I talked with Rowan, my new cousin, at great length on the subject. I believe she has as much a hunger to find out about her family as I do. My initial plan was to contact or meet with Korbin himself, to ask about his brother, or at least Lord Merlin. The logistics of getting to their courts made this a problem. Vespera had told me that Carrick was headed for the frontier, which was just a long a journey. I gently grilled Rowan for information about Carrick, or Korbin's time with him. She frowned, telling me that Korbin had forbidden to speak of it -- and I knew that something was going on there, but I never was able to urge it out of her. I also think that she could somehow contact her brother or father, if needed be.
So time spun its top, and I walked the castle until my urge to leave and find the truth became an obsession. I think Rowan saw it in my eyes when I told her I was to leave, and bid me luck. I also paid my respects to Vespera -- telling her only that with the spring suns I must wander again. I made my way far enough outside of Rose Court, then put my pipes to my lips and began to play a song of Summoning.
*****
I don't remember much of the trip -- it was incredibly cold, and I huddles in my cloak against the warmth of the Gryphon's back. The sun and moon seemed to chase each other in a frantic game of keep-away. Finally, I awoke on the shore of the Great Sea -- except I was looking eastward at it. Shaking my head free of the magic of the trip, I turned to see the Gryphon taking flight again.
I turned to see an unfamiliar land, though the flora seemed ordinary enough. Checking my supplies, I began to move into the wilderness. I would not be long before prophecy would rear its ugly head. I began to hear the sounds of a rider approaching, and I put on a friendly face to greet whoever approached. I should have expected that she'd show up in this place -- blonde-haired rider, pale, in a green dress -- much like my dream, but not exact. I sighed, and began to accept my fate.
The name she gave me was Beth. She knew who I was, and why I was there, so I decided not even to ask how. She introduced herself as my "benefactoress." She had a strange, musical laugh that I thought was charming -- until I heard it about three or four times. She mocked my lack of knowledge of what was going on, and that was fine, as I'd done the same to other in the past. When we came to the choice of three roads, I told her I didn't feel up to staying quiet for seven years, and she laughed that (now grating) laugh again, quelling my fears (or something.) We road through the clear stream to the land of the fae, who did not seem to acknowledge us, and then I spied our destination, a grand castle, just off the horizon.
It was empty. Not of items, but it was as if no one lived there. Beth showed me to the throne room, and then pulled back a tapestry to show a hidden passage. We walked a bit when she stopped.
"Down at the bottom is the key to finding the legacy of your father," she said, and little more, choosing to wait at the top of the stair. I went on, silently, to the bottom, where a small chest sat. Inside, a bottle -- inside that, a sparkle of light, as if someone had captured a star from the night skies. I could tell little more. I decided then to break the seal.
The star inside floated out of the bottle, then zipped around me several times before streaking straight at my face! Surprised, I gasped -- and it chose that moment to enter my body. I could feel it there inside me, like a sneeze waiting to come on, or a bit of indigestion. Feeling foolish, I charged back up the stairs and told Beth of what happened, which gave her no small measure of amusement. She laughed, and sighed, and rolled her eyes, finally stopping my mini-tirade by telling me she'd send me to someone else who could help -- another bard, named Blaise, who knew my father. I thanked her for her assistance and told her that if I found Carrick, I'd find a way to return her to where she was originally from. She looked sad at that moment, and said simply that she could not go home again.
*****
Galadriel, the elf, left me along a mountain and quickly disappeared again. I do not think he liked me or my kind much. I walked along this great spine of the world until, as promised, a robed man sat in the valley far below.
I approached, and hailed him. His features looked familiar save his red hair, and he introduced himself as Blaise -- my father's brother. I could only ask him if he too was a bard before our attention was pulled away to the other side of the valley, where two more figures approached. Blaise only smiled. He expected them, too.
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