"Alan!" he cried, dazed with joy and surprise.

"Come on, you sleepyhead!" shouted Alan, grinning with delight- "This is my wedding day, and you must be

my best man. Aren't you going to help me make myself presentable?"

"Your wedding day!" Corin sat up, squeezing his head in disbelief. "But who?"

"Lysse,"

Corin thrashed his way out of bed, shaking his head.

"Lysse!" he sputtered. "You lucky dog! You lucky, lucky dog!" Hastily he dressed, muttering to himself in bemused happiness. "Confound it, is that what you and Hal were quarreling about?" he finally demanded.

"Well, after a fashion, ay."

"It was! But why?"

"Because I was a dolt, forsooth!" Alan retorted cheer- fully. "But come on, we have lots to do. I'll tell you about

it later." He strode out, and Corin trotted after him, still shaking his head.

A few hours later, Robin and Cory stood waiting in the castle courtyard, smiling at each other from time to time.

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Already their eyes were glazed from the events of the day. They wore tunics of finest fawn-colored wool, gifts from Adaoun, and they held the reins of his other gifts:

steeds of the elwedeyn breed, Cory's was creamy gold in color, and Robin's a gray so dark as to be almost black.

These had never known saddle or bridle, but at Adaoun's gentle command they now bore intricately woven blan- kets. The youths led them by soft hackamores, such as were worn by Alfie and Arundel beside them.

As the sun reached its height, Hal and Alan came out and mounted. They carried no weapons or warlike gear, except their swords, suspended from the chain-link belts Roran had given them years before. They wore shirts of pure-white wool, delicately embroidered in multicolor designs of every living thing. Bright cloaks fell back from their shoulders. Their heads were bare and high. On his right hand, Hal wore a large, dark gem set in silver, with a strange glow emanating from its heart. Alan no longer tucked the green Elfstone beneath his shirt, but proudly centered it on his chest. From time to time, he and Hal glanced at each other in silent, sober affection-men with the look of eagles, great in stature beyond their physical size, regarded with awe by poor and prosperous alike, each other's equal in power and valor. They waited to- gether for their destiny.

Soon, Rosemary and Lysse rode out with glowing eyes, in gowns of a simplicity which set off their beauty as no jewels and laces ever could: long, sweeping dresses of purest white, somehow made without a seam. Their hair swung long and free, crowned and intertwined with roses of soft pink, yellow and creamy white. Flowers of the same hues adorned pretty little Asfala and Lysse's darkly golden Faen. They sat sideways on blankets of summer green, and their white skirts trailed down below their feet.

Hal took Rosemary by the hand, and Alan clasped hands with Lysse, and they rode four abreast through the town, with the rest of the company following. The townsfolk, and countryfolk from miles around, watched them pass with quiet joy, then fell in line and followed after.

On a green, tree-crowned hill outside of town, a hill Alan remembered from his earliest years, Adaoun waited for them. He was to perform the ceremonies by greater right than any priest of any god, for he, sung in the First

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THE SILVER SUN.

Song, had not forgotten Aene. He needed no temple except the blue sky above, which had always been his roof.

The weddings were simple and eloquent. Each loved one and each lover stated their devotion in the words which best came to mind; then they vowed troth, honor, and duty until death. Hal and Rosemary exchanged the rings that had been worn by Torre and Megolyn, sent to him at Torre's dying request. Alan and Lysse exchanged the rings that had wed Veran and Claefe. Each couple joined hands to seal their promises, and the crowd stirred and murmured in pleasure.

From the little chest at his feet, Adaoun reverently took up The Book of Suns. From this be read in the An- cient Tongue, the only language he knew. Rafe trans- lated for the sake of the witnesses: "And it shall come to pass that a truly great lord of the land of Isle shall have two sons. One shall be by his mendor, a daughter of the house of Veran. and the other by a gentle lady to whom he shall be wed by chance of custom. And these two brothers shall not know each other, but shall grow in courage and goodness, each in his own way. Manhood shall be thrust early upon them, and great misfortune, and they shall meet strong enemies. In the course of their struggle they shall find and aid each other, and love one another as if they had been raised together from birth, though they shall not know of their bond. And the goals of their two lives shall become one."

Hal glanced at his bride and, seeing that she under- stood, smiled and pressed her hand.

"The son of Veran's line shall be he to whom all your dreams should turn. People of Peace. He shall be the means of your leaving to the land I have promised you;

he shall be the savior of Isle and Welas, and the consum- mation of the Age. The blood of elves shall flow strong in him, giving him knowledge, power, and vision beyond those of other mortals; yet he shall know the love and pain of a mortal heart. Men shall stand in awe of him, and call him Healer, Ruler, Welandais Prince, and Sunset King. But your name for him shall be Mireldeyn-'Elf- Man.' And these shall be the signs: that he shall come to you, unbidden, on a steed of the elfin blood, with the marks of suffering on his body, and the Old Language on

taueroe

287.

his tongue, and the vision of the legends in his e,yes. His only magic and his only power shall reside in himself.

"But men's dreams shall find fulfillment in his brother, for he shall begin a new Age of peace for mortal men. A great-hearted man, like Veran before him, he also shall win the love of an elf maiden-"

Alan stood, scarcely listening, with his arm around Lysse.

"-so that his heirs may be blessed with elfin wisdom and vision. The knowledge of the Old Language, and of many mysteries, shall be his. Men shall love and honor him, calling him Elfstone, the Golden One, and Sunrise King. But your name for him shall be Elwyndas-'Elf- Friend.' And these shall be the signs to you: that the ash maiden shall find tove for him in her heart, and intervene for his sake, and lead him to you; and he shall fearlessly find the knowledge of the Old Language and its secrets in her eyes."

Adaoun closed the Book, speaking now more slowly and thoughtfully. "This is called The Book of Suns. It tells of the rising and setting of many kinds of suns-the suns of all men's days, the suns of many men's lives, the suns of all the ages of history for both men and elves. But all of these are bound up and reach their culmination in the two sons who stand before you, sons of a truly noble man. From their first meeting, though they did not know each other, they loved each other as brothers, and now they find that they are brothers in truth. They were born on the same day, in the same hour; there is no thought of younger or elder between them. They are at one with each other, just as the sun which sets at night is the same sun which rises in the morning. In Mireldeyn, you see the splendid setting of the sun that rose with Veran. In Elwyndas, you see the splendid rising of the sun of a new Age, dawning, like the Age of Veran before him, in peace and love. Whether peace and love shall endure, mortal men, depends on each of you....

"This is a moment of great weight in your history, folk of the Second Song. The One has said that, if you will it, the sun can set forever on the wreakers of war and op- pression. The tide of their onslaught can be turned for all time, if this land of Isle stands strong in its path. Aene has given you two men, the likes of which you will never see

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THE SILVER SUN.

again, for this, your time of need- He has given you two who are something more than men, who face the specters of pride and greed and dare them to do their worst. They have shared the chances of life and death. They have ful- filled all the prophecies of The Book of Suns, except this last one, and they shall fulfill that one also: that greed and pride shall have no dominion, but all men shall live

in harmony. Long, prosperous, and peaceful shall be the reign of Laueroct"

The people cheered. Hal smiled a tiny smile, thanking Adaoun for what he had oot said.

"Therefore," continued Adaoun, and his voice was sud- denly awesome in its maj'esty, "I say to you, mortal men, that it is meet that these two sons who have shared their peril and yours should also share the reward which means so much less to them than their love. For the first time in your annals or ours, I show to you Kings equal in power, goodness, stature and love-I show to you the Sons of Laueroc. I show to you the final Chapter of The Book of Suns-I show to you the Sun Kings!"

At the beckoning of Adaoun's imperious eyes, Hal and Alan stepped forward and stood before him. A roar went up from the crowd, echoing to the sky, and fell off all at

once to a waiting silence, Hal and Alan dropped to one knee.

Adaoun placed the silver crown on Hal's head. "I crown you first, Mireldeyn,'* he murmured, "only because

you are the child of the old Age, which came before the new."

He next placed on Alan's head the crown of gold. "All

the blessings of Aene be on you both," he whispered, and raised them.

They stood before the multitudes of their people, their friends- They were crowned in rays of glory like the suns from which they took their titles. Thousands knelt before them with faces uplifted in glowing joy, with hands raised in greeting, with voices raised in shouts of praise. Hal and Alan stood, and their knees weakened before the adula- tion as they never had before hostile armies, and they turned to each other for support, only to see tears shining in each other's eyes. Almost laughing, they embraced in their grip of brotherhood, pummeling each other, and then they stretched out hands to their brides, holding them tight Laueroc 389

as the shouts of their people blended into a mighty chant of triumph.

Robin and Cory brought them their horses. As they rode toward their hilltop bowers, the crowd pressed around them, and flowers filled the air. Somewhere, music started, and feasting began. Their whole world rejoiced, for their happiness was the happiness of their people.

A week's gentle journeying brought them to the Bay of the Blessed. It was just the four of them-Hal, Rosemary, Alan and Lysse-with the entire race of elves. They had experienced one last whiff of eternity. The days of pleas- ant riding melted together in memory, leaving only an image of glowing days and balmy nights. The Kings did not wear the heavy crowns of Verao; Hal wore his plain circlet, and Alan a similar one of gold that Hal had given him. They rode with heads held high, and their wives regarded them with proud, loving eyes. In all those days, Rosemary did not ask the question reposing at the back of her mind. She knew, as simply as a mother with child knows, that the time was not yet.

They arrived in midmoming of the eighth day. For the past two days they had seen no one but themselves, for this was a forbidden place, protected by the spirits of the legendary gods. The Bay of the Blessed shimmered silver- gray between shale shores and shadowy evergreens. At the mouth of the Gleaming River rode three gray ships at anchor, silent as ghosts.