Allegiance

Chapter 27

It was early in the morning, and the halls of the floating castle were already filled with a few guards and castle staff as they roamed the halls, completing their early morning duties. One such human maid was walking through the hallway with her head down and eyes glued to the chore list that she was reading in her hands. She was unaware of her surroundings, so unaware that she didn't notice the figure in front of her in time before she bumped into her.

"Oof," The maid huffed out. The paper she was holding dropped to the floor, and she grew irritated by the fact that someone had bumped into her. "Hey, watch it!" The maid snapped, and her gaze flicked to the person she bumped into. However, the maid's stomach dropped; she visibly paled and went wide-eyed as her gaze fell onto Lance Alea, who stood there with a curious gaze. "I- I'm so sorry!" The maid practically yelled and bowed at a damned near ninety-degree angle, thinking she had just signed her own death warrant.

Alea's curious gaze turned to amusement, seeing the poor young maid sweating profusely. She was obviously nervous by how she spoke to an elven Lance. Alea covered her mouth slightly as she let out a light-hearted giggle. The maid flinched somewhat, not knowing if Alea's laughing was her preparing to execute her, forgive her, or ignore her. The maid was practically shaking out of her skin, waiting for an outcome.

"You can relax," Alea said reassuringly, trying to calm the maid and show she wasn't mad. The maid looked up slowly and hesitantly, with her tearful gaze landing on Alea, who was smiling kindly at her. Alea looked down, seeing the paper the maid once held on the ground. Alea knelt and picked up the paper before standing up and handing the paper to the maid. "Here you go," Alea said with a bright smile.

The human maid stood there bewildered, not moving an inch, not knowing what to make of what she was seeing. In front of her was an elven Lance, one of the pillars of power of the elven kingdom, acting kind to her after she snapped at her disrespectfully. The maid had heard stories from the human king who stated the elven Lances were proud and could be cold-hearted and cruel; she had expected to meet the end of her days here and now. However, everything she was seeing was the exact opposite of what she had heard in the past.

Alea curiously tilted her head slightly to the right, staring at the maid, who seemed to be frozen, "Are you okay?"

The maid's eyes went wider, which Alea didn't think was physically possible, and the maid shook her head, realizing she had been standing there, not moving or saying anything like an idiot.

The maid quickly regained her composure and returned Alea's smile. "Y-yes," The maid stuttered nervously. She reached out and cautiously took the paper from Alea's hand, "T-Thank you."

Alea giggled and nodded happily, "You're welcome." Alea waved to the maid as she continued on her way and walked past the maid. "You have a good day!"

Surprised by her kindness, the human maid watched Alea as she walked away and turned right at the end of the hallway, out of sight. The maid looked at the paper in her hand, and her lips curved in a small smile, thinking the elves weren't as bad as she was made to believe.

***

Continuing down the hallway to the elven royal family suite after having breakfast, Alea smiled and nodded to the castle staff and guards as they walked by. The human and dwarven staff either nodded and greeted Alea back or just ignored her altogether. On the other hand, the elven staff greeted Alea excitedly, seeing one of their heroes in person as they walked by.

Alea proceeded to walk past a door to her right when she suddenly froze, stopping dead in her tracks, with a sense running down her spine. Someone had purposefully sent a magical pressure in her direction to get her attention, but Alea didn't know why. Physically tense and on guard at the sudden magic, Alea looked up and down the hallway, seeing nothing but castle staff walking past as they looked at her curiously, seeing her furrowed brow and stern gaze, wondering what was wrong.