The Lady of Shadows

The Next Step

     I was sitting in my office looking over some new documents requesting an upgrade to the market when there was a knock on the door.

    "Enter." I called and closed my eyes for a moment. Celine smiled brightly as she entered with a letter in hand.

    "This just arrived for you. A royal invite." She handed the letter over. I looked over the paper, it had the seal of Eslantu for sure, and it was pretty writing, that of a noble. I pried off the wax seal and read the letter out loud where Dominic and Lilith could hear from where they were sprawled out in the floor with their own piles of work.

    "Lady Shadow and companions. I hope this finds you well. Word of your take over and improvement of the small kingdom of Hawls has reached far and wide. We of the Eslantu royal family seek to meet with you to discuss the future of the newly claimed lands, and invite you to our home. With the best wishes, and in hopes of a speedy reply, signed Princess Emilia Esla." I set the letter down. Celine was bouncing on her heels excitedly waiting for the answer.

    "So....." Lilith stretched out the word much longer than needed.

    "Next step in the plan?" Dominic asked. I looked at them both.

    "I had full intentions to move along to Eslantu to become an adventurer and gain rank that way, this will allow me to speed that process up, and as the fallen prince is in my party the first job I take will be freeing your people, Dominic. However we need a solid plan first. For example, what do we do here and when the people of Dominic's home to the south are free who will govern them?" I asked, "I have a few plans for here, but first, Lilith..."

    "I'm coming with you!" She yelled before I could ask. I sighed and looked over at Celine.

    "She won't change her mind so that means you are up." I said, "It's just as I told you before, you will be announced as my stand in while I am gone, and if all goes well, you will be named a noble who oversees this land for the royal family." I said. Celine bowed her head.

    "I swear I will not fail you." She answered with tears in her eyes.

    "If that's the case, once we free my people, I can transfer the land to you as well, expanding your province and that will likely grant you a greater noble rank. All I ask is that you treat my people well." Dominic said looking at Celine.

    "Of course! I would never consider anything less than my absolute best for the people entrusted to me. Lady Lilith loves these people with all her being, and I'm sure the same can be said of you and your people, and you entrust them to me after all you have done for me, for my home... I will strive every day to ease the suffering of the combined people! I will not let you down." Celine declared. I smiled softly. Good people were hard to find for sure, but here I was surrounded by them.

    "Very well, then that is the plan. I'll answer at once and we will leave in two days’ time." I said as I began my letter. The next two days were busy. Between packing, moving Celine's family into the manor, and organizing everything to run as smoothly as possible for Celine while we were gone it seemed like the workload was never ending. Thankfully, with so many helping hands employed the moving was managed easily enough, and the packing was easier with my storage magic, Shadow Gate... a whole shadow realm just for storing things tied specifically to me, and anyone I allowed access to. I showed Lilith and Dominic how to use the magic and they managed to make their own spaces, though it seemed their space was limited.

    Finally with the official announcements made the time had come for us to leave. Lilith had a few horses prepared for us and Dominic was excited to get on the road. With a final wave to Celine we headed out. The streets were lined as we made our way out of town flowers were thrown from every direction and cheers of good will and safe travels echoed off the stone walls of nearby shops and homes. I waved and smiled as we passed everyone. Deep inside I felt my heart thaw a little more... It was amazing to feel so loved.

    After leaving the city things were much quieter. I relaxed into the sounds of nature and the steady pace of the horses. Eslantu was a 3 day ride at a mild pace, but Dominic and Lilith has insisted on the fastest horses to cut the time in half. In concern for the animals I demanded we only run them a few hours of the day. Still it cut the time down to just under 2 days.

    It was the beginning of the evening when the capital gates came into view. The sun was just starting to dip low in the sky and the orange glow seemed to cast over everything in sight. As we drew closer to the entrance people began to whisper and point at us. I ignored them for the most part until a man in uniform stopped us.

    "State your business." He snarled.

    "My, my how rude." Lilith mocked. Dominic laughed at the joke before adding his own.

    "You'd think they would treat Princess Emilia's guest with more kindness."

    "Shut up you too. It's not who we are visiting they have a problem with." I muttered, "They are cold because we are not human." I said.

    "What does our race matter when we were invited?" Dominic asked.

    "Human cities operate differently.... Most of them are not friendly to other races. Your home and mine are the minority." Lilith shared.

    "A dragon, and to half breed vampires... What would you have business with the princess for?" The man snapped. I showed him the invite letter.

    "Will this be enough to shut your mouth and see us through?" I asked. He read the letter over and saw the seal marking it. He spit at my horse's feet and waved us through.

    "No one has time for you so make your own way to the castle. Don't get lost... and don't go making any trouble." He said.

    "Think the princess will react the same way?" Lilith asked.

    "Who cares? Celine is human, so they have no reason to deny her." Dominic said sounding bored.

    "If the princess is against us, we will act as if we only acted under Celine's orders. A human telling us what to do would be more acceptable to them. If she doesn't care then we have no problems and tell the truth." I answered.

    "Sucks that we have to hide behind a human, but I get it." Lilith sighed.

    "We knew people could react like this. People are cruel among all races, humans are just… more open about it.” I said as we made our way through the city. We dodged many thrown items on the way. People really did hate us. I sighed as I worked through the crowds of angry people. It took a while but eventually we made it to the castle gates.     The guards there were more professional, not letting the fact that we were anything but human affect them. They welcomed us in and before long we were standing in the grand hall. The room was huge with golden lights hanging everywhere, red drapes lined the windows, and at our feet was a lovely rug that was the same deep red with golden details woven through the center.

    “And I thought the manor was fancy.” Dominic whistled.

    “Welcome. Please follow me to the greeting hall.” A maid said as she walked in. We obliged and made our way after her.

    "It is a lovely home.” Lilith mused.

    “Thank you, we take our work very seriously in keeping the order.” The maid answered. She was stiff, but then most maids were. It was just that at the manor I and my guest saw them as people, not just workers.

    We were led to a grand door and once the door opened I was actually impressed for the level of care taken to make us feel welcome. There were snacks and drinks on trey and even cushions set up for us to kneel on before the royal family. Then looking up I saw the Queen, a lovely woman that I would say seemed to have an eternal beauty, as if the gods had blessed her so. She was tall, poised, elegant, with long golden hair, ice blue eyes, pale skin that seemed flawless…. It would be easy to mistake her for an angel.

    The king has a regal air about him as well, though not as enchanting as his wife… He commanded respect with a steely gaze and dominant aura. He was dignified looking with salt and pepper hair and a neatly groomed beard, he wasn’t small in stature by any means, in fact I’d say he was almost as muscle defined as Dominic. But the best part was the Princess, who came in like a whirlwind. The perfect combination of her parents, angelic beauty and an aura meant to be bowed to. Her skin was tan like the kings, but her eyes were the same ice blue as the queen, her hair was more of a dark blonde, almost brown, but she was fit and full of energy as she bounded into the room, making the king melt instantly as he looked with prideful eyes at his daughter.

    Then she turned and spoke, the angelic image shattered around her, and I sighed, for only humans could be so flawed.