“I always thought Elves were wise and kind, but it seems I was proven wrong again,” Lucas muttered as he and Rosemary carefully maneuvered through the small city of Ylfalon. All the very rich-looking elves were giving them ill looks, as if they were just a pair of rats in a Michelin Star restaurant. “Let’s just keep our heads down and get out of here as fast as possible,” Rosemary said. She was used to these hateful glares, but it seemed Lucas was getting agitated from them. Fearing the situation might escalate, she tried to guide him through the crowd quickly, when an elf suddenly walked into Lucas, knocking him to the ground. “Watch where you’re going, human,” he said, wiping off his cloak as if something gross had touched it.
“I was watching, but you smashed against me on purpose!” Lucas said as he picked himself back up. Rosemary groaned softly. “Lucas, please,” she hissed, not wanting to start a scene. The elf crossed his arms. “Well?” he said, completely ignoring Lucas’ previous statement, “aren’t you going to apologise?”
“That’s my line,” Lucas snapped back. The elf rolled his eyes. “I shall not degrade myself to apologising to human scum,” he said, “besides, you are clearly the one at fault.”
“Take that back!” Lucas growled.
“Or what?” the elf asked with a smirk, “what can a peasant mutt and his little whore start against an elf like me? Back in Arathmel this attitude of yours would’ve already granted you a night in prison.”
“But we are not in Arathmel,” Rosemary said, obviously insulted, “you seem like a grown elf. Act like one. Don’t make me use valerian on you.”
The elf’s eyes narrowed at Rosemary’s threat. With their heightened senses, elves were particularly sensitive to certain herbs. Ingesting the tiniest bit of Valerian Root would have an elf fast asleep within seconds. However, the argument had caused a scene, and Rosemary had only enough to sedate one, maybe two elves. Surely the others were going to get revenge for their kin. Lucas seemed ready to punch someone. There was no way this could end well – but then…
“What’s going on here?” a voice called. A few of the elves that had gathered around the argument stepped aside quickly to let a young man, followed by two larger men, through. They wore the same dark green, blue-ish uniform, the only difference being the colour of the oval-shaped pin on their berets. Whoever they were, they were human, and hopefully they liked to pick sides as much as the elves did. “This human bumped into me and refuses to apologise,” the taunting elf said, “your highness,” he added after an annoyed glare from the young man with a golden pin on his beret.
“Nonsense!” Rosemary said, but quieted when the young man raised his hand.
“You’re outside of this situation,” he said, “or did someone run into you as well?” Rosemary shook her head, and gave Lucas a warning glare, hoping he wouldn’t say anything stupid. “He bumped into me and then demanded that I apologise,” he ranted, “then he proceeded to insult us, calling us human scum, a mutt and a whore.”
“Your highness, you wouldn’t believe the word of a peasant over mine, would you?” the elf said. The young man sighed, and Lucas could’ve sworn he saw at least half an eye roll. “That depends,” he said, “I just returned from the embassy, and your father gave me quite an earful over your behavioural problems. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve showed discriminative behaviour towards humans, so save your father the embarrassment of having to report to Her Majesty Queen Eurydice that his own son is quite the disgrace for his kin, and just apologise to the young man.”
By the time the young man in uniform had finished his sentence, the elf looked like he was ready to murder someone, but he knew very well that he couldn’t. With the greatest reluctance he turned to Lucas and bowed his head very slightly. “My apologies,” he said, sounding anything but sincere. The man in uniform, however, seemed satisfied. “Disperse,” he said, “you two, come with me,” he added, nodding at Lucas and Rosemary. Somewhat nervously, they followed the men in uniform, wondering if they were in trouble. Luckily, quite the opposite was true. Once they cleared the city, they came upon two more men with a similar uniform, keeping watch over a horse. The young man, who appeared to be in charge, greeted the horse with a pat on its nose, gently running his hand down, while the horse tried to bend its head, searching the young man’s hands for something to snack. “Those elves,” he sighed, holding his hand out to one of his subordinates, who then handed him a single green apple, “they’re not all like that, though. So what brings two peasants like you to the city of Ylfalon?” he asked, while feeding the apple to his horse.
“We’re traveling towards the capital,” Lucas said, “we seek an audience with the king.”
“The king’s a busy man. I doubt he has time for trivial matters,” the young man said, “I fear his attention’s been occupied by Thanatos.”
“Excuse me, by whom?” Rosemary asked.
“Thanatos,” the young man repeated, “a black dragon that’s been making the roads between Arathmel and Elysium unsafe.”
“Our issue concerns that very same dragon,” Rosemary said, “the army the king sent to slay it failed. Enraged, the dragon destroyed our town, and all those in it perished. We are the only survivors. We figured the king ought to know about the mistake he made.”
The young man slowly raised a brow at Rosemary, his expression growing strained when Rosemary mentioned the army’s failure. “How do you mean they failed?” he asked, concern audible in his voice, “please. Answer me. My brother was leading that army.”
“We don’t— Wait. Your brother as in Prince Enoch?” Rosemary said. The young man nodded. “Forgive me,” he said, “I’m used to everyone recognising me. I am Prince Emrys, Captain of the Palace Guard, and the second son of King Arthurus.”
Lucas and Rosemary gasped in unison, and quickly kneeled. “Forgive us, your highness. We didn’t recognise you indeed,” Lucas said. Prince Emrys chuckled. “You are forgiven,” he said, “besides, I prefer to be seen as a captain when I’m on duty rather than a prince. So please, rise.”
Lucas and Rosemary got back up. “Pardon me, but I have to ask,” Lucas said, “we really do need an audience with the king. Could you…”
“That depends on the urge of your matter,” Prince Emrys said, “let’s travel to the capital together and you can tell me all about it.”
He took the reins of his horse from his subordinate’s hand, but instead of mounting it, he gestured towards it. “Go ahead, miss. I can’t let a lady walk the whole way.”
Rosemary blushed. “Oh, that’s very kind of you, but I couldn’t possibly.”
“But I insist,” Prince Emrys said. Rosemary smiled. “Well in that case,” she said, allowing Prince Emrys to take her hand and help her mount his horse. As soon as she was seated, they started walking. Lucas took the liberty of walking right next to the prince, so he could explain why they needed to have an audience with the king. “The day our town was destroyed, a lone knight died on the road just outside of town. I was with him when he passed, and he handed me this,” he said, taking the pendant out of his pocket and showing it to the prince. He snatched it from Lucas’ hands, and stared at it in shock. “My brother’s medallion,” he said, slowly stroking his thumb over the royal seal.
“He...he asked me to return it to his father,” Lucas slowly continued. Prince Emrys composed himself. “Father gave Enoch this medallion on the morning he left for his quest to slay Thanatos. It is tradition for the next of kin to give the knights a piece of jewelry with which they can be identified in case they are unfortunate enough to meet their end on a quest or in battle. He must’ve known he couldn’t be saved when he gave you this.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Rosemary said, “I’ve lost both my parents, but I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to lose a brother.”
“Thank you miss,” Prince Emrys said, “I’m sorry, I never heard your names. Can’t get you an audience with the king if I don’t know them.”
“Fair,” Lucas said, “so, I’m Lucas and that’s Rosemary. We’re from the town called Rustborough, or should I say Ashborough?”
“Too soon, Lucas,” Rosemary said. Prince Emrys didn’t hear her as he was still trying to figure out Lucas’ pun. “Ash...because it’s all in ashes now?” he asked. Lucas nodded. “Oh that’d be a good one had the circumstances been different,” Prince Emrys said, “are those your given names? I can’t allow you near the king if I don’t know your full names. For safety reasons.”
“Miller,” Rosemary said, “I fear Lucas has no birthname, as nobody knows who his father is.”
“Thanks for rubbing that in,” Lucas grumbles, before turning to the prince, “as Captain of the Palace Guard, can’t you make an exception for me? Look at me. I don’t pose any threat. I just want to keep to a promise I sorta made. I only need to give the king your brother’s medallion...if you will let me that is.”
Prince Emrys nodded, handing the pendant back to Lucas. “My brother would’ve admired your need to keep to a promise,” he said, “you must have a strong will.”
“A strong will to just get this over with,” Lucas thought to himself.