If one day, around a corner, you find yourself facing an inn that shouldn't have been there, enter with caution, inside are answers and questions you might not want to find.

Tales and Legends of the Thousand Cities of Halamrish

Across the sea, across the land, through the deepest jungle, he reached the heart, and for the first time in his eternal existence, he dropped to one knee, bowed his head and implored.

- Oh mistress of the cycle I beseech you, save our people, our powers are powerless against their horde. Our ancient enemies have allied themselves with their gods; they ravage our lands, plunder our treasures, take our women and kill our children. I beseech you great Zarune, First Spark, intervenes to save those who can still be.

From the heart of the world, Zarune looked down:

- Sweet Eldarion, father of nature, you know not what you ask, I am the cycle, I take not nor give but all pass before me. Your people like so many others before them and others after them must pass the cycle.

Eldarion with tears in his eyes lowered his hands, and from his pouch, he took a heart, with bloody hands he presented it before him.

- Oh great Goddess, The First of All, here is the heart of my sister; Heeart has fallen to barbarism, hospitality is dead and never again will this world see the sweet welcome of her smile. I, who never bow, kneel before you, take me into the cycle in exchange for the preservation of what remains of the proud Eldar.

Zarune from the heart of the world closed her eyes, took a step and stood before Eldarion.

- Prepare yourself, child of pride, for what is given must be taken back, I save your people and prepare for the end.

Eldarion presented his sister's heart, raised it to meet the Goddess of Life and Death, together they touched the heart and with their power created a final home to save those who remained. And so the Emerald Kingdom was born, the last jewel of the shattered empire, made of the heart of a Goddess, the pride of a God, the fate that agrees to look away.

From the roof where she was hidden, Leila listened to the last notes of the lament sung by the Eldar. Their ceremony had begun at dusk and contrary to Mustapha's wishes, there was nothing joyful about their celebration. There were many religious processions and songs, none of them festive. From the roof where she had climbed, Leila looked up at the sky, she had not realised how much she had missed seeing the stars and the moon. Here she could barely catch a glimpse of them between two winds strong enough to clear the canopy and let in the soft silver light of the moon and the glitter of the stars.

- Let all remember the sacrifice of Eldarion, and let this night of remembrance echo through the night; Eldar people let the feast be strong and let the gods hear from above in their palace that the Eldar still live!

Exclamations echoed through the night, Leila frowned, the solemnity of the night giving way to an air of celebration. Leila's expectations were completely subverted by the joyful hubbub. From above she could even see her friend Zarune at the main table smiling, welcoming the many Eldar who had come to her table to pay their respects. And what had been a gloomy night turned into a party.

Leila got up slowly, weaving her muscles and blood she ran from roof to roof to get away from the festivities, she was not in the mood to party, so she looked for a quiet corner where she could spend the night in silence.

- Hey human!

Surprised, Leila stumbled and was about to fall from the roof when an arm caught her.

- Whoa, calm down, you'll break your bones if you fall from here.

Quickly Leila pushed back the hand that was holding her, blowing on a stray lock she glared at the Eldar.

- What are you doing here?

The Eldar smiled at her with amusement.

- The same thing you are, I'm getting away from the crowd and watching the stars. Some wine?

It was only then that she noticed that he was holding a basket full of food and a jug of wine in his hand, which he presented to her.

Hesitantly Leila took it and was pleasantly surprised by the sweetness of the wine.

- Haha, I see you have good taste, here sit down, I have some crispy chicken too.

- You're not going to give me a hate speech like your people are used to?

Dereur smiled sadly, and raising his eyes to the sky, replied:

- Tonight we remember Haart, old grudges have no place tonight. Hesitantly he added, besides we're not all like that, many of us don't have bad thoughts about humans... Just, sometimes, it's hard to go against the pressure of the people, and by people, I mean especially the members of the Houses.

Seeing her hesitate, Dereur added,

- Let me prove it to you tonight, as Zarune showed you, I would also like to prove to you that not all Eldar are so clear cut in their worldview.

Sighing, Leila agreed and sat down beside him. Dereur handed her a piece of bread and smiled.

- I come from a small village like this one, though much less ancient," he said, patting the old stones affectionately. If I hadn't met Zarune on one of those tours through the kingdom I'd probably still be there.

- I thought you needed the recommendation to get into the Imperial Academy. I can't see Zarune giving you that recommendation if you're from a small village, it's not like she's going to get that involved.

Dereur gave her a big smile.

- Actually, she wanted to, it was her chaperone Veridice who forbade it, but she revealed an old tradition that could override the involvement with house politics.

He took the urn of wine and drank from it before handing it to her. She helped herself to more, letting the warmth warm her body.

- If a commoner can defeat a member of the academy in a duel, then he will be accepted.

Raising an eyebrow Leila said:

-, such a barbaric tradition, from an Eldar?

- Ah, you'd be surprised at what's possible if you take on the pride of one of my own!

- Hm, strangely enough, I'm not even surprised...

Dereur gave him an amused look.

- Anyway, I owe a lot to the princess, she changed my life, like many of us.

They sat in silence, watching the festivities in full swing in the streets below.

- She considers you her friend, she even gave you Dune Fallen, you can't even imagine the political backlash this has had. For me, as for the other Eldar, it means a lot.

She met his eyes with seductive intensity. Mischievously she took the wine from his hands, before finishing it.

- There's no more wine, we should get some more," she said, smiling.

*

Jonah let himself be carried away in the dance by a pretty Eldar, she didn't even wince when she realised he was a human. Drunk on wine and food he was with her in a moment of abandonment he didn't think he could afford. It felt good to be able to let go, after all these months of effort, a party was a memory he had begun to fade. And despite a few twisted looks from some Eldar, most of them were nothing but courteous, if a little distant.

After dancing Jonah released the beautiful one to catch his breath and look for his human companions. Even if it was party time, there was still a part of him that was always aware of his surroundings. He could not afford to be complacent.

He looked around for Leila, even though he had come to accept that their relationship was over, he still had that simple reflex of wanting to share his pleasure with her. Not finding her in her place on the rooftops he was slightly worried. Before he could develop this concern his arm was pulled back to the dance floor. Looking down he met Aurora's starry eyes, truly starry, those eyes had taken the starlight and sent it back, fascinate Jonah shouted over the music and the singing.

- How do you do that?

Aurora smiled and answered him

- I do what?

- Your eyes shine, and starbursts are stuck in them.

Aurora burst out laughing.

- Does this flirting technique work?

For half a second Jonah was surprised, realizing what he had just said he blushed with embarrassment.

- No, I mean your eyes shine.

Taking her by the shoulders he led her to one of the windows with enough reflection to show her.

- Look, they're shining.

Surprised, Aurora brought her face closer to the window, the tip of her nose almost touching the glass.

- Yes, they are! How strange!

She turned to Jonah and smiled.

- Maybe it was the juice that old Eldar made me drink that did this! It was very sweet and mild!

Concerned Jonah exclaimed:

- You drank what a stranger gave you? And an old Eldar, how do you know an old one from a young one, they all look young!

Aurora grunted as she gently slapped him:

- Is that what you're interested in? Don't worry, I can take care of myself. Come on, let's dance!

She took his hand and pulled him towards the dance floor. At first worried, Jonah was soon carried away by the festivities. An indeterminate time later he felt Mustapha grab him by the neck and hug him.

- I told you it would be great! You see, just a little confidence makes life a lot easier. he said, smiling. You have to let go, otherwise, the pressure will crush you," he added with a serious look.

Jonah hugged him. They both sat against a wall watching Aurora dance with a young Eldar, who couldn't have been more than ten years old. He looked at her with wide eyes and a half-open mouth. Aurora burst out laughing and turned around with both hands tied.

- You're right, it felt good, for a moment I forgot where we were.

He felt a tap on his shoulder.

- Keep forgetting, the night is not over, enjoy. Why don't you have another worm of wine, see the amount the Eldar consume it must be good.

- Haven't you tried it?

- I don't drink, you know that.

- Oh yes, is Marie still at the inn?

Mustapha sighed,

- Yes, it's hard for her, much harder than for us. I tried to convince her to go outside, but she couldn't.

A silence grew between them.

- Jonah.

- Yes?

- Stop worrying all the time, we're adults, we can take care of ourselves, and if we can't, that's our choice.

Jonah sighed, looking up at the sky, he said.

- It's not that simple, I can't help it, and even if I could I'm not sure I want to, it's who I am.

Jonah looked at Mustapha and smiled:

- So, my friend you better get used to it, because I'll always be there for you, for all of you.

Mustapha laughed:

- Even Mat?

- Even Mat.

- My poor friend, what a sad burden you carry on your shoulders, but don't worry I know what will relieve you of this weight.

Mustapha smiled broadly as he grabbed his shoulders before pushing him violently. Jonah stumbled forward and fell into Aurora's arms.

- Hey, did you drink too much wine Jonah?

Jonah glanced sharply over his shoulder but Mustapha, as usual, had already disappeared. A hand passed quickly over his eyes.

- Jonah, can you hear me? Maybe you should go to bed, I'll take you back to the inn so you can rest.

Jonah looked into Aurora's starry eyes, before taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor.

- Come on Aurora! Let's dance, the night is still young!

*

Mat liked silence, so this particular night was not exactly his favourite. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the chaos of the party, he was well aware of the dissonance, so he did his best to ignore that part of him that was repelled by the noise. Watching all these people, getting drunk, dancing and partying made him want to join them. He stopped himself, he knew himself only too well, even if he wanted to be part of the fun, he knew he couldn't. He had accepted his difference a long time ago, and he did not wish to taint their revelry with his presence.

So Mat did what he did best, he watched. He saw Leila leave, just as he saw Dereur follow her on the sly, if he didn't know better, he might think Dereur had bad intentions with her. But he also knew that if that was the case, the Eldar would soon find himself facing a Leila who was quite capable of defending herself. Even though the humans, unlike the Eldar who were part of the troop that accompanied them to the Jengai Pass, had not had years of training in weapons and weaving, they were no longer as harmless as when they first met. Mat had noticed that the looks of distrust they received had changed from the beginning, if before it was distrust of their human nature, now they looked at them as a possible threat. Even the palace guards, the Silver Shields, have even more intensity in their gaze when one of the humans was present.

The speed at which they had learned, at which they had evolved in their skills, went beyond what they had expected. Mat was pleased about this, and he was sorry about it because he had noticed something that bothered him deeply. He was much less talented than the others. Jonah and Leila in particular had achieved a level of augmentation mastery far superior to any of the others, and Leila had her Eldar artefact which added a new level of dangerousness to her. Jonah, on the other hand, had mastered weaving other than augmentation, and his abilities were only evolving. Aurora showed the same expertise in this field, and although she was more in difficulty in augmentation she mastered it better than him, just like Mustapha. Heavens, even Marie who trained much less had shown more facility than him.

Mat was worried, and he didn't like being worried, admittedly there wasn't much he liked, but he knew for sure that what he hated most was powerlessness. His time as a child in a doomsday cult, where he suffered bullying and torture had broken him he knew, he had to spend every day with the scars his childhood had left on his body and mind. Mat touched the raven tattooed on his left shoulder, the fact that he was able to take revenge on them did nothing to free him from his insecurities.

Mat took a deep breath, forcing himself to refocus on the present before he started thinking about her. The party was in full swing, he saw how Mustapha flitted between the different Eldar groups, easily integrating himself into the conversations before leaving immediately for another group, leaving behind smiles and thoughtful looks. Mat envied him this ease.

He saw Jonah enjoying himself on the dance floor with Aurora on his arm. Mat frowned, did Aurora's eyes light up? No, Mat shook his head, he must have been mistaken, a reflection from one of the lights in the centre of the square probably. Of all the humans there was only Marie who was not present, Mat had to stop himself from letting the contempt he had for her show on his face, showing such weakness disgusted him, and worse showing it for all to see.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mat spotted something. With a smile, he pushed himself away from the wall on which he was sitting, and approached gently.

- Are you hiding? he said.

Zarune turned to him slowly, far too slowly for his question not to have surprised him. Mat hid a smile.

She looked at him calmly, her chin regal.

- Human," she said slowly.

- That's what I am, yes.

She looked at him for several seconds in silence before turning to look at the party. Mat leaned against the wall beside her. He noticed that she was watching him out of the corner of her eye. For several minutes neither of them spoke.

- Aren't you joining your friends?

Mat hesitated before answering,

- My presence is not wanted.

- At least you realise that.

- I'm very self-aware indeed.

She turned to look him straight in the eye.

- What do you want, human?

Mat shrugged and replied:

- The same thing you do, to find a place to enjoy the party without being disturbed.

Zarune frowned.

- And your presence around me shouldn't bother me?

- Think of it this way, with a human by your side, a silent human, all the other partygoers looking for you to talk to the princess won't dare approach you.

- Hum.

After that, only silence could be heard between them. Zarune and Mat watched the rest of the festivities side by side in silence. And as Mat had said, none of the Eldar dared to approach her when there was a human next to her.