Yelena led Aurora down through long elaborately decorated halls. She noted the large paintings, the porcelain vases, and all the abundantly filled bouquets.
"This place is beautiful," Aurora mumbled looking around the hall they were in and her eyes caught something on the ceiling. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of the mural across the full length of the wide hall. It depicted a war scene with mighty men in armor on horseback. One that was centered was on a grand horse and held a spear to what looked like an enemy in the painting.
"That was Lord Evander's great grandfather in the War of the Three," Yelena said and from Aurora's confused look she asked, "you don't know about it?"
Aurora shook her head.
"Sathoro, how? It was one of the biggest and most defining in Fhan's history!" Yelena turned to mutter to herself, "I wish more were taught the history of our lands."
"I come from a part in town where we are not taught to read or write. I cannot read any of the scriptures in the tarlse nor could I even read my own name if it was put in front of me."
"The War of the Three was when we went to war with the Ocreeans, our northern neighbors. I don't remember who invaded who first but we both were stealing into the other's country for slaves. It was ironic. Further into the fighting, this was a few years in, the Ocreeans wanted us and our land when they found out while we are a small country, we were heavy with resources that they took a liking too.
"One was a special metal called aerium that's used in our weapons. It took many calls to action before their king and our king came to a truce. They introduced us to the cocoa bean, which is how we have chocolate and we traded aerium for it, however neither of us could trap slaves in our lands. That's why we mostly take slaves from across the sea and from Remira."
Aurora perked up at the sound of the other country. "I was trying to go there."
"To Ocree? Or Remira?" Yelena asked.
"To Remira, I wanted to leave Fhan," she said shying away in embarrassment.
Yelena nodded and turned another corner. And then came to a stop. They stood in the doorway to a grand dining room. A long table that could sit more than ten people on both sides stretched the length of the room. But as she entered the room, she found out there was even further back to the room she hadn't seen from the doorway. She wondered what they used such a grand room for. She didn't think there were that many in the estate to all sit at the table at one time, but she didn't truly know.
Yelena turned to her and said, "Just breathe, it will be alright. Lord Evander is a kind person."
Yelena left and Aurora turned to find Evander wasn't the only person in the room. He was accompanied by two others, one being the other man she remembered seeing before she had passed out on the street. Prince Alastair. But both the prince and Evander sat in the chairs beside the head of the table. The one sitting at the head of the table was a lady. She was draped in pools of pink skirts that was so much fabric the chair disappeared under it all.
Aurora looked at the woman's fair and petite face and found a glittering gold circlet in her dusty brown colored hair. She looked at the prince and then to the small lady in the chair at the head of the long table. That had to be the princess and heir to the throne.
As it dawned on her she looked at the lady in giant puddles of pink more closely.
She had a small figure, one that could be easily mistaken for a child if one didn't look too carefully. But she wasn't a child. She was the same age as Alastair the two being twins and were identical to a point except the very distinct height difference.
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Shadows of Iraedes | NanoWrimo 2021
RomanceAurora Bailey has had a hard life, and the horizon is only looking harder. She's finally had enough of her abusive partner and decides to leave him, but finds she can't when he keeps pulling her back, sometimes even physically. After many attempts t...
