Smiling to myself, I began to step into the light - but stopped when Ardan spoke.
‘I personally didn’t know her very well - or for very long - but the moment I met her, she had this aura about her…warm, and calming…any fear I held of Arekin discovering my disappearance and coming after me left me when I looked upon her.’
Suppressing a grin, I stepped out of the statue’s shadow.
The two of them were so startled upon seeing me appear in front of them, that they dropped the cups they were holding; what could have been red wine or cranberry juice spilling out over the smooth marble floor.
Giggling amusedly, I walked over to them and up to the second step. Sitting down between the two of them, I folded my arms over my knees and rested my chin on them.
‘No, you’re not dreaming or hallucinating. I really am here, Evander’s ancestor Erodis, paid us a visit and brought me back to life with his gift of being able to bless people who have passed away when they didn’t deserve to, with life again - though from what Evander told me, if you were horrid in life you aren’t likely to be resurrected by him.’
‘Really? Wow, I wish I could have met him’ Ardan replied, leaning back on his hands.
‘I’m sorry Ardan, I didn’t actually meet him. By the time I woke up, he was gone.’
His face fell ‘oh, I see…it’s cool.’
I smiled, and placed a hand on his shoulder, and said ‘we’ll meet him soon, I’m sure of it.’
‘We can only hope’ he replied, a smile of his own playing on his lips.
‘Finn, how are you-’ I started to say, but before I could finish my sentence, Finn turned around and reached his arms up, hugging me around the middle.
‘Finn…’ I said softly, stroking his hair as I felt heavy tears hitting my clothes, the sound of sniffling and crying reaching my ears.
‘I…I thought I’d lost you’ he whispered, several tears falling onto the fabric of my dress ‘you…you were like a little sister to me, and then you were taken from me.’
Tucking a finger under his chin, I lifted Finn’s face and looked down at him fondly.
‘I’m back now, and I’m not going anywhere.’
He smiled, withdrawing his arms and sat up, wiping his eyes.
‘Evander, our parents, and his Uncle Aiolos are currently having coffee, tea, and cake in the Tea Lounge, and I’m inviting you to accompany me there, and to join us’ I said, standing and heading back to the West Door.
Finn and Ardan glanced at each other, and then Ardan asked ‘are you sure they won’t mind?’
I turned and smiled at them over my shoulder ‘over the past few weeks, you have become two of my closest friends. If the others object to your presence, I will insist on your staying- though I highly doubt that will be necessary.’
The two of them blushed at my words, and then stood up and started to walk towards me and the door. Smiling, I turned back around, and the three of us headed out of the training hall.
The Victory Ball
Once Finn, and Ardan had showered, and changed we went down to the Tea Lounge, which was a relatively small room at the north side of the palace, with a large wide window overlooking the gardens.
‘Hi everyone, sorry for the long wait’ I said as the three of us entered the room ‘I’ve invited Finn and Ardan to join us, I hope that’s all right?’
Zachary smiled, ‘of course it is. Take a seat boys.’
‘Thank you, Majesty’ Finn and Ardan said in unison, and seated themselves either side of Oraelia as I sat next to Evander.
‘Tea, coffee, or hot chocolate with your cake?’ Oraelia asked, as she slipped three more slices of cake onto some plates and passing them to each of us.
Ardan asked for tea, while Finn and I asked for hot chocolate.
When everyone had eaten as much cake as they could stomach without vomitting, we discussed the ball at the end of the coming week, and the guests attending from Orfedil’s neighbouring countries. We ended tea-and-coffee by discussing the actions to be taken regarding my foster parents back in the human world, which we ended up discussing for almost two hours, and by the time we left the Tea Lounge it had grown late, and the sky outside had grown dark.
Walking me back to my room Evander slowly, and gently pulled my hand into his.
‘We should start those ballroom lessons tomorrow morning’ he said, as we walked.
‘Probably. I’ve got a lot to learn’ I replied, as we arrived at my bedroom door.
He chuckled, ‘you learnt archery and sword play relatively quickly, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of ballroom dancing just as fast.’
‘Here’s hoping’ I said with a sigh, putting my hand on the doorknob.
‘I’ll see you bright, and early tomorrow?’ he asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
I nodded with a smile, closing my eyes as he inclined his head for a kiss.
‘Goodnight sweetheart, sweet dreams’ he said, after pulling away.
‘Night’ I replied, giving him one last kiss on the cheek.
He smiled, and then turned around and headed down the hall to his own room.
***
‘Evander, can we take a break?’
We’d been working on my ballroom dancing since half seven the following morning, and although I was aware we had less than ten days to get me up to an acceptable standard, so that I wouldn’t embarrass myself- or Evander and his family, as well as my own- when the ball came around, it was almost noon and I had reached my limit.
‘You’ve done well for your first ballroom lesson, so I’d say we can leave it there for today,’ he replied with a smile. ‘Go take a bath and relax, and you’ll feel all rejuvenated for dinner’ he added.
‘Thanks’ I said in relief, heading over to one of the window seats and sitting down to slip off one of my shoes and massage the sole of my foot.
‘Ugh! My right foot has always been the bane of my existence’ I muttered irritably, wincing as my thumb brushed over a particularly tender spot, which could have been a blister.
‘Do you want me to call for a court physician to come and look at it?’ Evander asked, coming over and taking a seat beside me.
‘No, it’s okay. I’ll have a look through my new medicinal book when I get back to my room, there’s bound to be something in there that treats sore feet… though I suspect I’ll find it in the old book rather than the more recent.’
‘All right… since you can’t walk because of that foot, would you like me to carry you up?’
‘Oh! No that won’t be necessary, thank you.’
He chuckled ‘at least let me help you upstairs?’
I smiled, ‘okay.’
‘All right then, here we go’ he said with a grin, wrapping his arm around my waist as I slung mine around his neck and leant against him.
‘Do you want some ice for that foot?’ Evander asked, once he’d helped me up to my room and onto the window seat, which was parallel to the door of my en suite.
‘No thank you, I’m sure a warm herb infused bath will do the trick’ I replied, smiling at his kind offer. ‘Speaking of which, does the palace have an herb garden?’
‘It does indeed, at the rear of the gardens, just before the gate you see if you look out of your window.’
‘Great, can you ask the court herbalists if they have a remedy for sore feet in the store, and if not, could they make one for me?’
‘Sure thing, you just relax and try not to rub your foot too much’ he replied, kissing the top of my head, and then heading out of the room to fetch my herbal remedy.
Over the next few days, my feet got used to moving across and around the ballroom floor for a long time and weren’t as sore, and by the time to day of the ball arrived I was almost as good as Evander and his family - as well as Finn and Ardan, and a few other Scouts, warriors, and soldiers who, it turned out, had all had ballroom lessons as children.
***
I was in my room with Oraelia a couple of days la
ter, getting ready for the ball to celebrate our victory over Arekin and his allies in the battle that has been officially named “The Battle and Victory of The North Eastern Plain”. She was doing my hair after I’d washed and plaited it, before taking out the plaits and letting her take the reins, when she suddenly stopped.
‘Oraelia is something the matter?’ I asked curiously.
‘Oh, no everything is fine my dear, only I’ve just remembered I have something I would like to give you’ she replied, smiling happily back at me in the dressing table mirror, and going over to the bedside table and retrieving a dark blue box, and bringing it over.
‘A present… for me?’ I asked, blushing at the unexpected gift in front of me.
She chuckled, another warm smile spreading across her face. ‘Yes, it is for you. It belonged to Iona, Queen of the angels, and she passed it on to Erodis, who you now know was her eldest son. He would then go on pass to his eldest daughter – but as you also know, until I was born, all the descendants of Erodis were sons and now it seems that I’ve brought the cycle back around; having not been blessed with a daughter of my own… which is why I’m passing this… onto you’ she said, opening the box, which was relatively large and wide, and showing me what was inside.
Wisteria coloured, long oval shaped gems hanging from a silvery-blue chain glittered up at me from a cushioned bed of silver fabric.
‘It-it’s beautiful,’ I breathed, blinking in awe and disbelief ‘and you’re giving it to me? Are you sure?’
‘Yes. You’ve been like a daughter to me since you were a little girl, it feels right giving the necklace to you.’
Picking up the necklace and setting the box down on the table she undid the clasp, securing it around my neck and gently pulling my hair up into a high pony tail with a light blue hair-scrunchy, leaving out a few soft curls to frame my face.
‘There we are, all done’ she said, seeming satisfied with her work, and stepped away from the dressing table.
Rising from the stool where I was sat, I stood in front of Oraelia and twirled ‘how do I look?’
‘Stunning,’ she replied with a grin ‘the necklace suits you very well - it goes well with your gown too.’
I glanced down at my ball gown, which was a sage blue that matched, and hugged, my figure perfectly and wasn’t puffy, and then went over to the full-length mirror.
‘You’re right, they do go well together. I think we’ve got a great outfit here.’
‘Indeed, we do,’ Oraelia agreed, coming over to stand next to me, looking gorgeous in a dark purple ball gown with a sweetheart neckline that shimmered as if adorned with stars, with her hair up in a ballerina bun – neither of us were wearing gloves, ‘and I know that Evander and the other boys will be rendered speechless when they see you.’
Not too long later the doors of the palace were opened to the guests. Myself and Oraelia, Evander, his brothers and father, Finn, Ardan, as well as my own parents, convened at the top of the grand staircase just out of view of all the finely dressed people still arriving at the palace in couples and groups.
When Evander caught sight of me and his mother approaching from the direction of my bedroom he gave a gasp and his eyes widened. A flush rose to his cheeks, and he opened his mouth to say something - only nothing came out.
Oisin and Adair laughed at his speechlessness, and at Finn and Ardan, who were also blushing from their necks up to their ears.
‘Fallon does look beautiful, doesn’t she?’ they said in unison.
Zachary laughed too, coming over to wrap his arm around Oraelia’s waist. ‘Yes she does, as does your mother.’
‘Oh Fallon, you really do look lovely in that dress…and is that a new necklace?’ my mother said, fingering the oval wisteria gems, as my father nodded in agreement.
‘It was a gift from Oraelia’ I replied, glancing at the Avadorae queen to see what her reaction would be.
She smiled at me and cast her gaze over to my parents as she explained where the gift had come from, and why she had passed it to me.
‘That was incredibly kind of you Oraelia, and I trust Fallon thanked you?’ my father replied, once she had finished explaining.
‘Yes, she did Leon. She is every bit as polite as she was when she was a child’ Oraelia said, smiling again.
My parents smiled back at her, pride on both their faces.
‘Right then, shall we go and join our guests in the ballroom?’ asked Zachary.
Everyone nodded, and we headed down the staircase to the open doorway of the ballroom, and entered, the herald – Dean – announcing our arrival.
As we made our way into ballroom, the guests parted to allow us through, and one by one, Finn and Ardan, Evander’s family, and my parents, broke away and stood to the side, leaving me and Evander alone to enter the circle formed by all the party guests, that had become the centre of the room.
My eyes roamed around the room, at all the people I didn’t know watching me, nerves building within me- but then my eyes met Evander’s, and they melted away.
Evander bowed, with one hand held behind his back, the other held out to me. ‘May I have this dance, my lady?’
I smiled and placed my hand onto his outstretched palm with a curtsy, and the two of us began the first dance of the night.
Back Into The Human World
The ball was wonderful. The music we danced to was beautiful, as were the woman attending; the dresses they were wearing. I thankfully didn’t trip over the hem of my dress, or step on Evander’s toes- I didn’t get the chance to dance with Finn or Ardan, because they had so many Ladies and duchesses asking them for a dance-, which he praised me for when we stopped dancing, not one hour after the ball began, and then he introduced me to the rest of his family.
His great-uncles and aunts; Nyxon and Seraia of Rendor and Relcior and Keila, former king and queen of Idanei were there. His great-cousins, including Relcior’s eldest son Rodin, who had taken over rule of Idanei, and Aiolos’ daughter, Arianne too – but I was disappointed and sad to hear that his wife, Arona, had been taken ill the day before the ball, so wasn’t attending.
I was also introduced to one of Oraelia’s oldest friends from the elfin kingdom of Feldar – the peoples who, Evander had told me, had not been seen nor heard from until Oraelia herself had found a book on the kingdom’s brief history at the time, and had gone in search of and rediscovered it- Princess Eila, and her family, including husband Caleb and son Jhion, who was Adair’s age.
It was after meeting Princess Eila and her family that I told Evander to tell his parents that I had grown tired and was retiring for the night. He said of course he would and to sleep well, and I in turn had curtsied in respect, prior to heading upstairs to my room.
A couple of hours later, I was reading one of my new non-medical books in bed, a book of Elandrean fairy tales called with a mug of chamomile tea on my bedside table, when there was a knock at my bedroom door.
‘Fallon, are you awake?’ Evander’s voice asked on the other side.
‘Yes, come on in’ I replied marking the page I was on, and setting my book aside as he opened the door, and came in.
‘Enjoying that book?’ he asked, nodding at the book of fairy tales, and sitting himself down on the edge of my bed.
‘Very much so, I’m already over half way through,’ I replied, grinning at him ‘is the ball over?’
‘Oh, no. I’m just coming to check on you and see if you wanted anything’ he said.
I raised an eyebrow. ‘Is that all you came up here to do?’
He gave me a sideways glance, and then answered my question.
‘No. I also wanted to talk about the matter of your parents - your foster parents, I mean.’
‘Do you and your father, and uncle have a plan in mind?’
‘We do, but I needed to make sure you were on board with it.’
‘Go on’ I said, encouraging him with a nod.
‘All right. Our plan, is to take ten warriors an
d archers respectively, through the portal that brought you here, and find them and make them answer for everything they’ve done to you over the past ten years, using force if we must, and…if they show any sign of violence, we may have to take their lives.’
I nodded, mulling their plan over in my mind. ‘I’m all for it,’ I said, after a while ‘but, how are we going to find the portal?’
‘Oh, my parents know a way to access portals into the human world, you’ll see’ he replied, grinning and winking at me, before slapping his thighs and rising to his feet. ‘Right then, I shall leave you to your reading, and beauty sleep. We’ll execute the plan tomorrow late afternoon, early evening, so you’ll have time to prepare during the day,’ he replied and headed over to the door, looking back over his shoulder ‘goodnight sweetheart.’
I smiled tiredly at him, ‘goodnight Evander.’
He smiled back at me, opened the door, and stepped out into the hall, shutting it gently behind him.
***
‘How are you feeling? Ready to face your foster parents again?’ Finn asked as he Evander, Ardan and myself stood in the palace armoury, an hour or so after eating an early dinner, gearing up for the impending trip back into the human world- for me at least- which, I had realised earlier on in the day, I had left behind having unknowingly entered the portal into Elandrea, almost a month ago.
‘I’m fine, truth be told,’ I replied, and then a thought crossed my mind, that hadn’t before ‘say, how does time in Elandrea differ to that of the human world?’ I asked the three of them, as I secured an elfin short sword around my waist.
‘You know I’m not sure,’ Ardan replied.
‘Do you know?’ he asked Finn and Evander, as the four of us finished gearing up.
‘I think we’re about two hours behind every country of the human world. I don’t know why that is, but that’s what my parents told me when I asked them as a youngster’ Evander said, Finn nodding in agreement.
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