CHAPTER 47

The chamber was well lit with nearly three dozen glowing orbs all around the large room. Twelve high backed chairs occupied one side of the massive polished granite table, with water pitchers and data pads neatly stacked beside the five male and four female elves that occupied the chairs. They were the oldest and wisest of the High Elves, and as such had seats on the Council of the Elders.

The Council of Elders was a body of government for the elves that made the laws and sat in judgment of those who broke the laws. All of them wore elaborate robes, the female members wearing provocative dresses that left little to the imagination. Many of them were over three hundred years old, yet none of them looked older then fifty. They were elected to the Council of Elders for life appointments and aside from the Holy One himself and Tarifa, they were considered central to the High Elves way of life. They were also very controversial, as many of the younger elves that were Tarifa's age and younger had begun to rebel against many of the laws that had been in place for centuries.

This was Tarifa's realm. She was an accomplished warrior without a doubt, but her skill in politics far surpassed her fighting skills. She had been elected Queen with the highest popular vote of any Queen in history, giving her unprecedented influence and power. She had instituted many changes that had been looked on warily over the years, but had made the High Elves even stronger in the long run. Most knew her as someone of unquestionable honesty and integrity, but she was also considered to be someone you did not wish to cross. In her reign as Queen, the High Elves had increased their number by three fold, building eight new cities and opening diplomatic talks with many of the free human cities. While they traded supplies and equipment, Tarifa never once would consider trading her people's freedom for more advanced weapons to fight the Alliance. The autonomous human cities were too powerful for the Alliance to defeat with direct military confrontation without taking massive losses in men and equipment, so they allowed them to go about business as long as it didn't interfere with any Alliance controlled territory east of the Big River.

The Elves however were a different story, and the Alliance routinely conducted military operations against High Elf strongholds. Tarifa knew that her feelings for Martin aside, an alliance with those that followed him would only make the High Elves more self sufficient and provide them the tools to better defend their homes and strongholds. She only hoped that the Council felt the same.

Tarifa watched the senior Council member and Chief Minister set the data pad on the table and turn to look at her.

"We have reviewed the reports you have kindly given to us Majesty." The Chief Minister spoke. "We do have some questions, but first allow me to say we are all extremely pleased that you have returned to us safely and unharmed."

Tarifa nodded at the man. "Thank you Chief Minister." She answered. "It is good to be home."

"I must say, we were all a bit distressed that you took it upon yourself to lead Marcus's forces away from the Holy One. You could have allowed a Lieutenant to do this you know." The Minister spoke.

"I could have." Tarifa nodded. "However Marcus would not have followed unless he knew he had an opportunity to capture me. The Holy One's safety mattered more than my own."

The Minister nodded. "Of course you are right." He said.

"And you encountered this…" He made it a point to look at the pad before continuing. "You encountered this Commander Hunter at the sacred ruins?"

"As my report indicates Minister, there was a traitor among my party. He was able to signal Marcus's forces and they sent an Alliance Assassin unit who subsequently attacked our position within the ruins yes."

"And that is when this Hunter person appeared and dispatched the Assassins. Rather easily as your report indicates."

Tarifa nodded. "There were others with him, but yes." She told them.

"And it was shortly after this that you discovered Commander Hunter and the others came from a base on the moon that was thought destroyed during the Great Fire?" The Minister spoke.

"I do not understand the physics of the incident, but apparently when the comet passed between the earth and our moon; it caused the moon to essentially stop spinning as it orbited the earth, while our planet went faster. This in some way caused time to move much slower on the moon then it was here on earth." Tarifa told them, trying to explain it to them as Admiral Wallace told her. "The moon's rotation did not come back into sync with the earth until recently, and that is when Martin and the others came to earth."

Tarifa noticed that several of the Elders gave her odd looks when she spoke Martin's name with such familiarity, but she had already decided she would not hide her relationship with him in any way.

"And this is also when you took it upon yourself to return with him to this base on the moon." The Chief Minister spoke.

Tarifa nodded. "Yes."

"You do realize your Majesty that any new political contacts must be approved by this Council." The Minister spoke.

"I was not in a position to inform the Council of my actions. You received the messenger we sent back before leaving informing you of my decision to go." Tarifa said. "I determined that Martin and his superiors could very well turn out to be allies against the Alliance."

"A prospect that did not go as you had planned." The Minister spoke almost arrogantly. "This alone should tell you that the Council of Elders should have made the decision and not you."

"Chief Minister I am Queen." Tarifa spoke, her words firm. "The last time I read our constitution; military decisions are the arena of the Queen and not the Council of Elders. At the moment I made the decision, I was in a military situation and not a political one. I was well within my rights to do as I did."

"And yet that decision almost cost you your life as well as the lives of the others within your party." The Chief Minister replied, his words just as firm. "And it resulted in you being sexually assaulted by half a dozen humans at least. This is all in your report to us your Majesty."

"I am well aware of my report to you and this Council Chief Minister Raloa!" Tarifa snapped. "I wrote it! If you have some issue with me Chief Minister, may I suggest we get it out in the open now so that it does not fester?"

The attractive female elf leaned forward. "Please your Majesty, the Chief Minister is only attempting to express the worry and concern that we all had for your safety."

Tarifa looked at the woman. The Council of Elder's Minister of Justice was known to be a supporter of Tarifa's and a friend to her father. She was also fair and impartial to everyone, regardless of his or her status. She was a tough woman who had fought for decades before being elected to the Council. She had sided with Tarifa on many issues, and also sided against her on some others, and it was one of the reasons that Tarifa respected her so much.

"Minister Thalami speaks with great wisdom your Majesty." Another of the Elders spoke. He was the youngest of the Council at three hundred and fourteen years old, but he was also an avid supporter of Tarifa and all her policies. "All of us were greatly concerned for your safety. Minister Raloa only wishes to see you safe."

Tarifa took a deep breath and nodded her head. "I understand that." She said.

"Then you must understand our concern for what you were thinking when you allowed this Commander Hunter and those with him, including over a thousand humans, to set up camp so close to our capital?" The man continued. "This action, after the events on the moon dictates that we question what you were thinking."

Tarifa looked at him closely and saw in his eyes only the honest concern she had always known him for ever since joining the Council. "I do understand your concern and questions Minister Treblar." She spoke. "I supplied you with the information given to me by the human Admiral Wallace, as well as a copy of the message the Holy One left for Martin."

"Yes we have reviewed it extensively." Treblar spoke. "All of us are concerned as to why the Holy One himself did not tell us this. Why would he not inform us of beings he created before the Great Fire? Especially beings that have the obvious skills and abilities you have described to us. They are able to alter their very bodies to take on the forms of animals that are still considered to this day to be extremely dangerous. Their strength and speed far surpasses that of any elf, and we are generally considered to be superior to humans in every way. They are soldiers with a skill that surpass even those of your father's own Elite Dragoons."

"I do not presume to know why the Holy One does what he does." Tarifa said calmly and with no hostility. "And neither should anyone on this Council. It was the Holy One who created us, and it was the Holy One who started this war on our behalf against the Alliance. I can only guess that perhaps he thought them to be dead and there was no reason for us to know about them."

"They are not dead however." Raloa spoke looking at Tarifa. "And now we have made a new enemy, and potentially a more deadly enemy than even the Alliance."

"Commander Hunter is not our enemy!" Tarifa spoke. "He saved the lives of not only me, but all my soldiers with me. And he did so without question or regard for what would happen to him."

"He could also prove to be a new ally perhaps?" Thalami spoke from her chair. "Dismiss this we can't."

"We have only the Queen's word to prove that." Raloa spoke. "And if what the Holy One says in his message is true, then the Queen could very well be bias. It is written in her own words that she felt pulled by this Hunter. Draw to him."

Tarifa's eyes flared briefly and she opened her mouth to speak but never got the chance.

"Does this Council now challenge my daughter's integrity?" The male voice bellowed from the back of the room.

Tarifa's mouth snapped shut and she watched the shadowy figure come into the light and all the heads at the table turned. Tarifa hid the small smile that split her lips when she saw the male elf step into the light, the very attractive and much shorter female elf beside him.

"War Master Tareif!" Thalami exclaimed as she came to her feet. "Mistress Palina! We were not aware you had come to the capital."

The male elf stepped even further into the light, his uniform bearing gold shoulder boards, and glittering silver clusters on them. His cloak was dusty from traveling, his dark hair hung almost to his shoulders, and braided tightly in three rows on either side of his face. His face was deeply tanned from years of exposure to the sun and elements, but his sapphire eyes were blazing points of light. He was tall for an elf, at five foot ten, and the resemblance and height Tarifa inherited from him was uncanny.

The female elf stood proudly beside her husband, and one had only to look at her mother to see where Tarifa got her exceptional looks. She had the same enticing figure as her daughter, and it was not hard to see why she had given birth to nine children during her two hundred year marriage to the man she still looked at with love every day.

"I do not need to announce where I go to anyone!" Tareif's deep voice spoke. "When we learned our daughter had returned safely to the capital, I gathered my finest Dragoons and came to see her. What I find is the Council of Elders questioning my daughter's integrity. When did it become commonplace for the Queen of our people to be questioned in such a way?"

"War Master… it is not as it seems." Thalami spoke.

"Isn't it? Perhaps you should explain it to me then."

Tareif was a legend among the High Elves and a man not to be trifled with. He had trained over half the High Elves army personally, and many of the senior officers had served under him at one point or another. He had won countless battles against the Alliance, even when he was heavily outnumbered. It was well known that he had taken it upon himself to school his daughter in the arts of war, and it was one of the reasons she had been elected Queen with such a margin of victory. There were only four officers with more knowledge and experience in war then Tarifa, and all of them served her father.

"We were only expressing to the Queen our concern for her safety and her actions in the last few days." Thalami spoke.

"If even half the rumors that are spreading among our people are true, then the allies we have waited so long for have finally appeared." Palina spoke softly next to her husband. "Are we in such a position of power that we can simply dismiss them?"

"We do not dismiss them." Raloa spoke now getting to his feet. "We question the way they have been obtained. We know nothing of these… Genomes they are called or the humans with them. The Queen has admitted in her own words that she allowed one of these Genomes to bed her!"

Tareif moved with a speed that belied his age, and in a blink he was standing in the Chief Minister's face, a scowl etched into his features. "Tread carefully with your words Chief Minister, for it is my daughter and your Queen about which you speak!" Tareif growled. "It is my understanding of our law that she must submit to any man who saves her life. A law that you started centuries ago I might add, and a law most of our younger people and many of our older citizens see as no better that how the Alliance conduct themselves. It is also obvious to me that you failed to read her entire report. When this Hunter person saved my daughter the first time, he had an opportunity to take my daughter by force and he did not."

"He did not know of our laws at the time!" Raloa spoke.

"That is of no matter to me, and if what my daughter has said is true, and I do not doubt my daughter, this man would have refused even had he known." Tareif spoke. "That he did not act like the animal you seem to think he is speaks volumes of his honor. That he could have escaped this EDEN station and left my daughter at the mercy of those pigs and he did not says even more. And the fact that he killed every single scum who violated my daughter and our Queen is all the information I need to make a decision."

"She led him here to Mountain City!" Raloa nearly yelled, "To our very capital! They have set up a compound in the next valley! The Alliance has declared them enemies and his presence here threatens us! We do not even know what he and his people are doing right now because she left him alone."

Tareif shook his head. "Your lack of military knowledge and Intelligence gathering never ceases to amaze me Raloa, even after all these years. Tarifa contacted me within four hours of landing in the valley, with this Commander Hunter's permission. Regardless of what she may feel for this man, using coded words that only she and I know, she ordered me to dispatch our best scouts to maintain a constant vigil on the newcomers. I did so immediately, and they have been watching this Hunter and the humans for two days now. And that does not include the three elves from her own command that she left with them. Do you think my daughter is a fool?" Raloa looked stupefied, and he was unable to speak. "The Holy One's reasons are not for us to question and Tarifa knows this. It is she that the Holy One confides in and she alone. If there was something we should have known, he has always told us. Nothing he has done has ever put our people at risk. To question him now is heresy."

"And yet he is now with the Wood Elves." Raloa spoke, though his words were much more subdued.

"This is the order of things and has been for centuries. The Holy One travels and spends equal time with all his creations." Tareif said softly. "That Tarifa arranged for him to be spirited to safety with the Wood Elves means nothing. Or would you rather he now be in the hands of the Alliance?"

Treblar stepped forward next to Tareif. "War Master Tareif I believe the experience of almost losing our Queen has shaken us somewhat. Please… perhaps we should recess for now until tempers cool."

"Father, Minister Treblar is correct." Tarifa spoke, stepping forward and taking her father's arm. "We can adjourn until later today, and at that time I will suggest to the Council that they appoint two members to accompany me back to Martin's camp and they can determine for themselves if he is a friend or foe."

Tareif looked at his daughter and nodded, "A fine idea." He said.

Treblar nodded his head, a new respect for Tarifa in his eyes, "A fine idea indeed." He spoke. "Your majesty… you have not seen your parents for some time, may I suggest you visit with them, and the Council will select two members to accompany you when you return. We will do nothing without your consent except decide who will travel with you."

Tarifa nodded and slid her arm around her father's waist. "Thank you Minister Treblar, I believe I will take you up on that offer." She looked at her father, "Papa?"

Tareif looked at her and smiled. "Lead away! I'm starving! Politics make me hungry!"

Raloa didn't see the smiles from several of the Council Elders at Tareif's words, but neither did they notice that his eyes burned with hate as Tarifa led her parents out of the meeting chamber.

"Ugh! Papa you're crushing me!" Tarifa croaked with a smile as her father gripped her in a bear hug embrace, lifting her from her feet.

Palina watched smiling, her arm around the waist of their youngest daughter. Tareif set his oldest daughter down and held her at arms length, as if searching for injuries of any kind.

"Papa I am fine." Tarifa spoke squeezing his arms, "Really."

Tareif looked at her now. "That was the craziest stunt you have ever pulled!" He scolded her now that they were alone and in private. "Have you completely lost your marbles?"

Palina cluck clucked and pushed her husband away hugging Tarifa just as tightly. "Quiet Tareif, you'll make a scene." She said, kissing her daughter's cheeks and looking at her with her dark eyes. "You are truly fine?" She asked.

Tarifa smiled and nodded. "Yes mama, truly."

Tareif looked around Tarifa's small living quarters. "Bah! Where is the wine? Don't they have wine in the capital?"

Tarifa smiled and squeezed her father's arm. "I keep it in the next room Papa!" She said. She smiled and watched her father stalk off in search of a glass of wine. She turned back to see her mother staring at her. "What?"

"You are not injured Tarifa? He did not hurt you?" Palina asked again.

"She's in heat mama." Zaala spoke with a sly grin. "But definitely not hurt."

"Zaala!" Tarifa exclaimed looking at her sister but blushing red.

"So the rumors that we have heard are true?" Palina asked her. "Tarifa… did this man… force you to…"

"No!" Tarifa spouted. "By all that is holy… I gave myself to him! I practically had to assault him to make him come out of his shell!"

"Tarifa… you hardly know this man." Palina said.

"No… that is not true." Tarifa said speaking softly. "I feel like… I feel like I've known him all of my life. It's as if he and I have always been together in some way. It is… it is something the Holy One did to all of us."

"But to let him bed you…?" Palina spoke.

Tarifa smiled as she looked at her mother. "It was exquisite mama." She said.

Palina grinned. "You will have to tell me when your father is not around." She said softly. "The Holy One… what…"

"The Holy One," Tareif asked coming back into the room a large goblet in his hand. "What do you mean, what about the Holy One?"

Tarifa looked at her father. "I will explain everything." She said. "But first papa, I never contacted you to send scouts to spy on Martin."

Tareif looked at her sheepishly. "No. I sent them immediately after discovering you had returned to the capital."

"Papa!" Tarifa spoke firmly. "You had no right!"

"I am your War Master Tarifa! I had every right." He replied.

Tarifa sighed heavily. "You… you are right. I am sorry. I could have handled Raloa though." She said.

Tareif nodded. "Of that I have little doubt!" He told her with a smile. "But ever since I stole your mother from him all those years ago I have always relished the opportunity to spar with him whenever I can. He is so predictable."

Tarifa chuckled and hugged her father again. "You are a bad man papa." She said shaking her head.

"Yes… so your mother continues to tell me even after two hundred years of marriage!" Tareif said waggling his eyebrows.

"Papa," Tarifa nearly yelled.

"Tareif…!" Palina exclaimed, stepping forward to slug her husband in his shoulder. "Our children do not wish to hear of our escapades! You hush now!" Palina took her daughter's hands and directed her to the couch. "Tell us Tarifa. Tell us everything."

"There was really no need to dispatch scouts papa." Tarifa told him as she settled onto the couch next to her mother. "I left Endith and two others with Martin's group and I have talked to them each evening."

Tareif grinned. "That's my girl." He said pulling up the chair.

"I am less concerned about the political as I am about this fellow Martin." Palina spoke. "I want to hear about him."

Zaala laughed from where she sat. "And what a story it is!" She said.