Leth ---> Leaf in Estonian.
And there is a major problem with the names of the Kingdoms. It should be Rubis and not Emeraude but I don't have the time to fix that now. You have no idea the rush I am in!!!
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It wasn’t the flight to the border between Sable Sucré and Emeraude that was the problem. It was easy to find Emeraude and almost as easy to see where the border ran. While Sable Sucré was almost one big sandpit, just like the Desert it bordered, Emeraude had gotten its name from the overpowering color of its lands. The Kingdom was covered almost entirely with pines and other trees that could easily survive the cold winters they had up there. As soon as we crossed the border, the ground down below disappeared under a blanket of trees. A bit like the Elfique Forest.
The problem with our trip was that even after a day of flying over Emeraude we still didn’t see anything. Everything was covered with pines. And when I say everything that was exactly what I meant. The only reason we had been able to land at nightfall was thanks to Robin, who had used his connection with Earth to make some of the trees move to the side, creating a large enough clearing for Zjarr.
On the fourth day of our flight and the second day above Emeraude, we started to see puffs of smokes coming out of the river of green underneath us. We had seen some yesterday but not this many. Soon it became evident where the villages were. But knowing where the villages were and where the royal castle was wasn’t the same thing. Not even close.
I knew from the map I had cast a quick look at in Sablier that it had to be somewhere in the lower part of the Kingdom but still quite in the middle. We should reach it today, if we could find it. And that was a big if.
Zjarr flew at a steady pace, her thoughts turning into an incoherent mess of growls and whatever else dragons used as a language when they weren’t talking to humans or elves. Robin was sitting behind me, his arms firmly wrapped around my middle. He didn’t like flying, I could tell. So far he hadn’t complained about it; he hadn’t even mentioned he wasn’t comfortable flying. But the way his arms tightened around me whenever Zjarr took off or landed, dragon even when she just veered a bit too sharply, made it pretty obvious.
I wondered if it was so terrifying for all elves and, if so, how could they become Dragon Knights? I frowned and twisted around slightly so that I could look at Robin. His face wasn’t as white as it had been the day before when Zjarr had forgotten about the two of us on her back and had chased after some animal she had decided would be her lunch, but it didn’t have the usual lightly colored tint it usually had.
When he felt me looking, his mirror-like eyes met mine. He tried to give me a smile but it looked more like a grimace. It did bring a small smile to my own lips.
“You really don’t like flying, do you?” I shouted over the wind.
“Is it that obvious?” I heard him shout back before the wind snatched up his words and carried them away.
I nodded and gave him an apologetic smile. “Why not suggest we go by horse?”
“Because it takes much longer.”
“Don’t worry; you’ll be fine in a few hours. As soon as we find the castle.” He nodded but didn’t reply, just as Zjarr caught a good stream of air and let it take her higher into the sky. The view of the trees down below and the infinite sky above us was quite breathtaking; I just hadn’t decided yet if it was worth the cold. Maybe I should take a cape with me after I had been home.
“I wanted to ask you something.” I continued when Robin seemed to be over his scare. “If elves don’t like to fly, how can you be Dragon Knights? Are there even elf Dragon Knights?”
“A rare few aren’t afraid to leave the ground. Those few usually become Knights. But it doesn’t happen very often; maybe once every generation.”
I nodded, taking in the information. I wondered what kind of dragon and elf would bond with; for some reason I couldn’t see them with something as big and imposing as Zjarr. The thought, the compliment, made Zjarr hum. Again with the size thing. Elves were more slender and swift and graceful. Maybe they bonded with a dragon like Isen. That I could see happen.
“Don’t you wish you could enjoy this more, instead of being all stiff and nervous?”
The question was out before I could think it over; speaking before thinking, again. Maybe it came off wrong. Well not maybe, it most likely did. And Robin narrowed his eyes at me slightly proving my thoughts to be right. I was about to apologize for the rudeness of it when Zjarr suddenly dived. Robin held onto me tighter and I turned back to the front to hope and see past Zjarr’s neck. What happened?
Nothing apparently. There was nothing to see, nothing to feel, nothing at all.
She rose higher again and for a moment I was afraid she was going to dive again. But she didn’t. Instead she said, “Blanchefleur, can you see that in the distance?”
I squinted but saw nothing. I pried Robin’s arms away from my middle and slowly got to my knees on Zjarr’s back. Behind me I heard Robin saying something, a lot, but his words were snatched up by the wind before I could make them out. Hunched over slightly, I made my way, sideways, up Zjarr neck, avoiding all the spikes but holding onto them as well. Finally I sat down at the top of her neck, between her two horns and the first spike.
“Where?” I asked her mentally.
“Straight ahead, towards the horizon.”
It took a moment of searching before I noticed it. Towers! Big stone towers sticking out of the sea of trees.
“Is that the castle?” I squealed in delight.
“Yes, I think those are the Dragon Knight quarters. We’re almost there.”
I looked over my shoulder at Robin and instantly felt sorry for him. He looked miserable, all alone on Zjarr back. He looked like he might even pass out. Quickly but carefully I made my way back to him and the moment I sat down he was holding onto me again.
“You’ll never guess what I saw.” I yelled with a smile.
“Trees?” He tried sarcastically.
“No. Well yes, but beside from that. Towers, which means the castle. It’s at the horizon and coming closer quickly.”
“Oh, thank Varteni.” I heard him say before the wind carried it away. I smiled and turned back to the front. I could just make out the shape of the towers in between Zjarr’s horns. I felt Robin rest his forehead against my neck and I let him. At least the torture was almost over for him.
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Five hours later and we, meaning Robin and me, were standing in the throne room of Leht, the capital of Emeraude.
The guards had seen us coming from miles away; a bright red dragon was hard to miss, especially in the clear sky. Robin and I had been allowed to clean up before we appeared before the King and Queen. Zjarr had been granted permission to hunt in the woods. And she would, as soon as she had slept at least an hour.
The throne room wasn’t all that big. There were two columns supporting the ceiling on each side of the room. Each of the four was decorated with leaves of normal trees, meaning anything but pine needles. There was a huge tapestry behind the two thrones, showing of a flock of deer-like animals but much bigger antlers, probably moose. The thrones themselves looked to be made out of gold and silver and emeralds.
King Sage sat in the biggest one, a small white golden crow on his head, almost entirely hidden between his dark curls. His wife, Queen Arianne, sat on the other, a similar crown tangled in her light chestnut brown hair. Although I knew, that she had fairy blood in her bloodline, I didn’t expect it to show as much in her features as it did, I had learned so a long time ago.
And the other side of the King’s throne stood the Prince, Lassa, dressed in clothes and colors similar to Robin’s, though he wore a sleeveless, deep green, leather vest. Honestly I didn’t really remember him from his time at Fullmåne. On the other side of the Queen’s throne stood two girls, the Princesses, Shauna and Chloé.
I swallowed nervously though I didn’t know why I was nervous in the first place. They were all smiling at me, well except for the Princesses. Shauna looked bored and didn’t even try to hide it, she let her eyes glide over me and I could tell when she made up her mind; I wasn’t worth her time. Just like Prince Ron of Delstaten Solen. Chloé, on the other hand, was staring at Robin with fascination. The little girl was probably more interested in him because he looked so unusual. Besides, she seemed too young to really care about anything related to politics. She must have been about the same age as Daniel’s youngest sister, and all she did was play with the other kids in town.
A man somewhere to the side of the room called out my name, adding Princess of Tanah Bulan, which I wasn’t too thrilled about, and then Dragon Knight, which was weird because I was always ‘young Knight’ and never ‘Dragon Knight’. Robin, on the other hand, didn’t get anything added to his name and I was kind of jealous. We both bowed at the same time and stood up again simultaneously; I could see the smile out of the corner of my eye.
“Princess, elf, welcome.” The King greeted. I bit back the annoyance I felt by his greeting. He couldn’t know I preferred to be called by my name, or that Robin didn’t like the fact that he was an elf. Well, he probably didn’t mind being an elf but he wasn’t comfortable with standing out. “Welcome to our beautiful Kingdom.”
“Thank you, your Majesty,” I replied, smiling at the King. Robin and I had already agreed I would do the talking. Much to my horror. I felt like I was supposed to add something but I couldn’t think of anything and I didn’t dare open my mouth in fear of blurting out something rude. It wouldn’t be the first time.
“What brings you here, Princess, and in the company of an elf and a dragon?”
The King along with his wife and son looked intrigued. Who wouldn’t be? Elves hardly left their Forest and a Princess who was also a Dragon Knight was something new. Unconsciously, my hand moved to grip the bag hanging against my hip. I took a deep breath and threw myself into the story. The same story I had told at Sablier, except that this time I had to explain about the prophecy, which seemed to ring a bell with them. Was it really only forgotten in Tanah Bulan? Well that hadn’t been a smart move considering everything.
“And I have a letter for you as well. I am not entirely sure about what is written and unlike it may say at the bottom, I didn’t write it nor did I sign it.” I reached into my bag and searched for the right one. When I found it I glanced at Robin, who nodded encouragingly. I walked up to the family in front of me and Lassa came to meet me halfway. He smiled warmly at me; I could see he found it all very fascinating. He took the letter from me and handed it to his father before I could say it was probably more for him than for his father.
King Sage read it over before handing the letter to his son. His eyes found me and he just sort of stared at me. Lassa’s face was grave when he looked up. He didn’t say right away that he would help, unlike Kevin. But then again, I considered Kevin a friend and Lassa… well I didn’t even remember exchanging more than a handful of words with him.
“This is a lot you ask of us, you know that Princess?” The King asked. All I could do was nod unconvincingly. “Would you do us the honor of staying with us for a couple of days, while we think it over?”
I turned to look at Robin and shot him an ‘I told you so’ look. He bit back a smile but I could see the amusement in his eyes. I turned back to the King and said, “Of course, though not too long I hope. My dragon and I need to visit a few more Kingdoms and Robin has to go back to the Elfique Forest himself.”
The Queen was this time the one to answer me. “Naturally. We did not expect you to stay too long and I can only imagine all the places you still have to go. Someone will show you to your rooms, you can rest there if you want, and someone will come to collect you for dinner.”
“Thank you, your Majesty,” Robin and I said at the same time.
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When we arrived in the dining room, the royal family was already sitting around the table and Robin and I went to take the two empty seats. Again there were no advisors at the table, just like in Sable Sucré. Maybe that was because they had guests and they usually did eat here.
Robin sat beside me, for which I was glad. I wasn’t entirely comfortable around these people yet. I hardly knew them. But it wasn’t as awkward as I had thought it to be. The Queen asked me questions and kept the conversation going. Lassa and the King were discussing on their side of the table and the Princesses just ate in silence, though Chloé did look at Robin a lot. I wasn’t sure if he had noticed but I thought it was funny.
The dinner was almost finished when someone opened the doors but didn’t approach. “Your majesties,” He called and naturally everyone turned to look. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to say in a room where almost everyone could answer to that title.
But it was the King who answered. “What is it?” He didn’t snap or sound annoyed. More curious. Maybe this didn’t happen too often.
“There is another guest. He just arrived and wishes to see you.”
“Well send him in; he may join us for the final moments of dinner.”
The messenger nodded, bowed and walked out of the room. A few moments later the door opened again and someone else walked in. A cloak was wrapped around them, the hood pulled up over their head but they pulled it back soon enough. The guest had light brown hair, now cut short, unlike when I had last seen them. His dark green eyes scanned the room and a smirk appeared on his face when they landed on me. His skin, unlike before, now had a slightly golden glow to it, though he still looked pale.
“Your majesties, thank you for receiving me on such short notice. Back I known you had guests already I wouldn’t have forced the poor messenger to arrange me a meeting. But unfortunately, I couldn’t wait.”
“What could possibly so important that it couldn’t wait?” The King questioned.
“I was in your fair Kingdom for something related to the subject Blanchefleur here came as well. I needed to…”
He was cut off when an angry roar could be heard from several stories above. The dark green eyes came to rest on me again and the smirk was back in place. “I see that dragon of yours met Isen. That should be an interesting thing to witness.”
“Priam, don’t change the subject. Why are you here?” I asked. I felt Robin looking at me. Of course he had no idea who this was. Well maybe now he had guessed, after all I had mentioned the Dragon Knight in the story. “Didn’t Sofia send you out looking for information or whatever?”
“She did, which is why I am here.” He turned his eyes back to the King. “Your archives have been attacked and robbed. Did you know that?”
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Here it is!! Now I got to go to England!! =)
~~ Bye ~~