The Shadows Move With Us

Chapter 3

Two days passed in the city of Tosa, the inhabitants going about their normal lives and enjoying each others company. And as they did, the royal's did the same. In the inner city, where the buildings were made of ivory stone and expensive wood imported to aid in their construction and the rich could spend their days without knowing a single displeasure, the king watched his subjects from a terrace high upon the edge of his home. The castle was constructed much like the castles of old, with lofty ceilings and steep sides so as to make sure people knew just where the true royalty lived, instead of in the surrounding area that housed the other nobles. The outside of the castle looked as if it were out of a fairy tale, with vines creeping up the underside of some of the windows and gold and blue shingles decorating the roofs protruding up into the sky. The king himself was dressed rather simply compared to what the rest of the court usually wore, preferring thin robes stitched with gold along the seams to compliment his crown, whereas most of the nobles wore expensive jewelry and gaudy clothes that simply screamed 'I have more money than you, peasant.'

Speaking of one of the other nobles, a knock at the door to his study brought him out of his drifting thoughts and back into the hear and now. "Enter." Turning around with his hands folded in front of him, he watched the door swing open and in entered a woman in a rather flattering pink velvet dress, a rather beautiful woman with a penchant for showing off for suitors that deigned to look her way. Hair done up in a neat little bun accented with a little silver crane hair pin, face painted to draw attention to her pale green eyes and her naturally red lips, she looked as if she were out to slay some poor young suitors affections and steal his heart while leaving a couple broken ones behind her. "Hello Amelia. What can I do for you?" He said, stepping away from the terrace and actually walking back into the room so that he could converse with her without having to raise his voice too much.  She smiled and bowed her head to him, giving him the respect demanded of the crown resting upon his head before she was allowed to speak. "I have simply come to see just what my king is up to. You were supposed to be at the meeting concerning the days coming not too long ago, if you remember." 

A hand reached up to allow two fingers to rub against his face as he sighed to himself, nodding lightly as he answered. "I was lost in thought for a few minutes. I am on my way now." He said, turning to grab one of the books he had been studying beforehand and put it away before looking in the full mirror off in the corner to make sure everything was in order. He brushed his blonde shoulder length hair back from his face, tucking it behind his ears to free up his face before checking the small beard he sported to make sure it was all neat and orderly. Brown eyes looked back at him as he smiled, nodding to himself before turning with the intention of heading out of the study and to the meeting. Instead, he was greeted with the pale green eyes of Amelia, much too close to his face with a mischievous grin plastered across her face while she gave him a perfect look down into that generous cleavage. She didn't appear to be very modest about it either, that grin only getting wider when the king glanced down at her chest then back to her eyes. "May I ask what you are doing, Miss Amelia?" He asked politely. "Simply wondering if his majesty would like a woman's opinion on his looks. He seems rather concerned." He stepped to the side and past her, sandal clad feet creating gentle swishing sounds against the carpet as the soles moved against one of the ones closest to his desk. "The King is fine. I was just making sure that nothing was out of place. Shall we?" He asked, gesturing towards the door before stepping out into the hallway with her quickly following him. 

Matching his pace, her heels clicked against the ground steadily while she walked beside him, looking rather pleased with herself with causing the man a small bit of uncomfortableness. He glanced over at her as they traversed the gilded halls, the sunlight streaming through the windows as they neared their destination. "So who sent you to collect me? Was it Alelis? Or was it Zachariah?" She scoffed lightly at the mention of the two elders, the former older than the former but not looking it at all. "I came to get you myself. Zachariah was going to have a conniption just arguing with Alelis because they didn't know where to look for their rather.....thoughtful king." She glanced over at him as she said this, his eyes rolling in his head just a bit as he looked up at the tiled ceiling in exasperation. "I swear sometimes I think they will die of killing each other rather than old age." He grumbled, approaching a large wooden door and pushing it in. Amelia just watched as he did, fanning her face playfully while she followed him in. "What a strong ruler we have." She teased, perfectly white teeth on display as she winked at him and wandered off to sit next to the leader of her house. The Lords looked towards him as he approached the circular meeting table, centered in the middle of the room. The walls were coated in neat honeycombs filled with different scrolls and files, each one containing either notes on previous meetings or information on what the meetings were about. Certain sections were labeled according to race, with the Zână and the Djinn holding a tie for the most with the Elves holding a close second. The Dwarves' section was rather bare in retrospect, only a couple cubby's filled in with the next closest section only containing one scroll tied up in with a single red ribbon around the middle.