Moonscript Excerpt

Today, I decided to share a short story I wrote for an assignment given to me by my writing mentor. She wanted me to better understand my characters in my work-in-progress, Moonscript, by writing about them when they were young. I created childhood stories for two of my characters, but I've decided to share the one I wrote about Prince Errance. This story may or may not be included in the final draft, but I enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoy it too!

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          The elf walked along the ridge of the roof as easily as if it were wide ground. The wind caught at his hair, but he had thrown off his royal robes so they would not get pulled by the wind. He paused as the roof met the side of a tower where translucent vines clustered against the stone. A boy hunkered against the wall there, amongst the foliage. He cradled one knee against his chest while the other leg dangled down the roof’s slope. It was a precarious position that would have frozen the blood of most, but neither of them seemed to notice. The boy didn’t turn to acknowledge the arrival of the other, not even when he sat beside him.

            Following the boy’s gaze, the elf looked out beyond the city, over the fields and forest where their people roamed, to the distant east mountains. There was no longer any sign of the company of horses that had traveled in that direction in any more, but the youth still stared after them with a burning intensity, everything about him still except for his dark brown hair stirring against his pointed ears.

            The boy spoke first. “I don’t suppose there’s anywhere I can hide when you have Flyfar.”

            Turning his head, the man looked down the roof’s ridge where the magpie bounced along the stone. “No, he does have a bird’s eye view,” he said with a weak chuckle. When the boy didn’t respond, he sighed. “Errance, I know you’re angry with me.”

            “It’s not fair, Father,” Errance replied, his voice tight.

            His father inhaled as if drawing in patience. “Ever since the Darkness has enter the world, things have not been fair. We must live with the consequences of evil until the day when Ayahwei banishes the Darkness.”

            Errance rubbed his finger down his sleeve in a careless way, designed to make clear he wasn’t satisfied with that explanation. His father ignored it, so Errance was forced to speak again. “So how come the rule only applies to me?”

            The man’s temper frayed. His son knew the answer by heart, but somehow he always felt obliged to give it again. “Errance, you are Prince of Aselvia! You have the blood of the Celestial! You are destined to inherit the Moonscript! The stakes are higher with you!”

            “I didn’t ask to be Prince,” Errance shot back.

            His father, the king, clenched his jaw and stared back out at the scenery. This time he looked to his right, towards the southwest mountains, where blue cliff shimmered over the mountain peaks. The boy might as well have asked not to be born. He spoke carefully, willing his voice to become gentle. His mother might have done it better. If she hadn’t died in childbirth.

“Errance, you are my son. Even if you were not a prince, if you had not a drop of Celestial in your veins, I would still hesitate to send you off into the outside world. It is not as wondrous as you seem to think. There is beauty, yes, but there is far more Darkness out there then in here. This is your home.”

            Errance’s concealed anger erupted. He leapt to his feet, and jabbed a finger towards the hazy mountains. “That makes the last of my friends who hadn’t seen the outer world. It’s not fair that I have to stay here, while they go off on adventure. Some Darkness shouldn’t stop me from seeing what other places are like! This isn’t home! It’s a prison!”
            His father flinched.

            Errance stumbled back against the wall, surprised by his own outburst and stared at the roof’s tiles, tangling his fingers amongst the vines. The king didn’t speak, he just gazed at the ground dropping off far below them. The prince took a wavering breath. He hadn’t meant for that to come out in his pre-planned speech. But his frustration had shoved it out anyway. “I…I’m sorry, father.”

            The king glanced up, and Errance was horrified to see tears glimmering in his eyes. “No. I’m sorry, Errance. You’re right. It isn’t fair.”  He rubbed a hand down his cheek. “You are young and innocent. That is why I cannot let you wander into the world by yourself.”

            “I wouldn’t be by myself,” Errance protested, sitting back down. “You would have an entire command of elves by my side.”

            “But I wouldn’t be by your side. I couldn’t be. For both of us to be outside of Aseliva at the same time would be most unwise. And yet I cannot bear to have you away out of my reach so young.” He continued on hastily, before Errance could remind him that he was fifteen. “Someday, Errance, someday soon, you will be a man and then your decisions will be your own, though I shall advise you to keep the responsibilities of a prince in mind.” He laid his hands on his son’s shoulders, turning him towards him. Errance, his anger spent, met his gaze. The king paused as he stared at his son. They bore strong resemblance to each other, but it was the color of his mother’s eyes that shone forth. “Someday, I will no longer be able to shield you. You will have to fight your own battles and make your own alliances. But for now…please…let me protect you in the only way I can.”

            Errance’s gaze dropped, but he slowly nodded. His father pulled him into an embrace. They sat thus for some time, before his father leaned back, a playful smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Now,” he said. “How about a ride?”

            “Don’t you have business to get back to?”

            “I have business with my son. What’s more important than that?” He lifted Errance to his feet with one arm. “Come, let’s hurry.”

            “Why are we hurrying?”

            The king cast him a reckless smile over his shoulder. “Because everything is so much more exciting when you’re in a hurry.”

            Errance laughed and ran after him.

            “Lord Leoren!” the king called as he and Errance led the horses out of the stables. “I’m going on a ride with my son. The kingdom is yours until my return.”

            The addressed elf looked up in surprise. “My Lord?”

            “Oh don’t worry. If there’s a crisis I’m sure you can handle it.” The king laughed, burnished silver, and the prince joined in, shining silver. They mounted their horses bareback and launched them into a gallop.

            The elves looked after them admiringly. “Have you ever heard…” one elf began.

            “—anything more beautiful than their laughter joined as one?” Leoren finished. “Not I.”

           

            The king and the prince galloped across the grass green, their echoing laughter on the dancing wind as playful as the swallows on wing. The sky shone cerulean blue above a land untarnished and free.