The Dream Realm of Sannerud

Chapter 2: A Royal Welcome

Chapter 2: A Royal Welcome

I stood staring at the castle in awe. I had seen pictures of castles before but that couldn't compare to seeing one in person. The castle was massive and I dared to think that it was larger than any other castle I've seen in pictures. It was sitting on a hill surrounded by a moat. The drawbridge was down allowing people access to the castle. There were two guards positioned on either side of it and as we approached they lowered their spears at us. The one on the left said, "Halt! Identify yourselves!"

"I am Sontji and I'm escorting this lady to meet Queen Tara," Sontji said bowing a bit. "She has just arrived in our realm."

The guards looked surprised at that and the one asked, "Are you sure she just arrived in our realm?"

"I saw her get off the ship," Sontji said. "It wasn't a ship I had seen before."

"Then go present her to the queen," the guard said. Before we could move he said, "Michael go with Sontji to present this lady to the queen."

"Yes sir," Michael said bowing slightly. He then led us into the castle.

Once we had passed over the moat and passed the walls we found ourselves in a small village. As we walked through the village I saw an elf woman working at a loom. She was singing in a strange language as she worked and I felt my skin tingle. She had silver hair and gold eyes from what I could see. She had an aristocratic look about her and I had to wonder why she was here weaving. I was about to ask who she was when Sontji evidently noticing the direction of my haze said, "That's my mother Sontja. We were banished from Helshima for what my father was supposed to have done. He was supposed to have let some of our enemies into the city. A trial was held and it was found that he did. His punishment was to be entombed without any honors and we were stripped of our name and banished. That's why we're here. Queen Tara is a friend and doesn't believe my father did that. She's been looking for any evidence that might prove his innocence. My mother likes to weave and make garments for people. I'll introduce you to her after we present you to the queen."

We passed over another moat and into the castle proper. There were more guards stationed inside and almost immediately we heard some voices from inside the throne room. They were talking about some concerns about livestock going missing from several pastures. It ended with a promise that it would be looked into and patrols would be sent out around the pastures. The crowd part for us as Michael gently guided people out of the way. Soon we were at the front and Michael kneeled in front of the queen. "My queen," he said sounding very respectful, "Sontji has brought a lady to be presented to you."

"Rise Michael and return to your duties," Queen Tara said with a smile on her face. When Michael had left she asked, "Why are you presenting a lady to me Sontji?"

"She's a realm skipper from outside our realm your majesty," Sontji said bowing a bit.

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed Sontji's statement. Presently Queen Tara slowly asked, "Are you sure Sontji?"

"The ship that brought her wasn't one I've seen before," Sontji said standing up straight and speaking with confidence.

Queen Tara seemed to think for a couple of minutes before saying, "Due to this most glorious news I am ending open court early. Please go home and spread the news that a realm skipper from outside of our realm has come." There was no protest from anyone there. Instead they turned and started talking excitedly as they left. Once they were gone Queen Tara looked at me smiling and said, "You don't know how rare it is for a realm skipper to come here. The last realm skipper that came here was eight hundred years ago."

"Why is it so rare?" I asked thinking that time was different here.

"It's part of a curse on this realm," Queen Tara said with a sigh. "No one from outside of our realm can come here except under certain conditions. We don't know what those conditions are but we do know that when someone from outside of our realm comes here they can never leave."