The Elven Queen

CHAPTER 19

“By Sophia………” I couldn’t believe my eyes, inside this tree was a grand hall, white tiled floors, leading to two spiral stairs on opposite sides, a high ceiling supported by two white pillars, a red velvet carpet leading to a big water fountain at the center of the hall, the water seemed to sparkle, in fact everything in that hall seemed to sparkle

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Raydia asked from beside me with a smug grin on her face

“I have definitely never seen anything like it” by that I meant a mansion in a tree, this display wouldn’t hold a candle to the halls of the Sylphorren castle

“Raydia, eji fie nitg da?” Raydia, who is that?

Came a soft male voice, descending the marble stairs was a man, his skin nearly as pale as Raydia’s, same sunken, soul-less eyes and yellowish silver hair, the only difference between them was that he wasn’t nearly as excited to see me

“bihg di bydo rin, gehcm hfe kjusj na?” I found her outside the boarder, isn’t she adorable

“On dug huak kjuy gahl ni respident tjil bah ha daa?” On whose authority did you bring a moon elf into our boarders?

“agr jyef nah din gu hail gahru respident” Are you in any position to talk about authority?

He flinched at her words

“nhigh rafsha ben dilks sutra” how is she able to withstand the mana flux

“Nors dart kiin grutaska” that’s what I’d

like to know

Raydia’s face turned cold, I watched this entire exchange without understanding a lick of what they were saying but I got the gist of it, she wanted to keep me and he wasn’t happy about that, the more they talked the tighter her grip on my arm became, the tension in the air nearly as suffocating as the mana that surrounded it, I needed to put a stop to this before she tore my arm clean off

“Excuse me...." I interjected “...forgive me for showing up so abruptly, I understand how my unannounced visit can prove to be a hindrance to you, I wouldn’t do so if it wasn’t dire, Forgive me once again” refusing to shy away I kept my back straight and head high while addressing this new Faye in a manner befitting a queen, Faye or not I wasn't going to listen to this person belittle me

“Glorious” chimed Raydia from beside me, her face a mixture of pride and satisfaction

The Faye sighed in defeat before introducing himself “My Name is Grundal, you say your presence is tied to a sense of urgency, is it not? Then I suppose you’d wish to speak to all of us as soon as possible, follow me”

Not waiting for my reply he begins walking back up the stairs, Raydia dragging me up the stairs after him wordlessly following the Faye in front of us, I took the time to properly assess him, he was tall, 189-200 centimeters probably, he was wearing a white robe liken to the one Raydia had on, the only difference was the gold embellishments on Raydia's dress, he had long hair which he braided and tied up in a ponytail, he had a lean frame not having a lot of muscle mass which I disregarded, with what I’ve seen if he is anything like Raydia he was probably very strong and of course very beautiful, anyone would easily be captivated with him I simply found him fascinating, the hall way on the other hand I was enthralled with, how did they manage to create a pocket dimension within a tree?, with the high concentration of mana in the area I could see how it was possible but it still must not have been an easy task

“We are here” we stop in front of a large pair of double doors, wafts of purple smoke stream out from under the door making me a little skeptical, disregarding my skepticism he pushes it open to reveal a group of Faye seated on large cushions in a circular arrangement, some smoking from golden pipes the smoke a purple hue, others reading, the rest just lounging

“Joacfj kueamo” hello everyone!!! Grabbing their attention, Raydia spoke and all heads turned to us “Bnigh dught nakters boungad sultra bargh turmonstan, nielkert bust a trasberan” I found someone very special, she says she has a few questions, I hope you treat her nicely

Raydia must be someone important, the moment she spoke everyone perked up and gave me their utmost attention

“The floor in yours” she nudged, finally letting go of my hand

“Greetings, I would like to apologize again for intruding on your sanctum but I am in grave need of your vast knowledge, people I care about are in danger and I need to stop it but I don’t even know what I’m fighting against, I was hoping one of you would know something about this” I pull out the drawing I made of the seal that the creature drew in Lumeris,

Grundal was quick to grab the paper from my hand

“Arrogant of you to come to us seeking for our help without even properly introducing yourself” he stared me down as if I were a fly buzzing in front of his face, a mere nuisance

“Forgive me but I have reasons that prevent me from doing so, also the last thing I would ever want is to offend the people I came to for help”

He scoffs at me, swallowing my pride and the growing urge to punh him in the face, I watch as he passes the paper to the next person, then the next, then the next, going through all 14 Faye before returning to Raydia, a look I can’t quit pinpoint flashed across her face, her eyebrows furrow, her grip on the paper tightens but the sooner it came the sooner it vanished and she was back to being the smiley chatterbox that brought me here

“Oh my, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this symbol before” such a Liar

“Does anyone else know anything about the symbol?” she directs the question to the other Faye, a chorus of No’s, never seen it before’s and shrugs fill the room till a Faye, one of the few who were smoking that purple haze looked at me, his eyes foggy, and swirling with blues and greens, he points an unsteady finger at me , his head lulling from side to side

“How are you still standing?”

“What?!” I asked, genuinely confused

“oh my, someone seems to have had a little too much Rubben root” Raydia cuts in immediately standing between me and the Faye blocking my view of him completely, Rubben root was a strong hallucinogen, so strong that burning a single leaf would intoxicate a small village and a bush would kill that same small village, and yet here they were smoking it from a pot, he was probably asking how I could withstand the smoke from the root, that was because as part of my training my mother built up my immunity against most poisons and hallucinogen by feeding me a small amount each day, so I had no fear for the Rubben Root, but still Raydia’s reaction was a bit suspicious

“None of us here know about the symbol, what of Gaizen? I don’t see the leader anywhere?” she continues to pretend she doesn’t know anything about the symbol

“Gaizen went out a while ago with 4 others, we don’t know when they will be back but it probably won’t be long, 3 weeks at best”

Three week!! I couldn’t afford to stay here for three weeks yet I had no choice, this was the only lead I had but I'd rather not spend it here

“Thank you, I shall return In 3 weeks” I turn to leave but Raydia was on me in seconds taking my arm captive once again

“WHY?!!”

“I’d hate to intrude”

“Nonsense, we would absolutely love to host you, Gaizen might be back sooner that any of us expect, 3 weeks is just the maximum time he has ever spent away from the coven, How about this? stay here and you can have full access to the library..”

“Raydia….” Grundal tries to cut her but he is silenced by the icy glare she shot at him, he instantly backs down while bowing his head

So they do have hierarchy within these covens, I learnt another thing about Faye, the first being their covens aren’t always small, I wasn’t expecting to find more than 8 Faye, I suppose the books in the Sylphorren library were in need of an update

“You get full access to the library, who knows? you might even find what you’re looking for”

The offer was suspicious yet too good to pass up

“If it won’t be of trouble to you”

“No trouble at all” now come there is so much I have to show you, she drags me out the door, I look back at the room full of Faye and they were all smiling, it gave me chills, the only Fayes who weren't smiling were the Faye who asked me how I was still standing, he looked terrified, and Grundal, he looked troubled

Not allowed the time to think Raydia dragged me all over the place from the Entrance way, to My room, to the kitchen, all over the library taking great care to point out which section belonged to which category, the library was large so the tour was greatly appreciated, stopping at the History of magic section, she pointed at random books telling me how she knew the authors showing me a book by the 48th Queen of Sylphorren saying she was a Cheeky child, the 48th Queen died 300 years ago, Another thing Raydia was lying about, her age

For our final stop, she took me to the top of the tree

“This is my favorite part of the entire tree” she dragged me out onto a thick branch wide enough to build a small house, she waved her hand and the leaves parted, it was a glorious sight, you could see the entire forest from up there, rows and rows of trees, the higher we climbed the farther we got from the blinding light emitted by the tree so in this exact spot we could see outside the barrier which was still night time mixing with the light from the tree creating a faux sunrise

“It’s beautiful” I said a little breathlessly

“Isn’t it? And can you feel that energy?” she closed her eyes taking a deep breath, I did the same and she was right, unlike the mana inside the tree that swirled like a hurricane, the manner here was softer, like a mountain breeze

“The mana here is crisp and warm” I said subconsciously, this caused her to chuckle “....I want to thank you again, for bringing me here, I actually feel like I have a chance” I thank her sincerely which she replies

“oh please, it was my pleasure”