Chapter 5
HAIR OF MUD
The alabaster castle was indeed crafted of stone, though I wondered if the rock had grown from the ground in great arches or if it had weathered through millennia to create the tall looming curves and geometric shapes that stretched up to the prismatic sky.
It was a masterful glittering jewel of a castle, the spindles of the spires as delicate as clean rabbit bones, but stronger than the brittle spindles I’d picked through to make stew.
The golden trees were taller here than in the human lands. Their trunks and roots were woven into the stone, the work of hundreds of years of cultivating. A spectrum of auburn golds and fiery reds burst along the edges of the palace.
I swallowed down the part of me that wanted to marvel. This had not been my choice.
But I couldn’t help myself. This palace was like something out of a fairytale, and not a frightening one. This was one where the princess falls in love with the wolf who magically transforms into a prince.
This palace was certainly not made by human hands. I’d always believed the elves took masters of the human craft because they were too high and mighty to be bothered to create anything. Clearly, I had been wrong.
A thought speared into me, bringing a sense of true foreboding. Why go through all the trouble of bringing humans to a land that seemed to be thriving all the better without them?
What did the elves want of us?
Our carriage rolled to a gentle stop before a smooth alabaster dais set before the gilded front doors of the castle.
The pressing crowd parted as the Elf King made his way through to the front.
Celebratory music floated along the crisp autumn air as elves waved ribbons cheerily.
Then the Elf King raised a hand, his face effervescent.
Within a couple heartbeats the crowd and music quieted to a perfect silence.
The only sounds were the rustling of the king’s cloak and the hooves of his great elk.
“My people, I present unto you all the masters of craft and maiden from the mortal realms.” The Elf King’s voice boomed throughout the crowded platform as he signaled to our carriage.
All curious eyes that were not on us humans then turned their full attention to us within the walnut carriage. A servant opened the door and offered a hand to Lila. She pinched her cheeks, rubbed her lips together, and raised her head. “Let’s show them that we mortals are not to be intimidated.”
Lila reached for the hand of the servant and stepped onto the smooth white stone in an elegant motion.
The Elf King nodded to her, his silky white hair gleaming, skin as white as the stone Castle behind him.
But those eyes did not pierce through her with any intensity.
No, he seemed almost bored with the entire exchange.
He waited on the rest of us with a face of marble.
Jacob and I swapped nervous glances, but before we knew it, the three of us stood blinking in the saturated daylight at the foot of the awe-inspiring castle before hundreds of bright elves.
“I present Jacob, master of wood craft.” The Elf King indicated the humble woodworker who paled beside me. Cheers erupted at the words. “Noelle, master of baking.” More cheers. “And Lila, the maiden. May their days be long and full of joy.”
With that, the music began anew. Wind instruments gleamed gold and silver along with drums that played a jaunty melody.
The Elf King dismounted his elk, petted him on his large mane, then passed him off to an attendant.
He was followed quickly by his servant, the severe looking female with the blonde hair and sword at her side.
The same female the king had pretended to be only just this morning.
She followed behind with narrowed eyes that seemed to take any slight detail into account. A bodyguard of some kind.
The servant standing beside Lila gestured for us to follow.
We strode through the massive white front doors carved with woodland scenes of trees, deer, squirrels, and mushrooms, then through several arched hallways lined with lit gemstones leading into an enormous throne room.
About fifty important-looking elves stood on either side as we passed through the large audience chamber.
Once the King stood before the throne with the armed elf female at his side, the large doors to the chamber shut, cutting off any lingering sounds of the celebration outside.
Jacob cleared his throat, which echoed throughout the chamber like a bellowing bear, to his ever-living shame. I hid a smile even as I felt him wilt beside me. Lila stood perfectly prim, like she’d been preparing for this her whole life, which could very much be the case.
“Carpenter,” the Elf King stood before his throne, gesturing to Jacob.
“Yes sir.” Jacob bowed in a very stiff manner, hat twisting in his hands, clearly not used to any type of decorum.
“You shall work with my royal craftsman. There are many duties that must be accomplished. Your new apprentice will fill you in on the particulars.”
“Apprentice?” Jacob spun his hat uncomfortably. “Beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but I’m accustomed to working alone.”
He spoke truth. Jacob was always alone. He pushed those closest to him, even his family, away.
“You will teach your apprentice all you know. From the art I witnessed in the village, my people will gladly learn all they can from you.” The Elf King as good as dismissed him with a nod toward a tall and very eager looking elf.
Jacob grumbled quietly and nodded to the male elf who practically bounced on his lanky legs, holding a clipboard. I smiled to myself. This would be fun to watch, if I indeed had the chance.
“Maiden?” The Elf King called Lila up next.
Lila cooed and curtsied. “Yes, my lord?”
“You are free to live in my castle and travel these lands as you please. Dahlia will see to your every comfort.” The Elf King waved a hand toward a finely featured female with blueish black curls cascading down her back. “I pray these lands will give you the peace and belonging that you desire.”
“Oh.” Lila flushed, “But I thought—”
“I felt you were desperate to leave your small village behind.” The Elf King offered kindly.
“Now you are free to do as you please. Take this time to discover things that you enjoy. Perhaps you will find you are a master of some art or another, like your counterparts. It could be that you never had the chance to find out for yourself.”
The words were spoken compassionately, but there was a bitterness behind them.
Lila stuttered and stumbled. I expect as a beautiful, curvy woman, she was not used to being denied. “But, Your Majesty—”
“That is all.” The Elf King waved her over to visit with the elven maid, Dahlia.
With pursed lips, Lila curtsied, then fluttered over to the maid and out of the throne room in a huff. I raised my eyebrows, glancing about the room, shocked and completely unprepared for my own assignment.
“Baker,” The Elk King’s voice echoed in the vast space.
I curtsied awkwardly, heat burning my cheeks at his piercing gaze.
“You will take over the small kitchen on the grounds by the herb garden. I expect you to serve myself and my royal household at my command.”
The Elf King nodded in an almost dismissal, then his mouth fell open as his gaze shifted to someone beyond me. His eyes narrowed, but I was rooted to the spot, too afraid to look behind me, lest I anger the king.
The king continued to speak to me, though his eyes were focused behind me. “I will send my first order tomorrow at noon. Please take the day to settle in and gather supplies. Your new servant, Rafia, will take care of any needs you may have.”
A beautiful elf female with magenta hair bowed and smiled kindly from behind the king.
“I—” I stammered.
“Please excuse me.” The Elf King stepped from his throne dais and rushed past me, green cloak flapping majestically.
I turned to see the subject of the King’s fixation, a young elfling.
He looked to be close in age to an eight-year-old human boy, but his elven features were long, lean, and fair.
His eyes were the same brilliant gold as the Elf King, and he wore a heavily detailed cream coat and pants.
Definitely a little royal elfling. The Elf King whisper sounded throughout the chamber.
“I told you it would take but a few minutes. Why did you not wait?”
“You promised you’d let me see the humans!” The elfling whined.
“They have all been dismissed.” The Elf King moved to take the youngling’s arm, but the child side-stepped him.
“There’s still one.” The elfling pointed at me. “Here, see?”
Heat shot through my cheeks.
The Elf King closed his eyes, pulled in a long breath, then said the very last thing I expected. “Very well.”
My stomach dropped. What was happening? The child scrambled closer, but stopped a few feet away from where his curiosity stood.
Me. He studied my face, my hair, my dress.
The Elf King strode up behind him as if he had all the time in the world.
Though the king stood a few paces away, he was easily a head taller than me.
He seemed to swallow up the whole room as he loomed before me.
“Is that your real hair?” The child asked wrinkling his pert nose.
“Yes.” A laugh escaped me. Only the young could become instantly familiar. At least in this, elflings were similar to that of human children. “Of course it is.”
“It’s not white or pink or bright like ours.” The child said. His own hair was an identical white tinged with effervescent gold as the king’s. Could this elfling be the king’s son? “It looks like wavy mud.”
I blinked, amused by the frankness of the child’s conversation. “Thank you. I love mud.” I leaned down close to the elfling as if we shared a secret. “Very fun to squish between your toes.”
“It is?” The elfling mused and fixed me with a quizzical glare. “Are you sure? Sounds messy.”
“Quite sure.” I offered, “The messiness is half the fun.”
The elfling’s eyes brightened. “I’ll need to try that right now!”
With that, the child fled from the room, leaving myself and the Elf King standing face to face quite unexpectedly. The king towered over me so much that I had a hard time fixing him with my angry stare, still smiling as I was from my encounter with the young elf.
The Elf King cleared his throat. “That was…my younger brother, Aldaar. He gets into trouble wherever he goes. It seems he is about to start some more.”
I laughed. “He’s sweet.”
“He said your hair was like mud,” the Elf King quipped. “I do not know much of mortals, but he has offended many upon a first greeting.”
“I’m not easily offended by children,” I said, then seemed to remember who I was talking to. The Elf King. The one who’d taken me from my family, my home, only hours before. I shot out my chin and hardened my eyes. “Excuse me. I have a lot to do before I am expected to serve you tomorrow.”
Before I could think better of it, I curtsied, then practically ran to Rafia, the maidservant the king had indicated earlier.
She was a plump elf female, beautiful, with brilliant magenta hair pulled back into an intricate braid.
She seemed a lot safer company than the looming dark presence of the king, where I felt my tongue loosening.
My heart hammered in my chest. I wanted to yell at him, to rail against the injustice of being stolen away.
Instead, I nodded to Rafia who led me toward an enormous arched hallway lit by glowing white gemstones.
“This way, miss.” Rafia pulled my large trunk along with ease.
“Thank you.” I hurried after her, stumbling slightly, flushed as I was with the emotional upheaval I’d suffered today. I turned once and glanced behind. The Elf King’s eyes stalked me as I made my way from the throne room, a hunger lacing his glare.
My stomach tightened, and I yelped at the unguarded expression of the king. Why had he turned Lila, his maiden, away when he had such hunger in his eyes? I knew it wasn’t for my baking, nor, I think, for my body. This was a deeper hunger. A need. An expectation that I must fulfill.
The King expected something of me and I had no clue what it was.
What would happen to me if I failed?