“Presenting Lords Valdax and Keldras Helvindar, and Lady Rianna Ken’rahel!” the herald’s voice echoed through the audience hall.
Queen Alyssa’s eye twitched.
Her fingers tightened around the armrest of her throne.
“Absolutely not.”
Rianna covered her mouth, barely concealing a smile.
Keldras looked between them in confusion, while Valdax remained perfectly expressionless.
Around the hall, nobles traded increasingly confused looks.
Whatever history existed between the queen and Valdax, most of the court was hopelessly lost.
“You’re using that name again?” Alyssa demanded.
“I’ve made good use of it over the years,” Valdax replied.
“You’ve made good use of it?” Alyssa echoed incredulously.
“Do you have any idea how many headaches you’ve caused me?”
An awkward silence settled over the hall.
“Half the neighboring kingdoms have reports on a mysterious House Helvindar. You forged correspondence. You attended diplomatic banquets pretending to be Lord Helvindar.” She pointed accusingly at him.
“And worst of all—you promised a marriage alliance, offering your daughter’s hand to an affluent family before you even had a daughter.”
Rianna lost the battle with her composure and burst into laughter.
“I never heard about that one!”
Even Keldras smiled.
He made a mental note to tell Gorra the story the next time they met.
It didn’t surprise him that his father was this audacious.
Keldras heard Saphira sigh inside his mind.
I still regret agreeing to that one.
“To be fair, they never figured it out,” Valdax said.
“That somehow makes it worse!” Alyssa pinched the bridge of her nose.
“So, what happens the next time I entertain foreign dignitaries and they discover House Helvindar actually exists? How exactly am I supposed to explain that?”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
“…Do you have any idea how many diplomats are going to assume we’ve been hiding one of our oldest noble houses?”
“Is that anything new?” Valdax asked.
Alyssa simply stared at him.
After nearly two centuries, she knew arguing was usually just giving Valdax a larger audience.
The remainder of the audience passed without incident.
Once the last petitioner had departed, Alyssa dismissed the assembled nobles and retainers before leading the three to the dining room.
Two teenage mountain elves were already seated at the table, waiting for them.
Alyssa crossed to them and beckoned Keldras over.
“I’d like to introduce you to my two children,” she said, a smile lighting up her face.
The two teens rose to their feet.
“My eldest, Ereliara.”
She looked about Keldras’s age.
She was short for a mountain elf, with long silver hair tied into two elegant tails, and wore an elaborate deep purple dress.
Ereliara performed a flawless curtsy, her expression unreadable.
Only the briefest flick of her eyes toward Valdax betrayed any curiosity.
“Lord Keldras.”
Keldras felt Saphira stiffen.
Alyssa then turned.
“This is my son, Amalica.”
The boy was a few years younger than Keldras.
His hair was cut short and neat, and his attire reflected his status as a mountain elf prince.
Amalica had far less success hiding his fascination.
His gaze kept darting toward Valdax until he finally blurted,
“You’re really Lord Valdax’s son? I’ve heard so many stories! Did he really blow up an old cathedral that was secretly raising an army of zombies?”
Queen Alyssa cleared her throat.
Amalica immediately fell silent, looked down at his feet, and offered a polite half-bow.
Keldras bowed to the two royals in turn.
“Keldras, a pleasure,” he said.
“Ereliara, why don’t you and your brother show Keldras around the palace? I’m sure you don’t want to hang around us boring adults,” she said.
“Yes, Mother,” Ereliara replied.
She walked toward the door, Amalica hurrying after her, barely containing his excitement.
Keldras followed.
Amalica chatted happily with Keldras, asking what it was like living amongst orcs.
“Are they strong? Did you fight with them?” he asked, firing off two questions at once.
“I learned to fight amongst them, yes,” Keldras responded.
Ereliara remained present for the conversation but asked few questions.
“Did you win?” Amalica asked.
“Training isn’t really about winning or losing,” Keldras responded.
The boy looked downcast.
“A few times,” Keldras finally admitted.
Amalica grabbed Keldras’ sleeve.
“My room is right there. Come on!”
Ereliara followed silently.
Amalica threw his door open, practically dragging Keldras in behind him.
He picked up a spear.
“One of the guards left this. Mother let me keep it.”
“It wasn’t left,” Ereliara said.
“Captain Arven gave it to you after the inspection.”
Amalica blinked.
“Oh… right.”
He then rushed over and picked up a wooden sword with a curving blade that was on top of a pile of training gear.
“My practice sword. I get to practice a few hours a day between the etiquette lessons! Do you think your father would be willing to teach me sometime?”
Ereliara watched Keldras studying the practice sword.
“…It’s balanced poorly.”
Amalica frowned.
“Mother says it’s good enough until I’m older.”
“My room is next door,” Ereliara offered.
“You may look if you like.”
Keldras nodded.
“You know you can talk more, Lia. No one will get upset,” Amalica offered.
“Unnecessary,” she replied immediately.
The two rooms formed a clear contrast between their personalities.
Amalica’s room was a disorganized assortment of things he’d picked up, whereas Ereliara’s was neat and controlled.
Keldras’ attention was immediately drawn to the bookshelf.
An assortment of beginner magical texts filled it.
Amateur, Saphira scoffed in his mind.
It’s not a competition, Keldras thought as he looked about the room.
A wardrobe door stood slightly ajar.
Through the gap, he caught a glimpse of several neatly hung dresses.
For the first time since he’d met her, Ereliara moved without hesitation, shutting the wardrobe before he could look any closer.
“Private,” she said.
Keldras felt Saphira frown, followed by a sharp pinch in his side.
Amalica chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
The group began making their way back to the dining hall, descending the staircase near the main doors when they were stopped.
A young knight looked the group over, bowing to Amalica and Ereliara.
“Who authorized you to accompany Their Highnesses?” The knight’s glare at Keldras vanished beneath practiced indifference before anyone else seemed to notice.
Keldras was dumbfounded.
Didn’t this knight see them enter together?
Then Keldras recognized him.
He’d been glaring at Father throughout the audience.
There was probably a story there.
Seeing the man’s expression, Saphira immediately recognized what was happening.
What an insect
Amalica and Ereliara looked at each other, not sure what was going on.
“He’s our guest,” Ereliara said.
The knight ignored her.
His gaze snapped back to Keldras.
The knight stepped closer until he was almost nose-to-nose with Keldras.
“Like father, like son,” the knight said angrily.
“Such arrogance and disrespect can hardly be tolerated.”
Keldras remained silent, realizing the anger wasn’t directed at him—it was directed at his father.
Several guards turned toward the commotion, hands drifting toward their weapons.
Before any of them could move, an older knight standing near the staircase gave a subtle shake of his head.
The guards hesitated, then remained where they were.
“You don’t ignore a household knight,” the man barked.
“Are you deaf?”
Not getting an immediate response from Keldras, he marched over and roughly grabbed him by the arm.
Don’t touch him
The knight yelped as electricity arced through his arm, throwing him back several feet.
The knight’s face flushed crimson.
With an angry snarl, he drew his sword.
Ereliara placed herself squarely between the knight and Keldras.
“He used magic against a knight of the palace!” the knight yelled.
Several nearby guards looked uncomfortable but said nothing.
None of them moved.
Palace protocol left them frozen.
Interrupting one of the queen’s household knights without direct orders was its own offense.
Ereliara gave him a cold look.
“Lord Keldras is under Mother’s hospitality. You got what you deserved,” she said.
Amalica looked between everyone, panicked and unsure what to say.
The knight gave Ereliara a sycophantic smile.
“You must really learn to identify situations better, Your Ladyship,” he said.
Ereliara scoffed.
“Really?” Her gaze turned even icier.
“If this happens again, I’ll have you removed from palace service.”
Saphira scoffed, You certainly don’t lack female defenders.
I’ve changed up the sentence structures in this chapter so there’s less big walls of text, i’m not sure how i feel about it as of yet but will continue writing like this for a while if it does well i’ll go back and edit the first volume.