The Empress and Crown Princess glared at each other for a moment, sizing up one another. Aurora was short but very lovely with her dark hair and mesmerizing eyes.In contrast, Calla was exceptionally tall and as beautiful as a star. Aurora believed that if she stared too long at the elf's radiance, she might actually go blind.Calla's golden skin was offset by her eyes which were the color of purple delphiniums. Her lips were drawn tight in defiance, but still, the lovely, red curve of them was plain to see. Aurora tried hard not to be jealous of the elf's stunning beauty. It seemed like Calla was harboring a different kind of jealousy.The Empress shook off her thoughts and curtsied to the monarchs. "Your Majesties," she spoke humbly. "Forgive this intrusion…""Ha! Intrusion?!" Calla broke in haughtily. "Try invasion!""My companion and I," Aurora snapped as she motioned to Gandr, "hardly constitute an invasion!"The two ladies stopped their bickering under Lanassa's icy glare. King
"Zan?" The question hung in the air like a fog. The Queen could not believe what she was seeing. That man should have died hundreds of years ago, yet she was sure that the man before her was the one she remembered."Lanassa," Zan responded tenderly. Aurora's eyes grew to the size of her head, and Gandr finally seemed to be paying attention. The man had called the queen of the elven world by her first name and no title. There was a story here."You!" Zoltan screamed. "How dare you come back after all this time! How is this even possible? Guards! Take this man to the dungeon until we sort this out. No one is allowed to speak to him!""Please, do not hold the Empress accountable for anything I have done. She knows nothing of the past," Zan pleaded with the King and Queen. To Aurora he said, "Do what is best for humanity and do not worry about me. I will be fine," he assured her. "Do not fight them for my sake."There was a sadness in the man's eyes that broke something inside Aurora. Wha
With a little coaxing from the servants, Aurora was ready for dinner. She changed into a sickly greenish-yellow gown that paled her skin, but the cloth itself was very fine. The Empress wondered if Princess Calla had selected the gown to make her look ill. The she-elf had hand delivered the garment."I will have to watch out for that lady," the Empress mumbled. She took one last look in the mirror and sighed. Aurora would have to put away her vanity for the sake of her Empire. It was a small price.Gandr and Alvar had not yet returned, making Aurora slightly anxious. She hoped they were simply gathering all the information before bringing it to her. She looked down the hall for them one last time before resigning herself to dinner without back up. Ithel might try to defend her if tempers rose, but that seemed like a dangerous option. Aurora would fend for herself.The Empress had not had the pleasure of eating in the banquet hall previously. It was in the same style as the rest of the
Aurora was stunned. "How can this be true? How can Zan be the human man that left you at the altar hundreds of years ago?" Then the Empress remembered that Guardians do not age. "Was Zan already a Guardian when you knew him?""No!" Zoltan answered a little too forcefully. Then in a calmer voice he added, "Back then he was merely a human messing around in the affairs of the elves."Aurora's momentary hopes were crushed. If Zan had already been a Guardian, perhaps duty had called him away. But it was not true. Then what had happened? "May I talk with my Chief? I am sure he could shed some light on this matter." Aurora asked diplomatically.Lanassa looked ready to agree, but Zoltan shook his head. "My wife has suffered enough at the hands of that man. I will not allow him to cause the queen new problems. I require that you release him to our justice system for his crime.""But what about diplomatic immunity?" both Lanassa and Aurora asked. The answer to the question did not come.Calla,
Zan was in his thirties when he entered the land of magic for the first time. Among his peers, he was known as a famous explorer of new and uncharted lands. He had sailed both seas on either side of the continent and saw many sights that no one except those with him would believe. So it was no surprise that when Zan heard rumors about the land of magic, he decided that he must explore it for himself.Entering the land of magic had been a challenge all its own, and he had nearly lost his life trying to cross the ice barrier. The oppressive force of the ice cloud pushed him to the ground, suffocating him with its force. Zan tried to back up from his horrible mistake, but his body would not cooperate.Just when he had given up hope, a small animal resembling a white, three-tailed fox nuzzled up beside him to investigate. Its presence created a small shield from the pressure around the man's head, and Zan greedily gasped for air.With the fox's permission, the man scooped up the creature
Zan was introduced that very evening to the King and Queen, and a relationship between the monarchs and the man formed quickly. The elves, who always had a thirst for knowledge, wanted to know every detail of human life. Although they had human books, his words held far more value in their eyes. Zan spent evening after evening regaling them with his adventures."I want to see everything Zan has described," Bukuri chirped to some of the other ladies at court. The she-elves giggled among themselves. The man had certainly put some ideas in their heads in the past few weeks."I would rather see if other men are as handsome as he. What a world that must be!" Another elf chortled.Seeing all the stolen glimpses in his direction, Zan left the male elves and approached the group. "Human females have the same look when they are gossiping, you know," Zan said with a sly grin. "Who is the topic of conversation to get so many lovely ladies to join in?""You, of course!" Bukuri teased. The other y
The mysterious creature was still smiling at him when he opened his eyes. She seemed little more than a beautiful statue until she blinked."Who are you?" Zan asked as he rubbed his head. Perhaps he was actually dead and all of this was a hallucination.As if reading his thoughts, the creature before him chuckled. "Forgive me. I am Hanna the Fate. And I have saved you with this." She held up a glowing vial of blinding liquid. "It is yours now. It has great healing properties. But use it on external wounds only. Taking it internally can have...unintended consequences."Zan's eyes went wide. "I just drank that! What kind of consequences?!" The man held his neck, wondering if he should try to vomit. Most likely it was too late."Ah yes, the consequences," the Fate said cheerfully. "For one, you are now a Guardian, and for another..." Hanna pointed to the river nearby. Zan rushed over to look in the water. His eyes, which were normally the color of pitch, now shone silver."You have turne
"Hannah brought me to Valiant where I eventually joined the Council. I have spent the last few hundred years helping the Fates and my ruler with whatever task they needed. It has been a daunting but rewarding task." Zan finished his tale.It felt good to tell someone what happened all those years ago. The Guardian was not even sure if Hanna knew everything that occurred. Zan believed he had put all of it behind him long ago, but seeing Lanassa again proved that he had never actually processed what happened. 'Better to work through it now than never to do it at all,' Zan reasoned."So you did not jilt the Queen?" Aurora asked, deep in thought.Zan nearly choked on the question. "What? No! Of course not. If anything, she jilted me.""Either one of you is lying or no one was jilted at all." Aurora scrunched her face at the word 'jilted'. Like any word said repeatedly, it now sounded strange."What are you thinking?" The Guardian looked at the young woman expectantly. It was clear she ha