Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Scales, Ears, & Eyes (butterfly0408 & Greeneyed23)

He turned his head fixing her with one eye. "Now you know what it is like to be an elf Your Grace. And a Dragon. Welcome." He turned his head away and said no more.

He tilted his wings down and they plummeted down picking up speed rapidly, almost hurling themselves across the land. Ellowe did not speak or think to her even in the slightest. She wanted privacy she would have it.

The flight went on silently but rapidly. By sunfall he flared his wings and trotted to a stop in the lush gardens outside the palace. He shrugged her off gently but rather quickly and shifted away then shrank into his elf form. He looked at her and gestured at the nearest door. "Milady."
 
Of course the fact that the great black dragon had landed on the castle grounds did not go unnoticed. Within moments of landing, they were greeted by a troop of at least 2 dozen men, all with weapons drawn in their direction. Well, more like in his direction. "Unhand the princess you beast!" One of them called out. Maia only rolled her eyes and held up her hands. "He is not even touching me Rolf..." she pointed out with a touch of sarcasm in her tone. Sighing she pointed at the apparent leaders sword. "Put those down. He's not here to harm anyone. In fact he's here to talk peace."

"Peace?" the man said, keeping her sword in hand even if he did lower it slightly. "What the devil is going on my lady? You left with your guard and now you return with..." he simply pointed at Ellowe, "With that."

"Rolf, manners. He had a name. Prince Ellowe." She paused a moment, "Actually... I suppose it is King Ellowe, isn't it?" She seemed frustrated and sighed heavily, "Oh it doesn't matter. What matters is that we see my brother at once. This war has gone on long enough and it's time for peace."
 
"I have not been elected King. Though it is likely. Thank you Your Grace. You are most kind."

He watched the swordsmen coldly but raised his hands to the height of his shoulders, his fingers tight together.

"Your Grace perhaps you would like to change and wash before we meet with your brother and the others? Perhaps someone should have asked that instead of making you stand in the same dress for another ten minutes." He glowered at Rolf his eyes blazing with rage.
 
She had not realized that he would not simply inherent the title of king from his father. The elves elected their king? How odd.

As he spoke of her changing, she glanced down. "Oh... I had forgotten about...." she trailed off a moment, "what happened. Yes. At the very least I should like to change." Turning to Rolf, "Will you please take the prince to my brother's study and then tell my brother to come meet me at my rooms first. I should like to explain the situation I found myself in before we all talk together."
 
Ellowe shook himself free of the guards. "Off we go." he bowed to the Princess. "it has been an honor and a privilege Your Grace. See you soon."

He let them guide him up to the study and once he was free he set to entertaining himself reading, having set himself on a table leaning against the wall, his legs crossed in the lotus position his eyes bright as he read, just waiting.
 
It was near to an hour later then the door opened and in walked a much more presentable looking Maia, her hair still looking a bit damp from a fast washing she had to clean herself of the dirty feeling of travel. At her side was her bother and behind them once more was Rolf. They entered the room only a few steps before the young prince turned and held a hand up, "This is a private meeting, you will wait outside." Clearly Rolf was about to protest when Maia spoke up as well, "He is your ruler now. The crown is not upon his head but it shall be soon. You will obey him as you did out father."

"And Maia," he added, causing Maia to look to her younger brother in a dash of shock, "She is my second and her word is only second to my own. Go."

Once left alone, the young boy, not even close to a man yet, turned to Ellowe, "Maia has told me of what you have done for her this day. I thank you for saving my sister's life. I would not be strong without her. She also tells me you wish to talk of peace. I wish for that as well. But you have said yourself you are but the prince of the elves, not yet the king. Are you truly the one that can make peace in this situation?"
 
Ellowe smiled. "I am Prince because I am of Royal Blood and they expect me to the take the crown but as is told Her Majesty our people elect their monarch by proclamation. I have been elected thus more than a dozen times since my parent's deaths. The people wish me to rule them. I refused because i would not rule them until there was peace. So if we can come to terms you and I shall be king."

He remained sitting on the table, his broad shoulders and strong chest accentuated both his height and were accentuated by it as well yet the position also made him seem respectful to the younger and much smaller man.

"So Your Grace it really depends on you. You are Royal by blood, right, and bearing. As is your lovely sister. Will you sit with me and have terms? or shall this war become that which it has always threatened to be?" He glanced at Maia then back at the King-in-waiting. "Shall we destroy each other utterly? Maia will tell you that despite the general's claims we elves and Dragons have not done nearly close all we were capable of and we have always worked to make this a defensive war."

He held out his hand. "Shake with me Young King and we can have peace. Whatever terms we come to, this will bond us to the work of making peace." His eyes bored into the young King, waiting to see if he was the man Maia hoped and claimed, or whether he had been ruined by the mad hate of his father, or the cruel neglect of his mother.
 
There was a long silence, stillness in the air as Jacob sat there, mulling over Ellowe's words for a long moment. The boy was young. He was inexperienced. No one trusted in him or believed in him. But he knew a few things. And one of them was that anything was worth ending this war. He reached out and took Ellowe by the hand, his almost seeming tiny within Ellowe's grasp, "We will reach peace. I think it best we talk of terms." The young king did not quite know just how to start such talks and so he was sort of letting Ellowe take the lead. He looked to Maia, knowing she would help him make the right choices and say the right things.
 
Ellowe leapt to his feet grinning and gently gripped both of them to a small round table where a large sheaf of parchment and several quills and a large pot of ink waited. He helped Maia sit, then sat with his back against the wall while several torches and lanterns lit themselves around them illuminating them well.

"First of all we must come to terms on a number of things. Namely the apologies and reparations for both sides. My people are willing to pay for the cities and towns destroyed and offer our skills as healers for the wounded and sick. We also are willing to share our engineers to help rebuild the said cities and town, as well as the shelters for the refugees."

He wrote this out in clear flowing calligraphic script as the first article.

"What we will need from you is a formal apology, the execution, by your hand or mine, of the mad generals who refuse to back down, and a solemn vow to both remove yourself from our sacred groves and forest, and to make personal reparations to the families of the fallen and the return of our dead."

As he had told the Princess the elves made sure to express their regrets to the families of the fallen, and they had also made sure to return the bodies, with honors and a free coffin and a sum for the burial and life after, to in some small way repay the loss.

"There are one thousand six hundred and seventeen elf bodies held by your forces Your Grace. i know for a fact a number of the bodies have been mutilated, burned, and forever ruined. Even when we burned the bodies we made sure to trace the origins. We are Dragons as well. you must make equal effort."

He wrote all of this out.

"The Dragons have their own demands as well. They require the heads of the generals and assurances from you that they will no longer be hunted by human kind. They will accept that you cannot control all humans. At least not to begin with but you must restrain the bulk of your people."

He wrote this out as well but he was careful to leave in large sections and spaces both for editing and for their requests and demands as well. He finished then looked at them both. 'What is it you wish? And to be clear I have not seen your father, living or dead, since he gave me the scar on my chest so I cannot return his body and none of my forces are currently afield. And I should mention we will need something binding for this treaty. What do you suggest?"
 
Jadob's head was spinning, as was Maia's. They were suddenly in over their heads as neither of them were prepared for such talks as this. It all seemed reasonable enough but then again.... "There has already been to much death," she spoke up as she took the pen from him and crossed out all mention of further death and executions of anyone. "We will give you the life imprisonment or exile of these men. They will be left with no means to ever rise to the power they did before, but we will not spill any more blood. You can't sign a peace treaty in blood and call it peace."

"What would you suggest to bind the treaty?" Jacob asked right back at him.
 
He scowled and took the quill back. "Fine. Instead we ask for this." He wrote out the marking and exile of each general and the stripping of the rights and authority. "if they can even hope to resume their power and status we will not accept."

Ellowe shrugged. "What are you willing to give?"

He eyes glowed. His face was unreadable as ever, his strange Dragon eyes filled with both darkness and light.
 
Jacob looked to Maia as if looking for some kind of solution to come from her, but she did not have one. "You must understand that this is all sudden to us and we have never made such negotiations before. What kind of things can bond a deal such as this? We will not give you any heads upon a stick. Trade agreements? Compensation?" Everyone seemed to be dancing around what was clearly the obvious answer to the best way to bond their treaty....
 
"I will have to insist on the exile. Those men cannot remain in power or leadership in this nation. If they are allowed such freedom this treaty will be considered void and I will personally lead the flight to kill them all. Take that as you will."

He said nothing else. He would suggest nothing and on this he would not move. The bastards in question had murdered, both personally and by order, hundreds of his people, and had raped and mutilated the prisoners they took without mercy. They had to pay for that. His own people were screaming for it, elves and Dragons, and he himself had his own reasons for hating them as well.
 
Jacob shook his head, "No no no no! I agree on that!" He held up his hands almost as if in defense. "You said we had to do something to bond the treaty. I was questioning that. I mean will this be enough?" he asked as the indicated the piece of paper. "Just signing this? This will bring us all peace?"
 
Ellowe shrugged. "How did your grandfather gain peace with your mother's mother's mother?"

Their great grandmother, Empress of the North Retafi (Born Isabella the Red) had despised all men. Ellowe knew this. And knew they would know this and just how he had managed to trick her into peace through a simple treaty, bound by the bearing of his child from her eldest daughter. Even she could not bear to kill her own grandchild. It was the oldest peacemaking solution throughout history.

Ellowe waited. Technically their grandfather had found a number of ways to convince Retafi to come to the peace table so they might try those first. But he suspected Maia knew what he was aiming at. It would be better for her anyway. He didn't know if she could hear it, but he could hear the gossips and worrymongers telling tales of the elf King and his tainted purple eyed apprentice were murdering or magickign the young uncrowned king. He needed to get her away from this world.
 
Jacob took a long long time to think back in his family history to what he spoke of. Maia did not need to think so very hard. She knew at once what he was proposing. She glared at him and the sort of smug look upon his lips, waiting for her brother to realize it as well. In a few moments he did and his jaw dropped, "You don't mean...." he looked to his sister and then to Ellowe and back to his sister once more, "I can't agree to that. I... I need my sister here with me. She can't marry you and leave me here on my own. Not now." Jacob was quickly loosing that bit of strength he had mustered up to appear the strong young king. Suddenly now he was a little boy that did not want to loose the only true family he had left that cared for him. Oh his mother was still around but the woman had never really been one to him. Maia was more like a mother to him then a sister.

"He's right....." she said though, not wanting to admit it but having no other choice. "This war started over me in many ways.... it would only be fitting if it ended over me as well." She spoke not as a happy bride to be but instead as on who was accepting their own doom. She did not realize that she would be in more danger her without him then living among the elves that would surely all hate her. "Are you sure your people would willingly accept you as their king if you took me as...... your queen?"
 
He nodded. "They would welcome you proudly. Recall you have the blessing of our kind. And Jacob I would not be stealing your sister. I propose a further item in this plan. If Her Majesty accepts then she will go with me but I will ensure that you have an unbreakable and private method of communicating that will not be affecting by any distance or condition. And I will also offer myself to return her here as needed thought I must insist on sincere need to do so."

He gently touched the young man's hand. "For now you have the simplest job of ruling. rebuilding your nation. You will have to rebuild everything, sign every treaty, truce and trade agreement again. make the changes that need changed. Make things better. you've seen problems. Maia has seen more. And I freely offer my aid and advice. And first things first. Send your mother north. Let her stay in her peace with her family. They can have their parties and dresses and not anger the people. They hate your mother Your Majesty. It would better to have her gone rather than here."

He looked at Maia. "Also if you accept this you will be fully blessed. You will lose what little humanity remains to you. You will be come elfakin. Likely even a DragonSoul as well. Can you accept that?"
 
Give up her humanity? It didn't seem fair to her that she had never stepped out line for her whole life except to be a curious child that wanted a closer look at a dragon and now years later she was being punished to give up everything she knew and held dear for that choice. She would have to give up her humanity. Give up her home. Give up the only family she had. But... it was for peace....

She sighed and was about to open her mouth when her brother reached out and took her hand to stop her. He looked to Ellowe, "You make a good point of my mother and to the north she will be sent but..." he turned to Maia and looked at her with a seriousness like she had never seen her brother look before. "You don't have to agree to this Maia. We can find another way. You don't have to go with him. You don't have to agree to give up your life for him."

A great feeling of sadness swept over her heart so intense that he surely had to feel how the idea of accepting these terms made her feel inside. "No. I have to Jacob. It's the way things are done. Nothing will bond us stronger then a marriage." She looked to Ellowe with a look more of acceptance in her eyes then any kind of affection, "I accept..." she told him very formally.
 
He arched an eyebrow. "You both make me feel like a kidnapper. I do apologize for this misunderstanding. I am not attempting to strip Maia of something she holds dear. Nor force her into this." He touched the corner of his own eye.

"Look closely at your sister's eyes Jacob."

The purple had deepened and the pupils had elongated and sharpened. "You have always been something other Maia. You could not have survived the blessing without at least a portion of the Dragonsoul. You will need training and protection that sadly cannot be provided in the human nation."

He sighed. "And I would be more than willing to have Jacob visit and Maia do the same. And it is not as if I am demanding you marry this minute. We have a number of details to agree on."

He looked at Maia his eyes cold. 'Why do you have such a low opinion of me? According to you i am a murderous, conniving, cruel, uncaring bastard. And I cannot imagine what I possibly did to you to deserve it."

He leaned back in his chair studying them both folding his arms. "There is of course another option if this is to continue to be such a trial for Maia. My people and I can leave and go to the southern mountains. Forever." What he did not mention was to perform this trip they would have to withdraw from the world of mortals, destroy their homeland utterly and never be seen again. He was clearly tired of being seen as something of a curse. He was well aware that they, like all of the races, knew that when the elves did make that journey it would mean the ruin of their mountains, the poisoning of the forests, and a deep curse upon the people who made them leave.

His skin was rippling scalish now and waves of heat were pouring off him. His eyes were losing what little softness there had been in them, and the pupils contracted further as he studied them waiting.
 
For the first time, Maia seemed to connect to him just as he did to her. She saw in her own mind just what would become of the land and her own people should this second option come to pass. He told her she had a choice, but really there was not one. "I will marry you," she repeated more firmly this time, but the look in her eyes was still and unhappy one at the cards she had been dealt in this hand. 'I will not allow my people to fall prey to the curse to fail to mention to my brother,' she thought in her mind seeming to know that he would be listening even if he had promised her earlier in the day that he would give her space in her mind. She did not address his questions about her reluctance to wed him or her opinion of his character.
 
He grunted. "Thanks."

If she was going to continue to make this the evil task she so clearly thought it was he would have it done and quickly. He wrote it up, making the agreement simple. As long as Maia remained as Queen of the Elves the peace was guaranteed. he wanted more but he knew that now, while the war still raged, was not the time to demand anything further.

He finished by promising that his people would continue to restrain themselves from offensive action herafter, but also made it clear that in the event of an attack the elves would defend themselves with all the considerable power and ability at their disposal. He finished. "Tis but a draft but..." he signed it beautifully then held the quill and his hand out to Jacob. "Sign it and send messengers. by the time we have updated and created the official document perhaps we can truly have peace."

He carefully did not look at Maia. He was more than a little hurt and angry at her treatment of him. Perhaps he had been rude but she treated him like the villain in a story. he was certainly no hero but he had never done anything to her personally. he could not understand her hatred for him
 
Maia watched as her brother looked over the document then to her once more, "You are sure about this? Really sure?" Her response was to hand him the pen and nod. He still seemed reluctant to sign off his sister to a man they did not know. A man that had long been their enemy and not just as the elf prince but the great black dragon as well. After his signature was upon the paper, Jacob reached out his hand to let Ellowe shake it. "We have an agreement."
 
Ellowe nodded and closed his eyes. He did not speak for a long moment. "I have been elected and my people have agreed to the peace. We await your pleasure for anything else you want or need. What next Your Grace?" He still did not look at Maia.

He gestured at the document. "The Princess should sign it as well then we should send it out to be made into the official document. Do you need anything else from me personally? i plan on visiting your gardens."
 
Both Maia and Jacob looked at one another in a hint of confusion at he sort of entered a light trance and upon coming from it announced the apparent results of a vote from his entire race? The urge to question it struck her but she shook it off as she took up the pen and sighed the paper after her brother and Ellowe. With all three names upon the page, the deal was done. "You are welcome to see the gardens. Will you stay with us for a time?" Jacob asked at first before awkwardly needing to ask, "When shall we have the wedding take place? Of course there will need to be some preparation for it...."
 
Ellowe stood. "I will stay until The Princess is both ready to wed, the arrangements have been made and the wedding service of my people has arrived. it will be a duel ceremony with your people leading the way but we will also be mated according to the way of the Dragons and the elves. I will have no need of rooms but I would like access to your magnificent library, and a suitable tailor for which I will pay. Good even Your Graces." he bowed to Jacob then walked to a balcony and without another word he leapt over the railing into the gardens vanishing amongst the vegetation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom