Destiny of Sapphire - Book One: The Baron and His Elf

Chapter 7 - Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

It was just before dinner that Basil and his son returned from their mission. Blake was bored, he wanted to do something but ended up admiring the horses in the stables. That was when he heard the snorts of the returning horses when a stable boy brought them in. Overjoyed that the king had returned, Blake immediately entered the castle in hopes of speaking to the king alone. To his dismay, King Basil was giving instructions on how to help the villagers whose homes were crumbling down due to the age.

By the time he was done, it was dinner time and Blake had to wait for another opportunity. This time, he saw a pale Alfhild sitting at the dining area. “Lady Alfhild,” he greeted her. She returned his greeting softly. “You should rest more,” he looked at her in concern.

“I am much better now, it is not good to stay in bed too long, Sir Blake,” Alfhild smiled. Blake noticed a hint of blush, hoping it was from her illness instead of the memories from their kiss. Speaking of the kiss, he felt the need to lean towards her to kiss her again to feel that flutter in his heart again. King Basil broke into a speech at that moment.

“Dear family and friends, I have news to announce,” pausing for the dinner area to be quiet. The chattering died down, Basil continued, “Aricin and I have returned from a trip to the village to see how the villagers are living. It is saddening to know that they are living in such poor conditions. Their houses are now crumbling down and there has been no signs of repairs or even rebuilding for the past five years. I wish to set up a team to oversee the rebuilding mission, any volunteers?”

Blake found his hand raising followed by the stunned faces of everyone staring at him. Swallowing nervously, he faked a confident smile, “King Basil, I wish to find out more about this kingdom, may I help?”

Basil beamed at him, “We have one kind soul,” turning to look around the table, he carried on, “Who shall help him?” Immediately, five hands were raised; one of which belonged to Alfhild. Blake was concerned but she shook her head slightly. With that, Basil announced that they would set off to the village the next morning and stay there till the buildings were repaired or rebuilt.

Blake was once again left with questions in his mind. Mentally berating himself for volunteering away from the source he was hoping to retrieve answers from, he found himself knocking down someone feminine, judging from the whimpers he heard. To his dismay, it was the only girl who hated him, Kiley.

“Can you look?” she glared at him.

If looks could kill, Blake was sure that he would have been stabbed a thousand times from her vicious glare. “I don’t mean to.” When she refused to back down, he got irritated, “Look, what did I ever do? You give me this look every time we meet and I don’t even know what I did to make you angry!”

As his hands raked through his hair violently, he gave a wince when he felt some being pulled off their roots. Kiley did not respond. She had softened her angry glare to shock. Something that he never thought she was capable of. Before he could get an answer from her, she turn away abruptly and he could only hope to burn holes into her tiny back with his glare.

When morning arrived, Blake found himself being assisted by the ever efficient Argos who had packed his clothes and other necessities into a bag that looked like a duffel bag. Whatever he had put inside seemed to be swallowed and it did not look full despite the numerous stuff that were being placed inside. “Argos?”

“Yes, Sir Blake?” he completed the packing and looked at Blake. Blake sighed inwardly, Argos would always be formal.

“How many things did you put inside that bag?”