The Queen of Elysium

Chapter 78 - A deal with the Dark King

Aren follows the river until the waterfall where he banks left and glides over the forest. As the trees start to thin, he scans the ground below with eagle eyes and at last spies a figure with long, white-blonde hair. His stomach feels like it is rushing into his beak and that is not due to the free dive. Landing on carpet of crisp, bronzed leaves, he transforms back into a man.

"Prince Aren." The figure gives a slight incline of its head.

It is probably as warm a welcome as we are going to get. Everything is cooler in the north, the eagle wryly remarks.

"Prince Aldebaran." He returns the formal greeting. "Thank you for agreeing to help me."

"I think it best not to announce your presence. I will therefore mask you until we get to my residence."

Aren is aware of a brief tingling on his skin as the magic settles, then they set off, walking in silence.

The path leads to a gateway in a tall, fortified wall. The stately light elves guards move aside at the sight of the elven prince and they pass under the stone archway carved with vines and animals. At any moment, Aren expects to be challenged, but the guards stand as motionless as statues.

Behind the wall, the city has a claustrophobic, almost clinical feel and the houses though large, are sandwiched together. It is almost too clean and what greenery there is, is pruned or shaped to within an inch of its life. Nothing is wild and free.

We could change that. The tiger grins mischievously within, bearing spectral fangs.

I think that we are going to find trouble soon enough, he responds.

They encounter a second, inner walled area which is more heavily guarded, but not against Aldebaran. Beyond the sturdy gates bearing the silver silhouette of a tree is a large expanse of gardens, which again are too perfectly arranged for Aren's Animage sensibilities. He yearns for something more natural.

There is a sugary confection of a palace, all gleaming turrets, which is of course set in the very centre of the plot. He is relieved when they do not head for it and instead divert onto a different white stone path. Aldebaran's home is frillier on the outside than a building really has any right to be.

Once over the threshold, he shrugs out of the concealing enchantment as one would a coat. A tall, slender male, or possibly female, he cannot quite tell, strides into the hallway.

"Alex, this is Aren. He will be staying for a day or so. I would prefer that mother not know until after his departure." There is an elongated silent standoff, then Aldebaran adds, "He is concerned for my daughter's welfare and here to secure help."

Evidently these are the right words for Alex bows, the impasse over. "Very well, your Highness."

Alex spins around, disappearing off, while Aldebaran ushers Aren into a pleasant room. They take seats opposite each other. The atmosphere is stifling and having travelled hundreds of miles, Aren does not know what to say.

It is Aldebaran who breaks the silence. "I admit that it is hard to welcome you into my home when you hurt my beloved daughter so very much."

Aren winces. "I know. There is not a day that goes by when I do not regret my stupid jealousy. I would do anything to undo the pain I wrought upon her, but I cannot change the past. However, Gaia's quest is a way for me to make amends and stop Hades from preying upon her."

"The great mother herself came to you?" At Aren's nod, Aldebaran steeples his fingers. "Aren, there may be more at play here than we know.

"My family is a complex one. My foremothers have ruled the light elves for as long as memory serves us. However, the purity of my line ended when my mother, Celestia was born. She is the tainted result of a failed peace mission to end the Great War between Elysium and Tartarus. Now the blood of the dark kings also runs through our veins.