The King Returns

Chapter 14 - The Elder

The next day, Almar was woken up by Eira who was hungry but after what had happened yesterday he was exhausted. Eira tried everything to wake him up. She tried biting, she tried jumping, kicking, beating and yelling but he still kept sleeping. That was until a violent knocking on the door. 'I wonder who it could be,' Almar thought to himself as he grabbed a shirt and slowly put it on. He then walked up to the door. 

  "Who is it?" Eira asked and walked after him. Almar opened the door and to his surprise, it was Lusha, standing there with an inpatient expression. 

  "Um, good morning!" Almar yelled a little too loudly. He was shocked to see her after what had happened yesterday. 

  "Come on! We can eat breakfast on the way," Lusha said and held out a loaf of bread with some melted cheese on top. 

  "The way? Where are we going?" Almr wondered, still drowsy from sleeping. 

  "Are you slow or something? Didn't Sasha tell you?" she responded, sounding annoyed as hell. 

  "Uuu..." Almar thought real hard about it, trying to recall. 

  "Sigh, if you're gonna take this long, I might as well tell you. We're going to see the Elder, and just take the damn bread! My arm's getting tired," she explained to him with a sour look. 

  "T-thanks," Almar said and accepted the bread.

Then he went inside to get his bag. Eira jumped into the bag by usual routine. As they were walking on the wooden roads across the city, Almar couldn't help but notice other rebels giving him glances that made him a little uncomfortable. Lusha glanced at Almar and then at the other elves around them. 

  "Don't mind them, rumors spread quick around here," Lusha said and grabbed Almar's arm, picking up her walking pace which made Almar walk faster too. 

  "Hey! Don't pull my arm like that!" Almar said in reluctance but still let her pull him forward. 

  "Why don't you stop complaining and move those legs!" Lusha persisted and pulled his arm harder. 

  "Ow ow ow! Stop it! I can walk on my own!" Almar said. But in the end it was no use, her grip was simply too strong. He gave in an thought he might as well get to eating his breakfast. So he tried to eat the bread Lusha gave to him while speed-walking. It must have looked funny to onlookers but Almar didn't really care, he was just so hungry.

A little while later, they saw Eir and Sasha together, talking about something. Almar noticed the little tail that hung out of Eir's bag and smiled. 

  "Thanks for waking him, Lusha," Sasha said, turning to her as he saw them coming. 

  "It wasn't easy, commander. This one sleeps like a damn log!" Lusha said while pointing at Almar. Then, she noticed Eir, shooting an angry glance at her. However, she didn't pay it much thought. 

  "Are you still hungry, Almar?" Eir asked, turning to Almar, ignoring Lusha like she did her. 

  "Eira is hungry and I think I'm the same," Almar said with a little smile. 

  "We'll eat before meeting the Elder," Sasha stated, turned around and started walking, probably towards the dining area. The others followed him without question.

***

Almar and Lusha walked up to the table where a big pot of stew stood. Slices of bread and a few plates with different eatable things like cheese. 

  "May I have that?" Lusha asked and pointed at a plate of apples. 

  "Of course, here," Almar said and handed her the plate with apples.