‘Wait a moment, we haven’t gotten to the main point,’ Adair interjected, before anyone else had the chance to open their mouth to speak ‘you still haven’t told us about Fallon’s parents. If they’re not dead, where are they?’ he asked Ardan, and everyone suddenly realised the same thing, and we all turned our attention to him again.
‘I was getting to it, Your Highness. As I said before, Arekin lied about Fallon’s parents being killed on patrol - as Prince Evander told you before my explanation, as prisoners of the castle Fallon’s parents wouldn’t even have been allowed outside. They were, in fact, unlawfully banished to the Jekoran Desert a year and a half after they were abducted and brought to his castle. They had refused to do a job for him - though try as I might I cannot recall what it was - anyway, the main point is that Fallon’s parents were sent unlawfully into the Jekoran Desert to live out the rest of their lives in exile.
We need to tell Fallon her parents are alive now, before she sinks so deep into her grief that she can never come out of it!’ Ardan replied, almost shouting by the time he finished, his ears and cheeks turning red in embarrassment, and then knelt in front of me for the second time.
‘Forgive me for my outburst, Prince Evander. Please give me permission to tell Fallon about her parents.’
‘I give my permission,’ I said. ‘However, I will also be there when you tell her the good news.’
Still Alive
Five or so minutes later, knocking lightly on the door of her bedroom, I called ‘Fallon, can we come in?’
There was a faint ‘yes’ from inside so I opened the door, and Ardan and I entered. Fallon was lying on her bed curled up into a ball, staring out of the window looking out onto the gardens and training grounds of the palace. Her eyes were red and puffy, her nose too, and there was a scattered pile of used tissues in front of the bedside table.
Ardan slowly made his way around the bed as I closed the door, dropping to his haunches in front of her and blocking her view of the window.
‘Hello Fallon, my name is Ardan. I’m a citizen and soldier of Orfedil sent into the midst of Arekin and his followers as an undercover agent by Evander’s father to discover the reason behind his breaking from the Elandrean Portal Guard. I was there when Arekin took you away from his castle and down the mountain. I am your friend and ally Fallon, so you need not fear me’ he said, keeping his voice gentle.
Fallon gave a little sniffle and sat up, her legs still curled beneath her, and wiped her eyes as if trying to wipe away the redness. ‘My friend...and ally?’ she asked him.
He smiled, ‘yes, I am, and I’m here to help you.’
Fallon suddenly furrowed her brow in confusion, and looked as though she were about to cry again.
‘How can you help me, Ardan? Nobody can do that, not even Evander and his family… my parents are gone, and I know nothing can bring them back- even in this world’ she said, her eyes pooling with tears again, her bottom lip trembling slightly.
Ardan didn’t say anything at first, simply crouching in front of her, but then he slowly reached out and took her hand, causing her eyes to widen in surprise, and her bottom lip even stopped trembling as he stared her right in the eye.
‘Fallon, I am about tell you something that will probably come as a bit of a shock, but I promise you that I never lie.’
Fallon nodded, as if giving him permission to carry on.
‘Arekin lied Fallon. Your parents are not dead, but somewhere in the Jekoran Desert, which is east of here. They were unlawfully exiled there two years after they were abducted by Arekin himself. I’m going to help you search for them and bring them back to Orfedil, and so are Evander, Finn, and his Scouts.’
‘My-my parents are alive?’ Fallon stammered.
‘Even though they like you are human, from watching them before they were sent away, your parents were very skilled and strong willed so yes, I would say they are still alive even after all these years.’
Fallon started to cry again, only this time they were tears of happiness and not sadness. She threw her arms around his neck then, surprising me as well as Ardan.
‘Thank you. Thank you so much’ she whispered, just loud enough for me to hear too.
I saw Ardan smile through her hair, and slowly wrap his well-toned arms around her, hugging her back.
‘Can I ask you two something?’ Fallon asked as she pulled away.
‘Sure’ Ardan and I said simultaneously.
‘Teach me sword play and archery? I want to be able to defend myself, and not have to rely on you guys all the time when we’re out there.’
Ardan and I glanced at each other. I’m known around our kingdom as one of its best archers…and Ardan must be a very skilled swordsman to be a soldier in my parents’ army, so we’re likely to make a good teaching pair.
‘Very well, we shall teach you’ I said, Ardan nodding in agreement as he stood up and moved to sit on the window seat.
‘Be warned though, we’re strict teachers…and I will personally only teach you archery under one condition’ I told her as she slid off her bed and went over to the wardrobe, which had been filled with new clothes during our absence from the palace.
‘Yes?’ she asked, taking her attention away from the wardrobe and turning to me.
‘You give my family, the Scouts, and soldiers a ballet performance.’
For a second, Fallon was silent and motionless, and I was sure she’d outright refuse my request, but then she smiled.
‘Okay, just give me some time to get ready, and ask your parents and brothers, along with the Scouts and soldiers, to wait in the largest ballroom- oh! And if you have an orchestra can you ask a few of them to come too, to accompany me?’
I smiled back at her ‘sure, I guess we’ll see you down there, come on Ardan’, and the two of us left her to it and returned to the study to relay her request to my parents and brothers.
A little under an hour later, those who had been in invited by Fallon to her unexpected ballet performance - and could attend it - including Finn and a few other Scouts, were sat on the silver framed, turquoise cushioned chairs set out by the maids and man-servants, waiting for the performance to begin.
A few violinists, flautists, along with a cellist, were set up in front of us against the left wall of the ballroom and had been practising for the past thirty minutes in preparation for accompanying Fallon.
I had been sat beside my father in the front row, waiting for Fallon to arrive for the past twenty minutes, when movement and a flash of light purple passed through my peripheral vision, and suddenly there she was in front of me wearing a knee length two layered dress in dark and pastel lilac, and the ballet shoes she had brought with her from the human world.
‘Thank you all for taking the time to come and watch me do one of the things I love. I just hope I still know how to do it as well as I used to.’ She gave a small chuckle, hands linked together in front of her, and did a small curtsy before flitting over and whispering to the little orchestra. Then, she walked into the centre of her dancing space, and assumed a very elegant position...like that of a swan.
The flautists started playing first, a soft melody, the violinists and cellists joining in after a few seconds. A few seconds later, Fallon started to dance.
She moved beautifully, her movements elegant, delicate…I was enthralled by her as she danced gracefully across the ballroom floor. Everything and everyone around me faded away as I watched her. It was not until Fallon slowed her movements down and stilled on the floor, leaning on one leg which was curled beneath her, with the other extended behind her, arms reaching towards the ceiling and the music faded, that I was pulled back into the room by the sound of everyone clapping around me.
Blushing, I clapped along with the rest of the audience as Fallon got up without stumbling even a little, smiling and curtsying, her face red and slightly sweaty from all the dancing. After thanking everyone again for coming, Fallon turned to me and Ardan, who was sat in the row be
hind me.
‘I’ve held up my end of the bargain, now it’s your turn’ she told us, lips shaped into a confident smile.
I looked over my shoulder at Ardan, who nodded, and then back at her as a grin spread across my face.
‘Yes, it is – but be warned, your training will be intense.’
Training and Rescue Planning
‘Pull the string back right to your ear…that’s it. Now, line the arrow up with the target as best you can, steady your arm, and then let it fly’ I told Fallon as I stood beside her, two hours or so following her ballet performance.
Because it was a little later in the day, Ardan and I had decided it best to leave working out a training programme for and with Fallon to another day, when we weren’t heading a search for her parents, so for now we were letting Fallon choose what she wanted to do, and she had chosen archery.
Fallon took a deep breath in through her nose as she fixed her eyes on where she wanted her arrow to hit, and then let go of the bowstring. Her arrow whistled through the air, and in the blink of an eye, had buried itself in the target two rings from the bullseye.
‘Wow, you’re not a bad shot Fallon. Good job’ Ardan observed, heading over to the target to retrieve the arrow.
‘He’s right Fallon – are you sure you haven’t handled a bow and arrow before?’
She laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear, ‘pretty sure’ she replied, nocking another arrow as Ardan returned with the first.
‘Hold up’ I said, as she took aim once more, and lifted her elbow so that it was level with her shoulder and pointing straight ahead – rather than the ground – and then nodded in satisfaction.
‘Go on.’
She smiled with a nod of her own and turned her attention back to the target before letting the arrow fly.
This time, it hit the bullseye, and elicited a whoop from Ardan and myself.
‘You learn quickly’ I grinned.
She giggled, ‘did you forget? I’m a very fast learner.’
I chuckled in return. ‘Well, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.’
‘Very true’ she said with a smile and another giggle ‘you guys go back inside, I’ll be fine out here on my own.’
I blinked at her in surprise, ‘are you sure?’
She nodded and jerked her head towards the doors of the palace.
‘If you say so - but call for either of us if you need anything.’
And so Ardan and I left Fallon to her archery practice, and headed back into the palace.
It wasn’t until three hours later, when Ardan and I were in one of the palace’s smaller meeting rooms pouring over a large scale map of Elandrea, discussing which route through the Jekoran Desert to take in our search for Fallon’s parents, that we spotted her on her way back to her room to change, looking exhausted but pleased with herself.
‘Fallon!’ I called out as she passed the door and beckoned her over.
She smiled as she jogged over ‘I was just coming to find you two. I got eight more bullseye’s after you left!’ she exclaimed, and then spotted the map laid out on the table ‘oh, are you working out the route we’re going to be taking through the Jekoran Desert?’
‘That’s great! You really are a fast learner - and yes we are, would you care to join us?’
‘Sure’ she said, smiling in thanks as I stood and pulled out the chair next to mine for her, and then pushed it in.
‘So, how are you doing so far?’ Fallon asked, leaning eagerly towards the map.
‘Well, we’re thinking the fastest and safest way, would be to take this route along the Iona River, where we’d have access to clean water and there are trees around here that will give us some good cover at night when we camp, and then over these small mountains’ I said, showing her by moving my fingers over the map’s slightly bumpy surface.
‘What do you think?’ Ardan asked, as the two of us watched her face for a reaction.
‘Sounds like a great plan’ she replied, her eyes glistening, although whether it was from the lamps or the idea of seeing her parents again, I wasn’t sure.
‘When do we set off?’ she asked, looking up from the map at Ardan and I.
‘I think either tomorrow morning, or the day after would be best’ I replied, glancing at Ardan. ‘What do you think?’
‘I’m in agreement with you, Your Highness, If Arekin is planning to attack Orfedil and the other Avadorae kingdoms, we should leave for the Jekoran Desert as soon as possible.’
I returned my gaze to Fallon, as did Ardan, and we waited for her response.
‘I also agree with the two of you. Tomorrow morning would be the best time to leave if we want to find and bring back my parents before he launches his attack.’
‘It’s decided then, we leave tomorrow at eight o’clock on the dot for the Jekoran Desert. Ardan, I shall leave informing Finn and the Scouts coming with us to you, while Fallon and I get what we need for the journey ready.’
Ardan nodded, and the three of us stood from the table and left the meeting room to complete our tasks.
The Jekoran Desert
The next morning at ten to eight, sitting astride Dempsey with Fallon sat on the saddle in front of me, before the Scouts, Ardan, and the handful of elfin and human knights who had volunteered to accompany us as extra protection for Fallon, I turned to Ardan ‘is everyone here and ready?’
Ardan did a head count ‘yep, looks like everyone who should be is here and ready to leave.’
‘Great, let’s get going’ I replied, and our party of fourteen set out for the Jekoran Desert.
‘Evdander, how long does it take to travel to the Jekoran Desert on horseback?’ Fallon asked as we passed through the Orfedil’s first town.
‘To where your parents are likely to have been living for the past eight years, four days at most - though we’ll be riding the first night so we don’t fall behind, taking a few breaks along the way…if you get tired during the journey between breaks, feel free to lean against me and close your eyes for a while’ I replied.
‘Okay, and thank you’ she said, and then turned her head a little in my direction. ‘Thank you, too, for helping me try to find my parents Evander…everyone else - back in the human world I mean – just gave up and said they were dead. If you hadn’t taken me to Arekin’s castle in the Thrangorn Mountains, and if Ardan hadn’t come to the palace and spoken with me, I would have gone on believing they were dead for the rest of my life’ she murmured.
I smiled softly and let go of the reins with one hand to wrap it around hers.
‘You are one of my oldest friends Fallon, I would do anything for you’ I told her in the same undertone, and after hesitating a second, I leant forward and kissed the top of her head, eliciting a small jerk from her at the sensation. ‘Now, get as comfortable as you can, it’ll be an hour or so before we make our first stop.’
Several hours later, we had taken four breaks, and had ridden through the night into the next day. We were now following the edge of the Ikai Forest (an Ikai is an Elandrean desert tree like those found in the deserts of the human world, but do not have any spikes along their trunks or branches) along the Iona River.
‘How long until Sunset, Finn?’ I asked him as he and the scouts rode ahead of the knights, Ardan and I, the former two riding behind me and Dempsey.
‘From its current position in the sky, I’d say five hours’ he replied, looking up at the sun which, although it was almost November, shone brightly above us. ‘How’s Fallon?’
‘Still sleeping soundly’ I replied, casting me eyes down to her sleeping form. She was leaning into my chest, her body turned slightly to the left, and her head was against my shoulder just beneath my chin.
She looked so peaceful when she was asleep…and quite cute too- but I wasn’t about to admit that out-loud, with the others around- her eyes fluttering a little behind her eyelids as she slept.
‘Shall we stop now, Highness?’
One of the knig
hts, Charlie, asked behind me.
‘Well, there are still five hours until sunset, but I suspect everyone will be wanting to rest their eyes for longer than ten minutes so yes, I think now is a good time to stop and make camp for the night’ I replied, pulling Dempsey into the cover of the tall and wide, large-leafed trees of the Ikai Forest, everyone else following closely behind me.
A few hours after we pulled into the forest and set up our camp, everyone had bedded down to get some proper sleep. I was the only one still awake, and sitting at the foot of a tree, looking up at the star filled sky and the crescent moon smiling upon Elandrea- until the sound of approaching footsteps pulled my attention away, and turned my head to see who it was.
It was Fallon, wiping her eyes sleepily as she made her way over to me.
‘Hey’ she said, sitting herself down beside me and hugging her knees to her chest.
‘Hey! Did you sleep well? You’ve been asleep for hours’ I asked, moving a little closer to her.
‘Yes, thank you’ she replied, and then added ‘I was really tired…having trouble sleeping because my parents were on my mind must be the reason for it.’
‘I don’t blame. You haven’t seen them for ten years, it’s not surprising you’ve had trouble sleeping.’
She nodded wordlessly, staring up at the stars.
There was a small gap of silence, and then Fallon spoke again. ‘Evander…I’ve been here over a week now, and gotten to know you a little bit again, and now feel comfortable sharing something of my past with you’
‘What is it that you now feel able to talk to me about?’ I asked tenderly.
‘The years I spent with my foster parents.’
A Painful Recount
I felt my eyes widen in surprise – or was it shock? – at her words. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes’ she replied, her voice quiet enough to be mistaken for a whisper.
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