The Broken Council (The Guardian Chronicles 1) by Steven R. Burke Page B

floating in the
clouds above the cares and woes of their former lives.   They just knew that their happiness would
last forever, but it would be tested by the shortsighted elven high council.   They also knew that Kira’s father, King Ciel,
would not tolerate what they had done.   He would try to make an example of them for sure.
    There
was a subtle shift that could be felt throughout the different races of
Tuwa.   No one could explain what exactly
had changed, but they all knew that something for ill or good had taken
place.   An elf had broken their sacred
laws by marrying a man, and an elemental had violated the laws of her
order.   Everyone felt a permanent change
in their hearts that was unmistakably linked to the events that unfolded on
Mount Quang though were not consciously aware of these events.   The guardians felt the rift more profoundly
than anyone else because of the severity of the violations made by the guilty
parties.   They would have to wait and see
what would arise from these heinous acts.

The High Elves

 
    The
sun shone brilliantly over the high peaks of Mount Quang to illuminate the new
and partially completed structures.   The
elves, who had recently seceded from under King Ciel Tiranidrol’s reign, had
given themselves a new name so that they would be unique and separate from
their woodland kin.   They took on the
moniker of high elves because of their new location on Mount Quang and also
because they felt morally superior to those who remained behind in
Renshaw.   Mist clung to the mountainside
as the light of this new day attempted to burn its way through the thick, moist
barrier engulfing the entire snow-capped mountain.
    Kira
had been made queen, the rightful ruler of the high elves with Yukio at her
side.   He was a king in title only
because only an elf could be a monarch over elves.   The people had decided to uphold elven law
with only a few alterations.   Her sister
was still a princess and was the next in line to the throne.   While the people accepted General Yukio as
the spouse of their queen, they did not like him because of his constant
manipulation of everyone around him.   Their attitude did not sit too well with the charismatic military
man.   He hid his displeasure so that he
may be able to win the hearts of the people when the time was right.   An envoy was sent out with Yukio at the head
to the different nations that represented the free lands of Tuwa.   He had been asked to act as an ambassador for
the queen and the newly formed nation of high elves.   He was the perfect choice for the job because
of his connections with the leaders of the nations of men, giants, and dwarves.
    All
of the homesteads had been completed before the high elves had moved from the
Forest of Renshaw into their mountain home.   The capital city of Alanderas encompassed much of the southern side of
Mount Quang.   Scaffolding surrounded many
of the buildings in the central part of the city like great skeletal
creatures.   These structures had not been
completed before the people moved in because they were for meetings and
commerce.   The dwelling places were the
most important thing to have finished, and that was why they were all complete.   Some of the residents lived outside the city
while the majority lived within the protective wall around the capital.
    The
city looked beautiful and decadent, but it was also fortified against any
potential assaults.   High walls had been
erected around the perimeter to provide a certain level of protection against
unwanted intrusions or most aerial attacks.   The walls were three times the height of the tallest elf.   The width of these walls allowed a wagon to
ride easily along the top.   Naturally
magic had been used to speed up the construction of these solid barriers.   Trebuchets lined the top of the walls as the
main deterrent against a siege.   There
were several areas where the elven archers could be posted with a