The King's horse leads the large procession across the broad path, a short step behind followed The Queen's, and Lawrence rode on her trail.
"Our guests are quite delightful," she remarks, "won't you agree, Lydia?"
All that came into mind to the thought of gossips and pry was delightful indeed. Fortunately, I did not get any time to form a proper answer. "Duke Tevon seemed rather entranced." She blinks at me.
"Oh, yes, Mother. I imagine it might have been the way he fixed his gaze on me while picking on his nose."
While my gaze was on the horizon, I noted how she stiffened on her horse by the unsettling thought. "Well, how about Prince Giles? He is a handsome young man, well-mannered," she persists, as if a hawker trying to sell her fish, "quite the charm itself."
"Oh, how could I forget. The Prince who stuffed his pocket with yesterday's roast lamb."
"Now you are merely contriving." She tears a smile from my lips and before she could go on with her endless list of eligible nobles, I steer the mare forward on the trail, acting as if Leanne did it on her own.
"While one might think otherwise, she wishes for nothing else but your happiness and stability." I ride by my Father's side, an understanding smile hangs on his lips.
"I am well aware, but I refuse to condone with her nonsense all the same." My words come in force.
The terrain slopped beneath the hooves, trees surrounded the procession but, at certain point, an aperture cleaves through the green wall. The viridescent fields extended through miles of soil beyond the dissipating fog of the early morning. A river glided soothingly across the vale, glistening and quiet, beheld by an eagle posed majestically on the peak of a gritstone.
When my gaze drifts forwards, the fore of the procession followed way ahead on the path. "Looks like we got ourselves lost again." The mare answers with a contented neigh as I spur her to continue the walk along with the others.
"Your Highness."
From the chestnut horse, long hair fluttered in the wind like a whip caught in an elegant headdress. The diamond pendant fell between her eyes, cyan circled them with glimpses of magenta.
"Princess," I return. "How are you enjoying Aurelia?"
A cloth fell from her shoulders, tracing the lines of the silver dress that clutched her slim silhouette like a corset.
"Not a complete dreadful place, I believe." Held high, her chin remains on the trail. "Even though, it can not go without mention. The conveyance you chose is rather primeval, to say the least. Nallum does not raise horses ever since the First War."
"Well, I think-"
"They are slow, get tired in the blink of an eye, and requisite to be fed. I oath to never understand the point of you, eight realms, in riding one when other way more acute prototypes have been developed so far."
Leanne snorts.
"I believe Nallum is quite a developed realm indeed. By bad fortune, it seems, not all of us share the same cleverness of the Nallumees citizens."
"Hm, ride safely, Princess. Or, at best, try to." She rides away.
My hand falls on the mare to stroke her mane, suppressing another snort of annoyance.
"Do not bother yourself. They ride bots in their kingdom, most likely." Leanne utters a neigh, most resembling a laugh.
Soon, another horse rode on my side. This time a boy mounted in copper leather.
"Your Royal Highness, what a honor to be in such lustrous presence."
"Well, thank you..."
"Duncan," he appraises, "Baron of Larmad." I nod in acquaintance. "I observed the vegetation of your land and I must admit, you hold quite the most beautiful svitania I have ever behold."
"I beg your pardon, what do I hold now?" I look blankly at him.
"Svitania." He glares at me as if I had committed the direst crime. "You tell me you are not familiarized with the term?"
"I'm afraid not..." I respond unsure.
"Oh, come along, my sweet Princess, and permit me to elucidate you into this undeniable undervalued plant. You see, their story starts when the first man..."
"And here I was," I whisper to Leanne, "thinking all the Larmaders cared about was artillery and brutality."
"... and that's how the first svitania was a symbol of evolution to the world."
It couldn't have been too long since he first start speaking, but it felt as if I was being given a lecture in herbage for endless hours.
"Your knowledge regarding plants is rather... refreshing, but-"
I sweep aside the green curtain of leaves that fell from the tree bending over our heads and the glade it concealed behind left the both of us speechless. Oak wood tables mantled the evergreen ground while limpid sun rays pierced through the green arms of wood rising high above. With a hop, my feet reach the ground and I secure Leannne into a tree.
The perfume of a thousand blossoming flowers of Spring soon drew my attention toward a light violet dress fluttering in the wind as a girl steps closer. Long brown strands fell over her shoulders, framing delicate amber eyes aimed at me.
"Cousin!"
My arms swing open in one swift movement and pull her into a tight embrace. "How I have missed you, Alanna!"
I loose my hold on her, the softness of her fingers tickling my forearms until they seize my hands. "And how I've missed you." She pulls me in for another hug and sends a pleasant chuckle running through the wind.
"How are you? How is Garte? Tell me everything, I demand!"
"It's all as you remember, and awaiting restless for your return. Last time Garte set its eyes upon that absurdly pretty face of yours, you were a restless child, pointing sticks at the Captain of the Guard and threatening him with a good fight." I laugh.
"And he was afraid to lose, I could see it in his eyes. Why do you think he never came to accept a fight?"
"I always thought so as well. Regardless, I do not seem to remember Mothers throwing every single noble man into your arms by then."
"Good times, indeed. But if this is all it takes to get you to visit Aurelia, then I shall endure it with delight."
"Oh! How hard it must be," the back of her hand falls upon her forehead, tearing a dramatic gasp from her lips, "having every handsome man begging for a moment of your attention!"
She makes me chuckle. "I could endure just fine without it. But do tell me about Cade." I survey the clearing in hopes to catch sight of the fidgety boy of umber hair. "Where is your brother?"
"I saw him unmercifully chasing a butterfly not long ago. You should see the house he built for his regiment of bugs in the palace. He lets them free right after, of course. He says the palace is no place for the free."
"Well, perhaps he truly is the smartest of us all."
"I beg of you, do not share those thoughts with him. Fame would get to his head before the blink of an eye."
"You may rest assure, I know him as well as the palm of my hand."
The bells signal the beginning of the feast as the people gather at the tables.
"Before I forget, I brought you a little something." She presents me with a globe.
My eyes scrutinize the object. Inside the shimmering glass, cascades descended through tiers of a garden surrounded by imposing trees that led to nothing else but the Tree of Life - the heart of Garte - an elaborated crown mantling the head of the thick piece of wood in glimpses of gold.
"To remind you that you shall always have a place in Garte. I made it myself," she appraises proudly.
My eyes gleamed. "It is beautiful! I shall cherish it as for ever!"
We follow separate ways toward the designated tables. While not far, the Aurelian table was set to face its guests of honor.
"Your Highness." A man rises from the sit beside my Mother and bows his head.
"Your Grace." I smile at the pleasing man in his early thirties. Although not seeing Duke Percival a fair amount, he earned my respect by becoming quite the fair advisor Aurelia deserved and a trusted member of the court. Perhaps one of the few nobles, I dare to say, that I admired even.
I procede to my chair, resting between my Father and Lawrence.
"Was the ride enjoyable?" My gaze follows the knight who kept his look straight forward.
"Indeed." Was all he uttered before the first course was being served.
As conversation flowed, the feast unfolded and the clink of steel against the goblet quickly resounded through the glade. The King rises from his seat and addresses to the crowd.
"After such delightful feast, the rest of the day is yours to enjoy until the gloomy hours of the night. A refreshing lake is located at East from the glade, belvederes line along the edge of the Hills for a unique sight of Aurelia, clearings remain around us as to peer the animals that prevail in the land and leisure and entertainment await you for the following hours, food and drinks shall be provided for the remaining of the day until we ride back to the warmness of the palace."
His words are met with gleeful applauses. Some for the adventures that awaited them thorough the day but the most of them, I believe, for the drinks that were so kindly promised to them.
"If I may, I shall find myself in the lake," I address to my Mother who nods in agreement.
Soon, the merry conversations entwined with mirth sounded afar as I advanced further the woods. The weed extended through the immensity of the Hills, and although the last time I came here, I was yet a little girl, I treaded between trees like they pointed out a path.
That is short before a clonk resounds from the depths of the woods not far from where I stand. As if fearing for their lives, birds flap their wings with urgency and fly in a flock away from the trees where they rested peacefully a moment before.
I remain quiet, listening, until the woods became submersed in silence. Step after step, I shift my pace after the clonk. The wind on the Hills has become enough fierce to ruffle the branches and take down the weakest of the leaves. Further ahead there was something unnaturally dark amidst of the trees. Sprawled on the ground, laid the body of a young man cradled in a black vest. As dark as the clothes, his hair concealed a face buried on the dirt.
My heart raced on my chest at each step I took in the direction of the motionless body. I bend down on one knee and look up from the penumbra of the tree. A broken branch laid ahead on the ground like it had fell from above.
I fall on my back, my elbows suddenly supporting my weight as I echo a shrill scream when his head rolls toward me.
I blow out a sigh of great relief when his scream fades in the air. "You're alive!" I exclaim to myself.
"A fair price we must pay for not being dead, I suppose."
"For a moment, I thought-" I shake my thoughts away and help myself on my feet. "Are you alright there?"
"Yes. Perfect. Wonderful. Taking a nap after the feast," he mumbles against the dirt.
If I wasn't to be so worried, I might have laughed. "Did you fall from the tree?"
"I'm not saying I did, I'm also not saying I did not." He finally lifts his head and, supporting his weight on his hands and knees, he rises to his full height. "I am Vinson." He wipes the dirt on his clothes. "I mean," he clears his throat and adopts a regal posture as if he was about to make an important proclamation, "I am Earl Vinson of Obsidian." He loses his posture in a second. "My apologies..."
"Lydia," I introduce myself.
"Lydia." He smiles, until he doesn't anymore. "As in that Lydia?" He gaps. "As in Princess Lydia? As in the host Princess of Aurelia?"
I let out a chuckle and nod my head.
"Oh!" He falls into a deep bow.
His right leg begins to tremble and he loses his balance. If it was not for my quick reaction, he would have fallen face first on the ground. "Careful there." His arm wraps around my shoulder as I lead him toward a moss coated rock nearby.
"Are you certain you have nothing broken?"
"Absolutely." He waves the thought away. "I am as new, already!"
As soon as his toe touches the ground, the boy winces in pain. "Well, I will in five minutes," he says regretful as I nod my head.
"Tell me what happened. It is the least you can do after almost scaring me to death."
"Oh! Great," he cries out, "I almost assassinated the Princess! My Father will be thrilled to hear the news."
"Hush now. I promise not to tell a soul if you promise you'll be more careful next time."
"I swear! By the fury of the Seven Dragons!" He looks down abashed but laughing off his not so bright idea. "I read that I could find a golden bird here, in Aurelia. As a possessor of so many rarities captured in my photographic machine, I thought I would have better luck if I peered from the length of a tree but I suppose that I have supported my weight on a rotten branch and ended up falling before I even got the chance to look at the skies."
"Do not trouble yourself. Aurelia is full of extraordinary creatures. I am certain you will find one throughout the week."
"Have you ever found one?" His voice comes out hopeful and I had to deliberate either to tell him the truth or offer him a false sense of hope.
"Well... not exactly." I watch as the gleam in his eyes dissipates. "But I have never looked for one before, either. So what if I join you?"
"Would you do that?"
"Why wouldn't I? I will certainly need a distraction from the stir through the palace for the days to follow. Also, you seem a nice company to keep around."
"I must warn you that I'm not. My own friends do not enjoy much of my company and they are both cats."
I let out a laugh. "It is their loss, then."
He beams. "Where must we begin? Perhaps the trees here are not so simple to climb but-"
"I agree to be your companion in bird investigation but only after you are fully recovered." I look at his forearm. "That is a nasty bruise you got there. I must take you to the glade. Luckily it does not seem to be anything too serious."
"No, you are right. I could never enjoy such glorious moment being like this."
I smile at him but my thoughts gain voice. "The Dragon thing, is it a real thing?"
He did not have time to answer before a voice sounds from the depths of the woods.
"And then we were back at the palace. I thought it was quite the-" The voice is interrupted by the neigh of a horse.
Strands of hair glowed in the wind like a sunrise, belonging to a regal figure dressed in light brown breeches tucked under the leathered black boots. His legs dangled from each side of the white horse as he pulled it to a halt.
"Princess!"
The color of his eyes seemed far more greenish than the woods around us as they studied me from the top of his horse.
"Who were you speaking to just now?" I question the Prince of Mellwand to the sight of no one else.
"Oh, that would be Brutus." He signals to the horse he mounts. "While it might be believed for many that it is no sign of a sane man, I must assure you they do understand us. They are smart, smarter than people even. And better listeners, I must conclude."
I watch him pet the snow skin of the horse with gentle hands. "Perhaps I did misjudge you..." I let out.
"You did?" His voice came out in surprise, not as if he was mad but truly confound.
"I meant I did not imagine you being so caring with animals!" The words almost stumble on each other.
A smile beams on his handsome face and, as if infectious, I return him a smile. My attention is suddenly pulled toward the clear of a throat. Vinson looked us from the rock he sat on and gave a timid smile.
"While I would hate to interrupt... whatever is happening, I am afraid I must remind you that I'm still here."
I glare at him as the Prince unexpectedly coughs. "What happened to him?"
"Oh, he..." I think of something. "He got hurt fighting against a lion."
"I did?" His face lightens in realization. "I did! The poor thing got lucky it got to run with the tail between its legs before I punched it in the face." A frigid smiles shows on his lips. "Too much?" He asks between his teeth.
"Keep smiling." I answer him in the same way.
"I thought there were no lions in this part of the land." He smiles. "Well, hop along. I shall protect you from whatever lurks in the penumbra of these malefic trees until we reach the glade."
Vinson nods in appreciation as he reaches the saddle with his good leg with the help of the Prince.
"Brutus is strong enough for the three of us if you wish to return in our company, Princess."
"No need. I shall stay a bit longer."
"Then I shall see you afterwords, Your Highness." He nods before the horse ceases to be visible from behind the trees, leaving his track behind.
ns 15.158.61.21da2
