Letter 


	Dearest Lady Yolande, 

	On the seventh day of the seventh month of the five-hundredth 
	and seventy-fifth year since the crowning of the High King in 
	Rauxes, a boy was born to Adaz Altariel, my wife.  In honor 
	of...  well, a friend of the family's, the boy has been named 
	Federick.  Although he has his mother's eyes and hair, the 
	quiet little boy also possesses strangely fair elven features 
	-- Delleb has once again been kind -- albeit with a healthy 
	ruddy complexion which would make any peasant-mother proud.  


	Sutekh looked up from the parchment to gaze upon his sleeping 
wife.  She seemed so at peace, a slight smile touching her lips.  Yet 
he knew that even in sleep her pain did not leave her.  


	The labor was a difficult one and, even with the help 
	of the priests, Adaz survived only by her own stubbornness.  I 
	fear she will be bed-ridden for several weeks as a result of 
	the ordeal she went through.  However, her pain is not such 
	that she cannot send her love.  

	Peace be with you; 

	Sutekh ElfFriend 


	Postscript; 

	When Federick is old enough for the journey, I would have him 
	meet both you and his namesake.  Look for us.  Assuming Adaz 
	and I have taught Furyondy a thing or two about religious 
	tolerance by then, we shall be there.  Fear not for us 
	regarding the situation here.  It is nothing two thieves such 
	as ourselves cannot handle.  



	Sutekh sanded the ink and rolled the parchment.  Sealing it, 
he placed it in a leather tube and sealed that as well.  Then he set 
his writing instruments aside and blew out the lamp.  Quietly he rose 
>from the desk and entered the outer room of their chambers where
Federick slept.  In the darkness Sutekh silently moved to the crib to
check on his son.  
	"Good night, my little master."  
	Sutekh returned to the bedroom and knelt at his bedside, 
standing only after a long prayer of thanks.  Then he stepped from his 
robe and into bed.  As soon as he had settled in, Adaz, groaning 
slightly at the pain her movement caused her, rolled over and put her 
arm around him, pulling herself close.  Still asleep, she sighed and 
rested her head against his on the pillow.  Soon her slow, regular 
breathing returned.  
	Sutekh kissed her gently.  Then he drew a deep breath and, 
letting it out slowly, closed his eyes to sleep.  A moment later his 
eyes opened in the sightless stare of elven meditation.  


						Jeff Stehman