Ex: I'm making the decision as of right now to never again say, "The next chapter should be up shortly." Not after making any of you still here wait a year and a half… again. I will promise that I still have no intention of abandoning the story though, for whatever that's worth. With that out of the way, I do think the next few chapters will be more exciting, but again, no promises on when they'll be out. I am taking more of my personal time dedicated to my writing. Again though, for the third time, no promises on when they'll be out.
Elsa: Well… that was lengthy and a little painful. May I do my thing?
Ex: Please do.
Elsa: On with the show!
As usual, Elsa and Mathias remained the center of attention at the party well into the celebration. It took awhile before the guests began to disperse among themselves and celebrate the original intent of the party, the first night of the winter hunt. Now that they'd lost the attention, Elsa and Mathias stood off to the side of the ballroom, content to watch as the remaining guests celebrated.
As they watched the crowd Elsa began scanning around for Anna, hoping her sister had relaxed. When she spotted her she was happy to find her cheerily chatting with a brunette haired woman with another woman with red hair similar to Anna's own standing next to her listening to the conversation. Mathias looked in Anna's direction and said, "You got it right, she's already making friends."
"She has a talent for that. Do you know who she's talking to?" Elsa asked.
"I don't. However the woman next to her is named Lenora."
"You know her?"
"She's the duchess of Silan, our neighbor across the south sea, and Oliver's wife."
"I thought her name sounded familiar. You've mentioned her once or twice when Oliver came up in conversation. Never more than her name though. What's she like?"
"Like you in some ways. Quiet around most people, a little awkward some might say but that's mostly due to shyness I think. Want me to introduce you? I think you'll get along."
Elsa nodded and they approached Anna and Lenora after the woman they were speaking to excused herself. Anna smiled at them as they approached. "Looks like you two found a moment to yourselves."
"Not often at events like this." Elsa replied. "It's nice to see you're making friends."
Anna nodded and gestured toward Lenora. "This is Lenora. She's a duchess from… Silan you said?"
Lenora nodded and looked at Elsa. "It's an honor to meet you, Queen Elsa. I am Lenora, duchess of Silan. But I suppose Anna said that already." Her eyes drift down awkwardly for a moment before she looks at Mathias and says, "And it's good to see you again Mathias."
"And the same to you Lenora. How've you been?" Mathias asked.
"Busy, but everyone here has been."
"Helping with the hunt preparations?"
"Only a little. Oliver has taken it upon himself to remove as much of the burden from your father as possible. I've stepped in where I can, but my own duties as ambassador keep me busy."
"You're your kingdom's ambassador here?" Elsa asked.
Lenora nodded. "My mother appointed me to the position shortly after Oliver and I wed. I'm not sure why she thought it was a good Idea if I'm being honest. Oliver told me I'd do fine though."
"And fine was an understatement." Oliver said as he approached the group, standing next to Elsa and Mathias. "Relations are so good our kingdoms would be practically merged if they weren't separated by the sea."
Lenora blushed but smiled at Oliver's words. "You're exaggerating Oliver."
"I won't deny I've been known for exaggeration, but in this case I'm speaking truthfully. You sell yourself short my dear." Oliver moved to stand at Lenora's side before addressing Elsa and Mathias. "You two seem to have lost the attention of the guests."
Mathias nodded. "It seems the celebration of the hunt has for once made us old news."
"Father did hope delaying our announcement of your marriage until tonight would have that effect. Though as the news spreads I doubt that will remain the case." Oliver looked at the celebrating and somewhat thinning out crowd still occasionally eyeing Elsa and Mathias before saying, "Which brings me back to my reason for interrupting. Before he dismissed me to enjoy the party for the night, father asked that I find you and said to ask you to speak to him before you retire for the night."
"What about?"
"He didn't say, only asked me to pass that along to you."
Mathias took a quick look around to see if he could see his father before turning to Elsa. "I'd better find him, see what he has to say."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Elsa asked
Mathias shook his head. "I'm sure it's nothing serious. Stay here and enjoy the party. I shouldn't be long." Elsa nodded and Mathias walked off into the crowd, taking one last look back at Elsa as she spoke with Lenora. Neither had the animated excitement Anna usually displayed, but they were both smiling happily. Mathias smiled to himself, hoping Elsa had found a friend here in his home country, and went to find his father.
The winds had begun to pick up in the forest outside the capital of Tonitrus, the early warning sign of another winter storm approaching. The near full moonlight shone brightly down upon a clearing in the dense forest atop a hill. From the hill, the city could be seen, the many lights of the start of the hunt festivities shining brightly into the night.
A small black figure dashes quickly across the clearing, its footfalls near silent as it makes its way through the brush. It perches atop a rock, its black fur shining in the moonlight as its eyes begin scanning the surrounding trees. Sensing no danger, it looks down at the rock beneath it and swipes its tail back and forth over the rock. As it does an odd symbol appears on the rock, almost like the visage of a sickly raven. The faint green glow it emits lights up the red of the fox's eyes and it places its paw atop the symbol. Its eyes flash an even brighter shade. The glow of the symbol faded and the rock beneath it cracked.
The fox's left ear suddenly flicks backward and it jumps off the rock, narrowly avoiding a blast of dark magic. The fox turns itself as it lands, facing the direction of the attack. From the trees at the back side of the clearing emerge several figures, their black cloak-like appearances flowing with the wind. The one in the lead, larger than the others with visible glowing yellow eyes, growls angrily at the sight of the fox and throws out another blast of magic. The fox jumps straight up into the air to avoid the blast, landing and immediately running for the forest.
"Kill the fox!" Tanas growls as he rushes after the fox into the forest. "Only one sigil remains! It must not be destroyed!" The groups of shades follow behind him, all blasting their own magic out in pursuit of the fox. The fox dashes quickly over and under the roots and rocks in its path, occasionally jumping or ducking to avoid the blasts of the shades. As they continue their chase, Tanas lets out an angry roar into the sky. From the forest around them the fox hears the return call of even more shades, following the call of their leader.
From the corner of the fox's eye it sees another group of shades appear on its right through the trees. They begin moving closer in an effort to steer the fox left, steering it toward a sheer wall of rock alongside the trees. Atop the rock wall another group appears, blasting the path in front of the fox. It leaps up into the air and onto a tree branch and leaps forward, now running across the branches. All three groups of shades continue to fire magic blasts at the fox. It looks over its shoulder briefly, seeing the group behind it led by Tanas gaining distance. When it turns its eyes forward, another group appears in front of it. They raise their hands and create a wall of green fire, blocking the way forward. The fox stops on the branch it's standing on and turns to face Tanas. As the shades close in on all sides, Tanas lets out a triumphant roar and throws a blast at the fox. Just before it strikes, the fox leaps to its left and kicks off the tree it hits. It jumps through the air toward the wall of rock, flipping itself around and kicking off the wall over the group of shades. Landing on the forest floor it turns and dashes in the brush once more. Tanas growls in frustration and leads the group in pursuit once more.
They come to another clearing in the forest. The fox is panting heavily now, growing tired from the chase. Noticing the fox slowing down, Tanas throws out a wave of magic, catching the ground beneath the fox's feet. It throws the fox's balance in it tumbles forward, rolling along the ground a few times before landing against a rock with a thud. The shades begin to circle around the fox excitedly, Tanas coming to a stop a few feet away from where it landed. The fox rises slowly to its feet facing Tanas and growling. Tanas lets out a cruel laugh, swirling a ball of magic around his hand before throwing it at the fox. As he does, the fox face changes from a look of angry defiance to a smug toothy smile. The fox suddenly disappears, and Tanas only has a brief look at the rock behind it, glowing green with the sigil before he realizes what he's done and flying quickly away from the rock.
As it explodes the rest of the shades follow after Tanas, though a few on the wrong side of the rock shriek and crumble to dust as the magic from the stone explodes outward, creating a visible wall of magic dividing the clearing. Tanas let out a shuddering growl to himself as the barrier rises into the sky, forming into a dome around the city and forest. His eyes darted to the other side of the clearing. There on the edge of the forest sits the fox, tail swishing back and forth happily. Tanas roars angrily and flies toward the fox but is stopped by the magic barrier. Tanas throws a few more blows at the barrier before eyeing the fox and roaring again. It tilts its head to the side and flashes one more toothy fox grin his way before dashing off into the forest.
Tanas growls in frustration and turns to his fellow shades. "What now, Tanas?" One of them asks.
"We return to the meadow, And hope the protection Cyrena brought is enough. Or she may take all our heads."
Mathias once more stood a little higher to see if he could find his father over the crowd. He hadn't been searching too long, but the ballroom wasn't overly large either. Finally giving up on mindlessly searching, Mathias headed to the back of the ballroom near where he and Elsa had come in and approached one of the guards by the door. "Excuse me guardsman, do you happen to know where my father is?"
"Yes your majesty." The guard replied. "He stepped out into the central garden. He said he needed a bit of fresh air." Mathias nodded, remembering the small garden at the center of the palace just behind the ballroom. Mathias exited the ballroom and went further up the hall, opposite the direction he and Elsa came from.
Finding the door out to the garden Mathias headed through, feeling the rush of the brisk winter air as he stepped outside. He looked around for his father but the structure of the garden prevented him from seeing the entire space. A small maze of flowering hedges made it impossible to see the whole garden. Walking in and around the hedges, Mathias checked the various benches and sitting places in the garden. With all the places he could think to check empty, he reached the center of the garden where a fountain stood next to an old tree. Mathias took one more look around. 'I don't think I missed anywhere, this garden isn't that big.' he thought to himself. As another rush of wind shook the leaves on the tree, Mathias eyes were drawn up toward the branches and then up toward the bright full moon, an almost green tint hugging around its edges and a thin strip of clouds just cutting through the middle.
A sudden splash of water caused Mathias to jump. He looked down from the moon and to the opposite side of the garden fountain where the voice had come from. He walked around the fountain, surprised to find someone there.
She sat there on the edge of the fountain, cross legged with one hand behind her, idly swishing back and forth in the water. She wore an elegant black dress, matched by her deep black hair shining in the moonlight her gaze was turned towards. From behind her Mathias could just see the edges of a masquerade mask over her eyes. 'I wonder where she's from. It's not common to wear masks like that in Tonitrus.'
"Taking a break from the crowds?" Mathias jumped again at her speaking, not realizing she knew he was there. "Forgive me. I didn't intend to startle you." She said as she turned to face him. The first thing Mathias noticed were her eyes, bright green and seeming to pierce into him as she stared from behind her mask. Next was the mask itself, a dark silver color with the visage of some kind of bird. 'A raven or crow maybe.' Mathias is pulled from his thoughts when he realizes she's still staring at him waiting for a response.
"Um, sorry, I just didn't realize you were here. Or that you knew I was here."
"I make an effort to keep observant, particularly at events such as this."
"Do you frequent such parties?"
"Not as much as I did in my youth, but I enjoy them when I can." Mathias found her choice of words odd. Though the mask did hide a portion of her face, she didn't appear much older than him, ten years at most, and even then she appeared youthful. She stood from the fountain, glancing back toward the moon before saying, "Though, this one has proven to be very interesting." She turned her gaze back toward him and approached him, stopping a few feet from him. "Forgive me for pressing, but you didn't answer my question. Why are you out here away from your dearest future bride Prince Mathias?"
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you know who I am."
"It is at least somewhat your party tonight. I do offer my congratulations to you." She said and then paused, seemingly still waiting on an answer.
"I was told my father had come out here for some fresh air, but I unfortunately fear I missed him."
"I see. I believe I can help you there."
"How so?"
"Well, it just happens that as I wandered potentially where I shouldn't be, I saw his majesty as he exited here. He spoke to someone about heading towards his study I believe."
"I see, thank you for your help."
"Of course my dear, " She said, her gaze once more drifting toward the moon before she turned back and said, "And fortuitous timing as well. The evening grows late, and I'm afraid I must retire for the night."
"Well, I thank you again for your help, miss…" Mathias paused, and realized caught up in the moment he still had no idea who this woman was. Not wanting to offend a visiting dignitary, particularly one who had been so helpful, he said, "Forgive me. I realize I have no idea what title to address you by."
"I'm not one to stand on ceremony and titles." She said as she stepped past him toward the exit path of the garden. Before she turned the corner of the hedge, she turned back around and said, " But as you've asked, you may call me Cyrena." As she exited the garden Mathias took a final look towards the moon, the green glow he'd seen before now back to its typical silvery blue. He shrugged it off as a trick of the light and headed back inside toward his father's study.
Ex: Dun Dun Dun! And so our hero and villain finally meet! Also wow this chapter wound up being pretty long by my chapter standards, still not particularly long but hey baby steps.
Elsa: What is she doing here?! If she hurts Mathias I'll kill her!
Ex: Hey, relax, I've already promised nothing(seriously or permanently) bad will happen to any of our beloved heroes, yourself included. Anyhow, review, follow, possibly favorite(dang it feels good to type that again) and for any of you still here from the old days or brand new readers who've only recently learned I have a horrible update schedule, I really do appreciate all of you.
Elsa: See you guys next time!