Still in edit.
Chapter 66
Hu-go
Furia
He was not supposed to be eavesdropping. If he was found, they would imprison him and make it difficult for his father, but he couldn't help it. This conversation had his mind engaged and his heart curious.
"I sent Lance and Nelo to get her for me, and you are telling me you think she may be dead? That's outrageous! This is not the news I expected!"
The queen's subject replied with a lowered voice, words he couldn't catch before Queen Elora burst.
"I do not care what was difficult. Elora's safety is always the priority, they were supposed to diligently watch her and nothing was supposed to hurt her, otherwise why would I send them there?"
A hushed reply again.
However, this time the queen didn't reply as quick. A loud sigh is all he heard. Then, "Have you checked with her Priestess Godmother?"
"Yes, we came from there." The other subject was much more audible.
"What color is her heart stone? Is it still red?"
"It is purple, Your Majesty."
"That means she is really not well, then. Poor child. We need to get to her."
"My Queen, we are conscientiously waiting for word from our scouts."
"As long as her heart stone is not black, that means she is alive and that's good news. Nevertheless, I will not tolerate such negligence. Send news to Lance and Nelo to make sure she lives or it's consequences they will face." There was a thud from behind the closed door. "You make me angry! Such incompetence is unacceptable!"
"Your Majesty, we apologize!"
That was his cue to leave. He fast paced down the corridors.
Furian corridors were made of stone as the rest of the castle, and they were also known for possessing buildings that were the highest a person had ever seen. It was because of their ability to fly that they could be as adventurous.
Rarely did they have windows in their castles so as to allow sleep and any rest inside their chambers.
Furians were insomniac in nature and needed the best conditions for rest. In one night, a Furian stirred awake countlessly before rousing back to sleep. Sometimes they lacked sleep on particular nights. This was because their energy levels were balanced according to nature's.
A shift in the ecosystem, a hot sun or more animals―could be insects―than normal changed the specific level of energy in the environment and the Furian bodies would sense it, thus becoming insomniac. That is why sleeping in a different place than they normally slept at, made them sleepless and uncomfortable.
Hu-go loved to study about Furians. It made him feel close to Li Lian.
He wondered whether Li Lian was starting to get suspicious over her origins and realizing she was different. Marrying a Nevorian emperor would benefit the man a lot, he could use her blood for his heart and live longer.
There was a treaty that forbade a scarred woman to be married to a Nevorian. This protected all Furians from being taken advantage of by the empire's royal family. They could not be used for slavery and as blood sinks for the dragon since as soon as a woman in the harem was cut, it was checked what genealogy they belonged to, whether they were of Furian heritage or not. If they did belong, they were expelled from the harem, not that Nevoria really did that for every hurt woman. The nation was too proud to follow protocols that weren't their culture's.
However, this did not protect princesses of Furia as they did not scar due to the energy levels in their blood. The previous queens who signed the treaty didn't see any alarm in this as they saw it unlikely that any princess would marry a dragon.
In the past, Furians married by dragons were normally ones kidnapped from Furia for slavery, therefore a princess wouldn't easily be kidnapped unless the empire sought war.
But now Elora was going to be used by his father to be empress without the emperor really finding out that she was the daughter of King Tobba. Queen Elora didn't know her daughter was purely Furian, so she thought her daughter would be safe from the emperor as soon as she scarred.
Which isn't true. Elora didn't scar as a pure blooded Furian. A secret his father knew of and the queen didn't.
King Tobba didn't care for the girl and abused her since she was young. She was the evidence of his failed marriage-alliance.
He could tell she was a pure blood and not his from the day she fell and her scar disappeared in the next few days.
When his father found out, he was angry the queen cheated on him, thus he said nothing, choosing to punish Queen Elora by using Le-anne for his selfish motives. A clever calculating bastard, he was.
Hu-go heard chatter as he approached the dining room. The doorless arch entrance led into a brightly lit room.
As he entered, he was welcomed by his future bride in all white, a long veil at the back of her head that did not cover her face. Normally, the custom was to give her worthy stones of teasure so she would reveal her veiled face to each guest who offered it to her.
But since she was no longer a woman who was a virgin, this she could not do―veiling her face. Everyone could see her without paying, though it seemed not to affect the amount of wealth she already collected. She was a princess afterall, people were indefinitely generous due to her status.
She smiled at him, seeming excited to see him.
"You look beautiful," he said.
"Thank you. It was the wedding gown of mother when she got married to your father."
The dress was cream and still looked immaculate and well put together, the epoch appearance giving it style. It was huge and stylish in many parts, you would take all day to understand what went in it.
"It suits you." He put a pouch of gold at her feet, were the rest of the treasure chests sat.
Hu-go remembered the time he asked for the hand of Le-anne from his father, but was almost stripped off of his title due to that request. So he never pushed it any further.
All he had wanted then, from the beginning, was for his father to appreciate him, seeing him as a worthy crown prince. That way, his father wouldn't entertain the silly idea of getting his other son back from Nevoria and replace Hu-go.
But now, he was marrying another beauty that was smitten with him, yet still regretted not pushing for Le-anne.
Le-anne and him grew up together and had a friendship that this girl and him didn't have. They were so close and more like best friends. He missed that and often questioned whether he would ever get something like it ever again.
Eleanor was attractive but they had no chemistry. It was a marriage of convenience.
The dining area was exquisitely designed. The walls were covered with gold paper and drop-down from the roof was a hanging statue of a naked woman flying, while over the cut oak table was a candelabra carrying huge candles. Down the focal point of the table was a fabric woven in gold and green textured material.
The polished silver cutlery was heavy in appearance, shining brightly under the candle light. At each seat stood a tall empty goblet for wine, covered by the beautifully folded white napkins on its mouth.
Standing around were his fellow Huticah men trying to converse with the Furian officials. Not more than twenty would attend the dinner.
"Where were you?" His father approached him.
"Taking a walk."
"Don't wander around too much. The woman has a temper that will have her change her mind about this."
"Yes, father."
He was not going to tell his father that Le-anne was sick. The king would get nervous and make things difficult for Le-anne, thinking she would confess who she really was on her death bed and make Nevoria even more angry with Huticah.
"Hu-go, come and see this." His father led him to the many boxes of jewelry and gold at the far end of the room, where there were lounging chairs.
"You are gifting this to the queen?"
"We have to prove ourselves and gift with the best, even though we don't agree with their culture."
It was their culture to have the bride present dowry for the groom, but in Furia it was the man who paid expensive gifts as bride price. Since Huticah was desperate for the marriage to work and keep the ties between Furia and Huticah, as a safety net for other countries not to attack them, they agreed to go by the customs of Furia and compromise on many things.
Furia was not a nation with much of an army, they didn't have that for themselves. But magic and earthly forces is what they had to their advantage. No nation could conquer this easily, thus countries like Nevoria were not as arrogant with Furia.
Nevoria was quick to disclose war with any nation that irritated them, but with Furia they were always willing to negotiate. War was always a last resort.
Furians used to go wild with magic. Everyone on the land of Furia that was Furian, commoner and royal, would exercise their powers.
However, the exercise of power turned the skies green and when there was the continous use of it, the sky would even become orange, then red as the extremity.
Red skies affected the land surrounding them: Gurio, Nevoria, Huticah, alongside theirs. The colored skies restrained rain on them and resulted in drought.
Thus, when Furians where angry, they used so much of their magic carelessly and turned the skies scarlet so that the other nations suffered to drought and famine.
As revenge, the affected nations would charge into Furia, attacking the weak nation that was not so protected. One would think magic would defend them but there was a limit to the magic commoners could use in one moon before they ran out, while for royals, though there wasn't a limit, it instead served them with a shorter life span.
Because of that, war with Furia was not good for any nation. Peace treaties were better instilled between Furia and its neighbors.
Hu-go looked at his father, contemplating whether it was right to ask what he wanted to. "Father, after marrying Eleanor, will this make you proud?"
His father frowned for a bit, then his big lips widened. "Of course, Hu-go. I'm proud of you!"
Hu-go scratched his head. "Will that secure my place on the throne?"
"You are the crown prince. Of course, you are secured."
That did not comfort Hu-go, however. His father seemed to care more for the prodigal son in Nevoria.
~Author's Note~
How was the historical lesson?
S.V