Plight of an Empire

Chapter Fourteen: Elendil

Ardith, Sarmunian Isles

The warm, welcoming sun shone down on the deck of the ship.  It was a welcome change from the snow of Mynoa for Prince Elendil Thurston.  He watched the land in the distance grow in size as the ship pushed towards it.  The waters were calm today.  They were welcoming him home.

The white limestone spires in the distance grew as the ship brought them closer.  The roof of each spire reflected gold, making them appear to be a part of the sun herself.  Home, he thought with a smile.  He had missed his home.

“We are almost home”, his father said as he strode up beside him.  “The winters on the mainland are too harsh, are they not?”  King Glador Thurston had taken the opportunity to change out of his Mynoan attire he donned for the High Queen.  The soft linen of his current attire was much more appropriate to the warm islands to the south.

Elendil nodded as a cool breeze whipped through his hair.  “They are indeed.”  In truth, the cold did not bother him.  But he would be lying if he said he did not miss the mild temperatures of the Isles.  While Mynoa was white with snow, Ardith was white with sands.  It was something that he favored the Isles over the mainland continent.

The king and prince aided in the porting of the ship.  Being boatmen themselves, they moved through the tasks of docking easily.  In many places of the city, it is easier to navigate by boat than by foot or horse.  Horses were rarely seen in the city.  They were more common inland, where the farmlands were located.

When Elendil touched solid ground, his knees nearly gave out from under him.  The past fortnight he had spent on that boat.  He had all but forgotten to feeling of solid ground.  He could still feel the swaying of the boat beneath him.

All around him, the citizens of Ardith watched the return of the royal family.  Though it does not seem as long to him, he and his family had been gone for months, leaving their steward in charge in their stead.  Elendil knew that their presence had been missed dearly.  He could see it in the faces of his people.  The love from his people was one of the few things he enjoyed about being a prince.

Applause erupted around them as the Thurstons made their way to their palace.  A festival had been erected to celebrate their homecoming.  Elendil yearned to stay behind and take part in the festivities, but his mother’s voice urged him forward.  She looked down upon consorting with the commoners.  During their ride to the palace, she locked her gaze on the horizon, never giving a thought to the people around her.  Her coldness towards them had been a source of great debate between her and her son.  Just one of many.  They drove each other mad when left alone long enough.  King Glador just gave up trying to work things through with them, saying that they were “on their own”.

Once they reached the gates, the guardsmen opened them up and the family proceeded inside.  The gates were not unlike the ones that were found at the White Keep, but they were much smaller.  The gates led to a small courtyard at the entrance of the palace.  There they were greeted by the servants who rushed to help them off their horses.  Only Queen Vana took advantage.  The servants quickly rushed the horses away to the stables for grooming while Elendil and his parents entered their home for the first time in months.

It looked just as it did when they left it.  The servants had done a good job and keeping the place clean during their absence.  His mother insisted that they continue to clean everything as if they were still there so that it would appear they had never left at all.  If anything, the palace was cleaner than it usually was while they were present.

“El!  Papa!” a little voice shouted over the noise of the crowd.  A little dark headed boy weaved his way through the crowd.  His fair skin was like a beacon of light among the throngs of the tanned and copper toned people of the Isles.  Elendil knelt down just in time for his little brother to attack him in a vicious hug.  “Welcome home, El!”