A/N whoo! another chapter done in less than a month! Thank you PlatinumGal, Pca student, and kitty-kat-girlyyyxxx for reviewing! You deserve more desserts! ^_^ Ya, if you've been reading my OC section on my profile and started thinking, "who the hell is this Kanthar guy?", this chapter reveals a bit more about him. The rest, i'm saving for another chapter. ^_^ please, please read and review, and you'll get any dessert you wish!
When I slipped inside I walked among rows of books, gazing carefully at each of their titles. As I neared the end of one long row, a leather-backed untitled book caught my interest. I pulled it out and gazed at the front, immediately recognizing the lettering as words in the Ancient Language.
Why would the Royal Library have a book written in the Ancient Language?
Curious, I opened the cover and read the first page. This is an epic poem written by one of the elves! It tells the tale of King Kanthar, the last king of the elves. I took the book with me to a comfy armchair and started reading it as soon as I sat down. I read the book hungrily, going through at least 30 pages before Artie came for me for dinner.
'What'cha reading?', he asked, sliding up to me and reading over my shoulder.
'A poem', I merely replied, closing the book and standing up to put the book back.
Apparently, Kanthar was married to Maiaera and lived in the *Du Amaear with her.
Afterwords, I walked to the dining hall with Artie. When the oak doors swung open, I gaped at the lavish dining hall.
The walls were a soft white with various draperies, each depicting men whom I guessed were the former kings of Far Far Away. The one closest to the head of the table showed King Harold, both as a frog and as a human.
Queen Lillian was already seated beside the head of the table.
'Ah, you finally arrived! Please, choose any seat that you want, Eva', the elderly queen greeted warmly.
I followed Artie to the head of the table and sat on his left hand side. Soon, platters of food came out of the kitchen. A few platters had meat products, and I avoided them as I reached to help myself to the vegetable plates. As soon as we got what we wanted, conversation started between Artie, the Queen and I.
The Queen asked why I was leaving and the whereabouts I was planning on going. I told her, of course, and was thankful that she understood my reasons for leaving. After the main meal was done, the servers came back with various desserts, in which I happily ate all I could without getting sick. After the servers took our empty plates away, we happily conversed until I tried to stifle a yawn.
'Well, I'm gonna wash up before I go to bed. Night', I said, pushing myself out of my seat and heading for the doors.
With a small push, I opened the doors and gently closed them after myself. By now, I've memorized the way to my room from practically anywhere in the castle.
I am so thankful for the elves' ability to see in the dark as I rounded the corner to a dimly-lit hallway, the end of which is where my room is located at. Once I entered my room, I looked through the closet for a nightgown. When I found one, I carried it to the bathroom and started to run water for a bath. When the water was warm enough, I stripped down and gently lowered myself into the steaming water, sighing as the heat soothed my aching muscles. Once I was sure I was clean, I carefully stepped out of the cooling water and dried myself with a fluffy towel that was hanging on the rack. I quickly dressed in the nightgown and brushed out my dripping wet hair before I stepped out of the bathroom, placing my laundry in the basket beside the door. As soon as I finished my nightly routine, I collapsed into the soft bed and quickly fell asleep.
The next three days pretty much went the same way as the first day. Every morning I woke up, washed up, ate breakfast with Artie and Queen Lillian, went out to the stables to ride Voniata for a few hours, help out around the stables (because I have nothing else to do), go back to the castle and get cleaned up, and spend time with Artie. Normally, Artie wasn't done with his classes the Queen made him take until I got back to the castle. On the fourth day, however, I woke up at my normal time only to find a tunic and breeches laying on my dresser with a note on it. Sitting up and stretching my muscles, I ambled to the pile of neatly folded clothes and picked up the note.
Eva,
I know tomorrow is when you're leaving, so I thought you might need some proper traveling clothes instead of a dress to wear. They are the finest quality I could find in your size, and I hope you will think of me on your travels.
-Artie
I smiled softly at the note and carefully tucked it and the pile of clothes into my already-prepared traveling bag in the corner. Artie gave that to me yesterday with a similar note. After rearranging some things to make everything fit, I changed into my old dark blue dress and did my morning routine, heading downstairs afterwords for some breakfast. I met Artie in the dining hall as he was just sitting down in front of his meal.
'Mornin' Artie', I yawned, taking my usual place on his left.
'Morning. Did you get my gift?', he asked, going a bit pink before he took his first bite.
'Yes, and thank you', I replied as the servant brought me my fruit salad and a fork to eat with.
We didn't say much as we dug into our respective meals.
Artie got up as soon as he was finished and said, 'Sorry, but I gotta go, you know, to class and stuff'.
I nodded and called to his retreating back, 'Good luck'.
The hall doors closed with a thud and I was left alone with my thoughts. As soon as I was full, I got up and exited the hall, making my usual way to the stables. When I finally reached the stables, the owner, Mr. Corin and the stablehand, Devin were already waiting for me with Voniata already saddled.
'Hello Eva', they greeted at the same time, Voniata nickering fondly at me.
'Hello Mr. Corin, Devin, Voniata', I greeted, petting my horse affectionately.
She snorted and nudged me with her nose.
'Alright, I get it', I laughed as I placed my boot in the stirrup and hoisted myself onto the saddle.
'You gonna be alright?', Devin asked, handing me her reigns.
I nodded and said, 'Ya, thanks for your concern'.
He only grinned and backed up as I touched my heels to Voniata's belly.
Devin's a kind man, helping the animals out of love for them. He was the same person who helped me with Voniata that first day; the one Artie doesn't like. Right after that first day, Devin and I became fast friends, even though Artie still holds a special place in my heart. Devin and I may be friends, but Artie will forever be my best friend and first friend. No one will ever change that.
Anyway, I led Voniata to the front gate and carefully trotted her out into the small forest that Mr. Corin owns.
'It's a nice day for some exercise, isn't it, Voniata?', I asked, getting a snort and a nicker in response.
She's taken to her new name quite well.
We trotted over roots and small undergrowth for over an hour before I turned my mount's nose back the way we came and made our way back to the stables. When we finally reached the small dirt road that connected the forest to the stabled, I increased the pace slightly, like I always did before slowing down to a walk as we got to the gate. Stopping in front of the stables, I dismounted her and got to work taking her tack off and cleaning the sweat that gathered on her neck off of her. When she was dry, I placed her back into her stall and stroked her neck as she ate some hay out of her manger.
I made sure she was comfortable before exiting her stall and the stable to look for Mr. Corin. I found him out in the back, exercising one of his other mares.
'Oh, you're back, Eva, good!', the elderly man called, bringing his mount over closer to me.
'Ya, but I'm gonna stay today, sir. I'm leaving tomorrow, and I'll be taking Voniata with me, sir', I replied somberly, earning a nod of understanding form the elderly man.
'I understand, young'en. What time are you planning to leave?', he asked.
His nickname for me made me smile a bit as I stated, 'Around noon'
'I think we could have her ready by then', he said with a nod. 'Where do you wanna meet us?'
Pausing for a second, I said, 'Probably at the front doors of the castle'.
He smiled and then nodded towards the gate, saying, 'Well, run along now, and tell the King I said hello'.
Smiling widely, I nodded my thanks to Mr. Corin and said, 'I will, have a nice day!'
All I heard as I started down the dirt driveway was him chuckling and muttering about us kids.
As soon as I got to the castle, I decided to stop by the kitchen for a snack before dinner. Wandering the familiar path through the halls, I opened the door to a bustling kitchen. One of the chefs took notice of me and smiled widely.
'Hey, how are you Eva?', she called, moving towards me after picking up an orange and tossing it to me.
Ya, Kelly knows exactly why I'm here.
I caught the fruit and started peeling it as I said, 'Oh, I'm doing ok'.
She leaned against the counter and said, 'So, I hear you're leaving tomorrow, huh?'
Nodding, I placed the peel into the trash and carefully tore the fruit into sections.
'And I bet someone's not happy about it, like our dear King for example', she said with a knowing smirk.
I choked on the section of orange I just swallowed and I had to pound on my chest to get it to go down. Kelly started to roar with laughter as I straightened up with a red face.
'I hate you', I mumbled as I left the kitchen with my orange.
That's how our conversations normally end.
Quickly finishing my orange, I licked the sticky juice off of my fingers before opening the door to my room. I properly washed my hands in the bathroom then slumped onto the chair, turning on the radio afterwords. Glancing at the clock, I figured I still had about an hour before Artie got done with his classes. I listened to the music for a bit then got up and moved towards my full pack, taking my maps out and spreading them out onto my desk. Over the last few days I had marked the old map with some newer labels from the newer map.
Glancing over the new map, I paused as I noticed something I hadn't before. Shrek and Fiona's swamp was only about 50 miles from the southern edge of the Du Amaear. Perhaps I should make a stop there sometime. Taking out my quill and ink, I labeled the swamp and let it dry before rolling both maps up and securing them back into my pack. As soon as I put my pack into its place, my door opened and Artie came inside, closing it after himself.
'Hey, how's class?', I asked, smirking as I folded up my arms across my chest.
'Ugh, don't even speak to me about that cruel torture Aunt Lillian calls class', he groaned, flopping onto my bed and closing his eyes in bliss.
Chuckling at his discomfort, I sat beside him and ruffled his golden hair affectionately.
'Hey, just be glad it's over for today', I soothed, smirking when he opened a single eye to glare at me.
'I guess. Aunt Lillian said that I could have the day off tomorrow, for obvious reasons', he said a bit sadly.
Sighing, I leaned back on my hands and stared up at the ceiling.
'Please, lets not talk about this again and lets just enjoy what time we have left together', I stated after a few minutes.
'Alright', I heard after a few minutes.
Smiling in satisfaction, I asked, 'So, how was your day?'
A groan answered the question more than words could.
With a chuckle, I asked, 'I'm guessing boring and tedious, huh?'
Another groan answered that.
I laughed harder at that.
'Don't laugh at me', he stated playfully, a grin spreading across his face.
'And why not? It's fun seeing you suffer', I answered cheerfully.
He glared at me playfully, only to be ignored.
'Ya, and I'll laugh and pick on you when you suffer, just you wait'.
I smirked and crossed my legs.
'Well, I'm waiting'
A smirk formed on Artie's face, but he didn't move otherwise. After that, we just talked and joked around until dinner. Then, we got up and moved our joking to the dinner hall and sat with us at the table. When I finally bid the Queen and Artie goodnight, it was almost bedtime. I sighed as I closed the door to my room and thought about what was coming up.
'Spirits, why did you have to make this day go by so fast?', I asked into the thin air.
Not expecting an answer, I crossed my room to the bathroom and did my nightly routine before sliding under the covers. After blowing out the candle that was on my nightstand, I sighed and closed my eyes, letting myself slip into oblivion.
A/N next chapter is when Eva's gonna leave. Again, please review, it makes me happy and i gives you more chapters and some virtual dessert! ^_^
*Du Amaear- The Swanbrook (sorry i didn't define this, i was half asleep when i posted the chapter that introduced it, and i was too lazy to fix it)
I don't own Shrek 3 or its characters, i only own Eva and any other OC that is in here
~Meerkatgirl13