A terrible headache reached the young human and he touched his forehead.
"Are you all right?" the feminine voice made him aware he was not alone.
The golden eyes opened in a slow motion and his heart was struck by the sight of the elf queen and her glistering scarlet gaze, under the fire of some small lamps scattered around the room.
Sakuno looked at him with a smile, but he jumped from the bed.
"Where I am?!" soon, his head hurt again and he kneeled down, in pain. Only then, the young man realized he was completely naked. Pulling the sheets from the bed over his hips, there was a deep shade of red on his face.
"What are you doing?" the elf queen rushed to his side. She did not mind about his nakedness. "You almost die, you cannot do sudden movements. Please, return to bed."
"Who are you?!" a golden eye interrogated her between his black bangs.
"I am Sakuno. You are in Aubree, the capital of the elf country. You were bleeding at the forest. There was a bad injury on your head and you had a deep cut on your stomach." Offering her hand to him, she smiled kindly. "Please, I will not hurt you. Do not be afraid."
It took him a while to accept her words. He returned to bed and touched his stomach and head; looking for the injuries she had mention.
"There is nothing here."
"I healed you." sitting in front of him, she showed him the power from her hand, the warm golden glow coming from her fingers. "Your clothes were ruined, so I had to discard them, but there are new ones over there." She pointed to a small furniture. "The impact on your head was too strong. Do you remember your name?"
"Ryoma." The golden eyes finally looked straight at her.
"Where are you from? How did you get so hurt?"
"I…." putting his palm on his forehead, he felt extremely frustrated. "I can't remember. Everything is a blur."
"It is okay." She touched his hand. "You will probably feel better after a good night of sleep. You can stay as long as you want. I am glad you were able to wake up so quickly."
He felt a little ashamed at her words and averted his gaze.
"You must be hungry, right, Ryoma?"
"I am not hungry at all." His stomach betrayed him, growling loudly. The queen giggled at his face. Standing up, she picked up a small tray with some fruits her maids had left there previously, as he was still sleeping. There was also a portion of soup and some small bread. Sakuno sat on the bed, in front of him, offering the plate.
"Here. Be careful." He drank the rich liquid and felt incredible relieved and thankful. After finishing, he put the bowl down and looked shyly at her.
"Thank you very much."
"You are welcome." she observed him eating the bread. He was the third human she have ever had contact in all her life and the queen was a little curious. Even not knowing his age, she could see he was very young. He had soft facial features and a fit and lean body.
"So, you are an elf." He said, after finish eating and putting the tray on the floor.
"Yes. Well, half of it. My father was a human like you."
"I've never met an elf before, or half of one."
"Oh, there will be many of us tomorrow here. If you are feeling better, you can meet plenty of them."
"What is happening tomorrow?"
"I am going to get married." There was a lovely blush on her cheeks.
"You seem rather young to do such thing." His words made her giggle.
"Perhaps." Standing up, she fixed the covers over him. "I need to go now. Please, try to rest. I will come to see you first thing in the morning."
"Hm." Before she could leave, Ryoma touched her hand and she looked at him, surprised. "Thank you so much, Sakuno. For everthying. I am sorry for yelling before."
"Sleep well, Ryoma. I will be back tomorrow."
He took a deep breath as she left the room, pressing his hand on his head again, searching for any clues about what happened. He couldn't remember anything, no dates, no names, no faces. He felt like someone had stolen all his previous life. Touching his chest one more time, he could sense the beating of his anxious heart. Stricken by absolute tiredness, he soon fell asleep, wishing he could regain his memories soon.
When Sakuno closed the door of Ryoma's room, her 3 counselors were waiting anxiously on the hall. She had prohibited them to interrogate the human, since it would be too much to take in. Shuichirou was in front of her, worried.
"Are you all right? Did he do something to you?!"
"Not at all." She smiled, trying to put him at ease.
"Did he tell you what happened to him?"
"He does not remember, Syuusuke. His head is still hurting, so I told him he could stay until he feels better."
"A human man on the castle?" Kunimitsu was surprised. "But, My Queen, you are going to get married tomorrow. You should not worry with such things."
"What kind of queen would I be if I let him be alone and with no memories? There is plenty of room and food to spare; he is not going to be a hassle. Do you not agree with me?"
"I agree with you, Sakuno-sama." Syuusuke smiled. "It will be interesting having another human around. After all, Akio-sama will not stay long after the wedding. It would be a good chance for you to learn more about them."
"Are you against it, General?"
"I wish to speak with him, if it is all right with you. At least, to be sure he is not a threaten."
"Kunimitsu?" she smiled at him and he signed, defeated.
"I also wish to speak with the human. He must learn how to behave and address to you while he stays."
"Thank you."
"My Queen, you should go to bed now. It is going to be a long day tomorrow."
"Yes. Good night to you all. See you by the morning."
#######
Ryoma finished dressing himself with the clothes Sakuno gave him and looked at the mirror. It was a beautiful dark green vest with dark pants. As listening to her voice, he went to the room's balcony and looked down. He did not recognize the young woman. Sakuno's red hair was tight on bun and her scarlet eyes were dead serious as she attacked the tall man with small blades on her hands. She was wearing a short and tight attired, her long legs appearing completely. Her skin seemed almost translucent on the bright day light. The black haired elf just dodged her attacks, using a long blade sword.
The female elf tried to kick his face, but he grabbed her leg and town her back. She stopped with her bare feet buried deep on the grass and smiled at him, before attacking again. It was almost too fast for the human's eyes. At one point, Sakuno was able to make him retreat on some steps, but as she was aiming for his throat, Shuichirou waved his long sword to her heart.
At the moment, Ryoma jumped from the first floor, between them, only one golden eye appearing from the long bangs, holding a metal poker from the fireplace. Without saying anyting, the young human attacked the General, ruthless.
"Ryoma, stop!" Sakuno asked, with no response. It was like he was possessed. He continued to strike Shuichirou and his movements were fast, full of fury and precise.
"It is enough." Shuichirou punched his abdomen, making him finally stop.
Sakuno ran to their side, holding the human, which was coughing and trying to breathe again.
"Shuichirou-san, it was too much!" touching his face, she looked at him. "Ryoma, are you okay?!"
"Sakuno…" he tried to respond. "What… happened?"
"What were you trying to do?" Shuichirou grabbed his clothes and made him look at him.
"I…." he could not find words to respond.
"Sakuno-sama!" Syuusuke rushed to their side. "What happened?"
"Ryoma, stay still, I will make it better." Putting her hand over the bruise on his stomach, it started to glow and he could feel it healing.
"He attacked me." Shuichirou looked at the shorter elf.
"He probably tought you were trying to hurt Sakuno-sama."
"Are you good, Ryoma?"
"Yes. Thank you." standing up with her help, he looked at the elves, confused. "I really did not remember what happened. It was like my mind shutdown. I am very sorry."
"It is okay. Let's all go have breakfast and calm down."
As they were walking, Ryoma could hear all the whisperes coming from the other elves. When reaching the dinning room, another elf was there and he was surprised as seeing them. There were two other maids.
"Sakuno-sama, what…"
"Please, Ryoma, sit down. Eat something." Smiling at him, she pointed at the table by her side.
"Hm." He obeyed, noticing the unpleasant look the two elves had over him.
"You three, sit down as well." She smiled at her counselors.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Shuichirou asked, as the maids served breakfast to him.
"What do you mean?" Kunimitsu was confused.
"He attacked Shuichirou, but he does not seem to remember it."
"I truly don't. I am sorry." Putting a hand in front of his face, he was truly upset. "It is like my mind doesn't belong to me anymore."
"We cannot have such person on the castle. What if he tries to attack someone else? Or even you, Sakuno-sama?"
"Ryoma will not do such a thing." She replied, seriously to Shuichirou. "His thoughts are just confused."
"But to be able to make the General loose his composure and attack you directly, you must have very good skills." Syuusuke smiled. "We could use you around."
"Do not speak nonsense, Syuusuke." The green eyes were hard. "We know nothing about him."
"I am very sorry." The young human looked down, feeling extremely unwelcomed.
"General." Her tone of voice made them silent. "I felt Ryoma's heart. He does not have an ill nature. Do you not believe in me?"
"I am very sorry." He lowered his eyes. "I am just…"
"You are worried and I appreciate it. But, for now, let's just welcome him. We will have a wedding in a few hours; we cannot have such ceremony with bad feelings. Let's eat, shall we?"
"I need to settle some details. The representatives are going to arrive soon. If you excuse me." Kunimitsu made a polite reverence.
"You can go, Kunimitsu."
"I also need to check if the security is proper, Sakuno-sama."
"It seems it will only be the three of us, then." She smiled at Ryoma and Syuusuke.
After finishing breakfast, Sakuno asked Syuusuke to stay with Ryoma for a while, as she was getting ready for the ceremony. He took the human to take a stroll on the gardens, so they could have some privacy and not interrupt the servants work.
"She is a queen?!"
"Sakuno-sama is the queen of all elves." He was really surprised at his shock. "Didn't she tell you about it?"
"Not at all. I did find strange the way you talked to her, but I just assumed you elves are very polite." Syuusuke giggled at his words.
"You are really slow."
"So, you are a prince or something?"
"I am her counselor. I was good friends with her mother before, just like Kunimitsu. Shuichirou, too."
"They do not want me here."
"Kunimitsu's was born with a displeased face, do not worry. But, Shuichirou watches over Sakuno-sama since she was born. Being the General is also a heavy burden, so he has to think about everything concerning our queen and the country.
"Is she really getting married today?"
"Yes. To Akio-sama. He is going to be here soon. He won her hand on a tournament. He is the strongest king of the human country at this point."
"I see." He looked around the garden as they were talking. It was such a beautiful place, so many high trees and flowers. "We are in the capital of the elf country, right? Aubree."
"That is right. We are composed of 4 states. Aubree being the capital, also called the Red Country. Our official symbol is the poppy flower." He pointed to the crest embroidered on the right sleeve of his clothes. "There are large fields of them all around the land. We have also the Blue Country, Viorel, with hydrangeas; Alani, the Orange Country, filled with sunflowers and Ljubica, the Violet Country, which is self-explanatory."
"It seems a lot to deal with."
"It sure is." Standing in front of Ryoma, Syuusuke narrowed his blue eyes as investigating his. "Ryoma-kun, although Sakuno-sama said she saw no evil intentions on your heart, as her conselour, I have the duty of making you aware of your situation. You are an unknown human near our beloved queen. I truly hope you do not make her regreat her kidness and hospitaly towards you." His voice and expression were dangerous. "She is a very sweet and pure soul, but do not be fooled. Even the most beautiful roses have thorns. So, please, do not create any problems for her and the country. Otherwise, Sakuno-sama will take your heart out with her bare hands."
The summer wind blew around them, breaking the silent with the sound of the rustling leaves. Ryoma's black hair moved, but his golden eyes were unwavering as looking seriously to the blue ones.
"I may not know who I am right now, Syuusuke-san, but I will never do anything against Sakuno. You have my word."
"Good." His expression changed again to one of his usual smiles. "Come, I will show you where you can watch the ceremony. You must return to your room now, but you can come out at sunset."