Tales of Fire and Ruin

Home and Hopes

Prince Malte greeted me with a cordial smile and said, 'If you stare at me like that, you're going to make me blush, young man."

I chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry for staring, your highness. I'm—I wasn't expecting to see you here. My name is Laurence Montbow." 

"Montbow?" Prince Malte raised a brow. "The great merchant family of the south, hm? In that case, likewise. I wasn't expecting to see a nobleman here. I thought I was the only human from the noble circles aiding the elves."

"Montbow is unfortunately no longer a big name among the merchant guilds or noble circles," I said with a sheepish smile. "Which is part of the reason I'm here, actually."

Prince Malte's eyebrow raised higher, while Oleander seemed done speaking with the other elves and approached us. I wasn't keen on explaining to the prince why were no longer a large merchant family, and gratefully turned to Oleander. "So, what do we do now?" I asked.

"That's not up to me anymore," Oleander replied. "They're deciding." Oleander nodded at an elderly woman and a few more elves, who were still huddled together a short distance away from the others. Sage was among them too. 

"Regardless, I will return to Wildewall," prince Malte said. He turned to me. "Tell me, how fares the war? Were the woods taken by my father after we disappeared?"

"Well..." I had to think about the question hard. Again, I wished I had paid attention during lessons about the monarchy in Wildewall. Mother's history lectures always made me doze off, and I could never concentrate on reading the dull books. "I think after your father passed away, your second eldest brother inherited the throne."

Prince Malte cursed under his breath. "My father passed? And...Alaric. Of course he inherited the throne. Seems like he got what he wanted after all. Bastard. What did he say about me? What is my reputation in the human lands now?"

I opened and closed my mouth. The prince's replies reminded me he had no idea he had spent ninety years in the mountains, and I didn't know how to ease him into it slowly. 

I decided to simply answer his question for now.  "He, uh, your brother raised a statue in your honour, your highness," I said. "And they named districts and buildings after you for your role in the war."

Malte grimaced. "And what is my role in the war according to these stories?"

"The stories in Wildewall say you brought the elven artefact to the humans and took away the elves' strength with it," I said. "But since you're here with the elves and they're not trying to kill you, I have a feeling that's not what happened."

Prince Malte let out an exasperated sigh, brushing a hand through his hair. "No, that is obviously false. But even so, I don't think I'm quite off the hook yet." He nodded at the elves. "Most of them never fully trusted me." 

"We would be foolish to suspect you now," Oleander said. "Why would you let yourself be captured in these mountains with us if you were behind it all?"

"I could've fallen into my own trap," Malte said with a wink. "The royal family of Wildewall is known for not being above double-crossing our own flesh and blood, after all."

"But you weren't part of setting a trap, were you, your highness?" I asked. "You didn't betray Sage Farun."

Prince Malte looked at me. "That would be a very long story, Montbow," he said. "And I understand we don't have time for very long stories."

I turned toward The Last Stop. "No, we don't. The people living nearby surely must've noticed already something changed in the mountains. Elves still aren't beloved in these lands, to say the least. They mustn't see you all here."