The First Elven Queen

Questioning Him

“She must have used a great amount of power.” The voice was hushed in her ear, but it woke her none-the-less.

“I can’t lose her like I did her mother, Ralnor,” She recognized the voice of her father.

Ralnor’s voice was gravely, “She is not dying, my King, she is simply recovering energy.”

“I’m awake…” She whispered, her voice feeling unused and hoarse as she pried her eyes open, “Though I didn’t know I fell asleep.”

She lifted a hand to rub her eyes while sitting up and as she did so, she felt a palm on her forehead, “Easy now, Princess, you must make slow movements.” When her eyes looked at his leathery face, he gave her a small smile, “It is nice to see you again, my Lady.”

“Again?” She questioned.

He removed the palm from her forehead, “I was there for your birth.”

“Oh.” She gave him a once over.

“I am glad you are finally awake.” Her father sat on the side of the bed she was in, making her look around her surroundings.

The room was not overly large, but large enough to hold the four poster bed she was lying in. In Ada’s house, she would’ve been able to reach up to touch the ceiling, but in this room she would need a tall ladder to be able to do so. On one side of the room were several tall curtains that were drawn to show the bright outside.

Her father’s hand on her own took her attention, “This is not your permanent room.” He let out a long sigh, “Your room is still being modified and readied, though I hope it will be ready in a week or two.”

“Have you spoken to him?” Ayla turned her hand to grip his, “Please tell me he still lives.”

His eyes tightened a little, “He woke yesterday morning.”

Blinking, she looked towards the window again, “How long have I been sleeping?”

“Two days.” He filled in for her.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever slept that long.” She shook her head then proceeded to throw the thin sheet off of her body, “So, what did he say?”

Ralnor seemed nervous by her movements, but only assisted her in standing rather than making her stay in the bed, “Slowly, miss!”

“Thank you,” She gasped as her toes sank into the soft rug at her feet.

Her father stood and rounded the bed, “I said he woke yesterday morning, not that I had spoken to him.” He took her hands to lead her over to a small vanity where she noticed she had been changed into a sleeping gown, “I am already getting a late start and I must teach you how to handle possible duties of a monarch, so I decided to wait until you woke.”

“I’ll fetch Tinesi to help her get ready, my Lord.” Ralnor looked flustered by her lack of carefulness, “Do you require anything else of me, my King?”

“If you would find Kolvar and tell him to meet me at the tower at noon and inform the cook to have a meal brought up to my daughter.” When Ayla looked disappointed by how long she was going to have to wait as Ralnor scurried from the room, her father folded his arms, “You have been asleep for two days, Ayla, you need sustenance and a bath would not hurt you.”

Looking away, embarrassed she mumbled out a ‘sorry’ before grabbing a comb to run it through her hair, silently agreeing she needed to wash.

Her father forced so much food into her gut, bloating her slightly, but he insisted before leaving to catch up on some work. Afterwards, she was bathed and dressed by Tinesi, who took her measurements for future clothing, and then took her down to meet her father in his study.

Tinesi was a tall female, the tallest she had ever seen, but so skinny, Ayla wondered if she was healthy. She had brown hair that was piled on top of her head with matching brown eyes. Her skin was a light mocha color with elven tribal tattoos on her arms. She wore a long dress of a dark green color that was flattering to her features.

She led Ayla to a door and knocked, “I have Princess Ayla, my King.”

The door opened to show a tall man in full armor and past him, behind a desk, was her father, “Come in, Ayla,” He glanced up from his paperwork, “You’re dismissed, Tinesi.”

As Tinesi started to walk away, Ayla stopped her briefly, “Thank you, Tinesi.”

Startled, Tinesi almost looked scared as she looked into the room where her father was, then back to Ayla, “You don’t have to thank me, Princess.”

“Yes, I do,” Ayla argued softly, but let the woman go as she entered her father’s study, closing the door behind her.

“I’ll be finished in a moment.” The scratching of the quill on parchment always sounded soothing to her.

Her father’s office was simple and basic with bookshelves piled with books and scrolls on one side and the other side held paintings and tapestries. Directly behind him and the desk were open windows that had a peaceful view of a willow tree over a small pond.

“What are you working on?” She took a step closer to his desk.

“A missive to Kaeviel,” He sounded distant, but she knew his focus was on the letter, “They’re a sister elven kingdom to our kingdom.”

“Is everything okay?” She couldn’t help but be envious of his elegant handwriting; she always wrote too quickly, making her writing choppy looking.

“Of course.” His writing paused and he gave her a look, “I had to be realistic in my finding of you. Humans are not well known for caring for offspring that are not their own, especially of other species.” He continued writing then, “If I couldn’t find you, I had to find another heir to take my place if something were to happen. King Urdusin has two sons and the younger of the two was to be him.”

“Oh.” She bit her bottom lip, looking out the window towards the tree.

“Yes, but instead, since he is around your age, I am going to have him come and help instruct you on how to run a kingdom.” The clink of the quill being set back in the inkwell had her looking back to the desk as he sprinkled pounce on the letter, “I figure two teachers are better than one. We must make up for lost time.” She remained silent as he finished and folded up the letter to press his seal into it afterwards, “We’ll get going then; we are only a little late, but I am sure Kolvar is still waiting.”

When he stood, she noticed he had changed his casual clothing to more formal. His upper torso was covered in a cream colored, embellished tunic with a surcoat unbutton on top and on the breast of his coat was the house emblem of a silver stag with antlers that sprouted into a blossoming tree with seemingly endless branches. His trousers were of the same cream color over his house boots.

“Shall we?” He motioned to the door with his head, lifting his arm for her to take.

Linking her arm with his, she followed after him as they went through one of the entry halls of the castle and outside into a courtyard that was covered in a white gravel for paths. There was a massive fountain in the middle, spewing water high into the air through the beak of a swan, and the edges of the courtyard were colorful with a variety of flowers and sweet smelling trees.

Leading her onto a thin path that went around the castle and towards a tower so tall that it looked as if it disappeared into the clouds. It was of light colored stone and dark green ivy grew all along the sides of it.

There was a set of dark double doors at the base where a tall man paced until he looked up and saw them coming their way, “Your Majesty,” He bowed to her father, then turned to do the same to Ayla, “Princess. My name is Kolvar, Commander of the Castle’s Defense.” He turned back to look at her father, “May I assume that this has to do with the wolf?”

Kolvar’s eyes were a narrow amber, reminding her of the guards she saw outside of Ada’s hut before she left. His head was covered with thick blond hair that he had held in a high ponytail that ended below his shoulder blades. His skin was tan, showing his time out in the sun, and he was leanly built. Over a tunic he wore thin chainmail and thick brown trousers that were tucked into high black boots.

“It does.” Her father’s shoulders tensed up, “We are here to question him.”

“He should be finished eating by now,”  He turned and pushed open the doors to lead them inside, “He has been well behaved, but he hasn’t said a word since waking.”

This was a little concerning to her, but she followed along silently not wanting to jump to conclusions.

They went up a set of stairs then he pulled out a ring of keys, then proceeded to unlock a door. When they went inside for her to see the room had been split in two by a set of bars. On the other side was a room smaller than her old one back with Ada that had a water basin, a bucket, a barred window, and a small bed.

On the small bed, laying with his arms under his head, was the male who had a beast.

At first when the door opened, he glanced their way only to look away again, but then he did a double take and nearly fell off the bed trying to scramble to a bow.

Her father stepped further into the room, “What is your name, wolf?”

“Thorin, your uh-” His face scrunched up, “Your Majesty.” His eyes, now that they were open she could tell were a bright emerald green, locked onto her, “But my wolf is known as Lupin.”

Her father nodded once, “While I am grateful for your bravery in saving my daughter,” He paused to lift a hand Ayla’s way, though Thorin’s eyes hadn’t left her, “What is a werewolf doing in my forest?”

His forest?

“Well, I am a rogue, your Majesty.” He shook his head.

“That’s what I thought.” Her father let out a breath and turned to look at Ayla, then back to the wolf as if irritated, “You linked to my daughter… Are you her mate?”

This finally startled Thorin’s eyes from Ayla’s to her father’s, “I…,” He looked back and forth between father and daughter, “Something draws me to the, uh, the Princess, but I don’t think it is a mate connection.” He looked away then, “I was rejected by my mate.”

“Why did you tell me that you were sorry, then?” Ayla pressed.

He got a thoughtful look, “Something urged my wolf and I when we saw you and we wanted to protect you… I thought when she would kill me, you would be next.”

The cell became quiet as they all processed the information he told them and while it wasn’t as informative as she would’ve liked, she was still very thankful for the man.

“Well, then,” Her father turned and looked at Kolvar, “He is to be released with some rations.” He glanced back at the wolf, “You must find a new residence other than my forest, rogue.”

“Wait, wait!” Ayla panicked, grabbing onto her father’s sleeve, before looking back to Thorin, “Why are you a rogue, Thorin?”

His face turned to that of poorly hidden pain, “My mate rejected me due to my status.” When she gave him a confused look, he continued, “I was the second born male of my parents who are the Alphas of the Crescent Moon pack… My brother would become Alpha and I would be second in command, but she wanted an Alpha.” He shrugged then, “Those rejected by their mates in my former pack are exiled.”

Taking a couple of breaths, Ayla searched her brain, “Do you still feel some connection to me?”

“Yes.” He answered without hesitating.

She turned back to her father, “I want him to stay here.”

“Ayla, what nonsense are you---” He began.

“Something tells me that we have a connection for a reason.” She turned fully to her father, pleading, “Please.”

“And what will he do?” He argued back, “I can’t have some werewolf staying within my castle for absolutely no reason.”

“I’ll protect her.” Thorin piped in quickly, drawing both of their attention, “With my life… It is what I was prepared to do in the first place. I’ll be like… a personal guard.”

Her father’s features smoothed out and he exchanged a look with Kolvar, before looking at Ayla, “He will be tested with my guard for the week… if he is deemed good enough, he may take a Blood Oath and become your personal guard.” He narrowed his eyes toward Thorin, “Even if a werewolf has never freely walked the halls of this castle before…”

“Just as I will be the first Queen, father?” She resisted the urge to cover her mouth at her own retort.

His eyes widened her way and he swept from the room quickly, but not before throwing over his shoulder, “You will start tomorrow morning, wolf.”

Her heart could be heard in her ears, but she looked back to Thorin, “I hope you do not come to regret this.” 

He gave her a lopsided grin, “I doubt elven training is as strenuous as werewolf training.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Ayla saw that Kolvar was beginning to fidget, so she looked to him, “Thank you for your time.” She gave a final look to the wolf man before starting out the door, “Good luck.”

Just outside the tower, her father waited by the edge of the path, a scowl on his face. He looked to be deep in thought and Ayla almost wondered if she should be scared of him or not. The rest of the people around him seemed to be.

“Come, Ayla, we must get with the Head of the Household to start planning for your coming of age celebration… You should’ve had one when you first turned 18.” He surprised her since she figured he was too distracted to notice her approach, but then he added softly with a little glance her way, “You must have patience with me, Ayla…”

She regarded him for a few moments, “I’ll try as much as you will.”

He gave her a surprised look, a smile forming in his eyes, before motioning for her to follow him back to the castle.