“The king?” I heard Rhylan’s voice about thirty feet in front of me, talking to one of the soldiers.
“In the throne room, general.” The man answered quickly and shifted in position, adopting a salute towards Rhylan.General, he had said. I stepped closer to be able to hear what they were discussing but suddenly, Rhylan started whispering and the soldier replied in the same tone. The only thing I heard was that the cell had been cleared, something about an underground something and a crypto being no more.
“Of course he did,” Rhylan huffed and I reached his position close enough to be able to read the anger on his face. May all the gods save whoever had to be on the receiving end.
“Come, Anwen,” he addressed me for the first time after shoving me into the wall and made a gesture as if calling his dog, which I did not appreciate and I added it to the list of things I needed to hate Rhylan for.
He walked me through a few more tunnels until the passageways changed to mimic the inside of a palace, with dark marble columns and adorned carpets to mark the way ahead. Even the light source had changed from sporadic torches to huge candelabras that hung from the dark ceiling in precise positioning and made the corridor look very similar to a red carpet event, classy and cold.
“I apologise for not showing you to your rooms and giving you the option to change before meeting the royal family, but we are a bit pressed with time,” Rhylan spoke without looking back, as per the new personality he had adopted since stepping inside this place. I did not know or understood why the abrupt shift, but I assumed some of it related to that word the soldier used to address him. General. I did not know much about military rankings, but Ansgar had told me about his brother’s titles and ‘general’ sounded as high as the commander roles Vikram and Damaris held.
“It’s alright,” I responded quickly. The last thing I needed was for someone to undress me and wrap me in fabric like they’d done in the Earth Kingdom and I was definitely not ready to part with the dagger that probably left a mark by now on the side of my breasts.
“I’ll meet the king first,” I said and tried to put a bit more excitement into my voice, though I wasn't sure if he could see through it.
“Remember what I said,” Rhylan responded as he stopped in front of a huge set of adamant doors with four soldiers on each side of them. The throne room.
I nodded eagerly and took a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever I had to say or do to be allowed to see my prince.
“King Drahden,” Rhylan’s voice resounded through the walls and into the big throne room that opened for us. With this, he stepped forth and hurried to his king, whereas I remained step back, amazed by the grandeur of the hall. They called it a throne room but it looked like one of those huge ballrooms where Victorian families used to gather for dances at the Queen’s palace.
It looked enormous and stunning, adorned with golden motives and black chandeliers that followed us, grand pillars at the sides sustaining a tall painted ceiling and lots of benches and tables, protected by the archway of the pillars where other faeries gathered.
They looked very different from the soldiers but wore the same ashen skin. The court members adorned their ears and hair, making the grey a canvas for the beauty of all the other elements. The females wore tall hairdos and pompous dresses while the males wore velvet tunics of varying dark colours and black boots, displaying shiny weapons like daggers or swords.
As soon as the general’s voice pierced through the crowd, they remained paralysed. Eyes shifted towards Rhylan and the entryway, where I slowly trailed along after him. He stepped with determination, a glorious soldier returning home victorious, chin raised and shoulders back, elongating his tall posture even more, if such a thing was possible.
The respect Fear Gorta commanded in their eyes evident. The way all the faeries turned towards him and followed his movements like drying plants following a cloud of rain, with the hope that salvation might have just walked through the door.
I, on the other hand, looked small and insignificant beside him, a human who had no purpose stepping inside their kingdom and judging by their frowning and distaste towards me, the only reason I remained inside the room was because of my closeness to Rhylan and the fact that we had clearly arrived together.
“Rhylan,” the king responded and stood from his throne on the dais to welcome the general inside a hug. With a smile. A genuine smile. He must have been the first person I saw in my life that looked truly happy to see Rhylan appear out of nowhere.
I remained back, not daring to step on the crimson carpet leading to the king’s dark sculpted throne or even set foot on the stairs that lead closer to where the two faeries remained in an embrace, whispering greetings and words of encouragement to one another.
I took the time to scan my surroundings and try to get acquainted with the arrangements of the throne, the new kind of faeries and their garments, and the fact that everything here looked to be displaying dark shades of barely visible colours. Next to the king’s imposing throne that could probably seat three people and had such a tall backrest that easily reached ten feet in height, I spotted another throne, a smaller one, if it could be named so, with the same sculpted adornments and a fewpillows to make the stay more comfortable. It led me to think the king had another companion on that dais, overlooking his people.
My heart jumped out of my chest, hoping that Ansgar had been sitting there, that they arranged a throne befitting a prince and that he could walk in any second and take his usual seat, without expecting me to jump into his arms.
“What is a human doing here?” I heard the king’s voice and the mention of the wordhumanbrought me back from my wishful thinking since it could clearly only refer to me.
I shifted to the king and saw the older man penetrate me with a questioning gaze. He looked very different from Ansgar’s father. Where King Farryn had an imposing stance and a wide core, making him look like he would everlast the toughest winds, just like the strong roots of a tree, this king barely stood, his grey hair shining through overly adorned garments, meant to distract the eyes of the beholder from old age towards the display of power.
“This is Anwen Odstar, the human we discussed,” Rhylan dismissed it and tried to shift the king’s attention from me by placing a hand on his shoulder and making a move to shift him towards the throne. But the king remained in place, his eyes persisting on me.
“She displays sentiments of passion.”
Before Rhylan could dismiss me again, I took the chance to speak.
“I am here to see Prince Ansgar,” I said. “I am his mate.” Not sure if that made it a good or a bad thing, since Vikram and the royal family warned me of possible repercussions but I wanted to be truthful and hoped he understood our connection and how much I wanted to see my prince.
Apparently not, because as soon as I spoke the words, Rhylan’s face turned white. White as snow, all colour abandoning his features as he remained immobilised, his jaw moving slowly, barely perceptible, up and down, as though he was trying to speak yet no words could be released from his mouth.
“Are you now?” If Rhylan’s face showed terror, the king looked like I just brought in a ten-tier red velvet cake.
“My king, the human is confused from the travel,” Rhylan finally spoke and moved from his position onto the dais, sliding downwards, slowly stepping towards me, to cover me from the king’s field of vision. I sensed his desperation, his dire need to take me away and keep me hidden. But I could not understand why. That was the sole reason for my visit, our deal, everything he had promised.
“Allow me to discover that for myself,” the king spoke and with a single eye gesture, shifted Rhylan out of the way, displaying me fully to him.
