The Cursed Deal ✓

Chapter 50

The sight of the high elf palace never got old. Especially on days with clear skies and minimal clouds, cast in rays of sunlight reflecting off the stained-glass windows and sparkling across the river that circled it, fed by a nearby lake. The pointed peaks were high enough, taller than mountains, that Faine had to squint to view the barred window looking out to the rest of Isflean.

The muddled windows, doors, bridges, and towers blended together into one mess of a palace, stretching from the foundation like crystals originating from rock. Faine clutched the leather folder tight in one arm and stared up at the palace, utterly awestruck. This wasn't the first time she was walking towards it, or walking through it entirely. She spent many evenings sneaking in to celebrate whatever occasion the high elf family was making a grand display of.

But this was the first time the high elf father would look at her as something other than a sniveling threat. A possible ally.

Walking at her side, Ametrine held the same expression. No one got used to walking up to such a grand affair, across the white stone bridge that arched upward for small boats to pass underneath. On either side, guards held tightly onto the wooden poles of their great axes, the twin blades nearly covering one half of their face. None moved, nor did their sharp posture drop below its means.

The winding, stone-paved road led them to the portcullis, also guarded by two burly gadigators wearing silver armor accented with a grand willow tree across the chest plate. Faine and Ametrine handed over their identification to the one with grey skin and long fangs poking out from his dry, nonexistent lips.

Flowers of arraying sizes and colors covered either side of the portcullis walls, and vines weaved a complicated mess up the side of the tower; the guard's tower. Faine looked up and met the eye of two guards pacing back and forth from the embrasures, watching her carefully while also monitoring the merchant wagon that had just entered.

The gadigator guard handed over their information and ordered the portcullis to raise, only for the two felirams standing out front. Faine's breath caught in her throat and she held everything back to avoid squealing out loud, but the wide grin she shared with Ametrine was her only visible display of excitement.

As beautiful as the walk to the palace was, the courtyard was a grand display. The fountain in the shape of the high elf father himself, squirting water from all visible points, drew the eyes of anyone sane. There was a reserved area for children to play in the grass, a small playset for them to climb on, and wide, green bushes rimmed the outside.

The stone pathways led in all directions, some towards doors and others towards open archways and deeper parts of the courtyard. Gardens and archery fields, outdoor picnic areas and a white gazebo draped with sparkling green vines. Faine absorbed everything on their slow walk to the main door carved with the grand willow tree, same as the armor.

It split in half when the guards on either side opened it and allowed the two felirams to step from the white stone to the clean marble floor. Faine couldn't believe what she was looking at.

They didn't have an appointment with the high elf father, neither did Celestia bother to alert the leader of Pinedon that they were coming. All they were riding on was the fact that eventually, Silver Willow had to make an appearance to deliver what they discovered at the banquet. And all Faine cared for was the fact that he was here at all, somewhere within the palace.

She looked either way down the long stretch of hall, but her feet didn't move. Ametrine was in the same, lost position. They both looked around, lost within the busy hallway of white pillars and golden walls, and a voice chimed from the other end, bringing laughter and brightness to all it neared.