Alliances Offered, Part Four

There was another elf in the library, this one seated at a table and looking at a book with an elderly human woman. This was the sort of elf she was familiar with, slender and graceful, but not so ridiculously swift as the one in the courtyard had been. A Grey Elf, Tabitha thought, though she hadn't met enough elves to be sure. She just remembered being told that the most dangerous of them were True Elves, the wildest were Sylvan Elves, and the most elegant were Grey Elves. This one looked very elegant indeed. The human woman beside her...

A court lady of that age would have spent her life treating her skin with balms and oils to keep it smooth, and might show a touch of wrinkles at the corners of her mouth, a few more around the eyes. This woman looked up and smiled sweetly through a face that seemed entirely made of wrinkles... but unlike much of the peasantry, she showed strong, white teeth when she did. She wore a simple cloth robe, bronze in color, and looked shockingly out of place sitting so casually beside the elf woman.

"Priestess," said the old woman warmly, just as the elf woman said, "Aesa." The old woman immediately turned her attention to Tabitha. "And who is this you've brought with you?"

"Lady Tabitha Andiras," Aesa told them. "Lady Tabitha, this is the Lady Martini Dwint’lithar, and this is Mother Mia."

Tabitha nodded. "An honor, I'm sure," she said, though at this point she was sure of precious little. None of this was going the way she'd expected.

The elf looked her over coldly, as if deciding which cuts of her meat would cook up the best. "The one in service to Bouvier," she said. 

"In service to Jacqueline Bouvier," Aesa said, before Tabitha could respond. She raised her eyebrows reproachfully. "And therefore a possible ally."

Martini made a noise that wasn't exactly agreement, but Mother Mia's smile widened. "Oh, marvelous! You've come quite a long and difficult way, I imagine."

Martini frowned at her, but the old woman met her eyes and said, "What? I'm old, I can hope for the chance to play matchmaker between Tavros and a noble daughter if I like."

Tabitha felt herself starting to blush and said, "You know the-- know Tavros, then?"

"Ha!" The old woman leaned forward, fixing her with one eye. "That child saved my life! Got us out the cage, out of the goblin village, kept us from the cookpots. Fought a giant to do it, too. If your lady isn't looking to ally with him, she should be." 

"She is," Tabitha said firmly. Again with the giant... but... "You were one of the ones he rescued?" 

The old woman laughed. "You should have seen it! He doomed the giant, then broke the back of that wicked priest, and then he had a bit of a talk with the hobgoblin chieftain. Meanwhile his friends were leading us away and covering our escape. Off into the night, just like old times..." 

Martini said, "Mother..." and the old woman glanced at her. 

"All right, all right," she grumbled. "Best we get back to this. But that Tavros, young as he is... He knows how to take advice, and who to take it from. You tell your lady that."

"I... I see," answered Tabitha, and threw Aesa a slightly desperate look. Get me out of here... 

Aesa nodded. "The sacred teachings are this way," she said, and moved towards an aisle between the shelves. "Unless you'd like something less edifying, in which case we should take a right at the end of these shelves."

"To the right," said Tabitha, "Please."