The Elven Queen

CHAPTER 4

After a long and dreary ride the heavy steel gates of Raiens was finally in view, two large double gates stood before us with bars running across, At the top a large glowing orange crystal and from the energy it gave off it was most likely a barrier crystal, a new one at that, was this their attempt to ward away the beasts? It’s very impressive but the fact that they still reached out to us shows that these beasts were a bigger threat than they expected

The gates flew open and the Gnome village came into view, small mushroom shaped houses in various shapes and sizes, some houses had flower beds with the most colorful plants I had ever seen, the whole village had this warmth about it but that warmth was suppressed by the air of dread that hung over it, some of the houses had green emeralds on their thresholds, the emerald symbolizes rebirth, in gnome cultures they put them up as a form of prayer to the deceased to help them pass on peacefully in hopes that they be born a new, the tragic thing is that so many houses, had emeralds on their doorsteps, in their garden on their gates, what happened to these people was truly dreadful but I’m here now and I will protect them whether they want me to or not

Though only a fool would’ve failed to take notice of the not so welcoming faces the Gnomes gave us frankly they don’t want us here, the contempt in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife, I don’t blame them for in their eyes I’m the big bad Queen who’s here to destroy their little village, they could’ve at least tried to hide their distaste, I’m still a guest

“What a warm welcome” sarcasm dripped off my uncle’s tongue

“Charming folk” I replied dryly, the carriage that had our men stopped in the outskirts of the village as only mine and my uncle’s continued to the village council hall, Arya being my scribe came down from her carriage and followed us on foot, our carriage came to a stop in front on the biggest building in the entire village, a 4 meter tall conference hall, I smiled at the thought of seeing my mountain of an uncle try to get into that and from the distressed look on his face he was thinking the same thing this is going to be heavily entertaining

“Welcome Your Grace” it’s always nice to see a familiar face, I thought when Andros came out with 5 not so happy looking elderly Gnomes behind him, assuming them to be the village elders

“It’s a pleasure to see you again Earl Andros”

“The pleasure is all mine, men go their entire lives not having laid eyes on the benevolent beauty of the Elven Queen and yet lowly as I may be I have her in my home” I see his honey coated tongue is sharp as ever, I replied with a bow of my head

“Welcome Your Grace” one of the elders finally spoke it was a woman whose eyes looked as if they held the secrets of the universe as she offered me a warm smile which I returned

“Shall we continue in the council room?” spat out one of the grumpier looking elders, a burly man who looked like he had seen better days, his hair line was none existent only patches at the back here and there, angry eyes with creases most likely from glaring at other people, cracked lips and hands as callous as his personality, he clearly didn’t age well, he gestured towards the hall

“By all means, please lead the way” I gave myself a mental pat on the back for biting back my tongue and managing to force out a genuine looking smile

Inside the hall had the same cozy feeling as the village, small wooden chairs encircling a large red oak table, it looked exactly like the one I used to have tea parties with as a child.

Watching my Uncle struggle to drag his burly frame through the small 2 meter door way was the highlight of my trip I had to cover my mouth to hide my amusement, Arya barely flinched, impressive, they ushered us to our seats which earned a look of terror from my uncle

“I’ll stand” he rushed out, at this point I was trying my best to swallow my laughter, Arya walked over to my right choosing to stand as well then took out her pen and scroll to begin scribing, after we were all seated the air in the room quickly shifted to one of seriousness and a little animosity here and there

“The people of Raiens are happy peace loving people we aren’t warmongers neither are we warriors “ as expected, the first to speak was the potbellied, crack lipped, least friendly elder, and the way he spat out the word warrior made me itch to pull out my sword and show him what those warriors he looks down on can do, what stopped me was a stern look from my uncle that had me pinned to my seat, It’s a little hard to take him seriously when his hulken frame made this entire conference hall look like a doll house

“I understand, that much is clearly obvious, of course I’m not asking you or your people to fight nor do I expect you to, after this treaty is signed Raiens will be under Sylphorren protection and we will begin immediate extermination of the magibeast my men are prepared and armed “ the last word ended up sounding more menacing than I hoped, I could see that from the single droplet of sweat that ran down the side of his face, he was afraid, Good.

“Forgive him, my colleague has always been terrible with words sadly he grew to be an Old fool please don’t take this to heart” if I didn’t like her already, the insulted expression that crossed baldy’s face definitely earned her points in my book, the one who spoke was the kind looking elder, the only elder who didn’t look at me like I was the bane of their existence, I see she had a touch of wit to her too we’re going to get to get along swimmingly

“Banish the thought” I said with my first sincere smile since starting this hearing

“I believe an Introduction is in order, my name is Gracephine, this stubborn old coot is my husband Ozzwald, from the right it’s Granzel, Hermer, Dezella and I believe you know Androzevan”

“Androzevan?” I couldn’t help voicing out the name giving the Earl a questioning look

“Androzevan is my given name but I learnt It tends to be a mouth full I meant no ill will Your Grace” This man could talk himself out of murder allegations while holding a bloody knife, charisma really can be a dangerous weapon

“Now Your Grace, what my colleague so terribly voiced out was that our people are people of tradition we know not how to fight, we love our freedom, we’ve lived as a free village for centuries, I can’t imagine how they will take something like this, we want your word that our people will not suffer from a decision we made” she kept a cool composure throughout her speech, that was why the crack In her voice at the end made my heart clench a little

“Elder Gracephine, I understand your concern, The country of Sylphorren is a country of warriors, our children are taught how to fight the moment they learn to walk, schools ensure their children specialize in at least one area of combat, they are trained so they can at least protect themselves or put up a decent fight, it is a practice that has been around since the time of my fore fathers, the training Is grueling and a little bloody but that is our tradition, one I intend to uphold with all sincerity, do you all know WHY these trainings are ensured with the highest regard?” the perplexed and slightly mortified faces of the elders was really something to look at I couldn’t suppress the cold smile that came to my lips “It’s because I’d never forgive myself, the past Queens would roll in their graves knowing that I ruled over a country of weaklings, for the might of Sylphorren lies not in its military but in its people and of course should you sign sovereignty of Raiens to Sylphorren, a training regimen will be put into place”

“WHAT?!!”

“That is preposterous”

“You can’t be serious” three elders rose to their feet in opposition, good old Ozzy, I think Granzel and Dezella the only other woman aside Gracephine

“You heard me” I said flatly

“We are peace loving people we don’t fight it goes against our tradition………...”

“Well that tradition is what got your people massacred!!” I slammed my fist on the desk and rose to my feet, Dezella that who was just voicing her opposition jumped back with a look of terror on her face

I always grow tiresome of these things, people in power know the right thing to do and yet they sit back in their seats getting fat and potbellied at the expense of their people their village thrives off their gems and magic stones but this is something beyond them, can’t they see I’m trying to help? If they’d rather be shackled and defend their idiosyncrasy with tradition then so be it, I turned to face Andros who had been quiet for the most of this meeting then looked at the Elders one after the other and let out a deep breath

“Believe it or not I’m here to help you, this is the best course of action and you know it so I won’t force this on you, the decision is yours” I sat back in my seat and continued to stare down the elders,

the first to break off my gaze was Gracephine she tapped Ozzy on the shoulder to snap him out of his daze, she rose to her feet and gave me a small bow of her head

“Excuse us while we deliberate” she began walking towards a door at the opposite end of the hall the others slowly followed her till it was only me, my uncle and Arya left in the room

I broke posture and slouched further into my seat taking my head in my hands rubbing my temple already feeling an impending headache, I felt a reassuring hand on my shoulder and looked up to see my uncle giving me a warm smile, it’s nice to have him around for these sort of things, I wonder how Mother did this every day and made it look so easy, I gave him a smile to show I was okay, with a gentle squeeze on my shoulder he dropped his hand and resumed his stoic expression

30 minutes later the elders walked back into the room carrying a scroll easily taller than all of them, Hermer was the one who brought it to me, I stared at the little old man quizzically, he hadn’t said a word since this whole thing started, he opened the scroll spreading it wide out in front of me before going back to stand next to the elders lined up in front of me, coming up the rear was Andros holding what looked to be a dagger and a quill pen, the scroll was large, reading through it I realized it was a list of names in different hand writings it went on long before stopping at a blank page

“I give up what is this?” I asked directing my question to Gracephine

“This scroll is the oldest thing in the village dating back to the first gnomes that settled in Raiens, their names are written at the beginning and since then in our village when a child turns 7 they are brought here to write their names in this scroll alongside their ancestors to signify that we are one, Queen Eztli Morgo Sophia, do you swear on your soul and on the sacred scroll of Raiens and on the soul of everyone name in it to protect its people?”

“I swear”

“ Your hand” Gracephine said while taking the dagger and pen from Andros, she held out her hand to me, normally being in unfamiliar territory I wouldn’t so readily give my hand to a person holding a knife but something made me believe I could trust her, I gave her my hand and she made a small cut only big enough to draw blood then handed the quill pen to me, she pointed to the top of the scroll and told me to write my name, dipping the tip of the pen into my bloody palm I bend over signing my name at the top where she pointed me, after doing so she rolled up the scroll and handed it to me, she isn’t expecting me to take it is she?

“This scroll is an important part of Raiens, it should stay in Raiens, you still have to write down the names of the next generation” I said pushing the scroll back to her, at this all this elders burst into tears even stoned faced Ozzy let a single tear trickle down the side of his cheek, this scroll clearly meant a lot to the village I couldn’t just take it

“Thank you” Gracephine coughed out between sobs as she hugged the scroll tight to her shaking frame

“Long Live Queen Eztli Morgo Sophia, 5th of her name, Queen and high Monarch of the proud Nation of Sylphorren, Warrior Queen and Arc mage, Sovereign ruler of Raiens, may her reign be prosperous” Andros bellowed and at the end he bent the knee doing the salute of Loyalty, one by one all the elders followed suite last being Gracephine who was still hugging the scroll for dear life, they still had to sign the treaty I came with but I’ll bring that up later, Looks like I have my work cut out for me, now the real battle begins