Renat's vision was fuzzy and his body hurt all over. He thought for sure he would die when he saw the blast ball roll off the shelf and begin to fall. If not for breaking the fireproof jelly ball above his head and diving below the brown mass of solid chocolate rock, he never would have survived. Yet, here he was with the world beginning to come back into focus. He was in pain and covered in slippery clear jelly, but at least he was alive. Renat blinked a few times while staring at the sky. There were no dragons anymore. That had to be a good sign. When he turned his head, he spotted the most beautiful blue eyes of the woman he loved, yet her face seemed... wrong. Perhaps she was a mirage. "Mairwen?" he asked carefully. "And who might this be?" Cafer leaned over the scientist and came into the boy's field of vision. Although Renat had never seen the gnome before, he instinctively did not like him. The tall boy unconsciously scowled, which made the gnome lift his eyebrows in challen
Devrim and his band of servants, noblemen and soldiers pushed through the wall to escape the gnomic and dragon invasion. The grey-eyed man was second-guessing his decision to leave his son and the elven spymaster behind, but there was little time to lose. If Brinn and Alaron were unsuccessful at stalling the enemy, the gnomes would catch them very soon.Ahead of the humans was the Great River. It ran from the north, wound through the city of Valiant, and continued southward. Much of the world's trade came along that river, and so ships were often spotted in the current. But the ships that Devrim saw just now were not trade ships."Pirates!" Junayd screamed."Do not look at their leader!" Devrim ordered. He turned to Mairwen and Eira. "Do you both have your glasses?" he asked as he pulled out his own pair of orange-tinted lenses.Eira slipped on her pair while Mairwen groped for the pocket in her dress. She pulled out the frames and another wave of grief washed over her. Renat had made
"I pledge my allegiance and devotion to the future Emperor Alaron. May he reign forever! Glory to the Emperor," the servant pressed his face to the floor, obviously trembling.He was one in a long line of castle staff that wanted to protect his life. Cafer had given the captured humans an ultimatum: pledge their undying allegiance to the new Emperor and keep their job or be put into prison. Most chose option one.At first Alaron liked the attention. He was able to look down from his throne and feel superior as each subject begged his favor. It was empowering. 'I could get used to this,' he chuckled inwardly. Over time, though, the task became tedious. Like any teenager, his mind began to drift to other things.Alaron wondered how Mairwen was doing. Had he made the right call in letting her go? Brinn had not given him a lot of choice, but he hoped that the princess would return on her own when she realized what a great ruler he was. 'She cannot stay away forever,' he comforted himself.
The waves from the crashing pirate ships went in every direction. The impact was so large that splinters touched both banks of the river. Water poured over the wooden hulls like grasping arms until only a set of new rapids remained in the flow.One wave hit Devrim's small life boat and flipped it over. The grey-eyed man's training took over and he paddled to break the surface. He searched frantically for Mairwen and Eira, the other two people who had been with him.He was relieved when their heads bobbed to the surface. "Get back to the boat!" Devrim yelled.The two ladies struggled against their clothing and weapons to make it back to the overturned rowboat. Eira, who had not been trained to swim, relied purely on instinct to keep her alive. She almost gave up when her fingers brushed against the wooden rowboat. Grabbing it to stay afloat, three humans kicked the boat and themselves to shore.By the time they made it to the muddy bank, they were far downstream from the crash. Devrim,
Brinn waited until long after everyone was asleep to leave Mairwen's suite. Unwilling to let Renat return to his room in the infirmary, the elf had given him one of the sitting rooms to use for a bedroom.If she could return him to the real princess, Brinn promised herself that she would. In the meantime, she would keep him close.The ladies-in-waiting had been returned to their rooms as well. The girls chatted nervously, afraid of the short men who had taken over the palace. Brinn, disguised as Mairwen, tried to settle their nerves. "It will be fine," the elf assured them. "Mind your own business and stay here as much as possible. We will figure something out.""Your Highness," a girl with long blonde locks said. "Are you alright? You sound different."Brinn gave her a princess's scowl. "This is my assertive voice. Get used to it or I will release you from your duty!""Yes ma'am," the lady responded humbly and curtsied.'Whew,' Brinn gave a silent sigh of relief until another one of
The princess was summoned to the makeshift dining hall for breakfast the next morning. Brinn was glad that elves did not need much sleep, because she had only gotten a little rest after her nighttime excursion."Alaron has a lot of nerve ordering me around!" Brinn grumbled as she kicked angrily at the air in Mairwen's bedroom. "Who does he think he is?!"Renat sat on the chair at the large vanity. He furrowed his brow at her tantrum. "I am pretty sure he thinks he is the new Emperor. If you do not want to get caught, you should probably do what he orders.""Mairwen would never take orders from her brother!" Brinn insisted."The princess is clever. She would play along and gather information, just as you usually do. I would guess that the prince is the problem, not the mission." Renat crossed his arms. After his arm-sling was ruined by slime, the boy discovered his range of movement was good enough to do away with the bandage.The elf glared at Renat but knew he was right. She had work
It was hard to tell how much time had passed inside the Storehouse. Based the trio's internal clocks, it had at least been overnight. Fortunately Zan had dried food and water inside his Guardian's cloak, so they were not going to die of hunger or thirst just yet.Every so often they would go down the hall to check and make sure the entrance was still blocked. Gandr had told them that he could not get through that thick of a cave-in. The glowstone was magical and very hard on his body. A thin wall was passable, but the sheer volume of magical stone was impossibly overwhelming.It was the same problem with the passage and the Storehouse. The walls there were carved out by the Fates, and no amount of magic could penetrate them. So they must sit and wait.Just now the halfling, the Guardian, and the Empress sat pensively around one of the Storehouse tables, trying to pass the time. The males knew that they should not touch any of the books or relics. They did not want the Storehouse to a
The group of four grew quiet as they exited the darkened tunnel. Ithel held up his hand as he peeked out of the passage. Seeing no one, the he-elf motioned them forward.The place where they found themselves was a long clean hall with windows cut to look like flickering flames. 'We are inside the elven palace,' Aurora observed. While she was expecting it to be so, the realization was still eye-opening.Ithel pulled them into the nearest empty room. Uniforms hung along one wall. "Do you want us to look like servants?" The Empress asked.The elven prince nodded. "Although we released the…indentured servants…from their obligations, some have still stayed. The uniforms can help you blend in. Plus if anyone sees you around here looking strangely dressed and covered in dirt, you will be stopped before you go another step. You know how far reaching my parents' informants can be."Aurora looked at her clothing. She did look very out of place, and exceptionally dirty. "Very well," she agreed.