A Link to the Past

                The door to the storage room was stuck fast with rust, dust, and the age of time. The guard standing in front of Biara shot her an apologetic smile as he jingled the key in the lock, forcing it slowly so as not to snap the implement before finally getting it to turn. Once the portal was unlocked, he strained against the wooden barrier for a moment before managing to free it from where it had stuck in the doorframe, yanking it open and exposing the dusty storage room beyond.

                “This is where we found the chest, my Lady,” the guard said, pointing into the room. “You can see it there standing beside that stack of barrels. We’ve checked most of the other items in the room and they’re just old weapons, covered pieces of furniture, or military supplies long since forgotten and likely not of any use anymore.”

                “Thank you. I’d like some time to examine the chest alone if you wouldn’t mind,” Biara said to the guard.

                “Of course, Lady Dayfire. If you need anything I’ll be at the post up the hall,” the guard replied before bowing deeply and leaving the room.

                Biara waited for the guard to depart before walking slowly into the musty storage chamber. The room had been sealed off for some time, and it was clear that it had once been used to store a variety of older items that House Dawnsea had intended to save but had no real use for. There were a few areas of Sunfire Estate that had yet to be cleared out, and this particular chamber had been discovered during one such effort. Unlike many of the others however, this one had an item in it that was of particular interest, and Biara had been called to come and examine it.

                The chest stood just where the guard had indicated it would be, and Biara found herself approaching it with a mix of anxiety and curiosity. Slowly she sank down to her knees before it, leaning forward to examine the object. Made of some imported, highly polished wood with golden metal brackets along each corner and a golden lock, it had accumulated decades of dust as a result of being shut away for so long. Biara found herself reaching out to touch it, her hand running across the wood and gold and wiping the dust away from a plate upon the front of it above the magical lock-ward. There, inscribed in the gold, were the two letters S.D.

                “Selun’athiel Dawnslight,” Biara whispered softly, her mother’s name coming to her lips unbidden.

                Carefully, Biara reached out with her other hand and placed it upon the chest as well. Her fel green eyes slipped closed as she focused on the object, checking for any latent magics within it before uttering the words to a spell. There was a brief flash of light on her fingertips and then a click as the chest opened, her spell having breached the primitive locking spell that had kept it closed. Taking a deep breath, Biara opened her eyes and pushed the lid of the chest upwards, revealing the container’s contents.

                It was, to put it mildly, anticlimactic. Biara was greeted with the sight of folded, bundled clothes, a neatly tied stack of papers with some additional letters and envelopes that were piled atop the stack, and what appeared to be a small jewelry box that likely contained jewelry her mother had not liked enough to keep in her own chambers. Biara shook her head and sighed; clearly she had been called from her work for something that the guards could likely have handled, but even so it had been wise for them to call her and she was not angry with them. With Selun’athiel, one never knew what she’d hidden amongst her things and it was never wise to risk being struck by an errant spell if one could help it.

                Biara leaned forward, gathering up some of the bundled clothing and removing it from the chest. As she did so, she noted that they appeared to be long out of style and were likely quite old. They were also rather fancy, as if clothing one would wear to a prestigious event or major formal gathering. Biara grinned at this, the thought of her mother enjoying anything other than magic and destruction at odds with her last memories of the elf.

                Setting the clothing aside, Biara picked up the stack of tied papers, intent on reaching the jewelry box at the bottom of the chest. As she did so, several letters fell free from the top of the pile, landing on the stone floor beside her and opening. Biara set the stack of papers she was holding down and glanced at those that had fallen, her eyes wide. Gently so as not to damage the old parchment, she reached down, picking up the first that had fallen and examining it.

                It was a beautifully made invitation, the words inked in gold and done in beautiful calligraphy, the corners of the invitation having a golden trim with an artistic design depicting entwined roses. Biara read the words aloud, the weight of passing time heavy in the room.

               
                You are cordially invited to attend a most blessed union bringing together two Houses in a time of love and peace. House Silverdawn extends its invitation to the Lord Tel’athar Dayfire and Lady Selun’athiel Dayfire on the third Sunday of the midsummer festival to witness the joining of the Lady Lirathel Dawnslight and Lord Lethas Silverdawn in the sacred bond of marriage.

                The festivities will begin at the second hour of noon on this day, with the ceremony occurring at the setting of the sun. Please join us in our celebration on the Isle of Quel’Danas, and let us share with you our love and joy.

               
                Biara finished reading the document and set it down, the names meaning little to her other than the fact that House Dawnslight was her mother’s original family before she wed. Clearly this was a wedding for some distant relative on her mother’s side that had happened many years before. Biara set the invitation down, seeing that it had directions to the party attached to it on a second, equally well made card.

There was a third piece of parchment sandwiched between them however that made one of Biara’s eyebrows shoot up. She reached down and gently picked it up, unfolding it with care and exposing what appeared to be a blank page. Biara smiled, her senses detecting an old and fading, latent spell hidden on the paper. It was one that she was familiar with, her mother having taught her about such things at a very young age. She breathed a word of magic, and the page lit up brightly as the spell was exposed, words flaring into existence in bright blue arcane letters before her. She began to read, her curiosity piqued.

Dear Aunt Seluna,

                I can’t believe it’s finally happening! He’s finally asked for my hand and we’re to be married! All of my hopes and dreams have come true, and it is in part because of all that you have done for me. I know that Father and some of the others think we are too young and should wait, but I know in my heart that this is right and I can’t thank you enough for speaking with him about the matter.

                Lethas and I have reserved a place of honor for you at the ceremony. You’re to be in the very front row, befitting your great role in my life and as a thank you for everything. I wanted to include this letter to say these things to you personally in the event that we’re too busy at the ceremony. As you can see, I’ve also been practicing the magic spells that you have taught me. Although I will likely never be as talented as you are or as we both hope your daughter will become, it means the world to me that you have taken the time to show me even this little bit of the art. Please let me know if you see anything that I can improve with my spells, as I am eager to learn more!

                We have begun our preparations for the ceremony already, and I think you will be impressed with our first dance and also with the gown that I have selected. I took your advice on the design and made use of the tailor that you had recommended and I am thrilled with the results. I can’t wait to see Lethas’s face when he sees me in it!

                Anyway, I do not wish to use up too much of your time as I know you are very busy with your own affairs, but I had to include this letter with the invitation. Again, thank you for everything you have done. You have helped my dreams to come true and my heart to soar. I will see you at our ceremony and, of course, continue to write. Be well, Aunt Seluna!

With love,

Lira

                
               Biara set the letter down gently, stunned by what she had read. Obviously Selun’athiel Dayfire had not always been the twisted, dark creature that she’d become after she was touched by Scourge magic, but to see this other side of her and to recall that she had once been a living, breathing person who had feelings and relationships was like being doused with cold water. Memories of her mother flowed through Biara’s mind, and she felt tears in her eyes as she recalled what had been and what had come later when her mother fell to darkness.

                Wiping at her eyes, Biara looked down at the letter again before turning to look through the piles of paper that had been in the chest. Try as she might, she could find no other correspondence from a Lirathel within the paperwork, and no further clues about this distant relative were provided when she re-read the letter. The thought that the girl had adored Selun’athiel and had even been grateful for things that she’d done gave Biara pause and made her wish to know more. Unfortunately, decades of time had passed between the joyous penning of this letter and the current day, and it was likely that the darkness that had befallen Quel’Thalas had washed all away with it.

                Biara shook her head, looking into the chest and finding the jewelry box that she’d originally been seeking. Gently she opened it, finding within it not jewelry as she’d expected, but an orb. Eyes wide, she held it up before her, breathing magic into it and watching as it began to glow. Within the murky depths images appeared, fuzzy at first as the latent spells re-ignited but growing clearer. They were images of a grand ceremony and of elves dancing and enjoying their time together as the sun sank over Quel’Danas. Biara saw within the images many glimpses of her mother and father together, some of them captured poses of groups of nobles long since dead smiling and looking up as if to peer out of the orb. But throughout it all, and featured amongst all of the many images were those of a red-haired beauty in a gleaming gold and white dress, a fine young noble at her side as she waved or smiled happily at the crowd. Image after image of her appeared, and Biara knew beyond a doubt that she stared at a ghost from the past, the young Quel’dorei having the same coloring and hair color as her mother’s own.

                She stared at one of the images, the elf’s young face burned into her mind, her smiled framed by flowing red locks and bright blue eyes shining with joy staring out of the orb from a time long since forgotten. Here was one of Biara’s blood. A cousin she’d never even really known, swept away in the events of the past.

                Biara sighed and set the orb down gently in its box. She closed the lid and gathered it and the invitation with its attached letter up, holding them close. Although she was likely to find nothing more than ruins or a lonely grave long since abandoned, Biara found herself filled with an insatiable curiosity to discover what had befallen the young noble and her new marriage. Had they survived the Scourge invasion? Did they live now with House Silverdawn, wherever that family resided, or perhaps with House Dawnslight? Did this elf still live, and could she speak more about the past that would uncover more of Selun’athiel’s life than perhaps Biara herself knew?

                Regardless of what had happened, there would be some clues available, and Biara decided she would follow up on it. Two Houses did not have young heirs marry without leaving some record behind in Silvermoon’s archives, and it was amongst the old legal documents that Biara would find clues as to where the couple went next, and whether or not they still lived perhaps. With a smile, she hurried from the storage room, quite literally carrying the past in a bundle in her arms.