The Elven Queen

CHAPTER 10

Once again the sound of bells ringing in the background forcing me to remain focused in the present, It’s finally the date of our departure to Lumeris, I haven’t been in constant motion between countries this much since the strategy meetings to storm Durghan, can’t say I missed it.

Looking out the window of my moving carriage I openly welcome the cheers of the citizens sending us off with merry and prayers of safe travels, a tap on my shoulder brings me back to the carriage, the envoy I chose to travel with me to Durhan consisted of 8 royal guards riding in carriages behind us.and in my carriage were 4 shadows, Itotia, Gabor, Hugo, and my scribe Arya, my uncle didn’t join us this time, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the capital unsupervised so I asked him to say behind which he did reluctantly, My Uncle doesn’t like Khalfani, which was quite shocking, it’s a rare occurrence for my uncle to not like anybody but Khalfani made it possible, my Uncle says his crass and slightly vulgar nature was unbecoming of a king, so he did his best to keep him away from me, Khalfani is the only elf I’ve seen to ever come close to my uncle in height and build so watching the two hulken figures bicker was always a great source of my entertainment, but this time I couldn’t afford to take too many officials hence why I left my peacekeeper Shya in the capital as well to aid my Uncle, in fact that was actually the reason why my uncle agreed to stay behind, as much as he hated Khalfani he couldn’t hide his eagerness to spend time with Shya.

I will never forget the way his face lit up like a child when I told him Shya would be assisting him, no matter how much he refuses to admit it, everyone except Shya herself knew that my uncle had a crush on her, he damn near turns to a school boy whenever he’s around her, my only hope is that he acts on those feelings, ever since his wife passed away during child birth when I was barely 6, both she and the child didn’t make it, that event broke him, he completely threw himself into his work and never spent time with anyone, it wasn’t until I made a habit of tearing him away from him desk did he start to open up to us once again but even after all those years, my uncle never cared to look for another partner so when he started to develop feelings for Shya I couldn’t help the joy I feel every time he fumbles around her, how could Shya not realize that she had the scariest man in the whole country on a leash.

“How many days do you think it will take for us to get to Lumeris?” itotia asked as soon as the docks came into view dreading the idea of being on a boat for too long, I understand her contempt for boats from a strategic standpoint but it doesn’t make it any less hilarious

“Two maybe Three days” I answered causing her eyes to fill with dread, she shouldn’t be so surprised all the Elven Nations were considerably far from each other with Sylphorren up North, Eadins to the west and Lumeris down South, if not for our technical advancement the journey would take weeks by sea.

Getting off the carriage, we head onto the boat, greeting all the helms men, Itotia made her way straight to the kitchen Gabor following her in tow like a lost puppy, I honestly don’t know what to do with those two, they are clearly in love with each other to the extent that they have matching tattoos across their chests, when itotia turned 11 she got a tattoo of a side lying bow across her chest, It was her father's bow we used to be an archer, one of the best archers Sylphorren had ever seen, Gabor not knowing the meaning of that tattoo and blinded by love got one exactly like it, instead of being upset when she found out, she brushed it off feigning impassiveness but she could only hide her blush from everyone else, not me, following that, he would ask her out every chance he got but she would reject him her reason always being her sense of duty even though I told her it was fine.

They weren’t together yet they both staked claim on each other either passively or aggressively, one time a poor girl made the mistake of Grabbing Gabor’s upper arm in the training ground and itotia threw a bot knife all the way from the other side of the training field slashing the back of her hand clean open then gave a halfhearted apology saying the dagger flew off while she was in the middle of target practice, that being said everyone avoids them and they have had an unofficially official relationship of sort, going on dates, buying gifts, being physical, not actually dating but not seeing other people, it’s strange.

Paying them no mind I turn to Hugo who had already jumped up onto the helms of the boat mind steely focused on the Horizon ahead, a man of few words, in fact I’m not entirely sure he isn’t mute, but with his circumstances we let him be, he is strong, efficient, and a tactical mind coming second only to itotia among my shadows, a man found and trained by man Uncle himself so it is to be expected

Just like that, two days pass by in a blur, our third day on this ship en route to Lumeris having stopped only once on an island between our two countries on the second day because itotia swore and I quote “if you don’t stop this rocking glorified piece of floating drift wood I will unsheathe my dagger and turn you all into minced fodder for the beasts at the bottom of the black deeps”

Coming from anyone else that would’ve been considered treason but coming from itotia it was just a tantrum so we docked, and gave her time to breath, thankfully the island was uninhabited and we found some rather fascinating vegetation that made me create a mental note to stop on our way back.

Nearing the end of our journey, everyone is still on edge and tip toeing around itotia, who is clearly at her wits end, evident the steel grip she has on her dagger so much so that her knuckles were turning white, the only tether to her sanity was Gabor constantly holding her, and whispering into her ear, though they have their own rooms they’ve been alternating sleeping in each other’s cabins, whatever he’s doing its keeping her in check which is actually the main reason why I brought him, Hugo still on his helm only coming down to eat or use the bathroom hasn’t said a word for the duration of this journey, and Arya constantly inspecting and supervising every little thing, the knights constantly fidgeting.

“LAAAAAAAAAAAAAND HOOOOOOOOO” bellows the man in the crow’s nest and sure enough the docks of Lumeris were in sight, that knowledge alone was enough to bring the color back in itotia’s cheek and have her release the vise grip she had on her dagger.

Not long after we dock, we were welcomed by an envoy

“Kaabo si Lumeris” welcome to Lumeris, beamed a young man 6 maybe seven years older than me, wearing a bright smile in a dialect and accent different from Khalfani, unsure what he was saying I figured it was a welcome and bowed

“Greetings, thank you for having us”

“Dari Ji mi” Forgive me, the man scampered, “.. His highness told me you would be unfamiliar with my Language, It slipped my mind, I am truly sorry”

“Its fine, Truly” And it really was not like I wasn’t expecting it, like all the other Elven Nations Lumeris was Large, all three elven countries could fit 2 to 3 smaller countries who have atleast 3/4 ethnic groups in our capitals alone, so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting to run into various languages, when there are so many people from all walks of life with so many cultures spread all over the land, just like in Sylphorren and Eadins, in fact the language we’re currently speaking is just the common tongue across all Nations it is not my mother tongue.

“Thank you for your understanding, my name is Abiodun Boluwatitololae, But you can call me Abbey, I will be your guide, the king is heavily disheartened that he could not welcome you himself but he promises to give you the epitome of hospitality, as soon as we arrive at the capital which is half a day’s ride from here” he finished his speech and beckoned us towards the carriages, of course I noticed a few perplexed stares from the Lumerian guards, can’t say I blame them it’s not every day they get to see Elves with different shades of Blue skin and Silvery grey hair, unsurprisingly some of our own guard wore similar expressions, specifically the ones coming to Lumeris for the first time, this was their first time seeing elves with dark brown skin, jet black hair, a few brown haired ones and of course their defining feature, the short horns growing on the side of their heads unlike ogres whose horns grown out of their forehead, I smile at their innocent curiosity, they will soon come to learn that we are so different yet still one and the same.

The journey to the capital was uneventful save for the soft grumbles from itotia about how far the capital was, I should be scolding her seeing how she jumped off the boat, literally she jumped on the railing of the boat as soon as it fully docked as if she couldn’t get off it fast enough, being a shadow this little display went undetected but she nearly gave Abbey a heart when he opened the carriage door and saw her already seated, compared to the boat, she openly welcomed the carriage ride.

No matter how many times I see it, I always marvel at the sight of Lumeris mainly their architecture, hoping the look of awe wasn’t overly apparent on my face as we passed one cement stone house after the other.

Racing down the cobble stone road we pass by dark skinned elves of all shapes and sizes but my eyes were trained on the stone houses of all variations and patterns in stories of 1s and 2s leading to a wooden roof covered by ceramic tile some houses having tribal symbols painted on their sides in white paint, I asked Abbey and he said they were done as decoration in preparation for the blood moon, I am in awe by these houses because in Sylphorren our houses are mainly made of lumber and similar ceramic tiled roofs, a few stone carvings here and there but the most stone in the house being in the foundations, the building with the most amount of stone in it the entire country is castle so seeing entire neighborhoods of stone houses was astonishing.

Most of the ride was done In silence, Gabor and itotia were on high alert taking note of everything and everyone we passed, Arya was in a different carriage with the guards and Hugo was riding on top of the carriage we were in, he simply insisted, hours passed and soon we notice the houses getting closer together, taller, bigger and more lavishly decorated with flashing light and wall length glass windows, the paintings on the houses are more intricate and prominent, there’s more people walking on the streets, laughing, shopping, we zoom under bridges built over head connecting the buildings on opposite sides, rows of shops fill the streets and I realize, we’ve reached the capital, the tall looming castle not so far in the background, I turn to look at Abbey and he gives me a warm smile eyes swelling in pride cause he caught me marveling at his home, I only offer him a smile in response, the pride he feels is justified.

Soon we are at the gates of the capital, swinging open it reveals rows of servants all heads bowed down as our carriages drive pass them, at the door to the palace I see the man himself in all his notoriety standing tall with his chest puffed out, beaded crown atop his head and a staff placed firmly on the ground, the moment our carriage halts and the doors swing open his booming voice cuts through the air

“Karibu Lumeris!!!!!” welcome to Lumeris!!!!!

Welcome indeed.