Book 1 | Agent 34 and the Desert of Beasts

Chapter 11 | The Feast

"And this is your room." Fáolar opened the door, and behind it revealed a tiny bedroom. There was a dresser and a lamp, with a king-sized bed in the middle of the room.

Agent 34 walked inside and ran his hand along the blue velvet bedsheets. "Me and Arenia thank you kindly, Sir Fáolar." Agent 34 thanked the king of Ilrenia and bowed towards him as well.

"No need to thank me! I just want to see the fall of that evil king just as much as you do! Say, you have amnesia, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Swing by the throne room after dinner tonight and I'll tell you about the Fall of the Old King and how Braunick came to rule. We are having lamb for dinner and it'll be ready in half an hour, so be ready then!" Fáolar started his long walk back to his throne room, leaving Agent 34 alone.

The elf felt a little tense being alone in a dimly lit room, and decided to go to Arenia's room, which was farther down the hall in the opposite direction that Fáolar had gone.

Once he reached her room, Agent 34 knocked on the wooden door. "Come in," He heard Arenia say, and pushed the door open and walked inside.

Arenia was standing in the middle of the room, in front of her red bed. She wore a bright, green dress that sparkled when she moved, and her hair was put in a messy bun, revealing her pointed ears.

"Wow," Agent 34 said, stunned by her immense beauty. 

"Aren't you going to get ready?" She asked. "Didn't Fáolar tell you that tonight is Ilrenia's feast that they made in celebration for us?"

"No, he didn't." Agent 34 replied, still in awe by how beautiful Arenia was to him.

"You should close your mouth and not let your jaw hang like that, bugs will fly in." Arenia jokingly said to him, and blushed slightly.

Realizing his mouth had been open, Agent 34 quickly closed it and brushed some hair off his forehead with his right hand. "When is the feast?"

"Half an hour. I still have to do my hair, and my makeup, which I can do with some spells. You have no formal clothing, right? Here, maybe Fáolar has some, or—"

"It's fine, I can go like this." Agent 34 said to Arenia, but she started to look through her backpack for some sort of clothing her could wear to the feast.

"No, the village worked hard on this feast and it's only right to look nice when you go to it! I mean, you and I haven't washed in days, and we smell like fish guts. The least we could do is wear something nice, and maybe clean ourselves if we have enough time."

Agent 34 knew she was right. Arenia quickly pulled out her wand, and muttered a few words, then her messy bun unfolded itself and turned into long, curly brown hair that dangled above her shoulders. She looked more stunning than before, which gave Agent 34 and urge to say something.

"You look beautiful." Agent 34 blurted out.

Arenia looked up to him and said nothing. Her eyes looked like they wanted to say something back, but the spark flickered away.

"I'll call one of Fáolar's guards to get you some clothing." Arenia replied, and Agent 34 was a little disappointed she didn't say anything about his compliment  to her.

Arenia disappeared from the room to get him some clothes, which left him standing alone in her temporary bedroom.

Idiot! He said to himself. Why would I call her beautiful? And to her face?! God, I'm so stupid! It wasn't a lie, she was beautiful but, did I really need to tell her that? All I accomplished was embarrassing myself! Why all of a sudden do I think she is beautiful? All she did was put a dress on and style her hair, did I think she was beautiful before this? I suppose I did...maybe I should watch what I say to her from now on before embarrassing myself.

"34!" Arenia called from the hallway. "Come here, please!"

Agent 34 walked into the hallway and spotted Arenia in that same green dress standing beside what he assumed to be one of Fáolar's guards.

"We have no formal clothing, but we do have some better clothes for you. Would you prefer that?" The guard asked Agent 34.

"Yeah, please."

"Okay, if you'd follow me." The guard turned on his heel and began walking in the other direction, and Agent 34 followed him.

 Agent 34 looked behind him to see Arenia walking back into her room to finish getting herself ready, and a pang of disappointment hit him as he left her, which left him questioning what he truly felt towards Arenia.

The guard startled him when he quickly turned into an open door, and Agent 34 walked right by him and had to turn back around to go into the room after the guard.

Inside the room was a giant closet. "Pick an outfit you'd like. We have nothing formal to wear, only normal clothing." The guard explained, and left the room.

Agent 34 decided on a purple t-shirt with some jeans. It was the best in that room.

Agent 34 set off back to Arenia's room, and it wondered him why he was going there instead of his own room.

Agent 34 reached her bedroom and knocked on the door, and she let him in. "Oh! I was just coming to get you, it's time to go. Fáolar just informed me that the feast is ready."

Arenia and Agent 34 started walking down the stone hallway side-by-side, and he had a sudden urge to move closer to her. He resisted the urge, and continued walking with her to the feast.

Fáolar found them and led them outside the castle, where a giant table full of food sat, and villagers had gathered around it. Dozens of roasted lambs were on each table, along with other food to accompany it.

When Agent 34 and Arenia walked outside, the villagers started to cheer. 

"Take a seat anywhere, and I'll sit beside you." Fáolar told the pair of elves, and they quickly sat at the seats closest to the castle entrance. Agent 34 sat on Arenia's left side, and Fáolar sat on Agent 34's right.

"Everyone! I wish you all to welcome Agent 34 and Arenia here to Ilrenia! They have traveled many miles to be here with us, and they have found a gem along the way! They are traveling to the Zena for proper training with the gem and to stop Braunick once and for all!" Fáolar announced to the village, and they all stared cheering.

Agent 34 leaned closer to Arenia and whispered, "You told them we were heading to the Zena?"

"Yes." Arenia replied, and Agent 34 leaned away from her.

"Now, everyone," Fáolar said once the cheering died down. "Dig into the feast we have prepared for Agent 34 and Arenia's arrival!" 

Everyone began to take meat off of the roasted sheep on each table and eat it quickly and delightfully.