The King Returns

Chapter 13 - What now?

Almar woke up to the sound of footsteps and conversation outside his door. Someone laughed loudly at a joke but then, the voices got more distant. Almar slowly sat up with a groan. He had no idea how long he'd slept for, but it felt like days. Then he remembered the clock on the wall and looked up to check. He seemed to have been sleeping for five hours since they arrived. At least now he felt well rested. 

  "Wow, I'm hungry after that nap," Almar said, hearing his stomach rumbling. 

  "Yawn! Why don't we eat something?" Eira suggested, looking up at Almar from under the blanket. 

  "That's a great idea! And we could ask Eir and Sylvina if they would like to join us," Almar said and looked out through the tiny triangular window. It was still bright outside.

As Almar walked towards the door, Eira flew after and landed on his shoulder. They walked outside of the house and down the wooden road to the house next to Almar's, were Eir lived. He knocked on the door three times. After no reply, he tried knocking again but after a few moments of silence there was still no answer. 

  "Eir? Sylvina? You in there?" Almar asked, sounding a little unsure. 

No one opened. It seemed they were not inside but then, were in the world could they be? As Almar reconsidered what to do, something hard suddenly hit his shoulder with great power. 

  "Ouch!" Almar yelled in pain, turned around and saw none other than Lusha standing in front of him. "What do you want?" he asked, looking at her with a sour expression holding his sore arm away from her.

  "If you're looking for your friend, she is having dinner with the commander," Lusha said and gazed at him with a neutral look. At this, Almar's eyes widened in response. 

  "What? Uh... Alright then, do you know where they are?" Almar asked her. 

Suddenly, a light breeze passed them and Lusha's long, jet-black hair flew lightly with the wind. She was beautiful, he thought. Not the kind of natural beauty that Eir possessed with her long blonde hair and green eyes that reminded one of nature. Lusha was more mystical. Her pale fair skin and blue-grey eyes reminded him of something familiar and the long black hair that framed everything reminded him of the mysterious night sky on which he had looked upon many times during his hunting days with his father. Once again, he noticed that he couldn't take his eyes off of her. The moment of stillness suddenly passed along with the breeze and everything went back to normal again. 

  "Are you hungry? Is that what you are trying to say?" Lusha suddenly asked, turned around and started walking with brisk steps. 

  "Y-yeah," was all Almar could reply for Lusha was in such a hurry. 'Maybe she noticed me staring,' Almar thought to himself in small panic but decided to go with her and followed soon after.

They walked past a few smaller single houses until they crossed a long bridge which led to one of the bigger buildings. Smoke rose from chimneys and a lovely smell arouse with it. This was undoubtedly the dining area, Almar thought as the smell made his stomach go wild with hunger. They went in and spotted Eir sitting together with Sasha at one of the many tables. Lusha waved so that they could notice them. The two seemed to be talking about something but then Sasha looked up and waved back with a little smile. Eir turned around and when she met eyes with Almar, she smiled and waved too.

  "Sorry for not telling you that we were going eating. You just seemed so tired, I didn't want to disturb your slumber," Eir apologized, looking at him as he took a seat at the table. 

  "That's alright, nothing to be sorry for," Almar said with a smile. 

  "Here," Sasha said, holding out a bowl with some kind of a porridge.