Chapter 2: Simple things

Grez and Alaric sat in the king's study quietly while he paced around for a few moments until he sat down at the table with them and let out a long disappointed sigh. "You do realize you were not very subtle don't you? Why else would Kultia guards be standing outside my daughter's room?" He asked as kindly as possible, the prince was thinking for a few moments before answering. "I'm sorry my king but I guess I had a few mugs of ale and I think I-" the king interrupted him with a near shout "You have known her for as an adult for all of three hours! You are not thinking Alaric, you are a goddamned prince and she is not even able to be a successor to any throne let alone able to rule any kingdom. You need to not be screwing around with anyone, you are an adult and you have a duty to marry someone of your station." He tried to say the last part as kind as he could but he was quite furious, he did not want his daughter to get any foolish notions in her head thinking she could move up and maybe become a queen herself one day. It sounded terribly rude but status in this land did not change, one could not go from a peasant living on a farm to a prince traveling gallantly across realms in a life of luxury. He wanted the best for his daughter but this was not the way to do it as King Kulter was already a moderately racist man and did not like anyone but humans or true elves. "I'm sorry my king, It will not happen again. I will head home now and not speak of it." He replied sadly and got up to leave. He headed out the door and with his guards he made the long ride home to the west. Grez hadn't moved yet or said anything, she was still upset by his words and though they were the truth it still hurt to hear. The king put his hand on hers on the table and tried to comfort her. "I apologize if I hurt your feelings but we have to face the truth, he's a prince and you are a spell blade of Terrae. It can't work, daughter but you can still find someone special whom does not coincide with the royal family." Grez simply glared at then got up and left, she had to go find time alone and think.

Grez was walking through the streets dressed in basic clothing so the only thing recognizable about her would be the extra arms and feet. After a bit she found herself heading back outside and walking across the green fields, she found herself at her old favorite spot in the copse so she sat down against a tree and relaxed. She hadn't been able to tell how long she sat there but the sun was on the other side now and heading down, she'd have to head home soon and in the morning get back to her training or have another lecture from father then the captain of the guard. It didn't take too long for her to return though the moon was out shining like a star and the cold wind made her shiver slightly. It was a drastic difference once she stepped into the city and the raging heat flowed over her again and although demon were immune to very nearly all forms of fire and heat it still felt good to return home and out of the cold.

She stumbled on back to her room and there was a plate of food there on her round reading table with a small parchment from her father, she looked over it read 'I'm sorry if i was too harsh on you, I just want you to be able to live free of these silly politics and worries, I hope you have a good night.' Grez sighed and relaxed, at least father cared enough to let her know unlike mother who very likely wished she didn't exist. She grabbed the book labeled 'Journey of a spellblade' from her bedside and table and sat down to have some food. The boar meat was amazing as always and her favorite ale was made by the stout dwarves. She finished and laid down for the night, in the morning she was going to dedicate herself to her training and become the best spellblade she possibly could and leave the city to go see the world and it's potential.

There was a knock on Grez's door waking her up from what may have been a rather nice dream except the part where she was running around a battlefield in a ballroom dress chased by naked orc twice her height. Dema walked in and slammed the door shut behind her with a rather eager smile. "Come on you lazy imp we gotta go get breakfast before you go get into that heavy training nonsense of yours." She said quite eagerly but Grez just groaned and rolled over. "Does it have to be so early? It's barely afternoon." She told her with a very tired tone but Dema was not having it and walked over and sat down on the bed. "Unless you have another prince hiding in there somewhere then I think you better start learning to get up early, those soldiers aren't going to be putting up with sleeping in." With a long and exaggerated sigh Grez reluctantly got up and dressed but Dema was browsing her books that were by the fireplace. "You have a lot of weird erotic sounding books you know? Like this one here kind of worries me, 'My life as a werewolf harem girl and the orc sisters'. Like what in god's name is that? Is it even legal?" She carefully set it back on the shelf like it was physically dirty and wiped her hands on her outerwear clothes which while normal looking still had very fancy accents and style while Grez on the other hand just dressed like a minor lord with dull colors and no jewelry to speak of. "So dear sister before you get to your training stuff I want to go out and have lunch so we can talk and catch up." She said quite enthusiastically and held her hands in front of her like she was some school girl asking a boy out for a date. She reluctantly agreed to it, "Fine. I'll meet you just outside." Dema cheered and left the room very excited, she was very silly and got excited about the little things but she was still the only sister Grez had so she figured it couldn't hurt to hang out.

It took far longer than Dema was expecting but Grez did finally show up and she was dressed as usual in her very androgynous attire that was almost always black and she always had to have her ring mail underneath as she claims you can't be too careful anywhere these days. She slightly jingled as they walked up the street in the housing sector which was far less busy as most were off on their jobs or browsing the markets which stood between the military sector and the housing but also branched off to the very massive forge sector which had everything you could ever want when it came to metals and weapons. They didn't do a lot of talking but Grez followed Dema anyway as she had this place she liked to go for lunch and said it had to be better than the basic bland military food Grez was accustomed to. She wasn't wrong by any means but luxury food wasn't particularly important to her as much as Dema as being in line for the throne meant Dema got only the best food and drink the city could offer.

They came to this nice little place that would have not been out of place on the side of the road as an inn, it was charming for the most part but certainly not what Grez was expecting. They sat down at a booth in the back and away from any crowds, the serving girl was an elf and couldn't be more than 15 or so. It bothered Grez a bit yet Dema was unphased by this in the slightest and ordered what she called salmon even though Grez had no real idea what it was so she let Dema get her one too. "So if you get to go out on these patrols are you going to be gone long?" Dema questioned her with a slight concern in her voice. Grez simply shrugged and replied "Don't know, I'll just be glad to get out and see the actual country. I'm tired of these stone walls and stone places." Dema nodded understanding it, Grez had always been a free spirit and rarely liked being stuck in one place for too long as she said it would make her rather insane. "I'll miss you even if you're just the grumpiest little red scratcher." She told her while maintaining her upbeat attitude and generally cheery demeanor. The elf girl brought the admittedly good smelling meat out and Dema wasted little time, she was quite excited and enjoyed every bit of it. Grez thought it was pretty good too though not as good as that day they managed to have dragon meat, that was the one thing Grez would die to have again. They discussed various boring things like the nuances of house politics and other nations often seeking to win her hand yet not providing nearly enough to convince the king and queen that the union was mutually beneficial. Grez told Dema about the days where something actually exciting happened and they had to go deep into the mines and deal with a goblin infestation that they accidentally uncovered.

They finished their food and had more drinks until a petite human girl in the typical guards armor came bounding up to them. "Princess Demara, the queen requests you back home for your classes as soon as possible." Dema groaned and rolled her eyes, she hated having to learn all this nonsense as much as Grez hated dressing up. "Well Grez it was fun but royal life never stops. Don't be a stranger now sister." Dema smiled and tried to be cheerful but even she was annoyed and agitated as she left the place. The unknown human girl sat down across from Grez and nodded respectfully then informed Grez of the unfortunate news. "I'm sorry to say but I have been assigned to you by the king and queen as a bodyguard and to uh....." She hesitated and seemed like she was rather unsure of how to proceed with the next statement so Grez answered for her. "You also are to keep me out of trouble and out of bed with any other prince or princess too right?" the guard nodded quickly and was a bit surprised at how accurate her guess was. "I take it this isn't the first time this has happened?" The girl asked but Grez simply turned and gave her a look without bothering to answer. She didn't bother to talk to her much but instead finished her drink and headed out with the human girl right on her tail figuratively as if she actually stood on her tail she'd likely be out cold on the ground. "You're going to be following me everywhere aren't you?" She asked the guard as they walked on toward the forge where Grez had some work to do. "It is what I was ordered to do by the king and queen and I don't want to risk being in trouble by them." She answered in a rather confident tone.

The forge was laid out so that the shops were all aligned on the outside of a very large square with the occasional chute where magma flowed from the ceiling and in a pool that channeled it into the forges around the square but avoided the main walkways. Grez headed over to one at the far end then from a large box of various tools she pulled out a small round object about the size of a normal human man's hand and sat down on a chair at a table next to the anvil. She was using a very sharp looking quill looking object and seemed to be carving various shapes or runes onto the round object. "I'm Elana by the way, in case you were curious." She smiled and told her yet Grez didn't bother looking up at all but instead was focused on her project.

It didn't take long for Elana to start sweating however as wearing full armor in the forge was generally not the best idea if you wanted to avoid overheating and just cooking in general. Grez finally managed to get it done and the issue is it simply looked like a disc with various runes written into a spiral though there was a very slight glow to it. "What do you think?" Grez asked Elana though she expected Elana would have no idea what it was. She looked at it and after a long moment of having no idea what it was she just shrugged. Grez sighed and got up to leave but not before putting away her tool and the disc into the box and ran her thumb along the drawer and the sound of it locking could be heard. They head out of the forge and down the road to the market place to Elana's great relief and it felt almost freezing compared to the extreme heat of the magma falls. Grez went from shop to shop looking for something in particular but it was very clear that she had absolutely no idea what particular shop she was looking for. Elana put a hand on her shoulder to stop her and question her. "What exactly are we looking for? This is a bit silly to be going to every shop in the city," Grez gently took her hand off her shoulder and looked a bit annoyed. "I'm looking for a shop that sells....." She furled her brow and realized she had no idea what they called them, she simply gestured to her necklike she was putting on a collar or something of the sort. "Oh I see, like a choker right? Kind of like a necklace or collar?" Grez lit up like she had heard some very good news. "Yes, that exactly. I need to find one to finish my project since it'll hold it in place." She exclaimed quite excitedly and followed Elana down the road. She wanted to ask how she knew exactly where they were but she didn't think it was any of her business. The shop they entered was decently sized and smelled of something sweet like a kind of flower or fruit. The attendant approached but the moment she noticed Grez she nearly had a full heart attack upon royalty being in her shop. "Princess I never expected to see you in my shop let alone this area of the city. Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked though her voice gave away her nervousness as it was unheard of that anyone of the royal family ever came to this part of the city. "I'm looking for a....I guess it's called a choker or such." The elf lady nodded vigorously and led her over to some shelves with wood carvings that vaguely resemble heads and they displayed hats and chokers. Grez browsed and looked around, her upper right arm stroking her chin thoughtfully while the left was across her chest. She was carrying a bright gold coin in her lower right hand and tossed it from right to left like it was simply a habit she did often. "These are all cloth or leather, do you not have any that are made of more solid material?" She asked trying to be friendly yet was a little annoyed.``Oh uh...well we don't often get such requests. Is there a particular material you would like it made from?" Grez took a moment to think about it and she just figured it should match her armor which was black though it certainly was not the normal attire of the city guard but they found out arguing with her about it meant that the king would likely get involved so no one dared. "Make it black and roughly the length of my neck if that's not too much of an issue." She requested and moved her hair so the woman could measure properly. Once they had that taken care of Grez figured she'd head home and relax, she didn't particularly care about this training nonsense as she already knew how to fight and that whole lot of nonsense that the captain of the guard seemed to think she needed. By the time she got home Elana was still with her the whole way. Grez didn't bother to argue that she should head to her own home, she went into her room and stripped down then went straight to bed.