Interlude - Alyce & Elsa
“Did you hear? Pa said royalty is in town.” Elsa shared.
Alyce nodded. “Yea. I heard. The king of the elves and Lady Emma. She is a princess you know.”
“Of course, I know silly. Heir to the throne. Once a princess always a princess.” Elsa replied.
“I wonder what it would be like to be a princess.” Alyce said her thoughts out loud.
“Eh, I think I’d rather be the ice queen myself.” Elsa stated.
“You mean the Winter queen of the fey? Careful saying such things. Grandfather says the fey have ears everywhere.” Alyce warned.
“That is what I mean. A princess is required to go to a bunch of balls and dance all night, heck they are probably so dainty, they even wear glass shoes. A queen should be above all that.” Elsa theorized.
“I think a queen has it harder. She must deal with a bunch of nobles.” Alyce countered.
Elsa shuddered. “Nobles, yuck!”
Alyce agreed. “It is so nice catching up with you, my friend. We should try to find more time to do this.”
Elsa smiled and nodded her head. “Absolutely! So, what else have you heard?”
“Oh, not much...” Alyce smiled. “Mom said they recruited extra adventurers to help with security for the festival. Guess a bunch of nobles are coming too.” Alyce commented.
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“Ugh. Stuck up nobles. Definitely not something we need more of here.” Elsa complained.
“They are not all bad. Deathwalker is the kindest man... and those two-color eyes of his, it’s like he is staring deep into your soul.” Alyce said dreamily.
“Yea, he is different than any other noble I have seen. You can tell. Pa says it’s the way he carries himself, whatever that means.” Elsa replied.
“Well, whatever it is, he makes a point to greet me when he sees me and is always so kind and respectful. You can tell he genuinely cares.” Alyce smiled.
“Did you hear about what happened in the refugee camp?” Elsa asked.
Alyce nodded. “He healed and fed all those people! Deathwalker is so amazing!”
“I heard he ordered Elder Martha to schedule routine patrols through the camp with healers to check on the overall health of the refugees. It is going to take some time for them to get on their feet.” Elsa chimed in.
“Grandfather said Deathwalker also ordered Elder Martha to offer them work opportunities in the various construction projects going on in the city.” Alyce shared.
“Yea with our new walls the boundaries of Timberfall have grown significantly. Pa said he thinks the city will become a trading hub. All thanks to Deathwalker’s efforts.” Elsa commented.
“Yea grandfather is so excited. We have gotten more business in the shoppe lately. My hands are sore from all the rush orders we received.” Alyce stretched her fingers.
“Oh, I heard someone new is hanging around the duke. Have you seen anything?” Elsa asked.
Alyce nodded her head. “Deathwalker took on a new apprentice. A well-built man with red hair. I saw him recently when he walked into the Adventurers’ guild.”
“Really?”
“Yea. Deathwalker brought him in to be registered as an adventurer. Said his name was Draconis.” Alyce answered.
“What an interesting name. I feel like I have heard it before.” Elsa tapped her index finger on her chin as she tried to recall where she heard the name before.
“Mom let me watch the testing. Draconis trounced Darrius rather well. And I do not mean just beat him. He knocked the Guildmaster around like a rag doll.” Alyce explained.
“Wow! Darrius is super strong! If this red-headed man was able to accomplish that with the guildmaster, the guy must be very strong!” Elsa said in awe.
Alyce nodded in agreement. “Yea. It makes sense why Deathwalker picked him as an apprentice.”
The two girls chatted and gossiped about the various things they heard going on. In the end their conversations still gravitated towards the ruler of the duchy. It was clear to anyone who talked to the two teenagers that they both were rather smitten with their innocent crush.