Heart desired

//Chapter 57//

We celebrated the victory for a long time.

Event hough there was literally no time to sit there and drink, they did not stop. I could not blame them. This was the first time they had faced Elves and actually won.

As the night time fell, the celebration turned wild. The night air was thick with the scent of burning wood and fire as a great bonfire roared in the center of the camp. It was casting flickering shadows against the soldiers’ black cloaks as they revel in their victory. Five Elves had fallen to their deaths today. And it was a great joy to everyone exept me. The red brooches pinned to their chests gleamed in the firelight, catching the glow with each movement. I sat on a log, chewing on a piece of fruit a soldier brought me, washed and peeled.

Laughter echoed through the clearing as mugs filled with different types of blood clashed together in a toast. Some blood spilled over the rims, dripping onto the floor, but no one cared. Some sat on logs while others sat directly on the ground. Elder soldiers were swapping war stories with younger ones, about how they escaped from the attacks before but today how he fought back. They cheered for their fallen mates, past and present, their voices booming over the crackling flames.

Some soldiers were dancing around the bonefire, swaying to the rhythm of a drum base played by some soldiers with a some drums which had dust packed on them. With each hit, chunks of dust fell on the ground.

Near the fire, a group of female soldiers had broken into a spirited dance. Their black boots stomp against the earth, capes swirling as they twirled and leapt, their laughter ringing through the night. One soldier swinged a companion into an impromptu spin, both nearly toppling over and ended up laughing even harder. They came towards me stepping to rhythm. Before I could register what happened or protest against them, I was dancing with them.

I had never felt so free and happy. I did not know even their names, but they somehow managed to draw a genuine laugh from me. I saw Resh drinking a bottle of blood with Aarr, his face cooled in to a masked boredom as the commander chatted on. I smiled. We were going to leave in midnight, so it was okay for him to roll his eyes a few times and find some friends. They were his to rule one day, after all.

The clinking of glass and the deep timbre of voices filled the night and added a melody to the rhythm. I watched as Aarr stand up, his perr glass bottle raised high above his head. I braced myself for a speech..

"To Elkelyn! To our ancestors! To our prince and princess! To us!" He shouted above the voiced and the drums. The words were met with a chorus of cheers. I actually felt like blushing as everybody surrounded me and Resh. One soldier gave me a glass bottle shaped as a heart. That made me laugh so hard for some reason, as I accepted it.

Resh raised his eyebrows. "Savin would be very pleased to see you expecting hearts from someone else."

I looked at the bottle in my hands. It was an expensive perr bottle, black and shining. "It's just a gift for saving them." I said. "Savin would appreciate it."

"Yeah, right." Resh examined his nails. "I think thay soldier likes you."

"You are over thinking." I said to him. "This is used to store blood, right? I don't have a use for this anyways. Do you want it?"

"I don't need anything given to you by your admirers." He said. "Use it as a vase."

I nodded in agreement. That was one way to use a bottle. "By the way," I asked him. "When are we leaving? Shouldn't we depart as fast as possible?"

"Aarr sent a messenger there a few hours ago." Resh said. "He is an expert in collecting informations. Until we have his full report, it's not wise to go around hastily. He should be showing up any minute now."

"Okay," I responded. "If he didn't come back before midnight, we will depart in the morning."

"Afternoon. We have to avoid getting ambushed in a dim light." Resh said. "Till then, enjoy yourself."

He was pointing towards the dancing group. A tall dancer, who introduced herself as Trina to me earlier, was beckoning me to join them again. I sighed. Dancing was a better way to keep my mind away from Daniel, Nave, Leven and all the dead Elves tossed in to the forest.

I could not dance for long, though. I wanted to go to Leven as fast as possible. After dancing around with the female soldiers for a while, I came back to my room and packed my stuff, ready to go at any given time. I asked a guarding soldier to wake me up exactly at midnight and washed my self before sleeping. I needed all the rest I could take.

It was a dreamless sleep. And as I told, the guard knocked on my door at midnight, waking me up. I went downstairs after thanking him.

Resh saw me come and came over to me. "He is not back yet." He said.

I nodded. "Okay, let's depart by afternoon."

He nodded as well. "By the way, that soldier wanted to talk to you." He said, pointing towards a man who was staring at us. I recognized him as the one who talked to me before the attack. Seeing us looking at him, he came towards us.

Resh touched my soldier. "I have to go over there. Aarr is waiting for me." He left before I could say anything. I scowled behind his back. Since when did Aarr and him became the best friends? Look at him leaving his sister alone with a man. I should smack him sometime.

The soldier caught up to me. "Your Highness," he said. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Go ahead." I said. I could already guess what he was about to say. I waited for him to speak.

Then he fell to the ground on one knee. "I'm sorry!" he shouted. I looked at him, eyes wide. "I doubted you when you had the clear solution! I spoke to you in harsh words! I have commited a great sin! You can punish me anyhow you want!"

Now everybody was looking at me and him. Even the drum sound and laughter had stopped. Resh was looking at me. Everybody was waiting for me to do something.

I bent down and touched his shoulder. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Inosse Rutorio, Your Highness!" he yelled again.

I straightened. "Don't judge anyone before you get to know their situation." I said. This was exactly how my father and my tutors taught me how to handle people in public. "That is your punishment."

He looked up at me. I was surprised to see tears welling in his eyes. "You hare too kind, your highness." Inosse said, sniffing. "I will gladly heed you orders."

I smiled. I heard multiple "thud" s around me and looked around. All around me were soldiers, kneeling down." I was surprised to see Aarr was also among them. "We are terribly sorry, Your Highnesses." He said. His voice carried around the grounds in the silence. "We will do our absolute best to not to let you down. We are ready for any punishment."

"Actually, there is a perfect punishment." Resh said, his face straight.

I looked at him.

-

The next morning, I covered their minds with illusions while Resh made others overly friendly towards them.

The challange was to snap out of our control.

The soldiers under my control were cleaning the grounds. I waited for at least one of them to snap out of it and stop cleaning. All around Resh, there were soldiers staring st him, some occasionally saying "You are my friend." Aarr was also among them.

We agreed to do this till the messenger arrives or the sun goes up. I did not let my patience slip as we waited for something to happen, ensuring the safety of soldiers.

A little time after that, the massenger came. I let my control slip, waking up the soldiers as I went to him, eager to find any news. Resh followed me closely behind.

"Your Highnesses," He greeted us.

"How is the situation?" I asked. "I was vaguely aware of Aarr coming and standing beside Resh.

"The situation is worse than we thought." he said. "Leven is massacred."