Barely, a lot had changed

"Callum, did you say Terry invited you, right?"
"Yes, I did. More than once, in fact. He was really eager to see us from the letter he wrote me back when I told him we were finally accepting his invite. To tell you the truth, he has been nagging me about the two of us coming to visit Emeraldglen since, uh, I don't know... forever? He even wanted me to send him a picture of you and me together, all dressed up for the ceremony."

"And you did?"
"No, I started drawing it, but it's still unfinished. I have it in my bag though. Maybe I could give him in person if I manage to finish it while we are here."
"Hmm..."
"What? If you want to say something, say it."
"We should have brought a real present."
"You think so? Hey, when did you change into a considerate wife? You were cool once, Rayla."
Rayla shrugged and spurred her horse along the dirt road.

Callum caught up to her.
"You know what? Maybe you're right. But I can tell you for sure that he would definitely appreciate the drawing. I've sent him a few others, over the course of the years, and he has always showered me with compliments in his replies."
"Other drawings?"
"Yes, most of them were just about you or Katolis, though. I'm not that good at doing self-portraits."
"Wait, you sent him pictures of me? Why?" Rayla stopped the horse.

Callum stopped too and turned back. He had recognized that tone, he had done something wrong. "Why, I mean, you know I draw you all the time, Honey... Come on, are you mad at me?"
Rayla crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't look him into his eyes. A light blush was spreading over her cheeks. "It's just... I've seen the pictures you draw of me... That's not something you should show around."
"Ah?! No, no, don't worry. The pictures I've sent him were all perfectly... I mean, you were decent in each one of them," stammered Callum.

His wife didn't reply, she just kept petting her horse's mane.
"Come on, Rayla, who do you think I am? Terry was just a kid the first time he asked me for a picture of you. Think I would have shocked him with nudes of my girlfriend?"
She darted her eyes at him, then spurred her horse once again.
"Nudes? Just nudes, uh? Weren't they art?"
Callum smirked.
"You are the only true piece of art in them, Honey."
"Save the smooth talk for tonight, Callum, you're really gonna need it if you want to get some as long as we will be staying here."

Slowly, the landscape around them had changed. There were houses among the trees, and lots of beautiful flowers of many different colors decorated them.
The road had become larger and smoother, and a few people could be seen working here and there, tending the flowers and the trees as if it were all one immense garden.
It was all very beautiful.
The Earthblood elves had managed to blend themselves perfectly in the surrounding jungle, nurturing and shaping it they had developed a symbiotic relationship with nature hardly ever reached by any other Elf population.
Callum was in awe, and Rayla too was impressed, even if she didn't want to admit it.

"Love, you've said Terry has become some kind of a big shot in his village, right?"
"Personal assistant of the Elder, why?"
"I don't know. I have noticed people are staring at us... I've got this feeling like we were not really expected. Or wanted."
"Aren't just being paranoid now?"
"What about that big guy over there?" Rayla pointed her finger.

"Where?" Callum looked squinting his eyes. "There, he's right in front of us, coming our way..."
"Oh, yes, there he is... Uh-oh, big fellow indeed."
"I'm talking about the one with that serious look on his face and that big hammer in his hands, do you see him?"
"Yes, yes, I think I'm looking at him right now. Are you implying something?"
"You know, Earthblood Elves are widely known to be welcoming with their friends, but also very diffident with strangers, and also very conservative and attached to their traditions. Remind me, what's their last known official political standing towards Humans?"

"Wha-? You're afraid now, Rayla?" Callum chuckled nervously, giving his wife a sideways glance.
"Well, you didn't let me bring any weapon. Remember?"
The Prince gulped.
Was it possible that Terry hadn't warned the village chief of their arrival, he wondered.
The guy was kind of an oddball, after all.

"Callum, Rayla?" inquired the menacingly looking Elf as he approached.
"Y-Yes... I am Callum of Katolis and she is Rayla of Silvergrove, my wife. Who's asking?"
There was a moment of pause.
"It's me, Terry!" cried suddenly the Elf tossing the hammer away and opening his arms in a welcoming gesture.

The couple exchanged a quizzical look but was interrupted in their wordless communication by the burly newcomer who with unsuspected deftness snatched them both, one after another, down from their mounts, squeezing them in a long, uncomfortable hug for several seconds each.
"So, how have you been? How was the journey, the... honeyshadowmoon, was it?"
"H-Hey, Terryyy... It has been great so far," croaked Callum with his voice going up of a couple of octaves.

The three of them looked at each other in silence for a little while.
Callum and Rayla's surprise was easily explained. They remembered Terry as a chubby, round-faced kid, with small inquisitive eyes and a tuft of unruly hair on the top of his head.
Among all the Elven Races of Xadia, Earthblood Elves, and the males in particular, were known to be least graceful of all, being often stocky and pot-bellied. Terry made no exception, being rather short and fat, back in the day.

Six years had changed his body an awful lot. He now surpassed them both in height, and while his figure had stayed heavy and paunchy, he had put on quite a lot of muscles on top of that.
His face had retained that round, juvenile look though, with dark, lively eyes, seemingly too small to belong there, especially when he smiled. He had decided to grow a goatee that in his intention should have showed he was a grown man, but in fact, had the opposite effect.
He wore a sort knee-high skirt and a sleeveless, low-cut vest missing most of its buttons, which left his arms and chest mostly visible, and no shoes, as it was custom among his people.

From Terry's perspective, on the other hand, Rayla and Callum were exactly how he had imagined them to be and even more. His Human friend had grown a little in height, just enough to finally surpass his wife, but hadn't changed his looks very much. Despite his royal status, he wore simple green pants, and a long jacket of a darker hue with a simple, blue shirt under it, and a pair of plain dark boots.
Around his neck, there was a golden necklace with the emblem of Katolis, the only thing that gave away who he really was.

He bore the look on his face of one who had seen and done many exceptional things, though. He looked so worldly and mature. And he didn't even need to grow a goatee to look like that!
Terry knew all about his progress and failures with magic through their regular correspondence, yet there was so much more he wanted to ask him.
It was incredible to have him here, he was the one and only true Human Mage.

Rayla was ravishing. He had received several drawings of her, but despite Callum's ability, they didn't do her justice.
In a similar way to her husband, she too had stayed much the same at first glance. She wore a long blue travel overcoat with the hood pulled back, held around her neck by a silver brooch. Underneath, a teal pair of pants and a shirt that left her arms naked, nothing fancy and neither very feminine, yet it all fit her snugly like it was her in her style. Long, knee-high leather boots completed her outfit.
Her white hair had grown long, she kept it tied into a braid that fell down over her breast down. A sliver clip matching the cape's brooch was at the end of it.

Terry couldn't tell exactly why, but she looked changed. He remembered her fighting, the fire burning in her eyes, back in the day. Now she looked much more relaxed, pacified almost, as she held arms with Callum. And her eyes too seemed gentler, like the fire had gone.
She wore just a touch of black around them. It sure made her look more mature and feminine, but good ol' Rayla would have never worn any makeup, that much he knew.
But those weren't the only changes.

Her body was that of a woman now, noticed Terry with delight, a gorgeous woman, a little rounder than what he remembered, yet still graceful and lithe as once, and he had no doubt, strong. She looked truly beautiful, like a flower in full bloom.
This was saying much for Terry since he considered her to be the most beautiful creature he had put his eyes on already, back in the day.
The odd straying thought that she would have been a perfect mother, passed briefly in the young Earthblood Elf man's mind as he admired her figure.

"Well, you two look great! I cannot believe you're finally here!"
"You look sure great too, Terry... What do they even give you to eat here?" Callum smacked the large Eearthblood Elf on the side of his arm playfully.
"Yeah, Terry, how did you get so... big? You barely reached my shoulder height as far as I remember."
"Heh, they say it was just a late growth spurt, you know. Besides, when I got back from our adventures, I really wanted to get strong like you, Rayla, so I started training like crazy."
Callum looked at his wife fiddle with her braid as she listened intently to Terry, nodding and smiling once in a while.

"For a while, once I got back, I tried with my everything to become fast and agile like you, but in the end, I had to recognize my body wasn't just made for combat. I'm too slow and clumsy to be a warrior."
"Well, but it looks like all your training has paid off anyway. You do look strong, Terry."
Rayla smiled, albeit her body language, with arms crossed over her chest, and weight on her back foot, suggested she was still on the defensive.
Callum was happy she was trying her best to be friendly with Terry despite what she had said.

"Nah, I'm just big. A big oaf, someone would say, hehe. Would you have come two years ago, when I eventually decided to stop training, then you would see me in my top shape. Now I've grown fat again."
Rayla awkwardly reached for his bicep and playfully squeezed it.
"I can still see plenty of muscles here," she tittered.
Terry's transformation was really impressive. She had trouble recognizing the same round-faced kid she once knew beneath this burly young Elf man. She felt a little intimidated by him but didn't want to show it.
Besides, Callum had asked her to be nice to their host.
She was so bad at hobnobbing.

"We'll have plenty of times to chat, but I guess you must be wary from your travel. Come, I've made some arrangements for you."
Terry picked up his hammer from the ground and placed it on his shoulder.
It looked heavy, but the way he carried it made it look like he was holding a toothpick.
"Don't mind the people staring. They are just like that with foreigners. They loosen up once they get to know you, believe me..." He turned a gave them a meaningful smile. "Also, now that I think of it, most of them have never seen a Human before."
He started walking as Callum and Rayla mounted back on their horses.
"Oh, did I tell you the Spring Festival is coming? Everyone gets a little antsy and looney around this time of the year. You'll see soon enough."