“When do we leave?” Kinsey asked.
“We don’t,” I said. “I do. You stay here where it’s safe.”
Kinsey opened her mouth to respond, but the king spoke first. “Your brother is right. It would be foolish to risk both your lives.” The king smiled at her, but I knew the truth. He wanted Kinsey to remain in his city as a hostage to retain my compliance. He needn’t have bothered; I wasn’t about to betray him. As much as I hated the king, the rest were at least honorable and I needed them.
My sister’s face was crestfallen to say the least, but she nodded her understanding. “Ok. How long will you be gone?” All eyes turned to the king.
“We leave tomorrow morning and should be gone no longer than ten days.” He placed a reassuring hand on Kinsey’s shoulder and gave her a fatherly smile. “Once your magical training is complete, you will certainly be welcome to join our ventures.” Kinsey’s eyes lowered in dejection but she nodded her understanding.
“Hey, we won’t be leaving until tomorrow,” I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“Quite true!” said the king with gusto. “We are fortunate that the Festival of Ostara is tonight. So, this night will include both the celebration of spring’s rebirth and the valor of the elves undertaking the task. A diplomatic envoy of the dwarves arrived this morning, bringing some of their finest ales. Those ales and our wines will make a heroic addition to tonight’s festivities.”
Kinsey either didn’t notice or chose to ignore the fact that I, as a human, wasn’t mentioned with the valiant forces. She beamed at the thought of a party. Both she Melina scurried off bouncing ideas off each other as to what they should wear for the formal occasion. The king watched them disappear into the forest before turning to me.
“The plan is simple, human. Tallus will lead the Rangers, while I lead the Royal Guard. You will dress in clothing like others of your…” the king paused to give me a condescending smile, “their workers. Then you will simply pass through the gates of their palisade.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Palisade? As in a wooden wall? Wouldn’t your spellcasters make quick work of that?”
“Normally, yes. But as I said before, there are a host of mages from the Academy. One of the Order and two of the Brotherhood.”
“Order and Brotherhood?” I asked. From the look of the two elves, apparently that description would have been enough for most people.
“Mages of the Order are manipulators of the material world,” Tallus said, “and the Brotherhood are war mages. The mage of the Order alone might be able to hold us off, but the addition of two war mages…” the elf shook his head. “we wouldn’t even come close to the walls.”
“Shit!” I said. “And you can’t get your forces inside as long as the mages are there.” I stood staring at a rather unremarkable weed near the river as I considered the problem. The way I saw it, this was all but a death sentence. For me, at least. “What exactly do you expect me to do with those mages?”
A dark look crossed over the king’s face. “The way your people violate the weave requires extraordinary concentration so they do not lose control. Should they do so, the resulting explosion would devastate a large portion of the surrounding countryside.” It was clear the way the king spit the words he considered human casting hideous, even detestable. His eyes took a faraway look and he seemed lost in thought.
Tallus glanced to his father, then looked at me with a sly smile. “So, our thought was poison them,” he said. “Whether they die or are just incapacitated doesn’t matter. Either way they can’t cast magic.”
“Something I can mix with alcohol?” I asked hopefully. It’s been my experience that it’s far easier to get someone to consume alcohol than anything else.
“No,” the king said, his attention suddenly snapped back to us. “The Brotherhood is a group of zealots. They refuse anything that impairs the mind. We have a compound that will do the job that is both colorless and tasteless.” He then gave dismissive wave, whether to me or the topic I wasn’t sure. “We’ll have it for you when we reach the human outpost. For now, enjoy the banquet. As you will be taking such a risk, consider yourself a guest of honor at the festivities tonight. But be sure to sleep well as we leave early in the morning.” The king gave his son a smile and nod, then graced me with a curt nod, and turned to disappear back into the Royal City.
I looked down at the wooden sword laying at my feet. “So…”
“Oh, no,” Tallus said. “You’ve never been to an elvin banquet before. It’s going to take the rest of today to get you ready.” The elf looked me over and smirked yet again. “There’s just not much to work with after all.”
The Banquet
Tallus assigned me a host of elves to get me prepared for the festival. From the way they whispered and fretted, it wasn’t hard to figure out the Festival of Ostara must be the most important celebration they had. Given its importance, I tolerated having them measure, powder, and perfume me, but when it came to bathing me, I drew a firm line. I’d been bathing myself for decades; I wasn’t about to let the males or the females bathe me. After a quick bath in the local stream Tallus and I practiced by, I’d slipped on the flashy silk clothes I’d been loaned. Probably a gift from some long-forgotten human diplomat since they fit like a glove. I meandered through the Weald in the direction of the festivities. The sun had long since set, but the bonfires of the banquet cast a warm and welcoming glow through the majestic Weald.
During my prep time, the elves neglected to mention the banquet would be clothing-optional. Not that I’m a prude, but it was a bit of a shock when a pair of giggling and naked elf women past before me, one chasing the other. More and more elves dashed in and out of the dark forest, brimming with laughter. The runners were naked, many painted their bodies in a variety of pastel colors. Some were painted completely red, others blue, along with pink, violet, yellow, green, or brown. Most were being chased by other naked elves also painted from head to toe. The few that weren’t being chased were trying to entice others into chasing them. One beautiful, and very perky, young green painted blonde raced up and seized my hand. Her face was lovely and smile heart-stopping, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her mouth-watering nubile body. Fortunately, she seemed to approve of my gaze and did her best to entice me into chasing after her. I wanted nothing more than to pursue her and spend the night exploring every inch of her luscious body.
But I was one of the guests of honor and couldn’t afford to insult our hosts. She looked as disappointed as I when I politely declined, citing my reason. The pretty young blonde perked up substantially when she looked back to catch me watching her ass as she departed. I got one last sweet grin before she vanished into the darkness.
“I would have gone with her.”
I almost jumped out of my skin as Tallus strolled up behind me. He was one of the few elves I’d seen so far that was actually wearing something other than paint, an outfit with beautiful patterns made from various shades of different green leaves.
“If I did that you wouldn’t see me till morning,” I said.
“That’s the point,” Tallus said. We grinned at each other and started for the banquet.
It was hard to ignore the naked elves that continued to materialize from and disappeared into the night around us. Especially the naked blue painted elf that dashed between us. He was grinning and glancing back at the naked unpainted elf following him. The chasing elf wore an equally big smile, his eyes locked on the man he was chasing. The two didn’t even seem to notice us as they rushed back into the comforting concealment of the dark.
“Looks like everyone but us is having fun,” I said with a chuckle.
“Everyone but you,” Tallus said with a grin.
“If someone had told me what to expect, I might have gotten out here a little earlier. Not that I’m complaining, but what’s with all the naked chasing?”
“It’s the Festival of Ostara.” He said simply as though that explained ever
ything.
“So, it’s a celebration?”
Tallus chuckled. “The Festival of Ostara is more than a simple celebration. For us, this one night is the only moment of pure freedom we have. It’s the one night a year where we are allowed to forget our responsibility to our race and focus on our responsibility to ourselves.” His gaze was suddenly locked somewhere behind me. “I’d be happy to explain it in more detail when there’s more time but, for now, I’m needed elsewhere.”
“Looking forward to it,” I said, my eyes drawn to another pair of naked elves dashed between us, almost running me down.
When I turned back, Tallus was wearing yet another grin but it wasn’t for me. It was for the caramel-skinned beauty that materialized from the darkness behind me. I turned to gape at a sight that would have been a vision to look upon if she’d been dressed, but naked she was captivating.
“If anyone asks, tell them I had something to do and would be late.” Tallus’s voice reminded me he was still there and pulled my attention back to him. The last of the leaves he’d been wearing were fluttering to the ground around him as moved slowly toward the woman like a hunting cat stalking its prey. She matched his grin as she slowly backed away, clearly intending to make him work for his prize.
I couldn’t help stealing one last glance at the caramel beauty before she disappeared into the forest. Shaking my head in disappointment, I marched on toward the festival.
The grand banquet was held on the grasses at the heart of the Royal City. Dwarves disliked being off the ground, so great effort was put into creating a grand banquet worthy of the dwarven diplomats in the verdant fields of the forest floor. Continuously glowing insects flitted and danced through the air, lending their light to the twin bonfires cutting into the dark of the night. Seven elves played weird looking instruments that created fantastic music at the west edge of the festival. A row of tables laden with every kind of edible plant and sweet one could imagine lay at the north and south ends of the banquet area. In honor of their dwarf guests, the elves even provided a roast boar on one row of tables and roast deer on the other. It the first time since my arrival at the Weald that I could actually look forward to a decent, meat-laden, meal.
The king led off the festival with a grand speech thanking their dwarven friends from the mountains for visiting the elvin lands. His opening speech was immediately followed by the entertainment as elvin contortionists twisted, performers writhed, singers sang, and jesters frolicked. Acrobats used their bodies and magic in harmony to perform acts of dexterity with vines that boggled the mind. Even the elvin spellcasters awed the crowd by coaxing rare moonflowers to bloom, their small bluish-white petals iridescent in the night.
As I watched the elves fall into the music, it quickly became obvious that dancing was more than just entertainment for the elves. It was a deeply spiritual expression of their souls. Almost every elf swayed to the music at some point. Old or young, naked or clothed, same sex partners, mixed, or alone, once their bodies fell into the rhythm of the music, nothing else mattered. When the music took control, their bodies became the instrument of the music, and the world around them simply extensions of the rhythm.
I let one almond eyed elf pull me into the swaying throng and, for a few minutes, we swayed to the music, our bodies pressed tightly together and eyes locked. But soon her eyes closed and it became obvious she didn’t need me. I was no longer Jacob Martin to her but just another element of her musical universe. I stayed a few minutes, my hands caressing the velvety leaves on her arms, shoulders and back, but soon became disenchanted with the idea of being less a person than a prop to her dancing. Looking back, she was twisting to the music already oblivious to my absence.
Moments after I returned to the buffet, Melina and Kinsey showed. Melina wore a form-fitting dress made from thousands of tiny lilac petals. It carried a hint of the lilac smell like a perfume. Kinsey wore a dress made of red rose petals that had a belt of green rose leaves and a buckle of four golden rose petals. It was just as beautiful as Melina’s dress, but it was also just as aggravatingly form fitting. Once she saw me, Kinsey rushed over for a hug with Melina in tow.
“I’m so glad you made it,” she burst out. A huge smile was spread all over her face. “Considering what a beating you’ve been taking in your training I wasn’t sure if you would come.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I said, then looked with a smirk at one of the naked dancing elf women. “I was incentivized.” The comment drew a smile from both women and a playful swat from my sister. “You both look fantastic,” I said with a large grin for each of them. A pair of smiles and thank-yous answered me. “Did you make your dresses yourselves?”
“We did,” Melina said. “I’d expected to have to help Kinsey quite a bit, but your sister is progressing at a phenomenal rate. I only started teaching her to raise the plants from seed then entice them into giving up their leaves and petals just a few days ago. Most initiates spend weeks, perhaps months learning to do that.”
Kinsey actually blushed at that. I rarely ever saw her blush, even when we were young. “You helped a lot.”
“Believe me Kin, not anywhere near as much as I should have. You’re a prodigy.”
Kinsey’s smile almost took over her entire face. She turned to look at me in my brightly colored and borrowed silk clothes. The red of the overcoat was so bright that it seared the eyes and its matching red silk pants were so slick I thought they might slide off if I walked too much. “I’m surprised you aren’t wearing the same thing in honor of our new friends,” she said.
Your new friends, I thought. Not mine. “I wouldn’t look good in a dress,” I said instead. “Besides, I’m not really into wearing the local fauna.”
Another pair of grins. “It’s actually flora,” Kinsey said. “Fauna are the animals.”
“Well, them either.
“Have you seen Prince Tallus anywhere?” Melina asked, tugging a lock of her hair and looking around expectantly.
“He told me he’d be here pretty quick,” I said. “He just has something he wanted to take care of first.” I didn’t enjoy giving Melina the runaround. She was a good kid. Luckily the girl didn’t ask any more questions. She just nodded and the two women melted into the crowd.
While socializing wasn’t one of my strong points, a love of pork was. I made my way to the pork station, the smell making my stomach rumble and mouth water. Luckily, since elves were almost entirely a vegan society, there was no line. A sharp carving knife, pointed serving fork, and heated plate later, I had several slices of juicy pork, a mug of dwarf ale, and something that looked like mashed potatoes but smelled suspiciously like something healthy.
I was still sniffing the creamy white mash when a gruff voice sounded behind me. “I see there’s someone else here who likes food that actually has taste to it.” I turned with a smirk to see a short bearded fellow behind me dressed in satin. The dwarf smiled up at me, his own plate overloaded with steaming pork.
“I’ve been here two months and they’ve been feeding me greens, roots, and berries,” I said. “I was about to kill for a decent meal.”
“The elves are a proud and noble peoples, and I am always glad to visit upon their hallowed forest,” the dwarf said haughtily. I started to worry that I’d offended. “But I’m always glad to leave and get a good meal.” His last comment drew a chuckle of both relief and mirth from me.
“Jake Martin,” I said, placing down my ale so I could extend my hand.
The dwarf shook my hand, then lowered into a deep bow. “My name is Thalmer Fireforge, first advisor to his Majesty, King Bolivar Frostfall and royal diplomatic envoy of the city of Deephome. Come. I will introduce you to the other diplomat.”
During our short walk I learned the dwarf city of Deephome was found somewhere in the mountains I’d seen on the flight here. It lay north of the human outpost I would be helping to remove tomorrow morning. Dwarf tunnels and elvin magic made their trip here relatively unremarkable
.
The other diplomat introduced herself as Yssia Shieldwall of the dwarf city of Anvilston. I was surprised to find that she and her entourage had traveled across the known world and endured considerable risk to make it here tonight.
The dwarves were by far the loudest of the party goers, and I found them far more relatable than the elves. The two diplomats were both different kinds of engineers, and while Fireforge the architect wore satin, Shieldwall the machinist preferred silk. Their guards forewent the usual full armor, the kind of plated metal you would see standing on a pedestal in a castle hallway somewhere. They hung the empty suits on stands with their weapons around the festivities in respect for their hosts and instead dressed in brightly colored linens and cottons for the gala.
We feasted on succulent meats and drank dwarven ales well into the night. Often I’d see the dwarves dip into pouches on their belts and sprinkle crystalline grains on their food. It reminded me of salt, except it wasn’t just clear crystals. It was every color of the rainbow.
“Hope you don’t mind my asking,” I said after taking a nice deep gulp of dwarven stout. “But what is that you keep putting on your food?”
“Flavorin’,” answered an older dwarf, his tawny hair streaked with white. He introduced himself as Garrim as he held the pouch out and poured some of the crystals into my palm. They were tiny gemstones. “Rubies, Sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, carnelian, amber, obsidian, fluorite, calcite, quartz, and salt.”
“Is that normal?” I asked in surprise. “Eating rocks? The elves said your people live on underground mushrooms.”
“That we do, lad,” the dwarf replied. “They’re our source of fiber. But we flavor with rocks the way ya flavor with salt. Ya get most yer minerals from plants and animals. We get ours from the source.” He accentuated his point by tossing a quartz crystal in his mouth.
“So do dwarves eat their own treasure?” I asked.
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