The War Begins

Chapter 3 - A Dinner with Elves

Dinner with the elves was always a tremendous occasion but tonight they outdid themselves; the favored prince did not come home just every day. But food was not the highlight of any elven night, no matter how good it was. Caine and the rest of the court had yet to see Keenan and his beau, but not for lack of trying.

Once again he had been slighted and moved to the far end of the eating hall, which had not been as terrible as he first thought. Many other magicians had also been placed there and he had a chance to speak with them and meet them for the first time. Some he knew, others he didn't, but by the end of the war he would know them almost as well as he knew his own hand. The older magician, Greylin, was not present at their table, but Caine thought he saw his grey hair near the royal table multiple times.

A gigantic buck brought down by the prodigal prince himself was the main course of their meal, supplemented by other meats hunted by the royals and influential magicians. Earth magicians had harvested scrumptious plants that had been cooked at the castle along with the best bread ever baked.

After the main meal had been consumed the tables were removed and musicians set up while the servants opened the doors into the main courtyard that led towards the stables and forest, where yet more musicians had set up. People meandered through the crowd looking for familiar faces or just chatting as they went, waiting for the main event. More servants placed long tables of pastries around the room for the few people who weren't full from the earlier meal.

The younger attendants left and headed down an outside hall to one of the offshoot rooms for another party in a large sunroom. Someone had even got the musicians to set up on the green grass outside, so couples could dance if the sunroom became too crowded.

Caine followed as he was still considered young by human, magician, and elven standards and didn't feel like spending his night talking politics he didn't care about. He parted with his dinner companions with a small wave.

The sunroom was set lower than the main hall, slightly hidden by the drop of stairs. A herald stood outside for those who wanted to be formally announced. Many of the young elves played at being proper Lords and Ladies who were part of the court proper rather than the rising court that had no real titles and were simply waiting for a parent's death or a title of their own.

Caine had just spotted Keenan and was starting to move toward him when he noticed something that stopped him in his tracks. The girl on Keenan's arm had her hair pulled back and her ears were exposed. They were not pointed. The girl that Keenan was courting was a human.

He supposed it shouldn't have surprised him, the prince being with a human, but somehow he thought that would be below the prince. The elf was supposed to be wise, not playing with a poor human's heart. His regard of Keenan instantly dropped. Just then the herald knocked his staff on the ground and Keenan's jaw clenched as he glanced over and saw who was standing at the top. Caine followed his gaze.

Caine waited for the herald to finish announcing, but the boy just stared at the woman waiting for her to tell him what to say. She simply smiled and descended the steps. It took Caine a moment to realize that it was the woman from the Goddess suite that had refused the healer's drink.

Her long dark hair had been pulled up away from her face, exposing her ears, and the ends curled loosely. The thing that kept pulling his attention was her eyes, a gorgeous purple that was unnatural yet not elfin in the slightest. The dress she wore flowed off her shoulders to hug her muscled arms and waist before draping elegantly to the floor. The color of the fabric was a deep purple that was almost black and played off her skin's tan coloring to draw attention back up to her face.

Keenan just continued to stare, though it almost crossed the line to glaring. As she walked down the stairs, more and more people turned to look at her and a thin slit in the skirts could barely be seen on her right side. Caine thought he might have noticed the hilt of a dagger in a sheath peeking through but couldn't be sure.