Erya

THIRTEEN: The White Lady

The next few days passed uneventfully. Erya wandered around the palace and garden. Although she had seen the members of the elven envoy from a distance, they were always under heavy guard, and thankfully, she avoided further interaction with them.

She still missed Fenton, but at least she wasn't alone. Benjamin continued to follow her around per his orders. He wasn't as comfortable with silence as Fenton was, but his constant talking was less annoying than Erya would have expected. She also spent time with Thaddeus in the library. Sometimes he asked questions, but mostly, they both read.

Erya was finding human books very interesting. She wasn't as good at reading Alvaran as she was at understanding it spoken, but she got along well enough. She found that the human books focus more on story and plot than her people's books. Traditional elven books were almost always didactic. They tended to put more emphasis on instructions and morals. Strange though they were, Erya almost enjoyed the human stories of brave men and daring schemes more than her eleven books. She would never admit this to the humans, of course.

She was sitting in the library reading by an open window when a young red-haired palace servant approached her. He cleared his throat and Erya looked up, scowling at the interruption. Her face softened when she saw how nervous the boy looked.

"Um, I," he stuttered. Erya motioned for him to continue. "I've come with a message from the king. You are invited to join him for a feast with some members of the nobility this evening at seven sharp."

Erya scribbled on her board. "Is that it?"

The boy swallowed and avoided her eyes. "His highness indicated that his invitation was not optional."

Erya rolled her eyes and waved off the servant. She sighed as he bowed and then practically jogged away. Humans that were afraid of her annoyed her more than the ones that hated her.

Benjamin leaned on her chair. "So you'll be going?"

Erya nodded. It wasn't optional after all. And she had promised King Emery. She wrote on her board. "What do you know about the nobles?"

Benjamin shrugged. "I grew up a country boy, so about as much as anyone else. But the prince gave me the short version. They wear nice clothes. They throw parties to pat each other on the back."

"Who are they?"

"Governors, generals, business men that have sworn fealty to the king in return for special privileges. They receive a bit of the tax money to run their regions. I hear tell most of them would use it to pad their own pockets if no one bothered to check up on them."

Erya raised an eyebrow. "Are they all corrupt?"

Benjamin tilted his head side to side like he was weighing his answer. "No, I suppose not. There's a few good ones out there. Hadrion from Thorndike is an honorable old war hero that was good friends with the king's grandfather. I understand Nolan Aguara is a trusted family friend of the king's. And then there's Lady Adelaide. She's legendary."

"Who's she?"

"Talking about the White Lady, are we?" Thaddeus suddenly piped up.

Erya glanced at Benjamin, who nodded.

Thaddeus grinned. "Adelaide Ramonea, the daughter of the Duke of Muncheer, is known as the White Lady. She trained as a doctor from the time that she was very little. She's extremely skillful, and she actually went out with the soldiers on the battlefield until she was injured two years ago. The soldiers would describe her as an angel when she came to help them because of the white shawl she always wore. Hence the nick name."