Return To Sky Raven (Book 2) (17 page)

“I doubt a bunch of elves will be fun,” Maya said teasingly, obviously carrying on part of the discussion that had I missed while talking to Rosa.

“Well, that’s the thing; the elves don’t have it.” Mother smiled mischievously at us. “It seems the dark elves took it away from them as plunder years ago. I do believe it is currently being used as a paper weight by their current King; it should be fun to watch you obtain it!”

I looked at Maya with a bit of a smirk of my own. As expected, she was stunned, absolutely stunned, in fact. “I get to go home?”

Mother leaned over and gave her a warm hug. “Yes, and you will both need to take off tomorrow to go get it.”

Startled, Maya looked into her eyes. “I’d love to go anytime, of course. There’s so much I want to show Alex, but we just got here. My troops aren’t finished with all the security sweeps and we need to do some specialized training.”

Mother shook her head and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Maya, I have some upsetting news. The Duke has broken the treaty and is turning his army toward your people. If you both get some rest and leave in the morning, you should make it there in time to warn them.”

“How long until they get there?”

She smiled. “The lead elements are already near the Capital, but the real fighting won’t start for about five days unless something changes his plans. But don’t worry, you will get there in three, and don’t be concerned about the how, that’s our job. Right now, we need to get all of you out of here. Spending too long in here is not good for you and you all need sleep.”

Reluctantly, we were led back upstairs and into the main hall once again. Once there, we were greeted by Alera and three of the maidens from dinner. Alera stepped forward gushing with excitement, “Greeting again, your majesties.”

“Alera, my dear, everything is going well, I take it?” said Mother.

She smiled brightly. “Yes, the maidens have completed their preparations and the bed chamber stands ready. The maidens can take them up immediately.”

Mother swiveled to face Maya and me. “You two aren’t being left alone until I get a hug from each of you. I need lots of hugs to make up for twenty years.”

She wrapped us both in a hug and we hugged her back. As she released us, we noticed she was crying again; she tried to wipe away the tears but couldn’t. “I’m sorry, but I’m so emotional with you both here; I think I’ll leave you two alone for now.”

In a flash of light, she was gone, leaving us with Father. “Don’t worry about her. You have no idea how happy and relieved she is that you both are here. Now come here, both of you; I need a hug as well.”

He got just that and even a kiss on the cheek from Maya. Chuckling, he took a few steps back. “Now, get some sleep you two and we will see you after breakfast.” And just like Mother, he vanished in a flash of light.

Leaving us no time to contemplate how they did that, the three remaining maidens approached us. “Please follow us; we have prepared a room for the three of you.”

With distressing normality, we again found ourselves following someone to an unknown location. But as it turned out, we were led to the top floor of the tower at the back of the keep, one of the towers with the large stained glass windows and the balconies. The stairway getting there were rather ordinary spiral steps, but we passed several closed doors as we went up. The maidens told us that those rooms had not been cleaned yet, but all were for the royal family, apparently meaning us.

The room at the top, on the other hand, was extremely clean and well worth the climb to get here. The chamber was enormous for just a bedroom, containing a bed that was nearly as large as Maya’s and mine put together. It was clad in silky blue sheets and blankets and had a ornately decorated canopy top, with fresh flowers tucked into slots in the upholstered sides. There were also several soft comfortable-looking chairs and a small table around the outside of the bed area. Two armor and weapon stands already held our armor. Bookshelves and armoires were tucked into various corners. The artwork on the walls looked to be paintings of natural settings, and a small fireplace crouched low on the wall not too far from the bed, burning logs on the hearth crackled merrily and gave off an aromatic scent.

Aside from the door we entered through, there were four others; two appeared to lead into dressing rooms and one was a washroom. The last was an expansive glass door that led out onto the balcony.

Maya whistled. “Isn’t this place impressive? It looks like a room for royalty,” she said in awe, as she looked around the room. Nia buzzed over to the back of one of the chairs and canted her head slightly.

“Maya, weren’t you listening? You and Alex
are
royalty!”

The three maidens bowed and the fox-headed one spoke in common, “Is there anything more we can do for you my Lord and Lady? We were instructed to provide for your every need until such time as your new body servants are trained. Would you care for some wine or a snack? Or shall we assist you in getting dressed now?”

I looked at Maya and she was definitely looking uncomfortable, especially about the help-in-getting-dressed part, and I really wasn’t looking forward to finding out exactly what that entailed either.

“Um, no thank you, you have been most efficient; I believe we will handle it from here,” I said, not really knowing what the protocol for this was. The fox maiden nodded and inclined her head toward the dressing room doors.

“You will find your bedclothes within. Enjoy your repose and your servants will be up in the morning to serve you breakfast before you depart. Goodnight, my Prince and Princess.” And the three of them backed out the door and shut it quietly.

“Well, I suppose we should change then?”

Maya nodded and Nia flew to her shoulder as they approached the dressing room door with the carving of a Lady on it, and I entered the one with the Lord figure. This closet was seriously larger than my room back in Foalshead. It was lit with a couple of strategically placed magic orbs and looked like it could hold more clothing than the combined total of an average village. However, in this case the shelves and suit hooks were bare, save for one. Apparently, my bedclothes consisted of a pair of very short pants made out of the same silky material as the sheets, and a silky shirt that was about three sizes too small as it really had to stretch to cover my arms and shoulders.

Shaking my head, I hurriedly dropped my clothes, pulled on the bedclothes, and exited the closet. Looking around for the girls, I could hear muffled talking through the door and since it didn’t sound like they were coming out anytime soon, I took the opportunity to wash up and clean my teeth in the washroom. By the time I was finished, Maya and Nia were still nowhere to be seen, but I could hear a heated debate going on inside the dressing room. Finally I knocked on the door.

“Ladies, is everything ok in there?”

Suddenly, the door opened a crack and Nia was propelled through the opening like she was shot from a crossbow and the door slammed shut again. Stabilizing in flight after a few feet, Nia zipped over to me. I noticed she was wearing a pixie-sized nightgown made out of the same material as my bedclothes, and proportionally, even shorter than my own. Nia did a lazy circle around me and grinned.

“Mister Alex, you’re looking pretty good in that outfit.”

“Pretty exposed, you mean,” I said. “When’s Maya coming out?”

Nia got all toothy on me again and chuckled, “Possibly never! How do you like my outfit?” She laughed and did a mid-air pirouette.

“It’s pretty small, even on a small person like you.”

“Well, imagine the exact same amount of material being used on Maya’s night gown!”

I stopped as my mind attempted to imagine just that. Unfortunately, I think I forgot to breathe for a minute or so, and when my lungs finally kicked back in and sucked in a huge draught of air, I think a small amount of drool went along for the ride. Several minutes of coughing later, I finally got off the floor with bleary eyes and a sore chest.

Nia was nearly dying of laughter at my expense, and it felt good to hear her laugh again.

Finally the door to the dressing room opened a crack and Maya’s voice came through the opening, “Alex, turn off all the lights and get into bed; you too, Nia!”

“Oh, come on,” I protested.

“Do it or I’m not coming out! I’ve slept in trees that were a lot less comfortable than this closet, and I’m sure I’ll do it again.”

“Fine,” I sighed, getting Nia situated on a small pillow with a blanket, both of which were placed on the table next to the fireplace. Pixie tucked in the for the night, I went around and snuffed the magic orbs; and just to be thorough, I closed the curtains that were draped on either side of the glass door, so there wasn’t any moonlight. Crawling into one side of the bed, I called out. “It’s safe to come out now; all dark!”

“You better not be using that mage sight, either!” A few seconds later, I heard the door open all the way and Maya slid into the other side of the bed. “Ok, what’s this all about then? This bed and these clothes, if you can call them that; what are your parents up to?”

“I don’t know; a condemned man’s last wish before charging into the undead horde? Perhaps this is what all the fashionable Nova are wearing this year, or maybe they really, really want a head start on grandchildren, ” I said, only half joking.

“What are you worried about?” she questioned, ignoring the grandchildren remark. “You’re a prince of the Nova; you’re probably immortal anyway.”

“Not true, unfortunately. My father took me aside and explained it to me. While I have an extended lifespan like any wizard, you and I will cut, bleed and die like any mortal, at least until our service to the universe is completed. If our opponent can be killed, then so must we have the same risk.”

“But he’s an undead necromancer…he’s already dead.”

“Well, we’ll just have to find a way to make him deader yet.”

Maya’s voice softened, “And how are you doing with all this? The whole parent thing, I mean. You just found your real parents and now they’re sending you off to save the magic kingdom; it’s a lot to take in.”

I thought about what she was asking. What did I really think about this anyway? “I don’t know. I mean, I know they’re my parents, I guess you could say I can feel it. But even though they’re my parents, they feel like strangers to me. I just don’t know yet.”

She slid closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder. “I can understand that and I think they understand as well. But they seem to be trying really hard, so I see no reason not to at least give them a chance. Besides, just from the way your mother was talking to you, I know she was heartbroken to leave you. No parent wants to leave their child.” She was silent for a moment. “After everything that happened today, I would very much like to see my parents again; I miss them.”

I wrapped an arm around her and felt padded sparring armor where there should have been lingerie. “You little cheat, you!”

She chuckled, slid closer to me, and whispered, “Alex, I tried it on and believe me, if I had worn that to bed, being this close to you with what you’re wearing, well let’s just say I would really like to face my father and mother with a clear conscious in a few days!”

I sighed and silently agreed with her. I gave her a hug. “You will. With any luck, they will be in the Capital when we get there.”

She snuggled a bit closer to me. “I think I would like that.” I was about to kiss her, but suddenly a small pillow was dropped on our faces, followed shortly by a damp pixie. Since there was nothing inappropriate to see anyway, I switched back to mage sight. Besides, I knew Maya could see as well in the dark as in the daytime anyway.

“Nia, what are you doing?” we asked.

She sniffled and said, “All this talk of families is making me sad.” A small tear fell on my face. “You two are the only ones I can call family now, so please let me stay with you tonight.”

Maya repositioned Nia’s pillow so it rested in the space between us. “Fine, you can stay here tonight, but no pranks.”

Nia smiled and wrapped her blanket firmly around herself. Maya propped up her own head with one hand and smiled warmly down at Nia for a bit, seemingly contemplating something, then looked at me with a glint in her eye. “Alex, how do you feel about children?” I will admit the question was quite a shock to me, seemingly coming out of nowhere, but then I noticed her wink and nod at Nia. Ah, now I understood.

“You know, I haven’t given it much thought.” Actually I have, a lot in fact. “But I would say somewhere around three or four would be great.” Maya smiled, her eyes shining; I do believe her number is a bit larger than my own. “But at least one of them would have to be adopted.” Nia looked up at Maya and me in confusion. “And smart, funny, and have a great personality.”

Maya nodded. “Yes, and maybe about six inches tall with cute wings, I would think. Now where in the world would we find someone like that who wants to be with us?”

Rivers of tears were running down Nia’s face. “You want me to be part of your real family?”

“Very much so,” I said.

“Besides,” Maya snickered, “Mother always told me that I should get a pet so I can get some practice at motherhood. A pixie has got to be way better than a bearded cave gecko.”

“I have a slight feeling I’m being used, but I don’t care, I have parents!” Nia hugged both our faces.

“Hold on one second,” said Maya, “there is a condition. An unmarried dark elf can’t have children; it’s one of the rules. So that means it won’t be official until Alex and I are wed; then you would be able to call us your mother and father. But the question still stands. Would you like to be our daughter?”

Her eyes were sparkling with joy. “Yes, please adopt me!”

We smiled. “Great, now everyone go to sleep!”

Chapter 7

Sleep was wonderful; the bed was even more comfortable than the ones in our Enchanters Hall. Somehow during the night, my dark elf maiden slid over to my side of the bed and cradled my head in her arms without disturbing the happily snoring pixie next to us. Sadly, this all ended as soon as the first rays of the sun struck the highest tower in the keep, as the twins and two nebulia careened through the door. Careened, because both dragons were carrying huge trays of food. Maya, of course, was awake and had her hand on Winya before the door was fully unlatched.