Chapter Nine

The boat pulls into the bay and stops at a dock. We see no anchor so Rafe hops onto the dock and ties the boat to it. We are already getting strange looks for having such a big ship with no crew, or that’s what I presume the reason is. I look over at Declan and the thought occurs to me that they may be staring at him. He did say that he hasn’t seen many of his people together like this in a very long time.

The boat lowers the gang plank. Declan holds his hand forward signaling me to go. I half curtsey and give him my most mischievous smile.

“After you, Milady.” He says with his own devilish grin. I walk down to Rafe who offers me his arm. As I accept it he leans down and whispers in my ear

“We may be on the run from Merikh,” he pauses then his whisper goes even lower “But, you are still my princess.”

I can feel the heat rise to my cheeks as I look into his eyes and see how serious he is. He flashes his gorgeous smile at me and I am not sure I can stay standing. Before I can gather my thoughts Declan comes up on my left side.

“Shall we?” he asks.

I nod, not trusting my voice to sound normal. I am ready to cross the next bridge of our journey.

We start walking towards the Harbor Master’s office to log in our boat and pay them. We walk up the ramp in front of the office but before we reach the door to the office an elf comes out with a clipboard. I was amazed at how handsome he is; for some reason I thought the master would be older. His hair comes down past his shoulders the color can only be described as opal. He is wearing grey pants topped by an ocean blue shirt. The shirt is fitted a little snug showing his form with ease and is accented with a white vest.

He is looking down at his clipboard walking toward us. He is almost right up on us when he stops and looks up at us. Before we can speak to him he starts asking us questions.

“Where is your boat? I know you came here on one, so where is it?”

I turn to look where we left it; my eyes widen as I see the very boat we had just stepped off of was nowhere in sight. I start looking around at the other docks trying to figure out where it is.

“Seriously?! You can’t even tie up a boat? It isn’t hard, Wolf.” I hear Declan almost growl at Rafe.

Rafe held his hands up “I know how to tie up a boat, Elf. So whatever happened to it had nothing to do with me.” He snuffs.

Declan huffs in frustration. I can’t say I am all that surprised; it is a magic boat after all. I look back at the Harbor Master who is very obviously not amused. I step forward to explain.

“You see sir; it isn’t actually our boat… But, we did not steal it!” The elf does not say much nor does his expression change. I see his lips move like he is saying things but I can’t hear what it is.

Declan becomes agitated and starts to crouch in defensive position but freezes in motion. Rafe goes to stand in front of me but he freezes in motion as well. That’s when I see the armored Elves running towards us, and then stopping when they get to the Harbor Master. He speaks to them; they nod and walk over to pick us up. I try to move but I too am frozen in place. Fear rushes over me as I am being draped over an Elf’s shoulder that Merikh is behind all of this. If he is, it means our doom. I fight hard against my panic. I am about to start hyperventilating when I hear that familiar voice inside me.

“Trust me.” is all it says. I am not sure if I can but calmness flows over me restoring my focus.

I try to move my head to look around, but I am stuck slumped over an armored shoulder staring at the back his armor. I hear a buzz of activity and voices all around us. They can be recognizing Declan but I doubt it. Rafe has probably tried to shift already, but since we can’t move I’m sure he can’t shift.

I feel like we are carried that way forever when we are finally put down. The spell is released from us so we can move. I look around trying to figure out where we are now. I am surprised to have been taken to a big white tent. I half expected some kind of prison cell.

One of the guards stands beside us while the other two are right outside by the tent flaps. Though they have released us from the spell you can tell they still do not trust us. I wonder if this is all really about the boat. I don’t think we are all that suspicious. Did Declan do something bad before he left them?

“Elysia, are you alright?” Declan asks in the calmest tone I have ever heard come out of his mouth.

It has a hint of depression in it. I stare into his eyes and see the guilt there, like he has just murdered us with his own hands. I feel irritation with his doomed attitude like he alone is solely responsible for our current situation. Everything is not his fault nor will it ever be. We all make our own choices; we are all responsible for ourselves. While this current situation may not be what we expected, we are not dead. I really feel like slapping him when he is like this, but it seems to be his nature.

“Elysia?” I hear him call to me with some concern. I mentally shake out of my thoughts, and respond.

“Sorry, yeah, I’m fine.”

Rafe scoots in closer making a small half circle and tilts his head at me in curiosity. I smile and shrug. I don’t want to get into reprimanding Declan right now.

“I was going to shift as soon as we were released but I realized that would probably make everything worse. I can feel my wolf scratching at the edges of my humanity trying to take control. It’s alert and restless sensing our danger.” Rafe says. I can hear the excitement in his voice at the thoughts of being able to fight.

He’s a true warrior. He amazes me with his energy and enthusiasm for everything that is happening. He loves all the challenges and the possibility of death feeds his passion. I have not seen a frown on his face except when he told me about Ayita and the other Festival gatherers. The look in his eyes when there is a possible battle always intrigues me.

“Silence! No Talking!” The guard commands. As we turn and stare at him. No acknowledgement. It’s weird being treated like a criminal. I am so used to being treated as the princess I don’t know how to react to disrespect.

Just as I begin to wonder who or what we are waiting on, there is movement outside the tent. The flaps lift and a stunning female Elf walks in. Her long hair is a light pink and it looks incredibly soft. Her complexion is so fair it looks like she is made of porcelain. Her lilac eyes are alert, but I can also see wisdom and kindness in them. Dignity and confidence shows through as she walks and is complimented by the black leather pants laced up the sides and black sleeveless tunic with a hood she is wearing. As she smiles I have the impression she has caught her prey and is ready to devour it; everything about her screams fierce warrior. I hope we are not her enemies. She finishes looking us over and finally begins to speak.

“Well, it seems I have some very special criminals today.” She speaks with sarcasm, yet amusement twinkles in her eyes. Declan starts to speak but she holds up her hand.

“I know who you are, Maeron. I also know these must be your matches. I have been told you stole an invisible boat and you must be working for the Evil One who is beginning to make his move. While I believe you, Maeron, are extremely capable of this, I can also feel the presence of strong light in your companions. It tells me they are not of dark descent.” She walks over to her desk as she finishes speaking, leans against it, and nods for us to begin our tale.

Declan and Rafe both look at me expectantly. I shrug and explain what has happened up to the present. She is silent and seems quite amused by Rafe’s interruptions. Her amusement is unexpected; she this smirks every time he speaks. When I finish she remains silent for a few moments, before speaking.

“Well, it is indeed just like my brother said it will be.”

My brow furrows confused as to how her brother can be a mage? I don’t even know it is possible that families can be split like that.

“Elysia, Rafe.” She nods at each of us “It is nice to meet you. My deepest regrets and apologies for the way you have been treated. I, Princess Kalila, shall not allow such treatment to my personal guests any longer.” She smiles at us.

I am completely stunned. She is the Elven Princess I hear so much about? No one ever tells me she is the Warden of her own Guard. Yet they all treat her with amazing respect, but not the kind out of obligation, the kind that can only be earned. I realize I can learn much from her. I will be nice to become great friends.

“Well, first order of business is getting our transportation ready to go to the palace. We must go see my brother, Nestarion, at once.” Kalila tells us.

“What do you need us to do?” Declan asks. She just smiles for a moment.

“Absolutely enjoy yourselves. I will take care of everything else. Please feel free to go explore and check out our harbor market.”

It still seems to be early morning, which shocks me. Many of the merchants are still setting up their booths. People are beginning to come in and wander around to see all the varieties of merchandise at each booth. Rafe automatically runs to the first table he sees with food. I laugh at him and Declan rolls his eyes.

“Is food all he thinks about?” he asks me, slightly amused.

“Elysia!” Rafe calls to me. I turn in his direction and laugh some more at his boyish expression. I can almost see his tongue hanging out while he’s looking at all that food. “Come over and check out all this food!”

I hurry over to where he is since I can’t resist that amazing smile of his, Declan following alongside me.

“Welcome, Princess Elysia!” The woman merchant behind the table greets me.

“Thanks” I respond, my eyes automatically shifting to Rafe suspiciously. His eyes grow bigger.

“It wasn’t me! Honest!”

“I know many things, Elysia. Do not blame the young pup.” The lady speaks up.

My eyes dart back to her wondering if we can trust her. She has brown eyes, dark hair, and dark skin. She speaks with much power in her voice; perhaps she is a mage? How else can she know so much? I open my mouth to respond to her when I see her necklace. It is a silver chain with a big diamond having living deep red flames inside. It looks familiar but before I can ask her anything my vision goes blurry then dark all together.

I am not sure what is going on other than all of my senses are blocked. Oddly, I do not feel any reason to panic. Different images begin to appear, fast at first then they begin to slow down. As they begin to slow, I see the merchant lady from the market. They begin to become more vivid and connected, almost like it is a memory. But whose memory? Hers? Or someone else’s?

I decide to focus on them to see if I can learn anything. The lady is kneeling by the river then a man comes running towards her. She gets up and runs to meet him. He also seems familiar. His silver hair is twisted upward like spiked horns. His eyes are the same living deep red flames her diamond portrays. His clothes are made of gray scales and then I realize he is the same kind as Beriadan, a horned serpent. She greets him with a kiss. They appear to be lovers.

Suddenly his face turns from love to shock. He begins to look down and my eyes follow his direction. My jaw drops as I see a jeweled dagger handle protruding from his chest. He drops to the ground his hands wrapping tightly around the handle, trying desperately to pull it out. His shock turned to despair as he realizes it won’t move and there is no one there to help him. I look at her and see a smile of pure ecstasy at what she has just done. The betrayal in his eyes and on his face is heart wrenching. How can she be so cruel? So heartless?

The man then turns into a horned Serpent. The diamond embedded in his head. His silver eye that I can see slowly closes for the last time as his breathing stops. She then pulls the dagger out with ease and raises it high above his head with both hands. She shoves the dagger downward with such might his whole lifeless body shakes and she begins to carve the diamond out of his skull. I turn my head away. I can’t watch.

It goes dark again and I hear my name being called. I see a man walking towards me, with a brilliant white smile. His eyes are dark as the bottom of the sea, yet light enough to see they are blue showing something akin to worry in them. His hair is a soft light blue that is complimented by his short spiked layers. Some of his tips seem to be colored white and silver like his hair is supposed to portray waves in the sea.

As he comes closer to me, I notice his complexion is a creamy sand color; and he is wearing soft gray pants with a vest to match. His shirt is black with long billowing sleeves. His eyes search mine. Why is there concern in them?

“Ah, you’re okay.” Relief spread across his features.

“Who are you?”

He smiles sweetly at me making my heart stutter. I bet he has all the ladies pining for him.

“You’ll meet me soon enough. But I had to see if you were okay.”

He leans forward; reaching for my hand he ever so gently places a kiss on it. I can feel the heat rise to my cheeks and my smile widens. He looks into my eyes and I feel I can get lost in them forever. He straightens up and fades away. I want him to stay but when I reach out there is only darkness. I am too late.

“Elysia… Elysia… Can you hear me?”

I open my eyes and quickly shut them again as the sun is so bright. It must be midday now, possibly later. I can hear the sound of moving water nearby. I can feel the rocking of the waves but not very strongly. I quickly sit up and open my eyes. Whoa, bad idea; I sway a little as all the blood rushes to my head. I feel slight pressure on my back, I look to my left and replace Declan silently supporting me.

“Hey.” He says giving me a weak smile. He looks drained. Before I can ask him anything I am encased in two powerful sun darkened arms.

“Elysia! I’m glad you’re okay! I was sure you had died on me and that it was somehow my fault.” Rafe exclaims. You can hear the relief in his voice. He releases me from his embrace.

“Why did you think I died?”

“You blacked out, but you didn’t show any signs of life other than your occasional breath and small sign of life force. It was like you were completely lifeless.” Declan responds first.

I think I see fear appear for a small moment in his eyes. He really thought I was dying? Who is that elf in my vision?

“I’m so happy you’ve awakened!” Kalila greets me.

Something about her posture made me wonder if she is going to hug me. She doesn’t make any other movements and she’s an Elven princess. Surely she will not hug anyone for fear of showing emotions, right?

Kalila looks over to each of the boys and gives Rafe a sweet smile. It reminds me of another smile I have seen recently, but again I can’t place it. After a couple minutes of silence Kalila speaks.

“We will be reaching the Palace harbor soon. I told my men to bring us around the back way. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. We won’t want any of Merikh’s spies to see us together.”

“Does Prince Nestarion know we are coming?” Declan asks.

“Yes, I told him in secret. We have a way we write letters to each other where only we can see the true content of the letter.”

“How do you know when he uses the secret writing?” Rafe asks curiously.

“We use a seal within our seal that only we can see. Our master teachers figured it is because we are twins that no one else can see it.”

Rafe’s eyes grow wide the more he thinks about it. She smiles at the child like expression on his face. I think he amuses Kalila very much. She turns to look at me.

“So, Elysia, how are you feeling? Do you know what caused you to black out?”

I concentrate on the things I saw in my vision. I had almost completely forgotten about the tragic part. I think it is a vision since both the murderous lady and Elf events really seemed to happen. Yet I was completely passed out so perhaps it is a dream.

I tried to figure out why I had blacked out. The last thing I remember seeing is that diamond on that woman’s necklace. I cringe as I am reminded of how she obtained it. An anguished tear rolls down my cheek at the cold hearted murder.

“Elysia? Are you okay? What’s wrong? Are you in pain?” Declan asks, concern filling his voice.

I shake my head and wipe my tear away from my cheek.

“That… That woman…” I try to start but my voice gives out.

Kalila looks at me for a moment, almost like she understands exactly what I have seen. Her face grew a grim expression. One of her men appears by her side in an instant. She whispers something to him, he nods once and disappears. I wonder how he does that. I don’t sense any magic. Is he really just that fast?

Another one of her men appears before us almost as soon as the other one left. He put his right fist across his chest towards his left shoulder and bows quickly.

“We are about five minutes away, Milady.”

Kalila nods and he disappears like the last one. She smiles and looks at me.

“We are just about there. Please look ahead and feast your eyes upon the beauty of our castle. We are the Elves who rule over these seas.”

I direct my eyes to where her arm is pointing. My eyes widen when I see a dark gray stone castle on the edge of the river bank. It is mostly hidden behind the giant trees covering the whole front of it. The closer we come to it the bigger it becomes. I can’t bring my eyes away from it. It is easily two or maybe even three times bigger than my own home. I wonder what the interior looks like. What kind of mystery does it keep for a girl like me to explore?

The ship turns abruptly into a tunnel that seemingly appears out of nowhere. It’s probably a secret entrance that only royalty can enter through? We come out of the tunnel straight into a rather large cavern with docks to anchor only a few boats. I look around and replace a single stone stairway leading up and away from the docks. I assume this is the back entrance and why we won’t have to worry about spies.

Declan is at my side immediately when the boat pulls into a dock, ready to escort me off the boat into the castle. I can feel my heart begin to race slightly at the anticipation of seeing the interior of the Castle and how it compares to the outside. That’s what I tell myself anyway.

Rafe rushes over to Kalila’s side instead of mine. I am not too surprised since he has been spending so much time with her. I am beginning to suspect that there is a deeper bond than they realize.

I watch Kalila’s face light up slightly when he joins her side. Her face quickly goes back into warrior mode as her men prepare to let us off the ship. I don’t think Rafe has noticed her slip of emotion, but I could be surprised about how much he sees. The thought comes to me that Rafe will probably try to court her after we save the world. I giggle at the thought of Rafe trying to be proper when he was born to run wild.

We make it to the stone stair way that seems to be more accessible closer up than it does from the boat. It seems a little narrow but I am not too concerned about it. I grab some of my skirt up into my hand away from my feet and begin to climb the steps one by one behind Declan. They are narrow enough that only one person can traverse them at a time. I admire their smoothness and how well defined they are. The mason that worked on them made sure they were done exquisitely. I can feel the pride imbued into each one as if they are alive.

We finally make it into a chamber in the back of the castle. I hear footsteps and look to see three servants coming in our direction and they bow before us.

“My Princess, Kalila, we are overjoyed to have you at home again.”

I am slightly confused, I know I hear their words correctly; yet they show no emotion at all. How very odd. I guess it is just their custom but I can’t imagine going through life speaking words and not showing any emotion behind it.

“Thank you. Now please show our guests to the rooms they will be staying in. Also tell the ladies of the room to ready one of our special baths for Princess Elysia.”

They all nod and turn to lead us to our rooms.

“What about you, Kalila?”

She smiles at me for a second and says.

“I have business with my brother before then that must be discussed immediately. Please rest and freshen up. I will come gather you all for dinner in a few hours.”

We nod and follow our guides. I am expecting to walk into a wide open and elegantly decorated area but it is another stone hall way with torches lighting our way.

We all walk in silence for a while until we reach the end of the hall with a rather large black door. We walk through the door behind our guides into an open area still rather plain with only torches as light and one window high on a far wall. There is another large stone stair case that winds up with iron railing. We start to head towards the stairs until Rafe’s and Declan’s guides veer off to the left through a door at the last moment. I take a deep breath, realizing that I am stationed in another part of the castle, as that is only proper.

We start up the stairs and I give a mental sigh of relief when I realize they are not as steep like the last set. We get to the top of the stairs and continue down the next floor past two doors. When we finally reach the third door my guide opens it and lets me through.

“Please prepare for your bath with the things that have been set out for you on your bed. Your private servant will be up to fetch you when she finishes preparing your bath.”

I nod my understanding but before I can say thanks the door is shut and he is gone. I realize that door isn’t actually there to the eye, so it must be hidden as part of the wall with some sealing magic. I turn to look at my room and gasp at the sheer beauty of it. I have never seen a room so elegant and feminine. It makes my own room at home look drab.

The walls of the room are a light sand stone color. There are two trees growing in the corners. The ceiling of the room seems to have clear panels that let only the purist light from the sun in. The floor is white marble with sand twisting through it. Hanging from ceiling, the bed is oval shaped with sky blue covers and white pillows. There is a round chair also hanging from the ceiling that has a giant cushion covering what looks like a fish net made from thick rope.

I walk over to the balcony and see a gorgeous giant waterfall that ends in a large pool of amazingly clear water. I walk back into my room to change when I notice that I can’t hear, smell, or feel the waterfall. I smile as I understand that they put an invisible wall up so you can enjoy but not be bothered.

I strip off my clothes and put on the lighter bathing fabric. I finish and put the netted rope dress over it when I hear a soft knock on the door. I walk over and open it. I inhale slightly at how beautiful my elven servant is. She has long platinum hair straight with two braids in front of her ears. She has sparkling blue eyes and light pink lips with a fair complexion. She is also wearing bathing clothes.

“Your bath is ready, Princess.” She curtsies with a sweet smile.

“Okay, I think I am ready.” I let her in.

She nods and goes to the balcony, makes a hand motion over a square place and walks through. She opened an invisible door to a set of white iron stairs leading down to the pool I had seen a moment ago. I expect to see others down here but there is no one. We get down to the pool and I walk to the edge to look in. The water is just as clear as I had seen it from my room and looks like the bottom is made of sand.

“Are you ready, Princess?” My servant asks.

I nod and take a step into it. I am expecting a cooler temperature but it is actually a nice mixture of warm and cool water. It has a soothing effect on my muscles. I sit down and sink back, just relaxing in the glorious sensations of it. I begin to fall asleep when I feel my arm lift and gently scrubbed with some wonderfully intoxicating scented soaps and oils. She moves from one arm to the other, slowly working the soap and oils into my skin down to my legs and feet gently massaging each one. I can’t believe how relaxed I feel. She moves up to my hair, massaging my scalp, and then rinsing it. When she finishes, I feel so out of it like hours have passed me by. I figure dinner must be soon and I need to dress for dinner.

As we walk back up the stairs I wonder what I shall wear for dinner. I don’t have to wonder long. When we go into my room, I walk over to my bed and replace a gorgeous aqua and gold dress waiting for me. I can’t wait to try it on. I hope it fits the way it is supposed to. I take it in my arms and I hold it up in the mirror, trying to envision what I will look like in it.

“Excuse me, Princess, but would you like help dressing for dinner?”

“Hmmm… Yes, I think I would if you don’t mind. Thank you.”

She gives me a sweet smile and slight curtsey. I take off my bathing fabric and suddenly feel vulnerable. I push the thought out of my mind. Vulnerability shows weakness and as a Princess I cannot afford to show any weakness. My insecurities will just have to wait.

I step into the dress as she pulls it up to my shoulders. The fabric is amazingly soft like something I have never before felt. I feel very feminine in the dress; I cannot help but stand straighter with confidence. The sleeves billow out and the dress itself runs the length of my body down to the floor. It does not billow out around my legs but holds closer to my hips with a much smoother flow as I walk.

My Elven servant braids part of my hair and pins it up in a pretty design only she can see. I see a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror nearby and am taken aback. I am sure that if I walk by it and see my whole reflection that I will not recognize the woman standing there. I look like Elven Royalty. We hear a small knock on the door just before Princess Kalila enters.