The king sighed at my question and waved to his father. “You explain it. The teacher can teach another lesson.”

  Yandril gave his son a scolding look but turned to me. “Simply put, the Lodge Seneschal is a position created by our earliest Elven law. It is a role of very high honor and serves as the cultural protector and defender of the Lodge.”

  “Oh,” I said, beginning to see how this was problematic.

  “Wait, it gets better.” Said the King.

  “In addition to this role, the Seneschal serves as a voice for common elves, an intercessor for those in need. It is rare to have such a role because the Lodge would have to be large indeed to get to a time when one arose. Notable elves soon created their own Lodges, and while many close familial alliances occur between the great houses-”

  “And intense politics and rivalries.” The King added.

  “And those as well.” Yandril acknowledged, “And while these alliances exist, they have their own Lodges and their own power structures.”

  “So I am a kind of goodwill ambassador for our Lodge. I can see where I am ill-equipped to handle that, but it is not as bad as I feared.” I admitted.

  “Wait, it gets better.” Repeated the King.

  “Yes, well, it is a bit more than that, I’m afraid,” Yandril said.

  “How so?” I asked.

  The King sat up and looked at me. “Because this is the King’s Lodge, the King’s Seneschal is the intercessor for all Elven Lodges.”

  “Oh,” I said again, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

  They remained silent.

  “Just what am I supposed to do as an intercessor?” I asked.

  The King pointed at me and said, “And with his bright young mind, he comes directly to the heart of the matter.”

  Yandril gave his son a sad look but said, “As Seneschal, any point of rule or law that seems unfair can be brought directly to Court, and when spoken by the Seneschal, it has the power equal to our highest Court to call into question and possibly overturn some rulings.”

  “You will be the target of every opportunist and critic of this ruling administration. And it gets better.” The King said.

  “Please, son, control yourself,” Yabdril said. He turned to me and said, “As Seneschal, you have the right to call a vote of no confidence in the King before the court, and every noble house gets a vote to censure, uphold, or remove the seated king.”

  “And as Seneschal, you are in line for the crown behind only the King’s firstborn son and ahead of all other children of both genders and birth order.”

  Yandril grew very quiet and barely whispered, “And the king’s firstborn son, my grandson, was killed by ogres earlier this week.”

  “I am so sorry, my King.” And I saw tears in his eyes, and I now understood what had driven him to this condition. It was not merely that he had lost his son and heir, but that I had forcibly replaced him, and by the King’s own hand and compassion.

  King Ailuin Yandril Arbrestrom, high king of the elves, turned to me and said, “You are my heir and can call a vote of no confidence to replace me at will in open court. My adversaries are going to sing the fates all night long.”

  Both elves lowered their heads, lost in their own thoughts.

  “But wait,” I said. “Couldn’t this be useful as well?”

  They both looked at me like I was mad.

  “First of all, I only came here to get aid for Keelwell, which you very generously offered, my King. Second, I will not be here much longer, regardless of title, because I have other duties. Third, I have no interest in the crown, couldn’t possibly do well, and would not likely survive some court intrigue or political coup regardless. And fourth,” I smiled at them both for the irony of numbers, “Won’t I be able to identify the key opponents of the crown, given that it is as equally likely that you have traitors here among you just as there are in Keelwell and likely in the Dwarven kingdom, given the planning that went into this kingdom-wide invasion?”

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  They looked at each other. Yandril said, “I never told him a word about our speculations.”

  The King sat up. “Are you offering to serve to root out the traitor or traitors among us?” He asked.

  “Let me put it this way,” I said. “I will fight for what I believe is right and good. I did not appreciate how you met or treated me upon my entrance to your hall.”

  The king started to say something, and I held up my hand.

  “But neither did I appreciate the way King Flavnar treated me either, and after a day and a half with him and in his kingdom, I truly believe we would sacrifice ourselves for the other. You, my king, were unkind to Rhea whom I call Bella, and for that I am still upset with you. But you also invited me into your home, and you gave generously to help the people of Keelwell. You are not a perfect ruler. But anyone who would depose you and support the evil races to slaughter innocents and destroy our homeland is an enemy, and I will fight to preserve our land, all the lands, with my dying breath.”

  They both stared at me and then looked at each other. The King said, “This could work.”

  The king’s father agreed. “You will need to keep a public face that is outwardly polite to Gwydion, but accuse him and debase him privately. You were seen to be tricked and possibly betrayed in the most public of manners.”

  The King said, “But we cannot overplay our hand or the enemy will get suspicious.”

  “Or one of your most ardent supporters feels that the best way to help you is to end me,” I added.

  Yandril said, “He has a point.”

  “Then, father, you will serve as the master planner and behind-the-scenes support for Gwydion to uncover the puppeteer.”

  “Won’t that make your opponents even more cautious?” I asked.

  Yandril shook his head. “No, they will expect that anyway. It would reinforce their behaviors, and while they would need to be circumspect, they would play the three of us off each other.”

  I shook my head. “This is all too much for me.”

  “It’s too late,” Yandril said. “After your ‘I would die for the homeland speech,’ you are in it deep, lad.”

  They looked at me with hope rekindled in their eyes.

  “Ok. But I want to get back to Keelwell as soon as possible with the troops and supplies. We don’t have much time left to prepare before the evil races make their appearance.”

  “That all works.” The King said. “They will want time to plan and position their pawns. This had to have been unexpected for all parties. Who could have predicted this?”

  Yandril said, “The foretelling?”

  “That is a discussion for another time.” The King said. “We have been in here long enough. Gwydion, you need to storm out of here, a human full of emotions, and return to Rothilion’s home. He will be waiting for you. We will stay behind and discuss this for some time. It would be expected.”

  “I trust you both,” I said. “I hope you know what you are doing. I just want to stop the infernal and its horde from killing my friends and family. All this is too much. It is like a story in a book that just seems to write itself. It is full of chaos and little order. And I admit I like order.”

  “Spoken like a true elf,” Yandril said with a smile.

  A few moments later, I stormed out of the room and shouted, “We’ll see!” and left without bothering to close the door. Half the guards raced to catch up with me, and the others closed the door and raised their eyebrows at each other.

  Things had just grown very interesting in the King’s Lodge.

  Rothilion was waiting for me in the great hall with his wife and granddaughter, my new apprentice. He could tell from my body language that I was not happy.

  “What happened?” He asked in alarm.

  “The King made the reality of the situation known to me and my worth to him,” I stated, truthfully, but in a voice that would leave a false impression. I needed to limit what I said both because I was not very good at deceit and also because I liked and respected Rothilion, and I did not want to bring him harm or shame.

  I began walking toward the exit. “Can you please take me to my Lodge?” I asked over my shoulder.

  “Of course.” He replied. “But it is now your homestead because you are part of the King’s Lodge.”

  “Oh, of this I am very aware,” I said in return, mustering a little heat.

  We made it to his carriage without further discussion, although he and Fherrin did pass quite a few glances at each other and me.”

  After we had ridden for a few minutes, I took a deep breath and relaxed, or tried to. “I’m sorry for being abrupt. You and Fherrin have been nothing but kind and welcoming to me. This was just…” I searched for a word and ended up with “...unexpected.”

  “What happened with the King and King Father?” Fherrin asked.

  “I would prefer not to talk about it right now. But I do appreciate your concern.” I added with a weak smile.

  They grew silent again, giving me my space. Speaking of space, on the way over, Keenor rode sitting between her grandparents, but now she seated herself to my left.

  I looked over at her. “Bit of an exciting meal, huh?” I said.

  She looked up at me and replied, “I’m so confused. I don’t know what happened.”

  “You and me both,” I said with a smile. “But we’ll get through this, and some normalcy will return when we get to Keelwell.”

  “You plan to return to the city?” Rothilion asked, surprised.

  “I do. I have responsibilities that predate this…” I searched for a word again, “...promotion. I made it clear that I will not ignore my duties here, but I had responsibilities to fulfill elsewhere.”

  “How did the King react to that?” Rothilion asked, not being able to resist his curiosity.

  “Actually, I think he was okay with that. One of the few things we openly agreed on.”

  Rothilion sat back. “Hmmm. I imagine so.”

  I didn’t want this to delve too deeply in that direction, so I decided to ask a distracting question, but one that I truly did want an answer to.

  “Just what are the practical duties of the Seneschal?”

  Rothilion crossed his hands in his lap and explained. “In general, the role is to see to the protection of the Lodge, which means that the royal guard now reports to you. And this is why,” here he pointed outside the carriage, “half a dozen guards accompany us. They are serving as your honor guard and will go where you go.”

  “Is there always six?” I asked, thinking of the guard back home.

  “Oh no, it varies. I imagine they just split the dozen that usually guard the King between you both. Things will settle in later. You could have fewer or more as you choose.” He said.

  “They will want to come back with me to Keelwell, then?”

  “Most certainly. Your life is their duty to protect. In fact, I had wondered how easily it would be to attract enough young volunteers to go back with you when the King ordered it. Now, I think it will be difficult to choose among the ones who will insist that they, or their sons and daughters, join the Seneschal on his noble defense of the human city. This is a moment of history for our people, something unheard of in living memory, and will be written about for centuries to come.”

  I shook my head. “A few words, one way or another, and an entire city rises or falls. The responsibility is way beyond me.”