The Prince of Ilios

Sixty-Two

Tray in hand, head held high, the next day Philip trailed behind Ellora, then running ahead to open doors for her quick pace. Her jaw was set with determination, and her eye keen with an edge. Ellora's hair and dress were in near perfect array today. She wanted to make sure that neither Cyrus, nor Mr. Garson had anything bad to say about her. All she could think about was her conversation with Nicola the day before and how much it bugged her that he thought he could just swoop in and fix her problems. Did he not think that she was capable? At any rate, today she was going to prove everyone wrong. Her fiery pace barely slowed as she reached Lord Cyrus's door. Her knuckles wrapped quickly on the oak, the pain in her wrist and embarrassment quickly overshadowed by her motivation.

Philip opened the door for her, and Ellora strode in before she received any sort of welcome, "Lord Cyrus, your tea." Her voice boomed through the room.

The man jolted awake, eyes blinking wide, and then squinting to get a good look in the dim light, "Little dove?"

Ellora set the tea tray down, paced over to the window and threw open all of the curtains. Philip followed her, scurrying to tie them before she moved to the next set. The morning sun beamed in through them full force, "It is already late, breakfast will be served directly. I assumed you would already be awake." She smiled to herself when she caught a glimpse of the man throw his blankets back over his head, cowering from the bright light.

She stood by the fireplace, still with her voice slightly raised, and dripping with authority, "Lord Cyrus, it is slightly chilly this morning, a fire, to warm your room?"

Philip began throwing logs noisily into the fireplace.

Lord Cyrus waved and groaned from his bed, clearly having had too much to drink the night before, "No, no, this is fine, get out!"

Exactly the response I was waiting for! Ellora curtsied, "I will be back this afternoon with your tea as well. Philip is here at your beck and call." She motioned to Philip, and he remained to help the near invalid get ready for breakfast.

Ellora felt an astounding victory that morning, and practically skipped all the way down to the breakfast table. Mr. Garson was his usual non-cheery self. Minerva and Gem did not seem their usual selves either. It seemed their own ambassadors were taking a toll on them. Apparently, they were taking this time to get back at the spoilt pair. Minerva's ambassador, Lady Charlotte was running her ragged with various errands throughout the day. And Gem's ambassador, Sir Everett was constantly out and about. Gem was charged with showing him anything and everything in Ilios. Nissa's ambassador had just come in the night before. Apparently, he was her uncle, and they got along very well. He had of course been to Ilios multiple times, and they were both already making plans to go down to the harbor and village to help with aid after breakfast.

River and Ava chatted with their ambassador's. River calmly listened to every word that Lady Ambrosia was giving her. And Ava was having a lively conversation with her ambassador, Lady Marguerite.

Mr. Garson and Sir Jonas were carrying on a decent conversation. Ellora could do nothing, but shake her head. This, of course left her to talk with those sitting across from her, seeing as her other ambassador had not arrived, and she was not expecting him to come down at all for breakfast. She munched happily at her fruit while the cacophony around her sung on in a chorus of melodramatic voices. Her mind easily slipped away to her brother and sister. No doubt Violet would have found this whole thing wonderful and adventurous. She would probably have explored every nook and cranny of Ilios by now. And Bracken would have found every child and played with them, made some sort of tree house with them, and given them all nicknames and formed a club. Maybe in the future they could come here. Ellora was really the one person in the family who did not prefer to socialize with people that she did not know. She was not known to be the great risk taker, and yet, she felt like she had grown into something different, than when she left her beautiful isle.

Mr. Garson clapped to get everyone's attention, "We are all so glad that you could make it. Seeing as the Prince has already left for the village, I am here to help guide you in your purpose today."

Ellora looked to the head of the table. She had not even noticed that Nicola was not present this morning. Shaking off her thoughts and worries, she did her best to listen to what Mr. Garson was saying.

"There is one province who has not yet joined us. Zima. Ellora, they have sent word that they are worried about their ambassador's health and safety and would like a personal escort. You will arrange it."

Ellora nodded as he continued, wishing she could go to Zima herself and see other water bearers with Derya's abilities.

"Ambassadors, we would like for you to survey the village and see the progress that we have made thus far. Then, with your permission we will deploy the resources that you have brought with you to the village."

All of the ambassador's nodded. River leaned over to her in a whisper, "Not that any of these stodgy element bearers will actually help. They will send the people that they brought with them instead."

"A little cynical today?" Ellora smirked, "I may be rubbing off on you a little too much, if you are speaking your mind so quickly."

River shook her head, "No, Lady Ambrosia is a talented doctor, she has brought people and supplies with her to aid in the villagers' health. We will be down near the harbor to provide services there. I just get tired of them thinking they are helping, when all they actually do is appoint people to work for them." She grimaced.

Ellora nodded her understanding.

Shortly after breakfast was dismissed. Ellora waited around for a little while with Sir Jonas. He muttered something about sending out his men to help rebuild with Zemlya's people. Apparently, the neighboring provinces often worked together. Ellora nodded and smiled, trying to maintain a distance from what was being said. She wanted more than anything to make her way to the harbor and help everyone there. There were so many new faces about the room, the whole experience was overwhelming for Ellora.

She walked down the halls to the Library, hoping to find a quiet reprieve. Ellora had always found books to be wonderful and curious. Although she knew how to read better than any of her siblings, when she entered the library there was nothing that could have prepared her for the lavish amount of books. They coated the walls in every shape, size and color. Along one wall was a cozy sitting area with a fireplace and a gray rug, while on the other was a balcony and a fine set of tall white windows. She breathed in the smell of pages, ink, and glue as she walked along, feeling the leather bindings on the books. Her eyes scanned each title, wanting to commit them to memory, incase she ever needed to find a book to read while she was here. The fire in the fireplace was going out, leaving a chill in the air. Ellora walked over and began to stoke it, and stir the embers to ignite the flame again. A soft snore came from the golden wing-backed chair nearby. She turned to see Nicola, collapsed into a chair, surrounded by books. He must have been completely exhausted to have fallen asleep in the library in a chair. She quirked her head about trying to read the titles. Blue leather covers with crystalline figures decorated the one that he had fallen asleep reading. "Zima and the lands there of " was scrolled in elegant lettering on the cover. All of the books were from different provinces. She noticed as she mazed her way through them to Nicola. The ones nearest to him were about the water provinces and Flora. Before she could question or think any further, the book in his lap, thudded closed and began to slip, but she caught it before it hit the floor. Ellora breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, gruff hands were on her. An angry warcry resounded through the room. She turned as they landed hard on the floor. Nicola had her pinned, her back to him. Her wrists behind her.