The council that was present continued to lead the Eliatropes into Sadidan territory. They were a bit far in and getting closer to the castle.
They were stopped.
"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" a Sadida asked the council. He was probably no younger than 13 and appeared to have grown up in an Eliatrope culture rather than, well, the Sadidas. He also had probably four guards who, unlike him, probably grown up in Sadidan culture.
"We have to speak to Queen Annefarr," Balthezarr told him, "It's extremely urgent."
"All right, then. I will request her presence," he responded.
"No, please! We need it now, not soon!" Nora tried to convince him.
"I really can't do much. If she isn't in a meeting, I will bring her back with me when I return."
The boy turned back to the direction of the castle, clearly decided.
Suddenly, Efrim Tell her it's about Madellinn!" The boy turned back to look at him, filled with a new interest.
"Madellinn? What happened to her?" the boy asked.
"You'd need to know the whole story. I'll tell you when you have Queen Annefarr with you," Efrim told him. The boy thought in silence for a moment before nodding.
"I'll try my best," he responded. The boy looked at the guards and nodded. The five Sadidans left quickly, leaving the Eliatropes there.
The Sadidans quickly returned to the castle where the boy ran to see Queen Annefarr.
"Hey, Annefarr?" he asked urgently, "Do you have an hour of time? It's timely, I swear."
"Ah, Bayden. What is it this time?" she asked. Even though she was probably twelve years older than him, the two were close friends and joked quite often.
"It's about Madellinn."
"Excuse me?"
"Some Eliatropes, like a LOT of them came into the Sadida Forest and when questioned they said they had information about her," he explained, "I think it has to do with the suspicious activity going on in Elger Nouvelle, but I didn't ask questions and came to you as soon as her name was in conversation."
"Thank you, Bayden." She said standing up. He smiled and ushered her to follow her as he dashed out of the room.
Now that he had Annefarr with him, he, the five guards, and the Queen came back to the Eliatropes. As soon as they were in sight, Queen Annefarr became serious and told Bayden to be quiet.
"Eliatropes, why have you come to our forest in such great numbers?" she questioned, "State your intentions immediately.
Efrim cleared his throat and said, "Queen Annefarr of the Sadidas, we come seeking shelter from disaster. One of our own, Ralo Colcourtay, has attacked the whole kingdom and threatened many Eliatropes safety. After being kicked out of Elger Nouvelle, we came to you in hopes of protection."
"Thank you. I have come to inquire on Madellinn's disappearance after we sent her to fight for your city. My little brother was quick in telling me that you knew what happened to her," Annefarr continued.
"Madellinn was sent to aid Tuto in a fight against Ralo Colcourtay after she thought he was a threat. Finding out that he posed much more danger on Elger Nouvelle than her theory suggested, he attacked both girls. We recovered them shortly after, though both were extremely injured and Ralo was gone. We haven't seen him since. As for their current location, we left them with our best Eniripsa in the castle. We have faith that he has improved their condition since any of us last saw him." Efrim told her. She looked at him with a puzzling face that he couldn't interpret and she said nothing for a moment. Annefarr leaned down to Grougaloragran and Chibi next and asked one final question.
"What happened to Chibi, Grougaloragran, Adamai, Yugo, Mina and Glip?"
"That's a..... longer story."