The Flower of Ithyra

ong, long ago,

Now, Aleksandr and Mirelle were twins, and their mother is said to have come from the Court of the King Under the Sky, over the Lake of Stars. Aleksandr was dark and handsome with eyes the deep blue color of the evening sky, and Mirelle was as fair as Aleksandr was dark, with rose-gold hair and eyes the color of the sea. It was said that the Duke had promised Mirelle's hand in marriage, to settle at last the grief that had been between Ithyra and Aris since the breaking of the Accord, to the crown prince of Aris. And indeed King Anthony and Prince Bertram had come to Ithyra for the celebration, the first time a representative of Aris had been to Ithyra since the Accord.

Even King Rashir of Tzalin came, with his Master Herald Loran, called Songweaver, for he composed the most beautiful songs in the Land. Now Loran was still a young man in those days, and though even then he was said to be very wise, he was, alas, also just a little bit reckless, and when he laid eyes on Mirelle he fell deeply in love with her and determined to marry her. He composed the most beautiful song ever heard by any at that time, and played it in her honor in front of all at the Duke's celebration. And when it had ended, before any of the assembled could speak, Loran knelt before Mirelle and asked her to be his wife. Mirelle was kind and good-natured, and as proud and stubborn as any Ithyran princess. She was as taken by the snowy-haired bard as he was by her, and immediately promised to wed him and no other.

There was a great uproar at this, as the intended betrothal of Mirelle and Prince Bertram was commonly known, and indeed, King Anthony might have declared war on Ithyra on the spot for this insult had not King Rashir of Tzalin intervened. He swore on his name that no insult had been intended, and that the Red Duke had no more foreknowledge of Loran's intentions than he had, or, he added with a wry smile for his impulsive young Herald, than he believed Loran himself had. Anthony of Aris, who had great respect for the Tzalin King, was mollified and proposed that peace between Aris and Ithyra be assured instead by the marriage of Aleksandr and his niece Bronwyn, and the Red Duke agreed, for he could see that his daughter would be happy.

Thus it was that the flower of Ithyra came to grace Tzalmir, where she shone fair for many years. And as the years passed, Mirelle and Loran lived happily at the royal court in Tzalmir. Their only sorrow was that they were unable to have a child. When four years later, King Rashir himself was married, Mirelle was still childless. A year and a half later, Prince Thamil was born to the King and Queen, but the flower of Ithyra still had no child of her own. Finally, she traveled to the Siodari Mountains to consult the oracle of Siarl. The answer she received was double-edged: she would have a child in the new year, a daughter who would have both grace and beauty, and whose heart would be torn twice, in an ending and a rebirth by fire.

Mirelle was both gladdened and troubled by this, but she soon forgot her troubles, for oracles are known to be cryptic and metaphorical --- her joy was too great at the birth of her child. For in the new year, to Mirelle d'Ithyra and Loran Songweaver was born a daughter with eyes like the sea and hair the color of sea foam, and she was named Ilan.

And as the years passed, Ilan grew in grace and beauty, the pride and joy of the flower of Ithyra. As she grew older she became known as Ilan the Harpist, golden-voiced bard of Tzalin and beloved of Thamil, and, to her sorrow, the last Herald of Tzalin.

But that is another story...

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