Excerpt: Tears for the Silent Lands

Mirriae stared into the perfectly clear, rippling water, down to the carved and tiled bottom that was colored blue, purple, green, and gold by turns. This pool had always been one of her favorite places in the city. It was her mother’s favorite place too, which was probably why Mirriae had come to love it so. Her mother had taken her to this pool often for picnics or simple reflection. Staring into the water and listening to the sound of the spring that fed into it always seemed to help Mirriae sort through her problems.
Mirriae sighed, knowing that some problems could not be solved merely by reflection. The one she was in now seemed larger than any of the ones she had encountered before. It seemed larger than the city, larger than the sky, even. All because her father was afraid.
Fear and her father were two things that had never gone together before. Her father was never afraid, therefore she was never afraid either. But now they were both afraid, and a horrible shadow had fallen between them. It might pass away easily, as Zarynne had said, but that didn’t make it any less huge. Mirriae and Lonirael had always been very close. To have a disagreement arise about something that was so big, so important…Mirriae sighed, wishing that she was dreaming at that the whole thing would fly away as soon as she woke up.
Leaving would be much easier if she didn’t love her father. Mirriae had known some young elves like that, that flew away from their homes and families as soon as they were old enough to go. They didn’t have regrets. But Mirriae, she loved her father. She cared about him. If he didn’t want her to do something, she didn’t do it. Except that this time, she thought that her father might be wrong.
Oh, why did things have to be so difficult! Mirriae reminded herself that they didn’t have to be hard. It was her own choice that had brought her into this.
Well, then, she would forget about going to live with the dwarves! She would throw away her whole idea and settle down to live with her family. Everything would be at peace again.
But…how could she? She couldn’t just give up on the dwarves, after taking so much time to learn about their ways! She had to know. She had to live among them, eat their food, and see what their lives were like with her own eyes. She couldn’t give up her dream.
Mirriae stared off into the woods behind the pool, and thought about how much she loved this place. Yet, much as she loved it, she couldn’t stay here forever, shut away in an almost-perfect paradise. If she was going to heal the relationships between the two races, there must be sacrifice on her part.
But must it be so much sacrifice? Mirriae wondered. Her relationship with her father was one of the most important things she possessed. She couldn’t just let it go for the sake of politics.
Mirriae lay down on her back and gazed up at the sky between the leaves of the trees. What was she searching for, anyway? Zarynne’s question had disturbed her. Before she had only thought of it as the unnamed something, the one thing that could bring her happiness. That had been all. But now she was forced to probe deeper into the issue, searching out the answer to the question. What was it that she wanted?
She felt that the answer was about to come to her, when a brightly-colored Rynic bird flew overhead and interrupted her thoughts. Immediately her conscious brain took over, telling her that she had lingered far too long, and that she had much she had to do today if she was to leave.
If she was to leave…Mirriae gazed at the pool one last time and realized that she did plan to go through with it. She had been planning to all along. Nothing could prevent her leaving now.
She turned around and walked away from the pool.