"Princess Laeli?" asked the prince. I nodded slowly.
"Impossible," whispered the other elf, "We received news that you and your father were dead."
"Unfortunately, King Oenthe is dead. We barely escaped with our lives." Rayult said. He helped me out of the bushes and onto the path.
"What do you mean 'escaped'?" asked the human.
"The Western Republic attacked just after an assassin killed her father. The entire castle was destroyed, now we have nowhere to go." I gave Rayult a look that said, 'I really don't want to hear this.'
"That is quite the story," said the prince, "Would you like to travel with us? I would like to hear more of your tale, if you're willing. I know we're short some horses, but we can switch out between walking and riding."
"We would be honored," said Rayult.
"What is your name, brother elf?" inquired the prince.
"Rayult. I was a guard at Oenthe's castle. We had one other with us, but he was killed in our escape."
"That's unfortunate. I'm sorry about your loss, Princess Laeli," said the prince.
"Thank you," I said and tried unsuccessfully to smile.
"This is Callaris and Tristan," the prince gestured to the elf, then the human. "I'm Faeras. Callaris is a knight and my body guard. We traveled to Tristan's home in Linwick to escort him to my father's castle." Faeras dismounted as he spoke. "We were going to stop for the night later on, but I can see you two are exhausted. We'll go ahead and set up camp. You can ride my horse, Princess Laeli." I didn't refuse and allowed him to help me onto his steed. The prince led the horse while Rayult walked next me on the ground.
I couldn't believe the sudden turn of events. It seemed almost too good to be true. Apparently, Rayult thought so too, because he kept his hand near his sword hilt just in case this was a trap. I didn't feel threatened by the prince or his comrades, so I felt at ease in their presence. I could not trust Tristan simply because he was human. It was also unnerving that I would catch him staring at me from time to time.
We kept going for about ten minutes with little conversation until we stopped at a spot that was sheltered by trees and shrubs. I had to dismount to get under the low branches, and walked next to Rayult the rest of the way. Since we didn't have any horses, we sat down while the others tended to their weary steeds.
"You know we can't be together from here on out," I pointed out in a low voice so the others didn't have a prayer of hearing us. Rayult nodded. He turned to face me with a look of longing in his eyes. A single tear ran down my face as my heart ripped in half at the expression on his face. I wiped the tear away and stood up.
"I'm going to go get firewood," I said.
Faeras looked at me in horror, "That's not necessary. We'll send someone else to get it. Rayult? Do you mind?" He didn't argue and walked out of the campsite. I sat back down to wait.
I glanced up just as Tristan looked away. He had been staring at me again. I fixed a glare at him until he looked at me again. We locked gazes for a second, then he turned away. I didn't want to be mean, but I wanted to show him that I didn't trust him and he shouldn't mess with me. I didn't catch him looking at me for several more hours.
Rayult returned after a few minutes, arms laden with broken branches and small sticks. The others finished with the horses and sat down on the opposite side of the fire pit Callaris had dug. Faeras sat down right next to me and looked at the hard expression on my face.
After a few seconds, he said, "What has happened to you that such a deep sadness would be in your eyes? What happened to your father?" I looked at him for a moment, then looked away from his intense, electric blue eyes.
"I don't want to talk about it. Ask Rayult. He'll tell you." Hopefully he would leave out the details of the relationship between us. Faeras looked over at Rayult, waiting for him to speak.
"I'll tell you about it later, highness. It's too hard for her to even listen to," Rayult explained apologetically.
"Of course," the prince said, "My apologies. I didn't mean to offend you."
"It's alright," I mumbled. Rayult sat down next to me so I was flanked by him and Faeras. I wanted so badly to lean against him, but I knew I shouldn't in the presence of our new escorts. To get my mind off the painful thoughts, I decided to ask a question.
"Is it true you have dragons?" I asked. Callaris chuckled.
"Yes, it's true," he replied, "Both Faeras and I have dragons, but we left them at the castle. It would look a little suspicious to see two huge dragons flying overhead."
"What do they look like?" Rayult asked. He was curious, too.
"They're big. The biggest I've seen was probably as big as a large house. They walk around on four legs and have long necks and sharp spikes that run down their spine. Their colors vary. Callaris's is bright green, and mine is white. Well, silver. However you want to look at it," Faeras told us.
We talked about the dragons for hours. I learned that they are actually quite intelligent, and can even talk. They told us how dragon riders begin their training at age seven, and never go home until their training is complete. Faeras told us about how the dragons choose their riders by walking up to whoever it was they felt was their companion. When a rider was chosen, his training was done. On several occasions, there would be one elf left over without a dragon and would have to continue training until a dragon would choose him. This was such a fascinating topic that time flew by so quickly, the sun was setting before we knew it.
"We should start the fire," said Callaris.
"I got it," said Rayult, but the prince protested.
"You've already done so much, and it's such a hassle to start a fi-" he stopped when flames started dancing on Rayult's fingers. He gave the prince a sly look of triumph. Faeras chuckled as Rayult tossed a ball of fire at the small stack of sticks that was in the fire pit.
The prince stopped laughing and looked at me, "Wait…how old are you, Princess Laeli?"
"I'm seventeen, but my father deemed it necessary to teach me of our powers. I already know what mine are." Faeras looked more relieved at this knowledge. He was about to ask about them, but I quickly said, "Wind. Panther." He nodded and glanced at my wrist. A puzzled look crossed his face.
"You don't have a bracelet?" I shook my head, confused. "I think we have a couple extra you can have." Callaris got up to get them. When I didn't say anything, Faeras said, "You do know what they do, don't you?" Both Rayult and I shook our heads as Callaris handed us some expensive-looking bracelets. The prince sighed and continued, "I'm sure you know the inconvenience of shifting to your alternates and losing your clothes. These bracelets will magically make your clothes disappear when you shift. When you transform back, they'll reappear just as if you had never shifted in the first place."
I slipped the bracelet on my wrist and felt the familiar sensation of my body shifting into a panther. The bracelet was still around my wrist, but it had grown to fit around my much larger forearm. I shifted back and my clothes reappeared.
"Thank you," I said, "You have no idea how many times I could have used this."
The prince chuckled and said, "You're welcome. Consider it a gift."
The sun had began setting and I realized how incredibly tired I was. I yawned and announced that I was going to go to sleep.
"Without supper?" Rayult asked.
I shook my head and said, "I'm not hungry." I stood up and walked over to my pack and took out my blanket. I lay out on the ground and closed my eyes and waited for sleep to overtake me. The men were quiet for a few minutes while I tried to sleep. I heard the sound of whispers and two sets of feet walking away, but I was asleep before I could look at what had made the noise.
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