“How far up are we going?” Princess Telgra finally asked after they had eaten.
“The royal apartments and the quarters for distinguished guests are above the steam cloud, Your Highness,” Cade answered her formally. “That is where we will exit the lift.”
“You said that King Aldar is expecting us this evening?” Hyden asked, fishing for information.
“He is,” Cade said.
“Will we be given time to wash the road off of us?” Hyden asked, thinking as much about Telgra as he was anyone. “And our cleanest clothes are down with our things.”
“Actually, your things are already being delivered to your rooms,” Cade informed them. “This isn’t the only way up to the royal chambers. And yes, Sir Hyden Hawk, I believe that you will have at least a few hours to wash and recover before King Aldar summons you.”
It was like sitting in a room where the open entryways changed every few moments. For a time, worked stone was all that was visible, and then an opening would seemingly slide down the wall, revealing a corridor full of closed doors, or a floor full of giants working leather, or another vast expanse of stored goods. Even though they had seen as much space as any human city offers, it was apparent that they were seeing very little of Afdeon.
Once, the giantess storyteller, Berda, had told the Skyler Clan a tale about a forest inside a castle. Hyden remembered Gerard asking, “You mean a forest inside the castle’s protective wall?”
“No,” she’d replied. “I mean a forest that is high above the ground, growing in a room in a great castle.”
The idea of it had boggled Hyden’s mind back then. He often wondered about such a forest, about where the rain and the sunlight the trees needed to grow would come from. Now, sensing an infinite largeness around him, it wasn’t so unbelievable.
“Slanted holes in the walls let steam in. It condenses on the ceiling of the cavern and then drops down like rain,” Cade explained when Hyden finally asked about it. The giant didn’t explain how the trees got sunlight, and Hyden was too busy thinking to ask.
“I just realized that this bench wasn’t made for humans,” Lieutenant Welch said, as if he’d made some great revelation.
“Who else would they be for?” Phen asked.
“For the children,” Princess Telgra grinned.
“True,” Cade said with a smile over at Oarly whose feet dangled a good foot above the floor. “My four-year- old son is at least a hand taller than Master Oarly.”
“I hope he’s not as ugly,” Phen joked.
“Or as hairy,” added Hyden.
“Bah!” Oarly grumbled, while everyone laughed. “How much longer are we going up?”
Cade peered at the passing floor, a ribbed hallway like the one they had traversed down to the Cauldron barge. The sconces holding the lamp flames along the walls here were gauntleted fists holding knife hilts. The flames rose up like short, wavering dagger blades.
“It won’t be much longer, Master Dwarf,” Cade answered.
On the next floor, toting one of Phen’s chests between them, two of the page boys went striding by in an adjacent passage. Hyden figured that somewhere nearby the ribbed hallway was another room with that unsettling portal symbol carved in its floor, and an unnatural pool of quicksilver suspended overhead.
The lift finally slowed to a halt at a floor far different from the others they had seen. They stepped off the platform onto a wide, short hallway tiled with glossy slabs of jade that were checkered with a lightly hued golden marble. The walls were covered in lavender silk, and several large, intricately carved, wooden doors were spaced down the length of the hall.
Small matching wooden tables, sporting clawed feet, sat between the doors. Each displayed a different work of sculpted art. Overhead, a chandelier of crystal and gold lit the area well.
“The distinguished guest quarters,” Cade announced regally. “There are only seven apartments. The master suite has been reserved for Princess Telgra; it’s the door at the head of the hall. The other apartments are all equipped to sleep up to three persons or couples. The first room here…” He indicated the door on the right. The carving in the door-face depicted the forging of Ironspike. Dwarves hammered the metal while elves hovered close at hand, their hands frozen in wild gestures of magical incantation. Beyond them, several giants poured melted ore into a kettle, while a lone human with terrified eyes watched it all. The scene was captivating. Hyden studied it in awe. He remembered another depiction of the same event, in stained glass high up on Queen Willa’s castle wall in Xwarda. He remembered seeing the destroyed pieces of it spread across the carnage after the battle, as if the gods had thrown a handful of jewels across the battle field.
“…all of your things,” Cade was saying as he opened the door and broke Hyden’s concentration. Inside, most of the group’s packs, their saddles, trunks, and other belongings lay spread out in neat piles.
“Across the hall, a chamber has been set up as a planning room, complete with maps and a council table.”
Its door carving showed a group of giants with long spears battling a sizable dragon. Cade didn’t open it. He told the others to pick from the four remaining rooms, then took Princess Telgra gently by the arm. He guided her to the door at the end of the chamber. On its face was a view of Afdeon they hadn’t seen. It was looking down on the city from the top of a mountain, or maybe some point higher in the sky. Cade opened the door for her and asked her what she might need.
To her great surprise, a beautiful gown made of some light material, that was the same yellow color of her eyes, had been laid out for her. The way its belted waist and layered shoulders were cut allowed for it to fit a woman with either a smaller, or larger, stature than her.
“A gift from Princess Gretta,” Cade explained. “About an hour before you’ll be escorted to the King’s Gathering Hall for the night’s festivities, two of her ladies will attend you with brushes and perfumes and such.”
“Oh thank you, Cade,” she said, so informally that it startled the giant when she hugged his waist. “Please give her my thanks.”
***
When the giant came back out of her room his look was perplexed. Hyden motioned for him to come into the room he had chosen for himself, Oarly, and Phen. Its door showed a sailing ship climbing a huge breaking wave during a stormy night at sea. Lightning split the sky, silhouetting the giant standing on the deck of the tossed vessel. He was trying to harpoon some undefined scaly thing which was rising up out of the ocean. The detail in the depictions mystified Hyden. He couldn’t fathom carving wood so well.
Once Cade was inside the room, Hyden shut the door. “You might take a moment to speak with the elven guardsman, Corva,” Hyden suggested. “The princess lost her memory and doesn’t seem to want to be treated as royalty. She definitely doesn’t want to be reminded of her past yet.”
“She wants to restore her memory to herself at the Leif Repline,” Phen explained. “But she doesn’t want to be influenced before then. She only learned a few days ago that she was the Queen Mother’s daughter and heir.”
“That brings up a most peculiar set of circumstances,” Cade said. “King Aldar had intended to honor her coming this evening. His daughter wants to get acquainted with her.”
“Would you tell King Aldar for me?” Hyden asked. “It would probably be better to keep our meeting private. Of course, Princess Gretta should be included. I’ve met her, and I will gladly explain to her Princess Telgra’s predicament.”
“That I can do,” said Cade thankfully. “His Majesty will be glad to avoid making our lady elf any more uncomfortable than she must already be.”
Later, standing near the entryway by the lift waiting for Cade, Jicks was complaining about not getting the apartment that Lieutenant Welch had chosen. Jicks had gotten the door with the hunting great wolves depicted on it. He admitted that this would have been his second choice, but he and Krey would rather have the door showing the great battle scene between giants and tr
olls. Huge clubs, spears, and thrown rocks rained down. Both sides had taken plenty of damage and the situation looked desperate. It was gripping.
“At least you didn’t get the silly tree,” one of them said.
“What about Spike?” Phen asked Hyden. It was all he could do to peel his eyes away from Telgra. Seeing her fresh and clean took his breath away.
Talon was perched proudly on Hyden’s shoulder, preening himself. The bird had arrived at their apartment’s windowsill after leaving them for a while.
“There might be great wolves in the hall tonight,” Hyden warned.
“Spike is coming with me,” Telgra said matter-of-factly. She appeared to be very nervous. “I doubt we’ll stay very long. If the wolves end up with noses full of quills, it will be their own fault.”
Corva sighed in distress. He was sure the princess was about to unintentionally shame her great station in front of the King of Giants and his family.
“King Aldar’s daughter, Princess Gretta, wants to spend some time getting to know you,” Phen said. Those were the first words he’d spoken to her after telling her how beautiful she looked in her formal gown. The time between his words had been spent gawking at her stupidly.
“Telgra,” Hyden said with a comforting smile, “Gretta is only ten or eleven years old. She is very bashful, and is as big as a grown woman. She is a child. You have nothing to worry about.”
This visibly eased Telgra’s tension, but she still clung to Spike as tightly as she could without pricking herself.
The lift arrived and Cade beckoned them onto it. The sound of a door banging closed brought all of their attention to Oarly. Ten ‘O’ -shaped mouths stared at him as he scurried his little legs toward the lift. Even Cade was shocked by the dwarf's transformation.
Oarly’s hair was brushed to each side of a center part. Fine black leather britches peeked out from under his multicolored silk tunic. He had on new Valleyan boots and a bejeweled leather belt sporting at least a dozen thumb-sized rubies. His normally unkempt, food-ridden beard had been brushed, shaped, and trimmed up to his chest. In his stubby-fingered hands he carried a black velvet bag and a small, finely worked silver box. When he saw the faces of his companions he sneered. Then his eyes landed on Princess Telgra and he let out a slow wolf whistle. Stepping onto the lift, he eased up next to Phen. His tone was conspiratorial, but he made sure his voice was clear to all when he spoke. “By Doon, lad, we could have painted you up so you didn’t look so pale.”
This got a few chuckles from the group.
Phen moved away from Oarly and stood beside Telgra.
Hyden, still taken aback by Oarly’s appearance, asked, “What’s in the box, stranger? I’d never in a million years expected you to clean up so well.”
“That was the first hot bath and change of clothes he’s had since King Mikahl’s wedding,” Phen said from behind them.
“That’s not true, lad,” Oarly said. “I took a bath at Kander Keep when we came out of the swamp.”
“He did,” Telgra agreed.
“Still, that was over a month ago,” Phen said with a laugh at Telgra’s wrinkle-nosed expression.
“Not all of us can clean ourselves with a feather duster, Marble Boy,” Oarly shot back. “And at least I have the courtesy to bring gifts to the king who took us in out of the cold.”
Hyden and Phen shared a look. Even Lieutenant Welch and Princess Telgra had come to know Oarly well enough to know that he was up to something with all of this grooming and gifting. Never before had he concerned himself with what others thought of him.
Just before the lift came to a halt, Dostin asked Corva, loud enough for everyone to hear him, “Do you think Phen really cleans himself with a feather duster?”
Cade boomed out a laugh that he cut short suddenly when he saw King Aldar and Princess Gretta flanked by Urp and Oof waiting on the feast hall floor for them. The look King Aldar was giving Cade was imposing, and suddenly everyone bowed. Talon broke the tense moment when he flapped himself over to Princess Gretta, landed on her wrist and cooed. Her delighted giggles seemed to please her father. He extended a hand toward Hyden, then opened his arms in a welcoming gesture.
“Rise,” he commanded. “Welcome to Afdeon.”
Chapter 38
King Aldar hadn’t changed much since Hyden last saw him, but he was dressed less crudely. The previous meeting had taken place where Loudin of the Reyhall was buried. The ancient, silver-maned giant had been wearing thick furs and traveling clothes. Now he wore a sky-blue floor-length robe the hue of his own sparkling eyes.
Princess Gretta however, did not look the same. Where Hyden expected to see a child stood a beautiful, budding young woman. The definition of features on her wide, pretty face had sharpened. Framed by dark, curly ringlets, her look held the promise of long-lasting beauty. The daisy and lace layered dress she wore went well with her turquoise eyes and was of a cut similar to Telgra’s. The garment enhanced the slightly curvaceous turn her growth had taken. When she saw Spike clutched in Telgra’s hands, eyeing the wolves suspiciously, she came over for a closer look. As mature as she looked, the excitement that spread across her face betrayed her youth.
To Hyden’s surprise, the King of Giants stepped forth, then bent down and gave him a powerful hug. Hyden felt like a little boy being clutched by his father. When the king straightened back up, he spoke to the group in a conspiratorial whisper.
“Once we get to the dining hall, and the queen has been announced, we can dispense with all the formalities. What’s this?” he asked, suddenly looking down at Oarly. A sort of uneasy surprise registered on his face as the dwarf thrust up the leather pouch he had brought.
“This is for your highness, King Aldar.” Oarly spoke most properly, drawing looks from Hyden and Phen. “It’s a gift from the people of Doon. It’s not much, but it’s precious.”
As soon as the king accepted the pouch, Oarly handed the silverwork box to Princess Gretta. “And this is for you and your mother, my lady.”
Without opening the pouch, King Aldar beckoned the group to follow him down a series of oversized halls, all of them decorated in eye-bulging opulence. Immaculate paintings hung on the walls, and pedestals displayed carvings of dragons, elk, wolves, and various trees all fashioned from wood, ivory, and different types of stone. The walls were done in paneled burlwood and the halls were illuminated by gold-and-crystal chandeliers that hung at intervals from the ceiling.
Princess Gretta, with Talon perched on her wrist near the silver box she was clutching, and with Spike cradled lovingly in her other arm, urged Princess Telgra to open the silver box for her. Hyden watched, noting that Telgra seemed relieved after meeting the giantess. Both young ladies gasped at what lay inside the box. On a tiny pillow of black velvet lay seven pairs of sparkling ear danglers, each made of a different precious metal or gem. There were diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires, as well as silver, gold and a set made of some delicate stone that was deep gray traced with tiny veins of scarlet.
Both Corva and Lieutenant Welch caught a glimpse in the box. Corva wondered why a woman wanted to decorate herself with pieces of the earth, while Lieutenant Welch wondered how many hundreds of years he would have to work at his present salary to buy even one piece of such precious jewelry.
Princess Gretta saw Corva looking at the contents of the box and spoke to him shyly. “You look like Vaegon, somewhat,” she said. Clearly, the observation took Corva’s breath away. Vaegon was the closest thing to a hero the race of elves had known for his entire lifetime. Vaegon’s fame came from his friendship with Hyden and Mikahl, two humans whom most of the Elder elves didn’t regard highly. Princess Telgra, though, before she lost her memory, had idolized the brave archer from the Willowbrow Clan. Corva replied with a shaky, “Thank you, my lady.” Then he swelled with visible pride.
Princess Gretta covered her mouth and then whispered something to Princess Telgra. Both girls giggled, and Corva flushed a light shade of blue.
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“She likes you, Corva,” Dostin observed loudly.
They entered a set of double doors with panels carved into something resembling a wildly split face that was hidden in the features of a mountain landscape. The room was cozy and just big enough for all of them to feel comfortable in, without feeling swallowed up. A table of glossy black marble was set for them. Chairs with higher seats, fitted so the humans could be above the surface, were set around the length of the slab. Three golden candelabras were spread down its length. The reflection of the tiny flames flickered and danced on the golden goblets and dinnerware.
Once the group were all in the room, the great wolves took up alert sitting positions just outside the dining hall. Then the heavy wooden doors swung silently shut, seemingly of their own accord. Hyden was drawn to look at them as he sensed the ozonic sensation of magic in action. His attention was drawn back to their host as King Aldar himself announced his wife.
“My honored and distinguished guests, may I present the Lady of Afdeon, Gertra Awln, Queen of the Mountains and Valleys, and the holder of my heart.”
“Oh stop it, Aldar,” the big woman said. She was close to thirteen feet tall and probably four feet across. A proportionately fit woman, her round face showed traces of youthful beauty. It was impossible not to notice the foot-and-a-half of cleavage her forest green dining gown revealed. With breasts the size of barrel kegs and a cheery smile, it would be hard to call her anything less than pretty. She looked easily a third of her husband’s age, but such was the way of things when kings took wives.
Everyone had bowed again, and while they did, Princess Gretta hurried excitedly to her mother’s side to show her the gift the dwarf had given them.
“Please rise,” Queen Gertra said. “Hyden of the Skyler Clan is the only one of you who owes fealty to the Crown of Afdeon.” She turned toward Princess Telgra and beamed. “I hope that after you have visited the Leif Repline you will come stay with us for a while. I would love to get to know you better, as would Gretta.”
The Wizard and the Warlord (The Wardstone Trilogy Book Three) Page 29