Reunion

With the queen having made her speech and inflamed a sense of patriotic fervour within the hearts of the adventurers in the great hall, she had left with her brother and the doors sealed behind them. Everyone in the grand chamber remained silent for a moment, hardly able to believe that they had just seen the queen, let alone that she had addressed them in her speech. The silence rested over the crowd for a moment before it shattered, and the audience erupted into a flurry of chatter and excitement.

I look back at Korin and the others, realising that I’m still a step away from them from when I had started moving. Korin wears an expression as though he had seen something that had mildly impressed him. As though he had seen a particularly big bridge, or an impressive garden, or apparently, in this case, the queen of the kingdom.

“Ay, she’s a looker that one ain’t she” he says at last with a satisfied smirk

Sara looks down at him, shocked that he would say such a thing, “She’s the queen of the entire kingdom, from the border of the dwarven mountains to the Azure Sea. You can’t just say something like that”

Korin nods his head, considering the words he had just heard “Ay, she’s all that. And still, a right looker”

Sara gives him an exasperated expression whilst Rayall chuckles to himself. I give the group a smile as I watch Korin face Sara’s wrath, “Hey, there are some people from my village over there. I think I need to say hello to them” I say at last before Sara can go on a tirade about the respect that the queen is owed

Korin goes silent as I say that and gives me a solemn expression, “Ya need any help?” he asks seriously, remembering what I had told him about the events that forced me from my home.

I return his concern with a warm smile, “I think I’ll be okay” I say after a pause, “I mean we’re surrounded by the royal guards; I don’t think I’m in much danger” I add with a chuckle, trying to lighten the tension that my words had summoned.

Korin nods his stubby head “Right, I’ll be keeping an eye on ya though. Don’t want to be losing ya twice in one day” he responds, giving his consent for me to go by myself

Sara and Rayall both give me concerned looks but I share a smile with them before turning my back and making my way towards the group from Blue-Rock. Despite the clamour of sounds filling the great hall, it still sounds as though my footsteps are echoing on the mosaic pattern that makes up the floor. With the number of adventurers that had filled the chamber, I find myself having to push through crowds to move, receiving some annoyed expression and the occasional shove from those that I press against. I see spirits roaming the air above as they enjoy their newfound bonds, free to explore the physical plane; others dance across the ground taking up space and forcing everyone to move closer together as their animal forms stroke against the legs of adventurers.

I force my way through the crowd that engulfs Zarin, my eyes focused on the bright red hair atop Elsie’s head. My heart races as I move closer to her, feeling so happy to see her once more, to be so close to her touch. “Elsie” I call out by my words are drowned in the sea of voices around e, “Elsie!” I try again to no better result.

I continue moving closer to her, seeing Clen and Kira just beyond her, the white cloak of Zarin to her side. “Elsie!” I try again as my body gets shoved to the side by sycophants vying for the favour of Zarin. She turns around this time, goddesses, her face is beautiful, I think to myself, having gone so long without seeing it. My eyes trace every detail of her face, her rosy cheeks, her lips glistening in the light, her eyes, bright green, and the most entrancing view after Lilith’s golden haloes. I watch as her eyes light up upon seeing me and feel my heart leap. They somehow seem brighter than ever, as though everything else about her has grown darker since I saw her last.

“Au-“ she starts to say but cuts herself off, the light in her eyes dimming as she tries to avert her gaze from me. A fox spirit crawls across her shoulder, the red fur of the creature camouflaging against the hair of the girl. My gut wrenches as she tries to avoid my gaze, her usual energetic personality replaced by something strange and unrecognisable.

I move closer to her, wanting to know what’s wrong, she had never before stopped herself from saying my name. Every time we had met, she would practically scream my name and wrap me in her arms, and now… now she can’t even look at me. Within arm’s reach, I stretch out a hand to take her arm, to lift her eyes to mine, to comfort her.

Before I can lay my touch on her, Zarin turns his gaze upon me. His cloak flourishing in the air as he moves, the lion at his side baring his jaws as his paws pad against the floor. The darkhaired man raises his head to sneer at me before his eyes rest on me and flash in recognition. He raises a gloved hand and brings it crashing down with tremendous force against my face. The blow takes me by surprise and knocks me to the ground, a thin trickle of blood dripping from my lip.

As my body crashes to the floor, I rub my hand against my mouth, wiping away the blood as I lift my head up. I see Elsie standing timidly by Zarin’s side as she looks down at me, a pained expression on her face as she sees the red liquid on my palms. Zarin’s eyes meanwhile flare with anger and rage as he sees me, my face reminding him of the pain and humiliation he felt by the stones in Blue-Rock.

I stumble back to my feet, gesturing for Korin to stay where he is as my eyes catch sight of the dwarf moving towards me. “Elsie…” I say again, looking solely at her as her eyes turn down to the ground

“Silence!” Zarin roars at my face. Everyone in the crowd turns mute, their gaze shifting to Zarin and myself, the lordling sees the attention he has commanded and smirks at me before talking again, the rage vanishing from his face this time

“This… this… creature assaulted me in my hometown. As I was enjoying a fine day with some new friends of mine” he says gesturing towards Clen and Kira who look pleased to be receiving his attention, “as we were out, HE come upon us like the dog he is. My friends here were forced to flee, worried for their lives I am sure, I don’t hold it against them. I had to take the brunt of his brutality, my arm disfigured, my face beaten, I was on the brink of death. If it weren’t for the fair healers of the town, I am sure I would have died” he declares to the enraptured crowd as his finger stabs at me. “I say this to warn all of you fine people, I would not want anyone to be caught alone and unprepared with a savage like him. You should take care to avoid him where you can, I can’t imagine the reasons the goddesses have for giving him a spirit, surely a mistake was made” he concludes his speech

I feel everyone shifting their eyes from Zarin to me, the brutal savage who had mauled their new hero. I open my mouth to defend myself but feeling the hate and anger directed to me I close my jaw once more without speaking, knowing I have no words that can shift their thoughts.

“Maybe…” Zarin mutters as he takes a step towards me, his hand slowly crawls towards the hilt of his blade, “Maybe we should end him here. Stop him now before he can hurt anyone else” he muses so that only those around him can hear

A few eager calls ring out in support of my death, I see Elsie’s eyes flash in fear for a moment before she looks away again. For a moment I think I see a tear welling in her eye. Zarin’s hand tightens around the hilt of his blade, and he slips it slightly from his sheath so that an inch of silver metal gleams in the light of the room.

As the metal bares itself to the room, a large clang echoes around the chamber as dozens of royal guards step forward simultaneously and unsheathe their weapons. They fix their stares on Zarin and his hand as though daring him to give them an excuse to use their training. The room that moments before was brimming with the excitement of new adventurers, now adopts a tension so tight that the blades filling the room could cut the atmosphere.

Zarin tilts his head from side to side, looking at the guards thoughtfully as though considering if it would be worth it. At last, he lets the metal fall back into the sheath, brushing his hands against each other, cleansing them of the dirt of the weapon. He chuckles loudly, looking around the crowd as the guards return to their previous positions with the threat removed. “Of course, of course. My apologies my goodmen” he says, directing his words to the guards. “We’re not all savages here, there must be etiquette. I am sure he will face justice soon enough” he adds, now addressing the crowd

“Until then… well, training accidents do happen” he says quietly with a smirk. He shakes his head at me before looking back and seeing Elsie, “Come now, this room seems slightly crowded” he takes her hand, forcing her to flinch slightly but she makes no move to avoid him.

“Elsie, can we talk” I say pleadingly as I reach my hand out towards her, desperate for this awful encounter to end and to return to how things used to be. My mind returns to that last moment of normalcy in Blue-Rock, the morning I had gone hunting with Lord Beckront, when Elsie, Henry, and I just talked and enjoyed each other’s company outside of the bakery.

Zarin’s eyes flash as I say her name, his grip holding her close to him, he turns his vision back to me. “You will stay away from my property, move your hand before I take it” he commands

_Property?! _I think to myself before a horrifying realisation dawns on me, The slave contract… Did she… No. I feel like hurling the few contents of my stomach across the beautiful mosaic on the floor, how could she? My mother told her what it meant, what she would be, and now….

It all feels too much, I want to curl into a corner and cry for weeks, but I just stand there, staring at Elsie and praying to the goddesses, to whatever source the dark spirit comes from, to anyone who would listen that it isn’t true. My eyes follow them as Zarin and his sycophants begin to file out of the room.

Korin makes his way over to me, unable to reach my shoulder he pats my knee, “Ay lad, ay” he sees solemnly, I barely register the sound as I watch the red hair disappear from my sight. That wasn’t Elsie, I tell myself, whatever it was, it had her face, her eyes, but it wasn’t her. It couldn’t be.

As the last of the group makes her way to the door, she looks back and I realise it’s Kira. Her eyes meet mine for a moment and I see a pitiful look on her face, she looks as though she wants to say something. She sighs and looks away, stepping through the doorway.