‘Thank you, Your Majesty’ I replied dropping into a quick curtsy.
He smiled, his soft brown eyes twinkling as he turned to Finn. ‘You must be the young man who was chosen to accompany Fallon as her personal guard.’
‘Yes, sire. I am a Scout of Orfedil, and have known Fallon since before she could walk. She personally asked me to accompany her here, and I could not refuse.’
King Aeodin smiled again.
‘It is always a good thing, having someone you know well with you, rather than someone with whom you have no personal connection. Wouldn’t you agree, Fallon?’
‘Yes, very much so Your Majesty.’
He let out a chuckle that sounded like tinkling wind chimes. ‘You don’t have to address me in such a formal manor - any friend of Oraelia’s family is a friend of mine so please, call me by my given name.’
Finn and I glanced at each other, and then back at him. ‘Yes, Aeodin.’
‘Good - oh, and excellent job bringing them here safely, Kélnar. Shall we?’ he said, gesturing towards the palace following the latter’s respectful words of the thanks for the praise.
We nodded and followed him and Kélnar through the double doors- which were mostly glass, with a frame of large branches covered in leaves and various small flowers, twisted into shape.
‘It’s so light and airy in here, was it designed that way?’ I asked Aeodin as the doors were pulled shut behind us.
‘Yes, it was Fallon, well deduced. Though it is winter, we do not need to light any of the lamps until seven o’clock at the earliest’ he replied, and that was when another question crossed my mind.
‘Aeodin, does it ever snow in Elandrea like it does in the human world?’ I asked him, as he lead Finn and me through several archways and doors, and up a small flight of steps.
‘It does snow, yes. In fact it snows exactly ten days out of the year, from Nejah 25th until Utana 4th,’ he replied as we came to a stop in front of a tall single door. ‘This is the palace’s main meeting room. Lady Déanis and Lord Aronil, along with my father, are waiting for us within. They are all anxious to meet the girl favoured by King Erodis who wants to study here.’
I swallowed and tried to calm my pounding heart, as Kélnar moved to open the door.
‘Don’t be nervous, they’ll love you’ Finn murmured behind me, and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder for a few seconds, before pulling it back again as the door was opened for us.
The room on the other side was not small nor massive, but just the right size to fit a large oval shaped table and several chairs, a drinks cart, and two bookshelves, and the large windows to the left of the door, which were three of the five walls in the room, let plenty of light in.
Already sat at the table in front of us, were three elves; Lord Aronil, the former King of Feldar Caldorin, who is now the Lord of the Western Village of Orenis and one of his son’s most trusted advisers, and Lady Déanis, and they were talking amongst themselves, until one of them glanced up as Kélnar closed the door behind us, and stood up.
‘Aeodin! You’ve returned, and with our guests in tow!’
‘Indeed I have, Lord Aronil. Fallon, and her personal guard, Finn - a Scout of Orfedil, who has known her since she was a baby.’
‘It’s lovely to meet you’ I said, giving them a quick curtsy as Finn bowed at the waist beside me.
‘And it’s lovely to meet you, too. You have wonderful manners’ Lady Déanis replied, smiling.
She was beautiful, with eyes the colour of Hyacinths, hair like liquid gold that fell loosely to her elbows, and wore a beautiful, sparkling, gown of emerald green.
‘Thank you, my lady’ I said, as Lord Aronil, an elf with fair skin, dark brown, almost ebony, hair pulled into a pony tail, moss-green eyes, and wore a tunic, and trousers, the colour of fresh water springs, and a pair of knee high boots and a cloak of a darker blue, addressed me.
‘Fallon, I am beyond pleased to meet you’ he said, eyes twinkling merrily, and then turned to addressed Finn. ‘Was she this beautiful before our half-kin brought her back to the world?’
Finn replied, immediately, ‘she was, my lord. I suspect King Erodis’ gift brought some of her inner beauty forth, which has made her more beautiful than before on the outside.’
I felt my cheeks flush as the words left his mouth, but kept my eyes on Lord Aronil.
‘I thank you for your kind words, my lord.’
‘You are most welcome, my dear. As I might have said in my letter, I am very much looking forward to teaching you’ he replied softly.
I smiled back at him with a nod, and then turned my attention to Caldorin – Lord Caldorin, I should say.
‘Fallon I have heard a lot about you from Queen Oraelia. Kind, compassionate, smart and brave.’
‘You flatter me, my lord’ I said with a grin as the door of the room opened again, and two creatures I had never laid eyes on before, entered the room.
They appeared to be a cross between an elf, an aquatic creature or reptile - from the glistening scales covering their arms and legs - and a dragonfly, though their facial features were closer to those of a pixie or fairy.
‘Ah, I see our guests have arrived’ said the male, who had silvery blue eyes and blue-purple, short cropped hair and wore a pair of turquoise shorts. He also wore a pair of ankle boots, over his sea green skin.
‘They have, indeed, Serin. Fallon, Finn this is Serin and Imeria. They are Neiara, a race created by Gardohil in Elandrea’s early years, and the most talented with fabrics and in the designing and making of clothes’ Aeodin said, introducing them.
The female Neiara was gorgeous. She had the same sea green skin as her brother - or cousin, you never know, but her hair was the colour of Stargazer Lilies, her eyes a vibrant gold-topaz colour, and she wore a silver-green dress that reached half-way down her thighs, and pumps of the same colour.
She must have sensed my eyes on her, for she turned her head elegantly in my direction.
I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment and averted my gaze.
‘Forgive me for staring Imeria, I was mesmerised by your beauty, though I myself am female.’
She smiled, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth. ‘You are yourself a beauty, otherwise my brother’s eyes would not be drawn to you’ she said, turning to her brother, whose eyes I only now noticed had been fixed upon me for the past few seconds.
Aeodin had also noticed and smiled knowingly.
‘You can gaze upon her a much as you like Serin, but Fallon is already romantically bonded with Prince Evander of Orfedil.’
Serin cleared his throat, and cast his eyes back to Aeodin, blushing – which was interesting to see, as instead of going pink or red, his cheeks flushed a dark coral blue. ‘Shall we take Finn and Fallon’s measurements now, sire?’ he asked.
‘Yes, please do, and then I can give them a tour of the palace and show them to their quarters.’
He nodded, and then he and Imeria measured myself and Finn for our new clothes, with roles of measuring tape they produced from pockets that were invisible to the naked eye.
‘Finally, these are going to be your quarters for the week, and by extension the six years you’ll be staying with us. Fallon yours are through the door on the right, Finn on the left - your bags were brought up as we went to meet the others earlier on’ Aeodin said as we came to a stop in front of two doors separated by a column half an hour or so later, after he had given us a tour of most of the palace.
This tour had included the rooms in which I would have my lessons with Lady Déanis and Lord Aronil. I say “most” of the palace, because he told us there were many rooms in the palace that we did not need to see- though, upon my request, he did show us The Medical Wing and introduced us to the Court Herbalists.
‘Thank you for showing us personally around the palace, Aeodin’ I said, as Finn and I stood by the doors into our respective rooms.
‘It was my pleasure, my dear. I’ll leave you now to get settl
ed down and accustomed to your quarters, and I’ll send someone up to fetch the two of you later for dinner’ he replied, smiling at the two of us, and then turned on his heal and headed back the way we’d come.
Athena and Apollo’s Gifts
Later that evening, a few hours after dinner, I was curled up on the plush sofa in my room wrapped in a woolly blanket from the top shelf of my wardrobe, reading one the books from two piles left on the room’s desk, with neatly written notes from my tutors left in front of each one, when I glanced up in thought and noticed something outside approaching my balcony.
As whatever it was grew closer, I soon realised that it was in fact two - or was it three? – figures appearing out of the darkness of the sky…one of them without wings, it seemed but it was only when the light given by the balcony lamps illuminated their forms as they touched down, that I saw who they were and gasped in awe.
Apollo, his sister Athena, and their cousin Pegasus who had Apollo astride his back. On the balcony outside my quarters waiting for me to come out and greet them. Grabbing a thick shawl, I opened the doors of the balcony and stepped out into the winter air, and not really knowing what to say, waited for one of the siblings to speak, and that they did.
‘Hello Fallon, it is nice to finally meet you’ said Apollo, smiling as he slid off Pegasus, who nickered softly in my direction.
‘H-Hi Apollo, what you three doing here?’
He looked delighted. ‘You know my name.’
I smiled shyly at him, his youthful beauty sending my heart aflutter despite being in love with Evander, ‘I’ve learnt a lot about you and your family from Evander, and a book I got at a store the Orfedil’s capital, Nälis. He told me Oraelia named you as one of his three godfathers, is that true?’
‘It is indeed, she and I became close friends not long after she married Zachary. As to why we’re here, we come baring gifts, and me personally, to help you.’
I blinked at him in surprise ‘gifts…for me?’
‘Yes’ he said with a chuckle, and reached inside the silver satchel slung across his body, his hand reappearing holding a white hardcover book that had no writing or patterning along its spine, but there was something written on its cover.
‘It’s one of only two books on medicine and healing written by myself’ Apollo told me, as I took it from him, and read its title.
Healing and Medicinal Remedies from Mount Olympus.
‘Thank you very much’ I murmured blushing at having received a gift from the god of music and prophecy, as Athena – whose primary aspect was being the goddess of reason – took a step towards me with a smile.
‘Fallon,’ she said, her emerald green eyes smiling at me, ‘I have something for you too.’
She brought something out from within the cloak she wore then, a basket with something covered by a little blanket, and handed it to me.
Tucking Apollo’s book under my arm, I drew back the blanket, and there, nestled in a bed of wool, lay a yellowish egg.
‘It’s a Snowy Owl egg. You saved one when you lived in the human world, when it fell from its nest as an owlet. I felt it only right you be given one of your own to raise; it was born of one of my Snowy Owls on Olympus, look after him well.’
‘It’s going to be male?’
She nodded.
I smiled, glancing back at the egg before frowning, and lowering the blanket.
‘Thank you very much for the gifts, but...why? Why me?’
Apollo smiled knowingly, and said ‘you performed a great deed on the battlefield; shielding Ardan’s body with your own, regardless of what might happen to you. It takes a strong heart, and a lot of selflessness to give your life for another, not to mention a great deal of courage. Our father - Pegasus’ uncle - thought it prudent to reward you for it, after Erodis rewarded you with new life.’
‘Zeus? He asked that I be brought gifts?’
They nodded, and then Apollo chuckled.
‘Ironic really,’ he said. ‘We gave gifts to Oraelia too, for various reasons.’
‘Oh cool – so what was it you came to help me with?’ I asked.
The three of them (yes, Pegasus too) glanced at each other, and then Apollo came to me.
‘To help you discover who you have truly become’’ he said and held out his hands to me.
Biting my lip nervously, I placed my new gifts on the little round table beside me and took his hands – though I did hesitate a little, not sure of what he was going to do.
Taking me over to the balcony’s end, Apollo let go of one hand. stepping up onto the top of the wide, flat top of the balustrade, he stood as if he were about to walk the length of it, his gentle eyes on my face.
‘Join me up here, Fallon. I promise you, you will be fine’ he said, his voice sincere and kind.
I nodded, and he helped me up in front of him.
‘Now, what I want you to do is hold onto both my hands tightly...yes, that’s it, and turn so that you’re facing the palace, slowly so you don’t stumble over your feet.’
These two things were easy enough to do, but I suspected he wasn’t finished.
‘The last thing I want you to do, is step backwards slowly until you feel the air beneath your heels.’
I blinked at him. That was going too far.
‘You-you want me to step off the edge? Backwards? I can’t do that Apollo, I don’t have wings, I’ll fall’ I replied, panic rising in my voice.
‘You won’t fall Fallon, I will be holding your hands the entire time. Have faith.’
‘Okay, I trust you’ I said, and closed my eyes tight, concentrating on the feeling of his hands, and then moved backwards, one step at a time; waiting to feel my feet slip over the edge…but they never did.
Though I was still holding tightly onto Apollo’s hands I could feel myself bobbing gently up and down on the spot, and a light breeze against my body.
‘Open your eyes, Fallon, look around you’ he murmured, and upon doing so I gasped.
I was a few inches away from the edge of the balcony, bobbing gently in the air, and it was then that I realised what the soft breeze was.
‘I’m not an elf...am I’ I said, though it was more a statement than a question.
‘When Erodis restored life to your body, he brought you back to Evander so that he would not have to endure the pain of ever losing you again. Avadorae are immortal in all meanings of the word, remember?’ he explained, leaping off gracefully off the balustrade.
‘Yes, I do’ I replied with a giggle, urging my newly discovered wings to back to the balcony, and touched back down on the balcony as easily as if I had been flying my entire life.
Retrieving my gifts from the balcony table, handling the basket more delicately, I did a ballet twirl around to face them once more.
‘Thank you, again, for the gifts. Tell Father Zeus that I am grateful – although I suspect he already knows that.’
Apollo chuckled ‘we will tell him anyway.’
I bowed my head in thanks, bade them sleepily goodnight, and returned to my room; falling asleep almost the second my head hit my pillow.
Introductory Lectures and Flying Lessons
I was up early next morning, and immediately left my room after getting dressed to knock on Finn’s door; too eager to fill him in on the events of last night, to wait until breakfast.
‘Wow. Gifts from Apollo and Athena, and at Zeus’ request!’ he exclaimed, a short while later – he had already been awake a while when I knocked. ‘You really are special. Do you know how far along the egg is? Did Athena tell you how close it is to hatching?’
‘It wasn’t laid that long ago, so it still has at least two weeks to go before it’s ready to hatch’ I replied, checking the clock on his bedside table. ‘Come on, we’d better go downstairs. Don’t want to keep the others waiting to start breakfast.’
He nodded, both in acknowledgement of my reply, and in agreement with my suggestion, and the two of us proceeded downstairs to join the other
s.
After breakfast, my first full day at the palace was filled with several twenty-minute introductory lectures with my new tutors, in which they went over which topics would be covered each term- which each lasted three months - and from which books they would be studied from, with Finn standing against the wall behind me during each one.
The next day saw me having my first archery lesson with Lord Aronil; leafing through the book Apollo had given me and tending to my Snowy Owl egg, making sure it was kept warm and toasty by adding more cotton wool to its bed, skimming through the topics that would be covered when I returned next year for my first term of study.
On the third day, Finn and I were called to different rooms - side by side, for obvious reasons - for our first fitting for the clothes Serin and Imeria were making for us.
‘So…what’s Prince Evander like?’ Imeria asked, as she moved around the small raised platform I was standing on tweaking the shell of my dress, which was different shades of Wisteria to match my eyes, and looked like the gentle waves of the Dracorian Ocean on a clear and calm day.
I blushed at the unexpected question but answered it all-the-same.
‘He’s incredibly kind hearted and protective, and has a wonderful personality.’
‘And handsome?’ she asked with a grin, raising an eyebrow.
‘Y-yes, he’s quite handsome, but it was not just his looks that made me fall in love with him. What matters to me is always the person inside, not what’s shown to me on the outside.’
She nodded in agreement. ‘Indeed, looks aren’t everything’ she agreed and knelt in front of the platform to pin up part of the hem, which she seemed to think would present a tripping hazard.
‘Fallon, are you sure it’s a good idea to practice your flying outside the palace grounds?’ Finn asked the following morning, walking alongside me as I headed towards the large clearing sized gap wrapped around the “city” of big tree-houses, separating it from the rest of the forest. ‘I mean, won’t it draw too much attention to us? To you?’
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