Chapter Sixty-five

A Royal Welcome

Melima ran around with her decanter, putting out the fire. I glanced at the smoke, the fire hadn't been going long, but there was a lot of it. I didn't want the White Guard to grow concerned.

I flew up to where the smoke ended, thirty or forty storeys up. I could clearly see the top of the White Tree sticking above the multi-colored leaves of the trees around it. There was a good chance that someone had noticed the smoke.

I glanced to the north as I went back down. There were towers and buildings rising above the treeline. Probably Felspring. They probably would have noticed too. Great. Hopefully we had some way to let someone know what was going on.

I landed back on the ground. "Does anyone have paper? Maybe we should leave a note, because I'm pretty sure the guards can see the smoke and might come investigate. The guards from the Tree."

Jörgen said he had a spell that he could contact people with. He said he'd contact Murios, Melima's brother. He sat down with his spellbook, muttering an incantation. Soon I could make out what he was saying to Murios. "Big fire. Put out, mostly, now. Look for giant column of smoke. Melima did it. We're safe. Wizard saved us. Stop."

Jörgen let us know his response. "Glad everything's alright. This is weird. Um, need any help? Uh, okay."

Our wizard took several minutes to cast his spell again so he could reply. "Large roadblock, road repair probably needed. We're safe. See you later."

Murios responded again. "This is still very strange. Glad you're safe. We'll send somebody up that way to check on things. Um, try not to burn the forest down. Please? Thanks."

We moved the giant that was blocking the road, then took a break so people could nurse their wounds. That hadn't been an easy battle. I was fine, so I found some food in the nearby area.

After walking for about two and a half hours I heard the sound of armor up the path. Seven, maybe eight sets of armor, marching in our direction. I asked for Melima to come up to the front with me. These were probably guards coming from the city to investigate the smoke.

Jörgen sent his spectral bird to see for sure who it was. I was pretty certain it would be soldiers from the city, but if Jörgen said it wasn't I'd pull us all into the trees.

Jörgen said nothing, and the group came around a bend in the trail. Eight Elven soldiers, my assumption had been correct. They stood two abreast. The first four wore plate armor, the others wore chain. Those in plate carried swords on their sides, but also carried shovels. Those in the very back bore bows, and the other two carried crossbows.

One in front held up his hand, stopping the rest of the group. He then brought his hand down and rested it on the hilt of his sword. "Who goes there? Who is this? Identify yourselves."

Melima stepped forward. "This is Melima Moonfeather and her warrior entourage escorting her to the royal palace."

Upon hearing her name, the soldier scanned her, then bowed. "You've been gone for much time. Please explain what has been going on. What is going on with the smoke?"

Melima pointed to Jörgen. "We got attacked by a party of giants, and we captured an archmage in our orb."

"Is everything okay down the road? Do we need to investigate or take care of anything down farther? I assume there was a fire? We saw smoke and gathered some people together to try to help, if there was needed any."

"We put the fire out," I said. "We let the White Guard know there was a roadblock—that's what was told to them—but I don't know if it's better for you to take care of it, or them to take care of it. I know their first priority is the Tree."

"That would be correct." He called out several soldiers in his group. "I want you four to go investigate. Go farther down the road and help."

He looked back to us. "I'm guessing it's about, what? Another two hours down the road a bit? We'll have them go investigate, see if there's anything else to do there to clean up." He turned to his men again. "Then you can come back to the guard post."

"The rest of you, if it's okay— You said you were heading to Felspring, is that correct?"

"That's correct," I said.

"If you're up for it, you can travel with us as we make our way back to the city."

We gladly accepted their offer. After traveling another two hours or so, the trees began to thin out and grow taller and the underbrush became less dense. The landscape started to roll with hills a little more, and we crossed a couple of small streams that cut through the path.

Soon after the forest changed, we could see the city wall through the forest. It was unlike any I'd seen before. It was made of stone, but not blocky like any other city wall I'd seen, it was smoother and more elegant. It stood about seven storeys high, but remained level while the hills rolled beneath it, making it only five storeys high in some places. Towers grew from the wall just within arrow-shot distance of each other.

The gate the guards led us to was not the main gate, but a stone door seemed to be used only by guards. About half a mile to the east was one of the main gates. The guard shouted to the top of the wall for the door to be opened. The door itself was very elegant, with Elven motifs. It was all unfamiliar to me, but I loved it.

The guard asked us as we entered the gate if we wanted an escort back to the palace. Melima did, and the guard stood just a little straighter. "Well, I guess I can be your escort for the short trip into the city."

I expected a bustling city once we were past the walls, but found that we were still surrounded by nature. There were some houses, which gradually grew cleaner, larger, and more organized the farther into the city we got, but they all integrated well with the land with their Elven elegance. Trees were everywhere. This was my kind of city!

We started to get to a part of town with shops along the road. As we crested one of the larger hills, a large palace greeted our eyes. There was a large main building that it looked like was where the royal family lived, but there was also another large section fenced off that looked like perhaps other families of the White Guard might live. Was that where my father grew up? Right next to the palace?

There were several people who stopped and looked at us, a few of them nodding. We looked odd by ourselves, but having an escort only drew more attention to us. The guard would occasionally dismiss people as we walked through. "Nothing to see here...Go about your business...Go along your way."

Children looked at us wide-eyed. I caught a few whispers as we walked along. "It's the princess!" "She's back!" "I thought she was…"

We finally came to a wrought-iron gate. It was huge, about four storeys high. It was covered with silver and gold filigrees in various parts. The Moonfeather family crest was worked into the iron in the center. I didn't work iron, but even as a woodworker, I could tell the amount of work that would have gone into such a beautiful gate.

The guard escorting us spoke to the guards at the gate. "I have brought visitors. It's, uh, the princess Moonfeather, Melima, has returned."

The other guards jumped to open the gate as soon as her name was said. It took all four guards that were there to open the gate. The walls around the palace were only just taller than Keothi.

The palace sat on a hill, making it look taller than it was, but it was still tall. In the middle it looked like there would be a grand hall, and the palace itself had a few towers built into it. There were several smaller buildings around the palace, probably where the servants lived.

Several servants stopped and bowed as they saw Melima on our way through the grounds. Eventually our escort stopped. "I'm glad that I was able to escort you. You have a very excellent day, Princess. I will leave you here for now."

He bowed and turned back to the gate. Melima suddenly was very nervous about being home and seeing her family. She led us to a side door that would lead to where the family's rooms were so we'd avoid more people.

The grounds were well-manicured, this area was not one that was wild at all, but at least there were still trees and bushes. Once inside the palace, she led us past several doors. One of them opened as we approached, and a girl walked out of the room reading a book. She looked towards us.

She smiled, then glided towards Melima and embraced her in a long hug, whispering something in her ear. She let go and looked at us. "Who are your friends?"

"Here is my entourage of adventurers. You have no idea what we've been through. Oh my gosh, you're going to be so excited to hear all our stories that we have," Melima said.

"I would love to hear your stories," The girl said. "Are you back? Or are you passing through?"

"It depends on how much work we have to do, but we have a lot that we are endeavoring to uncover, and things to do here at the palace. So, we'll be here for a time."

"Excellent! Will you be joining us for dinner, or are you keeping a low profile?"

"Seeing you makes me want to, so much, just to see everyone else."

"I can let the servants know," the girl said, coyly. This must have been a sister. "We can set more places at the table. There's always enough food."

"Let me discuss it with everyone, and see what they want to do."

"When you decide, tell one of your servants to come and let us know. Dinner should be… let's see. With Father's meetings and everything that he's been having, probably another twenty-five to thirty minutes before we have formal dinner. But I'm heading to the kitchen now to see what is on the menu.

"Well, welcome home! So glad to see you." She continued down the hall, now with ever such a slight skip to her step.

Melima had a big smile on her face as she also continued down the hall. I wasn't sure if she was going to stop, we were nearly at the end of the hall when she turned and opened two great wooden doors. The carvings in them were elegant and intricate. As a woodworker myself, I was impressed.

The room on the other side of the doors was massive. A large four-poster bed sat under a grand window. Smaller windows around it were filled with stained glass in various designs. There was a very large library inside, larger than I had ever before seen. A hearth on the side of the room housed a roaring fire. A large painting of a king and queen hung over the mantle.

Through another door, it looked like there was a study with an ornate desk. There was another door that was probably a closet, and yet another that would be a washroom. This room looked like a small, but ornate house.

A servant walked in, carrying towels and linens. She was looking at the ground, but glanced up and dropped the linen she was holding. Melima stepped forward with her arms open wide. "Kiki! You butterfingers. What are you doing? No one has been in this room for years!"

"What are you doing home?" the servant asked. "You've been gone for years, I'd almost lost hope that you'd— that you were not coming back." She ran forward and gave her a hug.

She stepped back suddenly, blushing and brushing herself off. "I'm sorry, I forget."

She rushed back to pick up the dropped linen. "Why are you back? When did you get here? Did you just get back?"

"It's a long story..." Melima started.

"What can I do? How can I help? You name it."

"We need to get these guys sorted out. So, more water, more linens..."

"Excellent. There are the guest rooms at the end of the hall that we can put you all up in. I think we have enough— Maybe if a couple of you want to pair up— Unless you want to be in the guest rooms on the other side of the palace, but if you're wanting to stay close together..."

"Let's keep them close," Melima said. "These guys have had far worse to suffer through."

The servant nodded. "Alright. I'll have some of the other servants bring in a couple of extra beds from the other guest rooms. We can make this work." She ran off with excitement and determination.

Melima welcomed us into her room. "Does anyone have any questions? Concerns? Is anyone allergic to anything? I haven't been home for a while, sorry guys. Sorry it's so much. Dad's styling is really gaudy, and Mom, like, ugh. Anyway, it's a lot. But, make yourself at home."

After discussing it a bit more, we decided we'd stay in the guest rooms, rather than all in Melima's room. Melima let a servant know, then turned her attention back to us. "None of the guest rooms have any literature above what you would normally find in your average space. If you have any questions, or things you want to study, there is the library in here..."

"Do we know if the dining area would be safe for Sephra with her enchantment?" I asked. It would not do well to show up to dinner at the high elven palace with a drow suddenly in our midst.

Melima assured us that the residential areas would be safe for her. Only the throne room and a couple other areas relating to the king would have enchantments to dispel magic.

"Is there a tower I can sleep in?" Jörgen asked. He looked around for a moment. "I'm feeling some deja vu. Some goosebumps." Melima said her father was the only one with access to the tower.

Kiki, the servant, returned into the room after we'd been there for about a quarter of an hour. "All of the rooms are prepared." She extended four keys to Melima. "You are welcome to divide everyone up accordingly. I was able to get the four rooms on the end, they were all available."

Kiki lingered on her way out. "Let's catch up later. I would love to hear about all your adventures. I want to hear everything!"

"Of course!" Melima said, giving a huge smile.

"Is there anything else I can bring you? Food? Are you planning on joining us for dinner?"

"We're going to talk about that right now," Melima said. Kiki assured us she'd be back to check in with our decision.

Melima mentioned we could have food brought to the room, but there were almost always guests at dinner, so it wouldn't be unusual for us to be there.

I was excited at the prospect of dinner with the royal family, especially considering who I was discovering I might be. My one concern was whether Melima wanted to suddenly show up to dinner when her family didn't yet know she was there, or gradually greet her siblings.

She was fine going to dinner, Keothi was excited at the prospect of food, and everyone else wanted to go to dinner as well. Everyone, except Naidaroe. She preferred to stay behind and spy on people. We let Kiki know when she returned, and we started preparing ourselves for a somewhat formal dinner.

Melima showed us her closet, which Ari'yasa had already made her way into. She and Sephra enjoyed looking through it, I took one look at the length of the dresses and knew they wouldn't fit. Melima was nearly two hands taller than I was. I'd purchased a dress just for an occasion such as this, and I was happy to not have to try on multiple dresses.

Jörgen and Keothi also cleaned up as best as they could, then Jörgen cast a spell on Naidaroe to make her invisible. I was a bit uncomfortable letting a pirate run loose in the palace, but Melima was fine with it, so I said nothing.

Kiki returned within a few minutes of Jörgen casting his spell. "Dinner is all prepared, and your family has been informed that you and your guests will be arriving."

Melima led us towards the back of the palace to two doors that opened to a dining hall. Seated at the table were twelve elves, all in fine clothing. One of them—sitting at the head of the table—was obviously the queen. She stood as we entered and smiled. "My, dear, welcome back. Come in and sit. Welcome, friends."

She motioned to an open section of the table for us to sit at. There was a large variety of food spread over the table. Roasted vegetables of all sorts, a large roasted fowl, and other various sides. It looked like a banquet.

The other elves at the table nodded at Melima as she sat. I guessed they were her siblings. The sister we'd met in the hall was among them. She wasn't kidding when she said she had a large family.

The servants were eager to get us anything we wanted that was not on the table, including drinks, as well as helping to pass dishes around the table. I was content with water and what was on the table, but a few of my friends asked for ale or wine.

We ate for a little bit, though didn't participate much in the conversation until the queen set down her fork and turned to Melima with a kind smile. "Well, would you like to introduce your friends? What brings you back?"

"This is my entourage of adventurers, a family of sorts in our adventures along the road. Tawariell, would you go first?"

"I'm me," Jörgen said.

A wry smile crept over the queen's face. "I've met you before. It's been a long time, Jörgen."

"I figured someone would know who I am," the old wizard said.

"We heard a while back that there had been an accident. I hope that everything is still okay, I heard that there were some issues with your magic."

"I'm sure you could fill me in on what happened,"

"Well, we don't know much, other than you were working on something, and something went awry with a spell you were creating or messing with. I know Caylus was worried when he first heard about your accident. But I'm glad that you're still alive, and I'm glad that you're here. I'm glad that Melima was able to find you. That's interesting that you have become one of her companions in this group."

"I've kind of become the chaperone of all of these family members," Jörgen said.

"Indeed," the queen replied. It didn't sound like she believed him. Melima turned the attention back to me.

"I'm Tawariell," I started. I didn't want to bring up drama at the dinner table by giving a High Elven surname—and one of the White Guard at that—while obviously being of wood elven heritage. "I'm originally from Lystran. I'm a ranger and have recently become a cleric. And Melima and I have been adventuring together for... a couple of months now? Something like that."

"Well, welcome to our home," the queen said. "I see you are of an unusual…"

She didn't finish, but it didn't keep me from blushing. Of course, I'd forgotten that I wasn't wearing my hood. "Yeah…"

Sephra was seated next to me. "I am Sephra, and I am from a small town just outside of Vasselheim."

"Excellent," the queen said. "Well, welcome to our home."

She turned to Ari'yasa. "I am Ari'yasa Galestrom and I am from the desert, from Kymal."

Keothi stopped between bites. "I am Keothi Kalagiano from the Greenspine Mountains."

Melima's siblings asked about what we had been doing. She told of some of our adventures, with others of us jumping in at times. It was kind of incredible to reflect on some of the things we had gone through together.

The meal seemed to go on and on. How many courses were there? We were having a dessert course when the main doors opened and a regal figure walked in, King Moonfeather. He was followed by another elf, he seemed to be the crown prince. They were both finely dressed. There was a look of surprise on the younger elf's face when he saw Melima, but then a smirk as he saw the rest of us.

Everyone stood as the king made his way next to his wife at the head of the table, making eye contact with each of us at the table. When he met Melima's eyes he finally spoke, "welcome back."

I didn't think elves showed signs of age, but the king actually looked old. How old was he? He didn't speak at all during the meal until we finished the final dessert course. "Well, it appears now that you're back, at least for the time being. We should probably talk. I imagine you've been traveling, and you probably need some rest, so why don't you come to my formal chambers in the morning and we can discuss more. But for the evening I am a bit weary and need my own rest."