Chapter 4
~ The Long Journey ~
Lily just looked at the group, feeling a little left out. Aiden seemed to notice her discomfort and cleared his throat, setting to introducting them all.
"That, as you may have heard, is Rena."he said pointing to Rena. "And he is Lindel."he said pointing to the dragon type being. "Then Isabelle, the Aliti. Derrick, my elven comrade and Zeneli, the fairy."he said.
Lily looked taken aback. All where from different races.
"And so are you."Zeneli's voice said.
"What?"Lily said suddenly turning to him.
"Your different too."
"Don't read my mind"Lily said defensivly.
"I didn't. More like I read your eyes."he said with a genuinly joyful grin.
"Oh."Lily said, lost for words.
"Yeah, yeah."Rena pipped up. "Just have a seat wolf girl."she said, a bit of spit in her tone, though thats how it usually sounded.
"How did you..."
"We all know. But it's ok your amongst friends."Isabelle said with a smile.
Rena started to laugh but Lindel cleared his throat pointedly and she was silent.
Aiden sat down and motioned for Lily to sit beside him, between him and Isabelle. Everyone, including Lily, seemed to be giving Rena the death glare.
"Now, Lily is to follow us to the end?" Derrick asked.
"Yes she is." Aiden replied.
"What?" Lily asked.
"I guess I should explain." Aiden said, turning to face Lily. "Have you ever heard the legend of Numinar?" he asked.
Lily shook her head. "I have heard many tales, but none of this Numinar you speak of." She replied, looking a tad confused.
"We'll the legend speaks of a stone, the key to all life. Now it is fading and must be restored. Legend tells of different races meeting to form one, to save this world from disaster. But as we plot to save Leraina, there are others who plot against us, to ruin our plans. The evil sorcerer Siran is plotting our doom s we speak. That is why we must leave. Lily, would you follow us till the end?" Aiden spoke seriously.
Lily nodded. "Ofcourse."
"Great." Isabelle said, looking around the table.
"Yes, every race will soon be assembled. We only now wait on Jason." Derrick added. "He is the human that shall follow us in our quest." he said to Lily.
"And here he is."Aiden said, looking to the door.
A tall, black haired man, seemingly about 20 walked through the door, removing his hood. He strode over to the table and he smiled. A mustache and beard bordered his mouth and made him look older than he was.
"Sorry I'm late." he said, sounding a little out of breath.
Aiden stood up and dropped his regal manner for a second.
"Good to see you Jas." he said, grinning.
"You two." Jason replied, returning his smile. "It's been awhile hasn't it."
"Indeed." he turned back. "Um, Jas this is Lily. She will be joining us. You know the others."
Lily stood and walked forward, taking Jasons hand. but instead of shaking Jason kissed it and smiled.
"Charmed." he said with a big grin.
"No need for that. I'm not royalty."Lily said, feeling herself blush.
"Thats how he greets women." Aiden said with a laugh. "His mom and dad brought him up proper."
"And yours didn't?"Jason said, turning around.
"Ofcourse."Aiden said bordly. "But do you think I paid any attention."
"This is why you arn't married my friend."
"No, I have choosen not to get married. I do not want the crown. At least not yet, even though my father is breathing down my neck. I think he's going to arange for me to marry Lady Kira of Silver Lake if I'm not carful."
"Not that this isn't interesting." LIly suddenly interupted. "But shouldn't we get onto more important matters then who is to marry who and when?"
Jason laughed and slapped Aiden on the back.
"You know, the lass is right. So, when do we leave?" he asked.
"Tomorrow, I think. I thought we should leave in a few days but now I think we best get moving now."
Everyone's voice joined in, agreeing to the arrangment.
"So it's settled." Aiden said with a nod. "We leave at dawn."
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The next morning dawned with clear skys and bright sun. The travelers headed out to the stable at 10:00. Not dawn, as Aiden had said but good enough, everyone assured him. They all had horses except for Lily but Jason had brought another. An Elven mount named Star Gazer who was a sweet as warm honey. They began to tack up and Jason walked over to Lily.
"Here let me help you." he said with his wide, white toothed grin.
"No I'm fine really." Lily said.
Lily continued to take up the mare, tuning out Jasons intent stare. She put the bit in her mouth and slung the packs over her back and patted her, stepping back.
"No saddle?" Jason asked, a little confused.
"Nope."
"So you ride?"
"Yeah, I usually would borrow the king and knights royal mounts. You know, excercise them and turn them out. The queen greatly dissaproved of that. I mean I was one of her maids after all."
"You? A maid for the queen?"
"Yeah, funny huh?" she said with a smile. "Anyway, the king, or Nathan, would always come up, asking me to work out the horses. It wasn't proper but I ignored the queen and did it anyway. Finally got good enough to ride without a saddle."
Jesse suddenly entered the stable and Star whickered, dial bobbing. She was tied in the center aisle and the chains of the cross ties clanged together. Jesse moved forward and her ears layed back, nose upstretched toward the equine. Star strained against the chains, trying to reach down and sniff the intruder. Lily laughed.
"Jesse, Star, Star, Jesse." She said, introducing the two.
"Friend of yours?"
"Yep. This is my constant companion Jesse."
Jesse yipped, tail wagging, her mouth open in a goofy grin as she looked up at them.
Aiden moved forward from his stall where his horse Cloud stood waiting. He crouched beside Jesse and scratched behind her ears. Jesse panted and smiled, licking his face. He laughed and looked up at them.
"She coming too?" he asked Lily.
"Sure is, couldn't go anywhere without her." Lily replied.
"Alright." Aiden said, straitening up. "Then lets hit the road. We have alot of ground to cover."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------
As it happened they made it to town alright and they rented rooms in a tavern in the town of Rhilainar. Jason and Aiden in one, Derrick and Zeneli in another, Rhena and Lindel, and then Isabelle and Lily. Neither Isabelle or Lily slept well and she finally "awakened" her, apoligizing for having woken her up continuously.
"I just have a bad a feeling." she told her.
"Like what?"
"That something will go wrong."
Lily nodded. In the pit of her stomache she could feel it.
"I think it's just nerves." she said. "I'm pretty sure it'll be alright."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For the comfort."
"I wasn't really trying."
"Well thanks anyway." she said with a smile. "So, whats your story?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like what are you doing here? Why you wanted to come."
"Well, I basically wanted to escape a life I hate." Lily said with a shrug. "And you? Why did you come?"
"Well." she said. "I left because, well, because I was suppose to get married. My father finally decided I was going to marry the man him and my mother picked out. Because, you see, I havn't had the best luck with men. And mind you I'm only 17. My first boyfriend was a guy named Issac. He beat me and my mother finally managed to get me to admit it and he was sent to the palace prison. Then my second, Paul did the same. But he died, but that was sort of my doing. I can do a little magic you see and well, one night I just got so angry I just sort of did it without thinking." she said, fingering the amethyst jewel hanging around her neck. " My cousin, Charlie, took pity on my soul and he did something with his body so that no one would know. Then my third boyfriend Dan. He seemed nice enough. By this time I was 15. We dated for almost a year before he got violent. Thats when my father finally forbade me to date and now I'm suppose to marry James."
Lily sat silent.
"I'm sorry." she said, looking at her.
"Oh don't be. It's my own stupid mistakes. So I guess we're both trying to escape our lives."
"Yes, but at least your fathers set you up with a nice boy right?"
"Yes, but I don't love him." she said, looking down. "When I marry I want it to be for love, not because I have to."
"Does James like you?"
"Yes, enough to kiss me all the time. But you know? I feel nothing? It's like kissing a bloke of wood."
"Alright. Well I'm sure you'll find someone someday."
"Yeah I guess. And what about you? Ever had any bad experiences with men."
"Well yeah, but I don't really want to talk about it." she said, hoping she couldn't see her blush in the darkness.
"Lily, I think your my best friend ever. You know I've never had a real friend."
"Well, actually, me neither. I mean back home I had a girl who worked in the bar with me but we wheren't that close."
"Anyway, thanks for being my friend."she said with a smile.
"No problem. It's nice to have a friend."
Once that was said each layed their heads down and drifted off, awaiting what the next day would bring.
Lily just looked at the group, feeling a little left out. Aiden seemed to notice her discomfort and cleared his throat, setting to introducting them all.
"That, as you may have heard, is Rena."he said pointing to Rena. "And he is Lindel."he said pointing to the dragon type being. "Then Isabelle, the Aliti. Derrick, my elven comrade and Zeneli, the fairy."he said.
Lily looked taken aback. All where from different races.
"And so are you."Zeneli's voice said.
"What?"Lily said suddenly turning to him.
"Your different too."
"Don't read my mind"Lily said defensivly.
"I didn't. More like I read your eyes."he said with a genuinly joyful grin.
"Oh."Lily said, lost for words.
"Yeah, yeah."Rena pipped up. "Just have a seat wolf girl."she said, a bit of spit in her tone, though thats how it usually sounded.
"How did you..."
"We all know. But it's ok your amongst friends."Isabelle said with a smile.
Rena started to laugh but Lindel cleared his throat pointedly and she was silent.
Aiden sat down and motioned for Lily to sit beside him, between him and Isabelle. Everyone, including Lily, seemed to be giving Rena the death glare.
"Now, Lily is to follow us to the end?" Derrick asked.
"Yes she is." Aiden replied.
"What?" Lily asked.
"I guess I should explain." Aiden said, turning to face Lily. "Have you ever heard the legend of Numinar?" he asked.
Lily shook her head. "I have heard many tales, but none of this Numinar you speak of." She replied, looking a tad confused.
"We'll the legend speaks of a stone, the key to all life. Now it is fading and must be restored. Legend tells of different races meeting to form one, to save this world from disaster. But as we plot to save Leraina, there are others who plot against us, to ruin our plans. The evil sorcerer Siran is plotting our doom s we speak. That is why we must leave. Lily, would you follow us till the end?" Aiden spoke seriously.
Lily nodded. "Ofcourse."
"Great." Isabelle said, looking around the table.
"Yes, every race will soon be assembled. We only now wait on Jason." Derrick added. "He is the human that shall follow us in our quest." he said to Lily.
"And here he is."Aiden said, looking to the door.
A tall, black haired man, seemingly about 20 walked through the door, removing his hood. He strode over to the table and he smiled. A mustache and beard bordered his mouth and made him look older than he was.
"Sorry I'm late." he said, sounding a little out of breath.
Aiden stood up and dropped his regal manner for a second.
"Good to see you Jas." he said, grinning.
"You two." Jason replied, returning his smile. "It's been awhile hasn't it."
"Indeed." he turned back. "Um, Jas this is Lily. She will be joining us. You know the others."
Lily stood and walked forward, taking Jasons hand. but instead of shaking Jason kissed it and smiled.
"Charmed." he said with a big grin.
"No need for that. I'm not royalty."Lily said, feeling herself blush.
"Thats how he greets women." Aiden said with a laugh. "His mom and dad brought him up proper."
"And yours didn't?"Jason said, turning around.
"Ofcourse."Aiden said bordly. "But do you think I paid any attention."
"This is why you arn't married my friend."
"No, I have choosen not to get married. I do not want the crown. At least not yet, even though my father is breathing down my neck. I think he's going to arange for me to marry Lady Kira of Silver Lake if I'm not carful."
"Not that this isn't interesting." LIly suddenly interupted. "But shouldn't we get onto more important matters then who is to marry who and when?"
Jason laughed and slapped Aiden on the back.
"You know, the lass is right. So, when do we leave?" he asked.
"Tomorrow, I think. I thought we should leave in a few days but now I think we best get moving now."
Everyone's voice joined in, agreeing to the arrangment.
"So it's settled." Aiden said with a nod. "We leave at dawn."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning dawned with clear skys and bright sun. The travelers headed out to the stable at 10:00. Not dawn, as Aiden had said but good enough, everyone assured him. They all had horses except for Lily but Jason had brought another. An Elven mount named Star Gazer who was a sweet as warm honey. They began to tack up and Jason walked over to Lily.
"Here let me help you." he said with his wide, white toothed grin.
"No I'm fine really." Lily said.
Lily continued to take up the mare, tuning out Jasons intent stare. She put the bit in her mouth and slung the packs over her back and patted her, stepping back.
"No saddle?" Jason asked, a little confused.
"Nope."
"So you ride?"
"Yeah, I usually would borrow the king and knights royal mounts. You know, excercise them and turn them out. The queen greatly dissaproved of that. I mean I was one of her maids after all."
"You? A maid for the queen?"
"Yeah, funny huh?" she said with a smile. "Anyway, the king, or Nathan, would always come up, asking me to work out the horses. It wasn't proper but I ignored the queen and did it anyway. Finally got good enough to ride without a saddle."
Jesse suddenly entered the stable and Star whickered, dial bobbing. She was tied in the center aisle and the chains of the cross ties clanged together. Jesse moved forward and her ears layed back, nose upstretched toward the equine. Star strained against the chains, trying to reach down and sniff the intruder. Lily laughed.
"Jesse, Star, Star, Jesse." She said, introducing the two.
"Friend of yours?"
"Yep. This is my constant companion Jesse."
Jesse yipped, tail wagging, her mouth open in a goofy grin as she looked up at them.
Aiden moved forward from his stall where his horse Cloud stood waiting. He crouched beside Jesse and scratched behind her ears. Jesse panted and smiled, licking his face. He laughed and looked up at them.
"She coming too?" he asked Lily.
"Sure is, couldn't go anywhere without her." Lily replied.
"Alright." Aiden said, straitening up. "Then lets hit the road. We have alot of ground to cover."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------
As it happened they made it to town alright and they rented rooms in a tavern in the town of Rhilainar. Jason and Aiden in one, Derrick and Zeneli in another, Rhena and Lindel, and then Isabelle and Lily. Neither Isabelle or Lily slept well and she finally "awakened" her, apoligizing for having woken her up continuously.
"I just have a bad a feeling." she told her.
"Like what?"
"That something will go wrong."
Lily nodded. In the pit of her stomache she could feel it.
"I think it's just nerves." she said. "I'm pretty sure it'll be alright."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For the comfort."
"I wasn't really trying."
"Well thanks anyway." she said with a smile. "So, whats your story?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like what are you doing here? Why you wanted to come."
"Well, I basically wanted to escape a life I hate." Lily said with a shrug. "And you? Why did you come?"
"Well." she said. "I left because, well, because I was suppose to get married. My father finally decided I was going to marry the man him and my mother picked out. Because, you see, I havn't had the best luck with men. And mind you I'm only 17. My first boyfriend was a guy named Issac. He beat me and my mother finally managed to get me to admit it and he was sent to the palace prison. Then my second, Paul did the same. But he died, but that was sort of my doing. I can do a little magic you see and well, one night I just got so angry I just sort of did it without thinking." she said, fingering the amethyst jewel hanging around her neck. " My cousin, Charlie, took pity on my soul and he did something with his body so that no one would know. Then my third boyfriend Dan. He seemed nice enough. By this time I was 15. We dated for almost a year before he got violent. Thats when my father finally forbade me to date and now I'm suppose to marry James."
Lily sat silent.
"I'm sorry." she said, looking at her.
"Oh don't be. It's my own stupid mistakes. So I guess we're both trying to escape our lives."
"Yes, but at least your fathers set you up with a nice boy right?"
"Yes, but I don't love him." she said, looking down. "When I marry I want it to be for love, not because I have to."
"Does James like you?"
"Yes, enough to kiss me all the time. But you know? I feel nothing? It's like kissing a bloke of wood."
"Alright. Well I'm sure you'll find someone someday."
"Yeah I guess. And what about you? Ever had any bad experiences with men."
"Well yeah, but I don't really want to talk about it." she said, hoping she couldn't see her blush in the darkness.
"Lily, I think your my best friend ever. You know I've never had a real friend."
"Well, actually, me neither. I mean back home I had a girl who worked in the bar with me but we wheren't that close."
"Anyway, thanks for being my friend."she said with a smile.
"No problem. It's nice to have a friend."
Once that was said each layed their heads down and drifted off, awaiting what the next day would bring.