Hallow Oak

Ch 4

Chapter 4
      LLyra travels towards the kingdom of Burid with Prim's sons. It would have normally taken Llyra three days of walking according to Prim, but in horse and buggy they were able to make it in two days. The whole way Neem eyed the two dwarf brothers making sure they were up to no mischief. Llyra enjoyed her time spent with them. They laughed, joked, and exchanged stories of their adventures to her. The brothers even gave her a few ideas of places she should visit, however Neem shot those ideas down. Llyra did her best to keep herself from getting angry at neem. The elf princess was kind and understanding most of the time, but , neem's constant worry and nagging was starting to get to her. She only wished to travel and enjoy the sights as well as the experiences. Neem was putting a damper on it all and Llyra knew she had to put him in his place eventually.

     The carts pulled up to the huge castle walls that surrounded the small town at the base of a cliff. On top of the cliffs, high above the town sat the grand castle. Llyra glanced in awe at the castle wondering what kind of king Ensol was. The wagons entered into the large gate and towards the middle of town. Llyra thanked her drivers and hopped out of the wagon. Neem leaped into Llyra's arms and glanced up at the castle along with his companion.
"Let's try and stay away from that place. We don't need that kind of attention." For once Llyra agreed with Neem. She didn't feel like dealing with royalty, she dealt with that her whole life. Llyra turned to enter the market place to look around at the wonders it held.

Although she did her best to lay low, new faces in this small town caused the locals to whisper. The town consisted of humans and they were not used to seeing Elves this far in. Word reached the castle and the king sent his guards out to recover the new travelers. The king wished to inquire of the reason for the elf being here. Humans and elves did their best to avoid each other. The two races were not at war, but they didn't get along too well. They had different lifestyles, values , and customs. The elves wished to live with nature and preserve the earth, while humans only cared about expansion and conquering. The king was no different. His goal was to raise a kingdom and expand westward towards the ocean.

Ensol's guards reach the tavern inside of the town below the castle. Their torches filled the darkness as they stood in the back alley of the town. The captain of the guard entered the backdoor of the tavern followed by two additional guards. The guards didn't know what to expect when confronting the elf. Elves were stronger, faster, and more skilled than they were mere humans, so they had to proceed with caution. The tavern owner led them to Llyra's room and knocked on the door.
"Miss, I am sorry to disturb you." The tavern owner didn't like the fact the king was intruding into his business, but he had no say in the matter. Llyra sat up in the bed and glanced towards the door. Neem crawled from under the blanket and jumped to his feet. Before Llyra could respond, a loud bang was heard. The captain of the guard used his fist to bang on the door.
"Open up in the name of the king." He barked.
"Please sir, do not disturb my other guests with this." The tavern owner whispers. The captain ignored him and knocked again.
"What do we do?" Llyra asked neem in shock.
"We have to go. There is no escape unfortunately." He frowned. Before the captain knocked again, Llyra opened the door. Her beauty caused the captain to ease his rough demeanor.
"How can I help you, good sir?" Llyra asked.
"The king wishes for you to have an audience with him right away." The captain softened his voice.
"Very well. Allow me to gather my things." Llyra went to turn but the captain spoke up.
"No, my lady. We will gather them for you. You must come right away." The captain knew by her demure and clothes the elf had to be royalty. He treated her with more respect than he normally would and Llyra picked up on this. The she-elf with gnome in hand exited the room and followed the captain out of the tavern. The whole way towards the castle her stomach was in knots. She didn't know what kind of king Ensol was and this worried her. Would he harm her? Would he keep her captive? Or would he send her back to her father? So many scenarios played in her mind that she didn't even realize she had made the journey into the castle and in front of the throne room. Llyra blinked out of her thoughts as the king made his way towards her from his throne. He was tall,taller than most humans. Ensol was also younger than what Llyra invisoned. His hair was a dark auburn color and his facial hair was of the same color. His high cheek bones and softened eyes made him very handsome and Llyra had to look away to avoid blushing.