The First Elven Queen

Corrections

They arrived back at the castle and Ayla felt worn out, but it was still early in the day. Nylian kissed her hand once more, claiming he would finally go freshen up for dinner, leaving her alone with Thorin in the entrance of the castle.

“Thorin,” Ayla snapped her eyes over to see her father standing in the hallway entrance towards his study, “Tonight after dinner, I will have you complete the Blood Oath to Ayla.”

Thorin bowed his head to him, “I am prepared.”

“Good.” His violet eyes shifted uneasily to Ayla, “I’ll let you rest for today since a Blood Oath is known for sapping energy out of the body, but tomorrow I will start teaching you how to handle missives and paperwork.”

That was when she noticed he had a hand on his waist, adjusting a thin sword at his side, “What are you doing now?”

“I am going out to observe the training grounds.” He answered as he started using two hands, “It helps improve morale, they say.”

“May I come?” She took a step towards him, ready to help him with the straps.

He paused in his movements, before giving a single nod, “They are your army too.” He finished with the straps, his features relaxing before he looked at Thorin, “You are dismissed for now. We’ll see you tonight.”

“Yes, your Majesty.” Thorin gave a bow to him before looking down at Ayla, “I will see you tonight, Princess.”

“Tonight, Thorin.” She beamed up at him, “Thank you for escorting me back.”

His smile was bright, “Of course.”

He walked off right as her father started towards the outside, “Come, Ayla.”

She followed him outside and around the opposite side as to where the tower was to the outer ward of the castle. The walk was much further this time too, going through what felt like a miniature village of crafters. What she could identify was a blacksmith, an armorsmith, a weaponsmith, a tailor, a bowyer, and a livery stable.

It was loud with the bustle of people, the clanging of hammers on anvils, and cries of animals, but it made her feel more at home than the actual castle did.

It almost reminded her of the village she lived outside of with Ada.

Once they were through the crowd, they continued further until the space opened up to a large field where soldiers, separated by type, were doing drills. To one side, she saw archers and crossbowmen with the other side having cavalry and knights.

Shouts and grunts filled her ears as her father stopped at the edge of the field, “These are new recruits,” He motioned to a smaller group of elves, some with fierce expressions and some with looks of struggle, “They will train for six months, weeding out the stragglers, and will be initiated if they pass their trials.”

She watched as they were commanded to start running laps and they passed them, but she did notice that a couple looked her way, making her want to shrink behind her father. 

Her previous encounters with soldiers from the tavern were unpleasant.

“Your Majesty!” A man came jogging up, his body covered in full light armor, “I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”

“I had a change in schedule.” Her father supplied, then motioned to her, “This is my daughter, Princess Ayla.” He then introduced the man, “This is Hammon, Commander of the Army.”

Hammon looked slightly older than her father, but she wondered if it had anything to do with his stressful work as a soldier. He had thick red hair and blue eyes, his skin tan with a red hue. His build was thick with muscle from his line of work, yet not in an unattractive way.

His eyes lit up at the sight of her and he bowed to her, “Princess Ayla,” His smile was closed lipped, but still friendly, “Your father and I go way back.” He looked over, but she could tell it was in more of an observant manner, “In fact, I see a lot of you in the younger Prince Myrdin.”

“Oh?” Ayla looked at her father and she wondered if he had always been so formal.

“Very much so.” He chuckled, “If you are anything like him, it could smell for trouble.”

Her father grunted, looking away, “I wasn’t that bad.”

Ayla giggled behind her hand, but as they began to speak more formally about the soldiers, she looked around the space of the field. Her legs started moving, her mind fascinated by the different stations, stopping to observe each one.

She had made a couple of circuits before she heard her father from behind her, “Well? What do you think?”

She pivoted her body, looking back at him with Hammon still at his side, clearly interested in her opinion as well before she looked to the group she was closest to, “I, well,” She brought her fingers together in front of her, pressing her palms together, “They look great, really.” She shrugged then, “I just do not understand why females cannot join the army.”

“If I may, Princess,” Hammon started, and at her nod, he continued, “Women are typically the weaker s*x and do not handle pain very well.”

She understood to an extent, but at the same time, she didn’t, “And yet we can handle the pains of childbirth.” She motioned then to the new recruits who looked to be struggling a bit, “And we wouldn’t be quite as weak if trained properly…” They exchanged a look and she could tell they didn’t agree, so she decided to drop it for now, “Either way, they look strong and fierce.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Hammon’s voice sounded of pride, “They train very hard to be so.”

“What do you do to keep morale up?” She asked next, wondering herself what would keep her fighting.

“The coin helps, but they are highly disciplined and understand what is expected of them.” Hammon informed her.

That was all?

She simply nodded, her eyes looking to the position of the sun in the sky, “How long will training last for them today?”

“A couple more hours.” He also looked at the sun, “Then they will start again tomorrow before dawn.”

They spoke a while longer, but the more they did, the more restless Ayla became. There were so many things she would do differently.

“We must return to the castle to prepare for dinner.” Her father let out a breath, “Are you still able to join us as a witness tonight?”

“Of course.” Hammon’s entire face turned professional, “Though, I am still surprised you are allowing this.”

“I am too.” He muttered under his breath before turning back the way they arrived, “I will see you then.”

Once they got back to the castle, he gave her a soft mutter of dismissal before disappearing into his study once again. She lingered in the hall for a moment, pondering if he was more sick than he told her, but she decided that she would worry about that later.

After being sponged down, washing away the dust from being out in the fields, she was dressed in a simple dress for dinner before being led down to the dinner hall. When she arrived, her father, Prince Nylian, Thorin, Ada, and Hammon were already there, sitting at the massive table, but when she stepped into the room, they all stood.

Her father motioned to the seat to his right from his position at the head of the table, “I was beginning to wonder if you were going to join us.”

“Cleaning up took a little while longer than I planned.” She frowned, “You could’ve started without me.”

“Nonsense.” He shook his head, sitting again.

She sat and the rest followed, “If you say so.”

Servants set out large platters of food and as soon as her father took his first bite, they waited for her, then began themselves. The food was very good, but she couldn’t help but think of different spices she would’ve used to enhance the flavor.

“Are you feeling better, Princess?” She had been bringing a piece of meat to her mouth.

She lowered her fork and looked over to Thorin who was the inquirer, “Much better, thank you.”

Nylian glanced between her and the wolf, his expression soured a little before he took a drink of his wine, “Are you ready to start your lessons tomorrow? I’ll be sitting in to assist.”

“I am eager to learn.” She replied, “Is your kingdom run similar to this one?”

“Almost exactly the same,” He nodded, “Though Kaeviel is located on the coast, so we have ports for trade, so we have a little more to learn in that regard.”

“Mm, I have never seen the ocean except for in books.” She had always wanted to smell the salty air of the sea.

“You read?” He seemed surprised.

“My dear Ada made sure I was properly educated for a female despite our circumstances.” Ayla beamed over at her caregiver.

“Ayla is such a bright, sweet, young woman.” Ada praised.

“Princess Ayla.” Nylian corrected her.

“Ayla.” Ayla felt all eyes on her then, “Ada has known me way before I became a Princess, raising me to be who I am today, so she has every right to call me Ayla without a title.”

She could see something flash in his eyes, something almost dark, but it was gone before she could register what it was, “Of course, Princess,” His eyes darted to Ada before going back to his food, “My apologies.”

Her father sent her a look, but it didn’t look angry or even upset, before he also turned his attention to Ada, “How are Ayla’s Celebration preparations coming along?”

“Wonderfully, I believe, though I hope they are up to your standards, your Majesty.” She had already set her cutlery down, finished with her meal, “In fact, there are only a couple of things to run by Ayla,” Ayla could see her glance at Nylian nervously before continuing, “Then we will be able to start ordering the supplies.”

“Perfect.” He nodded, raising his glass for another fill of wine.

Looking to her father, she watched him take a sip of his refreshed drink. His face looked to have gained a little more color since earlier that day.

He noticed her stare and sent her a small smile before taking another bite, “Tomorrow after your lessons you will have some free time. Do you have anything in mind that you would like to do?”

Her first thought was Nylian’s offer to teach her how to use a bow, but she knew he wouldn’t truly allow her to do that, “Can we go to the local village? I’d like to see it.”

“I cannot accompany you,” He pondered her request, then looked to Hammon, “I’m sure you could spare some knights to travel with her, right?” At Hammon’s nod, he looked to Thorin, “And you will have an official body guard, so I do not see the issue.” He glanced her way again, “I’ll have a carriage scheduled for you.”

“Could I ride a mount?” She requested instead, “I want to see the village with my eyes, not through glass.”

“I don’t think that would be very safe, Princess…” Hammon supplied, “The local village crime rate is low, but it does not erase the possibility.”

“Isn’t that the point of the guard?” She nodded her head toward Thorin who didn’t look fazed, “What better test for my personal guard?”

“I will accompany her as well,” Nylian offered, taking a drink of his own wine.

Pursing her lips, she looked to her father, “Please?”

He let out a sigh, then looked at Hammon a last time, “Your best knights, Commander.”

Hammon nodded, letting out a chuckle, “Trouble… I told you.”

Her father froze, his lips quirking up for a moment, “Perhaps,” He gave another look to Ayla, “Do you have a type of mount in mind you’d like to ride?”

She once again found her eyes drifting back to Thorin, who was now staring back, “Well, Thorin’s wolf, Lupin, is quite massive,” She could see the protest build on her father’s face, so she continued quickly, “I thought riding on him in his wolf form would provide a defensive stance,” She shrugged, “And an offensive one if the need arises.”

“That is actually not a horrible idea, your Majesty.” Hammon put in his two coins, “From what you have said they are able to link…” He lifted a shoulder, “It is a good strategy.”

“Very well.” He conceded, “But I want you to choose a proper mount, one without a humanoid form, for official business.”

“Maybe while you are in the village, you can look around at the livery to see if anything stands out to you.” Nylian suggested, “If not, my father breeds some of the best warhorses… I’m sure he’d love to gift you one or two.”

“That’s an idea, thank you, Prince Nylian.” She smiled, “If I don’t find one tomorrow, I might just take you up on that offer.”

He perked up, “Of course, Princess, that is why I am here.”

She started to take a drink, but she paused when she noticed a look shared between her father and the Prince, and she couldn’t help but wonder if there was something she was missing.