Chapter 6

The Lady of Dusk struggled to hide her amusement on her customary bench.  Hovering in the air several steps away were two twilight fairies. “Daedre! Are you even listening?”, Arya shrieked at the smaller fairy. Daedre a two-and-a-half-inch fairy with unique golden hair and the midnight skin of the twilight fairies was quick to assure Arya that she was. “Yes mam!” she squeaked. It was amusing to watch. Arya’s small midnight face appeared to snarl at the word mam. I guess she should give her a title but the fairies would probably forget what it was. It was usually best just to let them say whichever title they deigned to suggest at the time. Exasperation would follow if you tried to tell them differently. Visibly restraining herself from strangling the enthusiastic Daedre. Arya took some deep breaths then, “What are your orders?”. Elona held her breath. She was hoping this would work. It was unfortunate that not many of the older fairies were free to assist her. They were either busy running the Twilight Fairy kingdom or on active assignments in either the mortal or immortal realms. Daedre was the only free fairy with enough intelligence for the task she had in mind. Daedre was painfully silent for almost a minute. “I am to watch the purple eyed mortal boy.” She stopped for further thought. Elona waited with baited breath. Arya looked as if she may explode from exasperation. “And?”, Arya asked. “umm, warn the halfling woman if there is danger?” She somehow made the answer a question. Arya actually seemed pleased. It seemed only half an hour of instruction was necessary. Arya decided to confirm her answer. “Yes, now what is the big rule?”. Daedre looked at her sceptically as if questioning the necessity of rules. Another long moment passed. Elona was beginning to suspect that Daedre was intentionally being thick. “errr…. Oh! Don’t get seen by mortals.” There may have been tears of joy starting to bud at the corners of Arya’s eyes. “Unless they are in trouble.” Elona released the breath she had been holding. Daedre looked rather smug. Arya smiled in relief, “now are you ready to go”. Daedre nodded vigorously. Elona worried she had forgotten where she was going. Daedre rose swiftly into the sky. Her golden hair contrasting shining in the moonlight. She dived. There was plop when she touched struck the lake and she was gone. Arya was suddenly on her shoulder. “Thank god that’s over my lady. I worry about her, she’s smarter than she lets on but she still has to grow before we can intrust her with something as important as this.” Elona sighed. “And my lady she can’t exactly protect the child. Which is what you promised”. Elona sighed again. “True and True.” The problem was there are few creatures in the Astral plane that aren’t nocturnal. The Dark Elves were the obvious choice for warriors. One of their kingdoms owed her their allegiance. The problem was they were nocturnal. Which didn’t matter under the eternal night sky of the Astral realm but in the mortal world…. “I’m looking into it. The Astral realm is vast and there are several that may fit the role. If I can convince them it will be worth the trouble that is”. Elona stood up, Arya on her shoulder. She started walking towards the palace, her mind lost in reflection.   

Arriving at the dinner table Aloys discovered he was either early or everyone else was late. There were three places set at the table. It was a small table suited for only 6 diners, there was a larger dining room on the opposite side of the kitchen. That room had a table that could dine dozens of guests with extravagant furniture accompanied by an elegant chandelier. In contrast the room he was currently in was simply furnished. Several lit candles graced the centre of the table while the rest of the room was surrounded by lanterns lighting the room surprisingly well. There was only one painting which was that of families playing or picnicking at the park. He decided to sit in the same seat as breakfast. Nearby he could hear the noise of the kitchen and quiet conversation from nearby rooms but in his own room he was the sole occupant. Realising that there might be a wait he wondered whether he should leave and return with the others. 10 minutes passed and just when he had decided upon leaving Lady Sara and her son Adam entered the room. They entered from opposite sides of the room, Sara from the kitchen followed by two servants carrying trays and Adam on his own, a guardsman checked the room before he entered. Sara appeared lost in thought uncharacteristically she never smiled or addressed Aloys or Adam upon entering. In comparison Adam was smiling widely and very eagerly shook Aloys hand. Not letting the fact, he was seated or on the opposite side of the table get in his way. Now that he was looking for it he was startled by the similarities he saw between the Domita’s and the girl Cnaeus. They both had her golden hair and striking sky blue eyes. Aloys himself had blonde hair but he found that during the winter months it darkened into a light brown while in the summer months it lightened into blonde. His hair was never as golden or bright as the Domita’s hair. Thinking about it Aloys realised there was one fundamental difference between the Domita’s eyes and Cnaeus’. The Domita’s lacked the depth that he had seen when Cnaeus had gazed upon him. He struggled with this thought. Depth seemed an unfit word although he felt it was accurate. He tried to find the right way to describe what he was reflecting but the best he could do was if the eyes are the windows to the soul as the poets say, then within Cnaeus’ eyes one could drown. As dinner began Aloys and Adam discussed his sling practice and Adam promised to show the sling after dinner. They also talked about the city and after Aloys told him about the shops and buildings Aloys had seen Adam enthusiastically told him what he had been missing out on. While they talked Lady Sara ate mechanically without appearing to glance at the food in front of her. Which happened to be a tasty lamb stew with fresh bread and butter. Both boys would periodically glance worriedly at her but both decided that adults had responsibility which neither child wished to have thrust upon them. So they conversed around her hoping that she would stir from whatever deep thoughts was besieging her cheerful personality. When all diners had finished their meal they sat for a few minutes until Lady Sara suddenly awoke to her surroundings. Glancing at the two boys already becoming fast friends she smiled, “Sorry just day dreaming, would you two boys mind heading upstairs. Although I would prefer to keep my eye on you two rascals I still have a lot of things to think about and preparations to make.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Aloys spent the rest of the evening discussing the merits of slinging with the smaller boy. Adam was about half his height. His appearance was a little strange although his face looked similarly age to himself. His body was just physically smaller. He was tired but talking with Adam helped soothe the heart ache he had for the losses he had suffered. There was something healing in just being a boy again. Seen through a child’s eyes the world around him become less serious and not so weighty. As it got late he was ushered into his new bedroom away from Adam by an enthusiastic maid. The maid sighed as she left and Aloys enjoyed a snicker at her expense. She was obviously not used to having two children in the house. They had been quite loud he supposed. Twilight was lying on his pillow but as he approached she moved to make room. She was polite like that. He was excited for the next day. Adam had promised to teach him how to sling. He also endeavoured to practice his sword forms with Jason. It wouldn’t do to become rusty. He eventually fell asleep.

“Oof!” Aloys woke suddenly. As he stared at the ceiling he became aware that it was still night. Only a few hours had passed if his tiredness was to be any judge. Wondering what had a woken him. He lay still and strained his ears. “Giant fur ball!” a voice squeaked. “Just you wait! I’ll get you!” There were several more squeaks which may have indicated a struggle. “Elona won’t be happy about this!”. Hearing enough and his curiosity overcoming the natural fear people have when they are awoken suddenly. Aloys sat up and moved so he was facing where he thought the voice was coming from. On the other side of the room next to the room’s large mirror sat Twilight. There was nothing to indicate a source of the voice. Standing up he approached Twilight. Twilight suddenly looked in his direction and if he was any judge she appeared sheepish but there was little mischief in those eyes. Twilight moved and in a manner similar to when she brought him her first rat, which had been delightful, she presented a small…. person???? “Whoops, Arya going to be mad now”. Aloys crouched over the figure on the ground. She had wings he noticed. They were very thin, black with a little gold. She had bright golden hair and a black dress. The realisation suddenly hit him. She reminded him of the memory of the fairy singing. Except she was smaller and her hair was golden not black. A fairy. Perhaps I’m still dreaming. Twilight mrow’d and the figure struggled to rise. She was obviously in some pain and he wondered what the circumstances which led to his kitten ending up lying on a fairy were. She was pretty in a very little sort of way. Without thinking he placed his hand on the ground palm up. She stared at it for a moment before walking on it and sitting down. With her legs crossed and her head tilted the fairy stared at him. Now that she was on his palm he had no idea what to do. Perhaps she needed a very small ice pack? Or some little bandages. She was kind of cute. “Are you just going to stand there?”, she asked sceptically. She went on to mutter to herself, something about someone named Arya and the big rule. He was still standing there he realised. He looked around for something soft to put her on. There wasn’t much in the way of choice. The chairs were wooden. The pillow was the best he supposed. So he walked over and placed her on the pillow. She lied down. She fell asleep pretty quickly. Now what do I do? Feeling tired himself he figured he could sleep now and then figure it out in the morning. Placing his head as far from the fairy as possible he was soon dreaming. When he awoke she was gone.

As he used a towel to wipe the sweat from his brow. He asked, “Jason what happened to Adam’s father? Nobody has mentioned him while I have been here.” Jason frowned. “I’m surprised you don’t know. He was with your mother when she was murdered. He chose to escort her from here to Tusmorke Castle. Edward was a fine swordsman and adventurous. Always finding any opportunity to get out of the city. Don’t get me wrong he loved Luna but he got stir crazy. Around 100 Domita and Estrisden guardsman died with your mother, Anya.” “Jason?” “yes, my lord.” “Who killed them?” “They said it was bandits but”. …. “But what?” “Well your mother was an incredibly powerful caster, supposedly powerfully talented too. There is no way that any bandits would be capable of facing her with or without 200 guardsmen.” Aloys stepped back onto the sparring ground lifting the heavy wooden sword into the guard position. “Didn’t they see anything to indicate who the assailants were?” Jason moved on the offensive. Aloys never tried to put his strength against his. He danced around Jason and tried his best to knock the Jason’s precise swings away from his body. Realising his arm was getting heavy from the constant impacts and the weight of the sword, Aloys switched stance. Moving on the offense Aloys launched a flurry of blows which Jason never anticipated. After luckily dodging the first thrust Jason easily blocked the next several. Realising that Jason would retaliate Aloys switched stance again. Dancing to the side he dodged Jason’s swing which would have struck him if he had moved to attack. Aloys went on the offense again but Jason upped the tempo. He struck Aloys sword hard and sent it wide of his body. Straight after Aloys felt the light touch on his side which indicated an end to bout. Breathing heavily, they walked to the side and took a seat at the benches. “Your good”, Jason smiled. “You will be a fine swordsman when you’re older”. “Not good enough”, Aloys sighed. “So, who actually attacked them”. Realising that Aloys wouldn’t be dissuaded Jason sighed. “Well the entire region was the sight of a massive mage battle. The trees were shattered and burnt. The ground was cracked as if the ground had shifted. Other than that the guardsmen were killed by crossbow bolts and swords. Aloys spent several moments pondering this new information. “What about the attackers did any of them die?”. “There were signs that many were killed but the bodies were removed. On top of this the ground was tampered with, the scouts and rangers were unable to discern their numbers or any other details. Aloys decided to end the questioning there. Something to be investigated further, perhaps when he was older. Changing the subject, “So Jason, Can I go to the park today?”. Pleased, Jason smiled, “Today you can. If you want to bathe, I will meet you at the gate with your escort.”