Are you curious to read the first chapter and see if it entices your interest?
Here it is!
***
“I am totally against it. The idea of taking in two children I never have
met before isn’t my responsibility.”
“Come on Spaulding, the kids are a delight!”
Spaulding was sitting in his study room with his arms crossed while he
stared outside the window. He took a brief look at his friend who wore medium
green robes and spare looking black armor as he drank rice wine with
tranquility.
“Look at those savages, unkempt, poorly dressed and making a huge fuss
over the architecture of my castle. Bring them back to their land and leave me
alone.”
“I swear to you they are your blood relatives Spaulding!”
Spaulding stared at Trevilin with hatred. “What in the hell were you
doing over in Ayrtain anyways? I understood that your deployment was going to
last well into the autumn this year.”
Trevilin started to grin with confidence. He got Spaulding’s attention
all right. “I was chasing a petty criminal across the border.”
Spaulding spat some wine when he heard that. “Is this a joke? You know
perfectly well that we can’t cross the border without an…”
Trevilin pulled out of his robe an edict that was signed by an Äimite
that guarded a nearby post. Spaulding grabbed the scroll and read it.
“Okay, this seems like a reasonable excuse to cross the border. But why
in the hell did you stick around and find those savages to give to me as a
gift?”
“Well Spaulding, this is the fun part. The petty criminal happened to be
a trafficker that was a member of some gang that wanted to sell those poor
children to a foreign land. I was doing the usual when we are in town and found
the stingiest looking tavern, sat down on a chair with a few beers and waited
to listen to the latest gossip.”
“Ah seedy taverns, the best place to hitch some good gossip.”
“Which is why it’s always a pleasure for me to keep my friendship with
you Spaulding because you know what our field work is like.”
Spaulding tied the scroll and gave it back to the black haired elf
looking slightly less upset. “Okay, so I presume some stupid humans started to
yap about these two children that are from a noble family.”
“I would dare mention from a disgraced
noble family my dear friend.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Well, the issue is that their parents are dead. Apparently the father
had some outstanding gambling debts and he didn’t want to pay. When someone
murdered the father, the regional government took away the properties to be
sold in an auction and the mother I believe killed herself to avoid the shame.”
“So the little boy is a nobleman without a coin in his pockets, oh the
joy!” Spaulding stood up and stared at the boy with messy black hair that was arguing
with his little sister from the upstairs window. His elliptically shaped pupils
straightened out and noticed something was missing from the boy’s hand. “Is
this some sort of joke Trevilin? The boy inherited a nobility title and he isn’t
wearing a ring.”
“Well, you are just not letting me finish my tale Spaulding! Please let
me continue. In the tavern I overheard a couple of humans talk about a pair of
noble children being sold for very little money and they were planning on
having the sale at the southeastern border. They were going to sell the boy as
an indentured servant and sell the girl I presume as a prostitute or something
of the sort. I didn’t care too much about the petty issues of foreigners, but
when they mentioned the name of the middleman, my interest was piqued.”
“A human with an unusual name I presume.”
“You’re correct once again Spaulding. So basically I slugged the men for
the fun of it once they left the tavern and they told me where I could find the
criminal I was looking for. I passed off as a middleman with a carriage in the
assigned meeting spot.”
“So you spent our government’s generous endowments on rented carriages?
Keeping things classy like usual Trevilin.”
“Oh you know me, I have ostentatious tactics. The rest of the story is
sort of boring. I killed the men, cut the right index finger of the man with a
bounty on his head and sealed his bloody fingerprint on the edict and now I was
stuck with two human children.”
“Go babysit them yourself! Who cares what happens to those savage
creatures!”
“I wasn’t going to leave two orphaned children in the street Spaulding.
As you know, I speak human with excellent fluency and I started to interview
the poor kids. Turns out the little boy named Richard is from the House of
Earlrose.”
“Never heard of the clan.”
Trevilin grinned because he knew Spaulding was hopelessly ignorant
regarding foreign affairs.
“I found it strange that the boy was a nobleman with a veritable story
that I confirmed when I checked the city auctions registry. I didn’t initially
believe the boy because he didn’t have his ring.”
“Even without the ring, you could verify his account of noble birth with
a registry office.”
“Which is what I did Spaulding. Turns out that from their maternal
bloodline, they are the great-great-great-great grandchildren of the younger sister
of your human ancestor.”
Spaulding’s face froze and he stared at Trevilin who was casually seated
on a comfortable black leather chair. Spaulding rushed to him, grabbed his shoulders
and stared at his face. Trevilin stared at Spaulding’s medium brown eyes and
couldn’t help smiling.
“I swear on my oath as a ranger of the Elf Kingdom that those children
are your distant nephew and niece.”
Spaulding stared at his eyes and realized Trevilin was speaking the
truth. He slouched on his leather chair feeling stunned.
“The boy gave me detailed accounts of the names of his ancestry.
Spaulding, these children are not making this up. Richard knew the entire
bloodline from top to bottom. The average con artist would need the help of an
adult to visit the registry office and in this case, there would be little to
gain by trying to deceive you because no human knows about your hybrid ancestry.”
“My bloody mortal curse that is!”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself Spaulding. I wished I could be a mortal
like you are. You are still very young but someday if you don’t die in battle,
you will die peacefully in your sleep. It’s a perk that immortals such as me
will never be able to enjoy. Either we die from starvation or the sword.”
“But you will be eternally young. You don’t know what it felt like
seeing your father wither and die.”
Trevilin started to grunt after he heard that. “I saw your father on his
deathbed and I was mightily depressed for his loss. But he managed to live a
longer life than your grandfather did. With each passing generation, your increasingly
pure elvish bloodline expands its longevity.”
“Great, I’ll enjoy another 50 years of youth, big deal.”
“Which is why you became a ranger in the first place despite being a
clan leader in order to make better use of your time.”
Spaulding’s face suddenly turned grave. “As my closest friend, I will
believe your ridiculous tale that those two humans are my distant relatives. I
will not put that into doubt. But why in the hell did you bring them to
Tesafar? Give them to a human relative.”
“I didn’t tell you what happened to Richard’s ring.”
“The criminals sold it, big deal. Little use if the registry office
states the name of the true heir.”
“Someone else took the ring.”
“This sounds interesting. I presume it was a nobleman.”
“That is a half-truth Spaulding. Their commoner but politically
well-connected maternal uncle stole it from Richard and he sold the children to
get rid of them. He wanted to con the king into giving him the nobility title
with all that it entails.”
“Stupid humans and their greed. So I can assume when they became orphans
their idiot uncle took them in only to kick them to the curb the minute they
overstayed their welcome.”
“You have learned a lot as a ranger. Your ability to predict human
criminals never ceases to amaze me.”
“Basically, you take an elf and remove any fair sense of decency,
immortality and most of all their usefulness in the world and there you go.
Thinking like a human has never been easier.”
Trevilin couldn’t stop laughing with politeness when a servant entered
Spaulding’s office carrying a tray with some elvish cakes. “How nice! The
servants brought some sesame seed cream cakes this time.”
“I presume humans don’t eat civilized food either.”
“In that respect, I can assure you that our nation is a better place to
live. Humans eat meat with every meal.”
Spaulding shuddered at the very thought of tasting meat. He lived in a
society where almost everyone practiced a strict vegan diet out of choice. He
looked grave as he had another cup of wine.
“You decided to bring them here because you couldn’t find any decent
human relatives?”
“More like I was overstaying my welcome in the human lands. I have to
return to my post immediately or else I might risk being stuck working all
winter.”
“Ah winter, the absolutely most dreadful time of the year to camp in the
forest with our bitter weather. I can understand why you didn’t choose to stick
around that much longer.”
“Well, the edict Lord Yuhara gave to me was only good for the human I
ended up killing. I could have asked him for permission to locate the family of
those children.”
Spaulding started to laugh very loud and seemed more cheerful than
before. “You always say the funniest things Trevilin. An Äimite couldn’t care less
about the comfort of a ranger much less the lives of two foreigners. From what
I can understand, you were stuck bringing those nuisances to my humble castle.”
“Look, try to put up with them for a few months. I swear I will cover
any unpleasant shift the guard assigns me and I will bear the brunt of covering
a month or two during the winter so that he lets me off the hook sooner and
then we can try to locate a more redeeming relative together when the snow
starts to melt.”
“Did I just hear the word we?”
“Well, they are your blood relatives Spaulding.”
Spaulding pounded his fist on the desk. “You do realize my next deployment
will begin in the spring, right?”
“Well, it is early autumn and you just barely returned from your last
assignment. Just try to put up with them during the winter. It will give you
something useful to do for a change. When its spring and I am off duty, we’ll
take them together and find a human relative that can meddle with the problem.”
“What about Legarha?!”
“Speak to your regional guard and land a good deal to begin your next
assignment a few weeks later than usual or make up an excuse that you need to
cross the border for some petty criminal and discreetly get rid of those
children. In the worst of cases, they will be dead in 60 years and you won’t
have to worry about them ever again.”
Spaulding sighed with resignation. “Fine, I will put up with their
obnoxious petulant presence in my humble castle for 6 months. I guess I could
set them up with some Elvish language classes or something and have someone
from my clan put up with their unwanted presence as I rest. What are the names
of these children again?”
“The boy’s name is Richard and the girl is Nelida of the House of
Earlrose.”
“The boy has a common name but the girl’s name is most unusual indeed.”
“The little girl seems a bit jaded from the traumatic experience so try
to be easy on her. She is only 6 years old which for a human can be a bit of a
difficult age. Richard is 8 but he does seem rather mature for his age.”
“How long did the carriage travel? Did you get to know the children any
better during your trip?”
Trevilin crossed his arms and started to think. “I guess the trip took
us 2 weeks. They initially acted like I was a demon and gave me some trouble,
but they seemed to have warmed up to staying here.”
“I know you are telling a half-truth Trevilin but I guess I’ll agree to
let them stay here for a while.”
Spaulding drank a cup of wine and started thinking attentively. After a
few moments, his eyes shone and he put his palm on his face. “I almost forgot
Trevilin! Now that these pestering humans will be occupying my limited free
time, I was planning on doing something important but it seems like I may need
someone else to do the task for me.”
“What kind of task?”
“I need someone that is highly reliable of high noble rank to transport
a certain object to the capital as soon as is considered reasonable.”
Trevilin slightly frowned at the comment. “I presume you’d ask me, but because
I am not a nobleelf, there would be too many questions asked.”
“Precisely why I need you to request someone outside of my clan of high
rank that can do this little favor. If you promise me you will find someone
suitable to take something to the capital, I’ll take care of these children
without complaint.”
“Well, it seems like a strange request but I guess I can find someone
suitable. When do you need that package delivered and how high nobility rank is
needed?”
“Doesn’t have to be a clan leader, but perhaps someone of important
lineage would be ideal. If the package can be sent immediately it would be even
better.”
“I think we have a fair deal Spaulding. I have to leave immediately
which is a shame because I’ll miss dinner, but I really thank you for doing
this favor. I’ll come by when I am free to help you and I will find someone to
fulfill your request.”
Trevilin stood up, put on his black hood and mace, bowed at his friend
and promptly left the room. After a few minutes, Trevilin was visible in the
garden from the window while he spoke to the two children as they begged him to
stay. Trevilin seemed to politely bow and left in haste making the children
look visibly upset.
Spaulding saw the scene and sighed with resignation. “The sooner I meet
these two brats, the sooner I can leave their care to someone in my city.” Spaulding
left the study room, climbed down the round staircase and was soon outside
seeing the boy making his little sister cry. He reluctantly approached both of
them immediately.
“Pleased to meet both of you. My name is Lord Spaulding, the master of
Tesafar Castle. I have already spoken to my acquaintance Trevilin and I will allow
both of you to stay in my city for the next few months.” Spaulding politely
bowed at the children who looked surprised at his unusually polite demeanor.
“Um... the pleasure is mine Spaulding. I am Richard and this is my
sister Nelida.”
“I don’t want to stay here Richard! I want to go home! Why is the black
haired demon leaving us in here?”
“Please be polite Nelida. Trevilin already told us many times that the
elf we were going to meet is our long lost uncle.”
Nelida’s piercing green eyes stared at the fair elf that wore rather
plain looking beige robes that seemed to float as he elegantly walked. As
Spaulding stared at both children, she tried to hide her fair face behind her
brother with shame.
“I know that this is a difficult situation for both parties. You didn’t
know that you had a distant uncle that lived in the Elf Kingdom, and I didn’t
know I had any living human relatives that were noblemen without a home or
family to take care of them.”
Spaulding knelt and smiled at both children trying to be polite. Richard
blushed a little bit at Spaulding’s utter kindness whereas Nelida continued
being distrustful.
“This is an awkward meeting for me, but I promise this will only be a
temporary solution. My friend had to return to his military post immediately
and when the snow melts in a couple of months, we will set off and locate your
human blood relatives.”
“I want to come back home now!” Nelida stomped her foot on the ground.
“I’m sorry Nelida but you are going to have to put up with living here.
Life is not always fair but I believe both of you will enjoy living in my
quaint city. It will only be for a few months and you will soon be able to
return to a normal life among humans where you belong. Please enter my home because
you must be weary from your long trip.”
As Spaulding invited both children inside, the first surprising thing
they noticed was a strange stair with white slippers next to a small wooden
closet. Richard stared at the odd sight for a while feeling uncertain what to
do.
“I forgot that humans enter their castles and homes with mud in their
boots. This stair here is a dividing section between the outside world and our
sacred home. We use these special shoes when we are inside of a home and leave
our muddy shoes in this small closet. I would greatly appreciate that in order
to maintain the order of my home, if you could always remember to remove your
shoes when you walk inside.”
Both humans looked at the closet and unanimously frowned.
“There aren’t any shoes that will fit us.” Richard said.
“I’m very sorry about this. I’m not used to having guests at my home and
much less children. For today you can walk barefoot inside and I’ll request
someone from my town to mend appropriate indoor shoes for both of you.”
Nelida seemed distrustful but both children seemed to comply as a
servant placed both shoes in the closet.
“Please come this way.”
The two children followed the strange blond elf that wore his medium length
hair in a ponytail as he hastily walked past several narrow hallways with
elegant dark bamboo flooring and white walls. Richard stared at the strange but
aesthetically pleasing architecture while Nelida clung to her brother’s right
arm as they were escorted by Spaulding across several empty large rooms with
strange straw mat floors and sliding wooden doors that were fully open.
Spaulding proceeded to climb down a light grey granite staircase while the
children hurried behind as they walked across another similarly narrow hallway
to a bamboo door.
“I am presuming both of you are weary from the long trip. My friend
Trevilin told me mostly everything so there is no need to repeat children. This
room has a nice bath with comfortable hot spring water. My servants will assist
both of you as you have probably never bathed in one before.”
Spaulding moved an elegant violet curtain with the traditional crescent
moon and sun symbol of his clan revealing a medium sized room that had several
dark bamboo closets with beige robes. Both children looked inside but remained
in the hallway.
“Mister Spaulding…” Richard began to speak.
“By the way, as I am a nobleelf, it would probably be most appropriate
to address me as Lord Spaulding.”
“I’m sorry Lord Spaulding, but this is very new to me.”
“The servants will assist both of you as I am certain humans have
different customs. Hopefully you will both find my hot spring to be most
pleasant. There is something I must do so please enjoy your bath and we will be
seeing each other for dinner.”
Spaulding politely bowed at both children which surprised them. In
Richard’s country nobles never bowed at anyone of inferior social status. The
fair faced elf that he just met that chilly day seemed rather hospitable.
Without waiting for the servant to direct the children inside, Spaulding raced
outside of the main entrance, put on a pair of brown leather boots and walked
to the courtyard where he was greeted by another servant.
“Lord Spaulding, who are those strange humans and why did Trevilin leave
them here?”
“Apparently they are very distant human relatives of mine from my paternal
bloodline.”
The servant looked quite surprised at the revelation. It was well known
by everyone that Spaulding was a hybrid but his human ancestor died around 700
years ago. “Will they be staying here for long?”
“I agreed with Trevilin to house them here for the winter.”
“Aren’t you weary from your latest tour as a ranger? You were on duty
for 5 months nonstop this time.”
Spaulding sighed from the revelation. “I guess if the children don’t
cause me too much problems, I’ll have enough time to rest. Once the ice melts
and before I am again on active duty, Trevilin and I will take them together to
a human relative.”
“Well, you are the lord of our clan. Are you planning on going
somewhere? “
“I am going to visit my friend Hamarin and ask him for a small favor. If
the children cause any problems please inform me.”
“Certainly my Lord.”
The servant bowed with politeness as Spaulding walked outside, climbed
down a perfectly paved stone road across the white streets of Tesafar while always
being saluted with politeness by the small city’s citizens. He soon reached a
large wooden house of good decorative taste with a gigantic garden of
immaculate beauty. He pleasantly smiled when he found the person he was looking
for and approached him.
“Lord Spaulding, what an interesting surprise.”
A tall, thin elf that perpetually exuded an air of sadness on his blue
eyes and fair face stared at the elf that approached him. Hamarin always had
the penchant for wearing long white robes that covered almost the entirety of
his body and liked to wear his immaculate knee length black hair loose to cover
as much of his face as possible. He was sitting on top of a carpet drinking tea
when Spaulding arrived.
Spaulding politely bowed and after he removed his boots, he sat down. “I
am sorry for coming unannounced Hamarin, but a strange incident happened and I
would like to know if you could assist me.”
“Certainly my Lord, what is the favor you ask?”
The two elves started to talk with each other for a while that tranquil
early autumn afternoon when the servant Spaulding briefly talked to a while ago
hastily ran to the garden.
“What’s wrong Floydin?”
“I pardon to interrupt your leisure my Lord, but the little girl is
having a terrible argument with the other servants. Could you please come?”
Spaulding put his right hand on his face with frustration whereas
Hamarin remained indifferent.
“I presume it’s the culture shock Lord Spaulding. You’re not used to
treating with noble humans. I can assure you this will not be the first time
those children will give you trouble. You should go and see what the issue is
and we’ll continue our chat tomorrow.”
Spaulding smiled with hesitation, put on his boots, bowed at his friend and
ran back to the castle. Nelida was wearing a towel while she screamed at a
female servant whereas Richard had already changed into a beige and blue elvish
robe.
“What seems to be the problem?”
Richard stared at the elf looking concerned. “Lord Spaulding, my sister
doesn’t like the robes your servants gave to her after we finished our bath.”
Spaulding sighed when he saw Nelida pulling her dress from the servant’s
arms. Spaulding hadn’t realized it before, but Nelida had unusual lilac colored
hair in a very short haircut. If it hadn’t been for the dress, he would have
assumed she had been a man.
He knelt in front of her with a worried look on his face. “What seems to
be the problem Nelida? Did you find the bath to be unpleasant?”
“No Spaulding, that was nice but I hate the ugly robes your servants
gave to me and my robe doesn’t fit me! I want to wear my dress but the servant
wants to throw it away.”
Spaulding turned around and noticed her dress was tattered and looked
unamendable. He placed his right hand on her shoulder with reassurance.
“Unfortunately your old dress is ruined. I am sorry that the robe my
servant brought doesn’t fit you perfectly, but unfortunately in our lands it’s
very unusual to see children. When you visit my city, you will soon realize you
will only see adult elves everywhere. I will request a tailor to come here
tomorrow and make human clothes of your size and to your taste so you will
either have to wear the robes that don’t perfectly fit you, or you can have
dinner wearing that towel and nothing else. However, I cannot permit per the
customs of hospitality of my nation to allow my humble guest to eat dinner in a
ruined dress.”
Richard stood nearby in contemplative silence when he finally understood
the reason why his robe also didn’t perfectly fit and watched how Nelida hugged
the elf while she cried nonstop.
Spaulding wasn’t very sure what to do and stared at the boy. “Is your
sister always this emotional? I’m not very used to dealing with children.”
“I am also a little bit surprised Lord Spaulding. Your friend Trevilin
told us many things are very different in your nation such as the streets are
very safe with very few criminals and that this city doesn’t have soldiers.”
“My city is too far up north from the human borders and there is no need
for foot soldiers here.”
“There aren’t criminals here?”
“Everything here is very new to you. It’s nice that I finally met a
human that doesn’t call me a demonic monster for once.”
Richard had a hard time understanding the elf’s comment.
After crying for a while, Nelida started to calm down. “Spaulding, can I
call you uncle?”
Spaulding stared at her tearful face with a certain degree of
indifference. “If you stop crying and put on the robes for dinner, I’ll make an
exception.”
The girl hugged him as he awkwardly patted her back. Richard timidly
smiled at the graciousness of his host. The girl finally calmed down sufficiently
to return to the changing room and allowed the servant to dress her as
Spaulding and Richard waited in the hallway. Nelida came out a few minutes
later looking slightly comical in the long robe that had to be folded with a
tight blue belt. Spaulding slightly smiled at the amusing sight while Richard
laughed which annoyed her.
“Please come over this way children as you now look presentable for
dinner.”
Spaulding once more directed the two children across a long series of
similar looking narrow hallways that had several empty rooms with straw mat
floors, white walls with a lot of intricate paintings with the clan’s emblem
and wooden sliding doors. Richard really liked the pleasant sparseness of the
castle whereas Nelida had a hard time understanding the purpose of having so
many empty rooms. After a few minutes, they climbed a couple of wooden stairs
to a very large room that looked very similar to the other ones, but it
featured a large dark wood table. The children were surprised there were no
chairs and the table was barely elevated at all.
“Where are the chairs Lord Spaulding?” Richard looked around with
incredulity.
“Take a look below.” Spaulding sat on the back corner as the master of
the castle in front of a very intricate wall painting of the clan emblem and
the children sat on top of two flat pillows next to him. They instantly noticed
there was a large hole beneath the table to place their feet.
Richard was incredulous. “I have never seen such a strange looking
dining room before.”
“You will get used to it Richard. Human dining rooms just seem a little
bit too informal for my taste.”
The children looked at the room and instantly noticed there were a lot
of supporting beams made out of beautifully carved wood with intricate golden
leaf designs. A servant suddenly opened a lateral sliding door that faced a
wooden hallway and farther away a beautiful garden was now visible. Both
children were fascinated at the maple trees that were starting to change color that
complemented perfectly with the sheer simplicity of the greenery outside.
“I have never seen a garden like that before.” Richard said.
Spaulding casually looked outside being used to seeing it every day.
“I am not that familiar with human gardens, but we generally don’t like
to use plants that produce flowers. We kind of like our gardens to have a
monochromatic appearance. In a couple more weeks, the maple trees will turn
bright red which will give it an interesting contrasted color. The servants will
bring us something to eat very soon. Are you familiar with elvish food?”
The children stared at each other looking confused.
“Are we going to be eating lizard eyes and witchcraft potions?” Nelida
asked.
Spaulding laughed with politeness. “Is that what the humans in your
nation think elves eat? How amusing!”
The children stared at each other wondering why Spaulding was laughing.
A couple of minutes later, two servants placed a plate with assorted vegetable
based dishes, unusual looking long forks, small knives and a second plate with
strange white wafer cakes with assorted fillings inside. A second servant
served everyone a ceramic cup with sweet tea and promptly left the room.
Spaulding blessed his food and started eating quietly. After a few moments, he
noticed neither child was eating anything.
“Is anything wrong? The food is delicious.”
“Lord Spaulding, what is this? I don’t see any meat.”
Spaulding balked at Richard’s comment. “Elves are for the most part
strict vegans.”
Nelida turned to face the elf looking more surprised than her brother. “You
mean you don’t eat newt eyes?”
“Of course not. We aren’t the demonic monsters humans seem to believe.
We can eat meat, but we are simply raised in a culture where eating meat is
socially unacceptable unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“But why don’t you eat meat? It tastes delicious.”
Spaulding wanted to belch at Richard’s comment. “You may find it
appetizing, but I absolutely detest the flavor.”
“But won’t your body become weak if you don’t eat it?”
“If you take a close look at the dishes, you will see some small white
cubes that have a gelatinous consistency. Those cubes are made out of a sort of
plant that is rich in protein. I can assure you that our diet is much more
nutritious than what you are accustomed back at your home.”
Richard’s hunger took a hold of him and he eventually tried out the
food. It had a pleasant soft flavor, not too seasoned and the natural flavors
of the vegetables complemented each other. He quickly grinned and looked at his
sister. “Nelida, you should really try this! It’s delicious!”
However, Nelida just like a while before stared at her food with
disgust. “This is not food! I’m not a cow!” Nelida tossed her plate of food on
the table and ran out of the room crying.
“Nelida!” Richard tried to stand up but Spaulding softly tugged his arm.
“Please don’t Richard.”
“But she tossed her plate of food on your table!”
“I expected this behavior from her. I’m glad that you decided to give
our food a chance and enjoyed it. I was briefly talking to a close friend of
mine in the city and he told me a little bit about how humans raise their noble
children. Apparently noble parents don’t even raise their children. They are
raised by servants that let them do whatever they feel like and don’t teach them
decorum with disastrous results.”
Richard paused as he stared at the mess on the table. He turned around
and tried to bow in apology to the elf. “I’m so sorry uncle Spaulding because
of my sister’s behavior! Please don’t kick us out of your castle and sell us to
criminals like my uncle did!”
Spaulding only smiled with kindness. “I can assure you that elves treat
their guests with the most utter respect and I will try to be more
understanding with your sister. However, I think this will be a good
opportunity for you to experience our nation which is something very few humans
ever get to enjoy. Finish your meal and go to rest.”
“What about my sister?”
“As kind as I am, I am not going to serve meat in my humble abode. She
can either eat meat with the human laborers that work in our farms like a
common peasant or be a noble guest of honorable repute and eat with us. For
tonight if she goes hungry, that will be her problem.”
Spaulding quickly finished his dinner encouraging Richard to do the same
and once he was done he stood up and bowed at the boy.
“As much as I would like to continue getting to know you better, I am
still weary from my recent deployment as a ranger and I haven’t recovered yet.
I am going to rest and you might not see me tomorrow morning. The servants will
direct you and your sister to your room. Tomorrow you can have a free day
wandering around my city and get to know it better. The servants will have a
pleasant breakfast awaiting both of you when you wake up.”
“What about my sister?”
“Like I have said before, she can continue starving until she decides
she has no other choice but to eat what my castle has to offer or she can eat
in the street with peasant humans. If she chooses to eat with the humans, I
would prefer it that she doesn’t continue resting in my castle because it would
give mixed messages to my citizens of how I treat my guests. I bid you
goodnight and I will see you for dinner tomorrow.”
The elf once again briefly bowed and left the dining room. Richard
walked outside and stared at the garden that had a small pond with some fish in
the distance. He sat on the wooden hallway enjoying the peace and tranquility
of his mysterious uncle’s castle until a servant showed up after nightfall and
bowed with politeness.
“Good evening Lord Richard. Your guestroom has been fully prepared,
please follow me.”
Richard followed the servant that wore simple beige robes in awkward
silence. As he crossed the maze of similar looking narrow hallways, he stared
at the ceiling and gasped. “What are those things?”
The servant turned around and noticed Richard was staring at a series of
strange circular lamps. “In our nation, we illuminate our homes with special
lamps that are not made out of fire. Is this the first time you have seen
them?”
Richard blushed with embarrassment at his ignorance and nodded. The boy
was impressed how the lamps maintained excellent illumination due to some alien
technology.
“Please follow me my Lord.”
Richard was soon directed to a pleasant guestroom where his sister was already
in a corner crying nonstop. “Nelida, you insulted our uncle by not eating the
food he gave us.”
“I want to go home! This place is awful! Those demon beasts eat cow feed,
dress in ugly bed sheets and look at the beds!”
Richard turned around and noticed their sparsely decorated room had two
flat heaps of thick fabric with elegant blue and violet blankets with the
familiar family emblem along with flat pillows. Richard turned around and
noticed the wooden closet of the room was open revealing other bed sheets on
the shelves.
“Now I understand why the castle has so many empty rooms Nelida. They
are actually bedrooms and they store all of the furniture in the closet. What
an interesting way to save space and make the castle easier to clean! I don’t
know about you, but this is the most awesome place I have ever been to!”
Nelida continued bawling nonstop in her corner which made her brother
frown.
“I don’t think you seem to understand how lucky we are that Trevilin came
to our rescue and brought both of us to his friend’s residence even though he
was going to get into trouble at his job. I had a friendly chat with our uncle
a while ago and he seems like the nicest person I have ever met. He isn’t like
our other uncle Nelida so stop acting like a spoiled brat because nobody cares
about your complaints. Instead of complaining about your pitiful life, you
should enjoy staying here. I am actually falling in love with it and I can’t
wait to explore the city tomorrow, good night.”
Richard instantly put himself beneath the cover and went to sleep. After
freezing in the cold for a while, Nelida grudgingly pulled herself beneath the
blanket and realized that the flatbeds were immensely comfortable once you got
used to sleeping on the ground level. Her stomach churned nonstop as she cried
herself to sleep.
***
If you enjoyed my work, could you please consider writing a review on Goodreads and Amazon? It will only take you a minute and every review helps boost interest in my work. If you join my mailing list, you could request a free copy of my novels in exchange for a review.
Thank you!
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario