Landsbyen -Into the North- An Epic Poem 52

“Now, if we can get these proceedings under way,” began Seileach. “No,” exhorted Rian! “I demand to have more information about what is occurring here before we proceed. It seems the young half human has put you all under a spell.” “You have that right,” agreed the Council Elder. “Dyndoeth forwarded a Wish Amulet to me that was found by Joulupukki around the neck of the deer that had served his mother since he was a child.” He reached into his satchel and removed the amulet. I will pass the amulet around for you to examine. You will notice Erlenkönig's and Aisling's names embossed on the amulet; as well, there is a third name, Klaus.” Rian interrupted him, “I was unaware that the Human woman carried a child when she left the Village.” Joulupukki started to say something to him but stopped when DynDoeth placed a hand on his arm. “If I may, Seileach,” Dyndoeth spoke up. “It was not common knowledge that Aisling was with child while still in the Village. She only informed a select group of elves for fear of her unborn child's life. If you, and the rest of the Council will remember the Village was a place of turmoil at that time and many of the elves made it clear that they would not tolerate a human as Queen.” The Councilman murmured amongst themselves. “Please accept these documents which should clear up any questions about Aisling being with child. Included you will find letters from myself, Ceridfen and Gwaldon stating everything we knew of her gravidity; as well, there is included a letter from her Great Niece offering to come help her until the baby was born. She and our King chose to leave before that event could materialize.” He handed the papers to Seileach who passed them around along with the amulet. Seileach began again, “I and several independent elves have examined the Wish Amulet and determined the origins of the magic used to emboss the name Klaus into it.” “Wait,” shouted Rian! I was never a party to the embossing of a Family Wish Amulet for Erlenkönig and his human wife! This has to be a fake!” “As I was saying continued Seileach, “We determined that each letter was embossed solely by a single Elf. Although it was a bit unusual, it still followed Council guidelines. The K was completed by Erlenkönig himself. The L, A and U were added by the respective elves that were on the Council for the Village, Northern and Southern Clans at that time, none of which are here today. The final letter S was embossed by me.” “Was the former Erin Councilman consulted about this issue,” asked the current Erin Elf? “No, nor was Rian. We had enough votes of agreement to perform the naming ceremony and the animosity was so high between the King and Rian that we chose not to involve anyone who was not necessary.” “Not necessary,” was Rian's response! “If not for me the Village would have ended in civil war!” “I think that each of you will agree that the evidence presented satisfactorily resolves the question of the existence of the son of Erlenkönig and his wife Aisling of Erin.” “I do not,” screamed the Erin Councilman, but each of the others did agree until they came to Rian. The Ibero Elf calmly and deliberately met the gaze of the Elder. “You will put an end to this right now,” he threatened in a low voice. Joulupukki readied himself for the inevitable. “It is agreed then,” stated Seileach, ignoring Rian. “This, however, does not prove that Joulupukki is in fact Klaus the son of the King, which is why we have relocated the throne to its original location. This great hall was once the throne room where many past kings chose to sit in judgment over their fellow elves. Erlenkönig in his wisdom eliminated the need for a throne room by sharing power with a council of elves who had equal say in the running of the Elfin Kingdoms. When the Second Council was elected Erlenkönig welcomed me warmly and kindly told me that he was happy that it was I who had been chosen by the Forest Clan. He said, 'It is elves like you who will strengthen and lead the kingdoms into a more tolerant future. Remember, we are all equal inside'." Joulupukki noticed the light move across the ceiling casting colored images, like paintings in motion, one image slowly over-running another as the sun shone through the stained glass window. It was mesmerizing. A glint suddenly caught his eye from a corner of the room. As he looked he realized that it appeared to be the crystal from one of the elfin staffs. It's Rian's he realized. Looking discreetly around he saw three other crystals in each of the other corners placed at ceiling height. Evidently Rian's spies had informed him when the throne had been moved. There was nothing he could do about it now except keep an eye on the Dark Elf. “Having said that I will allow Joulupukki to present to you why the change was made.”