The Royal Flame

The mage's room

My painful body is surrounded by softness and warmth. Lifting my eyelids, I look at the ceiling of the room. Wooden ceiling panels are lightened by a warm candle light which further puts me in an intoxicating feeling of warmth.

“Hello there miss.” A young woman with green eyes hovers over me, looking straight into my eyes. One of her soft blonde curls that got lose from her bun sways over my cheek.

“How are you feeling?” Her warm smile further adds to the warmth that I am already sinking into.

“Stiff but warm.” Not wanting to bump my head with hers I slowly remove my arms from underneath the covers. Trying to lift myself up, she gives me enough space. She places her hand under my armpit to further help me up against the wooden bed frame, even positioning the pillow into place for my back to rest against.

“Thankfully you are warm. The stiffness is to be expected from the situation you were found in.” My eyebrows furrow as I try to recollect how I ended up here, but to no avail nothing pops up in my memories. The young woman takes a seat on the bed besides my hips.

“Frankly speaking, you scared all of us a bit.” Her soft but stern voice reverberates through the room, however not loud enough for anyone to hear.

“My apologies but who are you? Where am I?”

“Well my love you, you are currently laying in my bed.” Her smile further widens as she laughs from her own words.

“Eresa is how you can call me and you are currently our lovely guest at The Longing Pumpkin.” The name of this place makes me grin and furrow at the same time.

“The Longing Pumpkin?”

“Yes, an inn who always has enough ale for any lost soul longing for warmth and a good time.” She has definitely practiced this before. But the name does make some sense hearing her explanation, except for the pumpkin part.

“We also serve a heck of a good pumpkin pie.” Eresa winks at me with a whisper.

A small knock on the door removes Eresa’s attention from me towards the door.

“My lady, can I enter?” Immediately the door opens with a synchronized wave of Eresa’s hand. A raven haired woman walks in, with her bust almost squeezed out of her corset. My attention is quickly redirected to the biggest shock of all. Her eyes are a dark tint of pink.

“Your eyes.” I stammer.

Both Eresa and the woman look at each other in confusion. Swaying her hand again through the air, the door falls back into its frame.

“Have you ever heard of Ancia?” Eresa puts her hand on my arm with the utmost care.

“No who is she.” My answer immediately brings a smile back on Eresa’s pale face.

“It is not a she, but you could say we are a she.” She couldn’t have been more confusing.

“Ancia is the name of the city you are currently in. A mages town. We are well known for our power and much more…” She grins.

“but mainly our powers” the other woman laughs.

“We are marked through our different eye colors from any other creature or human.” Eresa continues.

“At least we aren’t boringly grey eyed like humans.” The other woman states.

Eresa glares at her for interrupting. She quickly stands back up from the other side of the bed and walks over to the desk that stands before a small window.

“Isbeil’s eyes are pink due to her powers, those who are not bestowed with the powers of our nature gods have the color of their eyes removed when they turn 18. Which marks them as a human.” Thus the woman’s name is Isbeil and she has POWERS?

These women are taking a **** with me….

In disbelieve I look at the two women, who try to trick me into some weird spiritual cult. A pair of pink contacts and a coming of age story are not going to work on me. Just finishing my curses in my mind an oval water bubble lifts from a tile on the desk, floating through the air towards my wide open eyes.

“Isbeil!” Eresa’s stern voice echo’s through my bones.

“She would have never believed us.” As Isbeil loses eye contact with the water bubble it loses its form. Gravity takes the droplets an inch down but a gush of wind catches them and redirects the droplets horizontally back to the tile.

“Like I had to scold you and everyone else a hundred times on. No exercise of our powers unless I tell you to do so or if it is truly necessary.” Eresa sounds like a woman who wants to be a stern and strict mother to all but cannot hide her soft nature.

The water smoothly seeps back into the tile.

“If hers is water and yours is wind, then what would be mine? I am not grey eyed.” At least as far as I know, unless my eye color has suddenly changed, I still have my own brown eyes. I will let these tricksters try to explain that.

“You must yet to become 18” Isbeil sits back at the foot of the bed.

“I have way passed my first celebration of my 20’s” with a grin plastered on my face I am kind of done with this trickery hokus pokus show, I distance myself from Eresa’s grip.

“Then where do you come from? Why are you here? How did you end up here?” While Isbeil overflows me with questions, Eresa looks concerned at me as she brings her hand back to herself.

I cannot possibly tell them about my life back home, they will think I am crazy like Klyn did when he saw my clothes. My clothes, where are my clothes? Have they seen them? Then they must have their own doubts already.

“I was on a ship, but there was a storm and when I woke up some man had saved me.”

“The elder man down stairs!” Before I can continue, Isbeil interrupts me, gloating towards Eresa for recognition.

“Elder? He was quite young, my age but very tall and broad.” Their attention is again directed towards me. Even Isbeil sits still again on the bed, she is quite childlike for someone over the age of 18 but I get the feeling she is judgmental and does not even hide it.

“He did not let me go my own way. But the moment he left me alone I ran away.”

“You were abducted.” Eresa whispers in horror. However, the memories become so clear that the rest immediately flows over my lips, not letting anyone interrupt me.

“I ran and ran and there was howling. I had to climb a steep wall while being chased by an enormous wolf. No two wolves! But I climbed to safety. Then there were these colossal mountains, that I climbed between and… I don’t remember much after that” I look up apologetically to Eresa. Her frown has only deepened.

“Nolltunga? Why would they want a wom…” Eresa exchanges looks with Isbeil.

“Nolltunga as in the north?” Isbeil looks confused towards Eresa.

“It seems to be. The only lands that the myths tell to be owned by the wolves which haven’t been spotted for decades, but no one every goes nor returns from those lands.” Eresa places both her hands back on my arms, piercing with her eyes through me.

“No matter who you are. They will not get you here. If they go that far to abduct you and chase you down. You will receive the greatest protection from us until we find out how to offer you better safety. But for now rest. It sounds like you had enough adventures for a whole life time.” Eresa sounds very sincere except for her not caring who I am. She does care and seems to shove her curiosity of my identity away for now.

With that Eresa stands up, waving at Isbeil to move out of the room. One hand on the door, Isbeil disappears from my view.

“One more thing. Curtesy. Your name my dear?” Eresa stands at the door with her green eyes directed at me.

“Ari” my name awakens something uncertain within Eresa.

“Welcome to Ancia…. Ari.” With a whisper of welcome, barely hearable, Eresa leaves. Closing the door behind her, I am left alone in a room that first seemed to be filled with warmth, but now leaves me to wonder if I have placed myself in some new even greater dangers.