the most important thing,” said Aedan. Impulsively, he grabbed Sylvanna and gave her a hug. “Thank you! Thank you! This is the best possible news!”
Taken aback, Sylvanna stiffened, and Aedan released her and stepped back, feeling a bit flustered. “Forgive me,” he said.
“No, it is I who must ask your forgiveness, Aedan,” she said. “Had I but known you thought your father dead, I would have told you right away. I had not realized…. How awful it must have been for you!”
Aedan closed his eyes as an immense feeling of relief surged through him. For a moment, he was so overwhelmed, he simply couldn’t speak. He felt his lower lip tremble and was afraid that he might start to cry. Sylvanna’s arms went around him and held him close. Then Michael’s hand settled on his shoulder, and they were all three holding each other for strength and support. For a few moments, no one spoke. Aedan took a deep breath, and they stood apart, looking at one another.
“It must have been so very lonely for you,” said Sylvanna, “thinking you were the only one of your family who was left alive.”