Chapter 4 Welcome to Helomasi
Chapter four
Welcome to Helomasi
Alaceandra
We arrive in Helomasi without much fanfare.
The elvisera are very speedy creatures. They deliver us to the front gates of the castle, setting us gently in front of King Demetrius and my supposed betrothed.
They both wear teal robes lined with pink floral accents.
Helomasi’s colors. I have never seen the prince before, but Mandi had once described him to me, although he is much more intimidating in person.
A six-foot five man, he easily towers over those surrounding him, including his father.
His gray-green eyes pierce anything they touch.
He has a silky inky braid spilling over his left shoulder and an aura about him that reeks of arrogance and authority.
I sigh, not looking forward to this encounter.
“Welcome to Helomasi, Alaceandra,” King Demetrius smiles, but there is something ominous about it. The welcome did not seem very genuine. Goosebumps break out across my arms.
Sliding down the elvisera’s wing, I gain footing on the cobble stone walkway.
The air smells of spring. Floral blooms and clean linen mix in my nostrils along with an undertone of something.
What is that? I take in a deep breath and pause.
The flowers almost seem to be masking a staleness in the air, but glancing around I cannot see where the disturbing scent originates.
I wrinkle my nose and admire the surrounding trees.
The leaves are showing out in brilliant bursts of reds and pinks and little winged creatures flutter around their branches.
I smile at the sight. Returning my eyes to the men in front of me, I dip in a slight curtsy to acknowledge the king’s welcome.
“Thank you.” When I come up from my curtsy, more people have appeared around the king and prince.
The king motions to them and then looks to me.
“They will be escorting you to your new chambers. Please try not to cause any trouble. Your father, as well as other parties, have informed me of your mischievous tendencies of which will not be tolerated in my kingdom.” With that he turns his back to me and makes his way back into the castle.
I look around, steeling myself when Fadres and Credour appear at my back. “Let’s get going,” Fadres says in a low tone and grabs my elbow to steer me towards the castle. A servant curtsies and leads the way into the castle.
We walk in and I pull my elbow out of Fadres’ grip, he gives me a disapproving stare. “I am fine, thank you.”
The woman leading us finally arrives to my new quarters. “The prince requested you reside here until the details of your marriage are secured. The prince is in the room next to you. Men you will be in the other wing of the--”
“No.” Credour interrupts. His voice sends a shiver of unease through me. “Please find us quarters in this room here.” He points to the room on the other side of my new quarters. “We will accept nothing else. We are here to guard Alaceandra, and we cannot do so from the other end of the castle.”
The woman purses her lips. “Sir, I do not assign the rooms.”
“Well then find the person who does. We will either be in that room or sleeping on her floor.” Fadres enters a staring contest with the woman.
“I do not think that is neces-” I start to interrupt.
“Quiet, Alaceandra.” Fadres chides. I bristle at the ease in which Fadres says my name, holding back the urge to lash out at the strange man.
The woman sighs.
“One moment.” She grabs a small comms device from a leaf on the wall and speaks in low tones into it.
Odd. Returning it to its place she turns to us.
“Although this situation is most unproper, the king said he will allow you to quarter next to Alaceandra for the time being.
In exchange, once she moves into the prince's quarters, he requests you be dismissed from the premises. A young woman being so close to two men would not be the start to a successful union especially in the eyes of our subjects, do you agree to these terms?”
“For now,” Credour responds firmly.
“Fine. These quarters should be ready within the next half hour, until then feel free to explore the gardens. They can be found on the main floor at the end of the left hall.” She turns in a flourish and walks back the way she came, looking much too busy to continue hanging around us.
“So...” I start.
“Come,” says Credour. He walks in the direction of the gardens and Fadres herds me with them.
I finger the blade hidden in my skirts ready to fight them if they get too handsy with me.
It is a small black blade that Sam had given me on my twentieth birthday.
Its handle is wrapped in leather and has little symbols carved into it.
He told me never to unsheathe the blade unless it was an emergency.
I could not bear to leave it behind, especially with Mandi’s warnings still ringing in my ears.
We make it outside and Fadres throws a hand up. I flinch and shrink away from him.
Fadres laughs. “Don’t worry, Lace. I’m just disabling any surveillance magic or devices they might have out here. Since they think little of our magic usage, I knew they would not be hard to disable.”
I look at him, puzzled. “Your voice sounds familiar and yet I do not know of you, nor have I ever met either of you in my lifetime. Why is this?”
“You haven’t figured it out, yet?” Credour chuckles his voice transforming into a very familiar sultry sound. I glare at them, confused.
Fadres rolls his eyes and waves a hand. In a blink their forms morph into Sorin and Sam’s. I squeal and Fadres—now Sam—covers my mouth. “Lace!” Sam whisper yells at me. On a chuckle he continues “I only disabled the enhanced listening tools; I did not cloak the gardens; we still need to be quiet.”
Credour—now Sorin— ruffles my hair a bit. “Did you really think we would let you go without any kind of protection?”
“I mean technically I did have protection.”
Sorin wrinkles his nose. “Those jerks?” He says referring to the forms they were just inhabiting.
“They would not have been much protection. Sam and I went down to the pubs the night before your send off and caught them doing some… let’s say unsavory…
things to some of the women within them.
There was no way in all of the kingdoms of Ptheryeth we were going to let them anywhere near you alone, especially as your only form of protection.
” Sorin and Sam shared a disturbed look.
“Are the women okay?”
“Physically, yes,” Sam offered. “Mentally? We don’t know, but we did make sure Fadres and Credour would never touch anyone ever again…”
“How can you be so sure?” I wonder aloud, upset by the turn in conversation.
“Kind of hard to touch anyone from beyond the grave,” Sorin states, flippantly.
“You killed them?” I say in shock.
“We did what we had to,” Sam remarks, looking a little troubled.
“Wait.” I hold up a hand. Both men turn towards me. I point at Sorin, accusatory. “Last time I saw you, you were hauling ass away from me, abandoning me to my father’s anger out in the woods, and now you are here claiming to be my protector and a martyr to others?”
“I know. I know! I will explain, but I told you if I was with you when your father caught you, I would be of no help later. I would not have been able to be here now if he had caught me then.”
“I would not have been here now if it were not for our outing then,” I bite back.
“I know you think that but there is more at play now then what meets the eye—”
“More riddles...”
“Lace, I would tell you without them if I could, I promise, but even now my tongue is spel—” he chokes on that word and grits his teeth.
“Look more information is to come, but Sam and I will have to remain in disguise until we can sort out a couple more details.
We only revealed ourselves to you so you would know you were not without allies here, but you must not let anyone know of our identities. "
I grunt in frustration. “Fine. I guess I am happy you both are here, even if you are being quite strange about everything…”
Sorin smiles gently at me. “Thank you, Lace.”
“You are not out of hot water yet, Sorin, I am still very upset with you.”
“I understand.”
“Good.”
Sam smiles widely. “Now that that is out of the way.” He pulls us into a huge hug, and I release tension I did not realize I had.
I love Sam’s hugs. “I am happy we are together again,” Sam says this almost inaudibly, his face buried in my hair.
Baby elvisera are alight in my belly having them so close and I allow myself to luxuriate in the feeling.
Sorin is usually the touchy one of the two, a fact of which I adore, but it is always a treat when Sam initiates.
I inhale deeply, breathing in both of their scents, but do my best to be quiet.
For the first time since Sorin left me in the clearing, I can feel myself start to relax.
Once he releases us, he nods his head as if he is agreeing to some internal thought.
“Alaceandra you should be able to see through our forms now that I have revealed ourselves to you. Please be sure you continue to call us Credour and Fadres in public. We do not want to cast further suspicion on ourselves by dropping the disguise now. Too many have seen us with you.” I nod.
“Good. We should head back to our rooms. We do not want people to come looking for us.” Regrettably, I agree.
Sorin and Sam re-cloak themselves back into Fadres and Credour’s forms and we all head back into the castle and the madness that awaits us.