14 The Kingdom of Eorin (1)

Ildurin heard from his guards the moment Aldryn entered the city. He was also not surprised to hear that his friend did not came alone.

'Must be the person mentioned in the letter' the Kind nodded.

He was intrigued about who this new person was and wished to head down into the city and meet the two of them. But then, he remembered the few appointments that he had to keep with the nobles and gave a sad sigh. It would take a few hours at best for it do be done, but knowing the other blonde, he will take his sweet time reaching the Castle.

'I sometimes hate being a King' he sighed resentfully, 'I wish my life was more like Aldryn's... Travel the world and go and do as I please' he imagined such a life with a smile.

Then, with another disappointed sigh, Ildurin put on his formal clothes and then headed out to the meeting. He knew that Aldryn was most likely showing his new friend around the city and it caused his thoughts to wander. While the nobles were speaking, Ildurin was thinking whether or not he should throw a feast, or make it a small and private affair. Of course, knowing both Aldryn and Lunahera it was not a hard decision. He was making a list in his head of the sort of food he should tell the servants from the kitchen to prepare, nodding his head once in a while to create the illusion that he was listening to those present in the room.

While it may seem rude, Ildurin already knew all the information that was being told to him at that moment. He was smart and loved his people, meaning, he made it his business to always know what was happening in his lands. He sometimes even knew events that would formally reach the Capital only in a few days.

'Hmm... Should I tell him that he misspelled a few words here?' he wondered briefly glancing at the papers presented to him.

His advisers were good people, who took their job seriously and did it with honour. But in the end, Ildurin knew that if mistakes were to be made out of poor judgement, it would all fall on him. Therefore, in place of simply blindly following the words of others, he always took his time to read and analyse what was happening around him. It also gave him time to prepare, never wishing to make a haste decision. That was why, whenever he would be asked a question or for an opinion, Ildurin would always reply with carefully thought words that he formed beforehand.

After a few hours, when it started to seem to him that the meeting would never end, Ildurin asked for all the papers to be sent to his room so he could look them over. While at first some of the present took it as an insult, the King asked them if they would much rather enjoy his company until late evening to that of their own families. He declared to be more than capable of reading the papers and think of solutions in the royal library, in the presence of his beloved Queen and nephew. It caused others to think of their own wives and children, while the unmarried ones could think of a million different ways to spend their time that did not include being in that room. With that, the meeting was adjourned and everybody left. But not before Ildurin declared that they shall meet in two days to discuss the topics and solutions to any problem that arose.

'Finally' the blonde stretched once everyone left.

Ildurin then quickly sprinted to his room and changed his clothes. They were old and worn, but unlike many other nobles, those were the clothes that Ildurin felt most comfortable in. After casting aside his formal wear, the King left the chambers and headed to the throne room. He peeked in and saw Lunahera sitting on the throne in all her beauty. She was listening to the common people who came to her with their problems. He waved at her gently and after she noticed him, he was given a kind smile in return. Ildurin then mouthed to her the name "Aldryn" and she quickly understood what was happening. She gave him a motion to go and he left without a moment of hesitation.

When he was finally outside, Ildurin approached a nearby guard and asked if he knew Aldryn's whereabouts, who quickly pointed to the gardens. He nodded and said thank you, a gesture that always baffled people from other kingdoms, but was rather common here. Whenever there were guests visiting, many servants and foreign guards are shocked by the familiarity with which Ildurin addresses his staff. It always made the people of the Silver City realize once again just how lucky they were to have such a kind King and Queen. The two always believed that if they trusted their servants and guards with their lives, to protect and not poison them, then they were more than strangers. And when the other royals would express their opinions about Ildurin's attitude toward servants, being baffled by the fact that he remembered all of them by their names, the King would simply say that a Kingdom is a shell without its people. That it is the people who make them Kings and Queens. All those who would protest, would then be told by Ildurin that if they thought so little about their people, then they should go and rule over Gilton, the empty Kingdom. To see just how useless they truly are with no subordinates and in an abandoned land.

On his way, Ildurin ran into another two servants. They were two young girls carrying a bucket of water each. It seemed rather heavy for their frail bodies and while the King was in a somewhat rush, he still stopped to help them. While at first the two girls blushed and refused the offer, Ildurin simply grabbed the heavy load from them and asked where they were headed. The three went to the kitchen and when the two ladies wanted to apologize for causing their King such trouble, Ildurin simply laughed and said that he wished to speak with the cook and was on his was there anyway. It was not the full truth, but he knew that it would make the two girls feel better.

"I just heard myself being summoned by my King" a woman said and approached the group once they arrived in the kitchen.

She was a beautiful woman, having taken over the position from her mother a short year ago. She was in her early thirties and has been part of the kitchen ever since she was a little girl, helping her mother around.

"Julia, just the person I was looking for", Ildurin explained and approached the woman, "We will be having some guests this evening. Aldryn has arrived earlier to the Silver City with a friend and the two will be joining us for dinner."

"It will be my pleasure to cook once more for Lord Aldryn and his guest. May I inquire if there is anything that my King would prefer?" the woman asked skilfully, already thinking of everything that she can make and the ingredient that she might need.

"I fully trust your taste and judgement", was the easy reply Ildurin offered before saying farewell and resuming his trip to the garden.

Without waiting for another moment, Julia started shouting around the kitchen and begun preparing the food for their guest. Every meal had to be perfect in her books.

With no more distractions along the way, Ildurin finally reached the stairs leading to the garden. A part of him still could not believe that it never existed when he was young. While he admitted that when Lunahera declared her wish to use the roof of some lower buildings to create a garden on them, he was sceptical. He was unsure if the construction could hold the weight and would not collapse. But abiding his Queen's wished, the building was reinforced from inside and to his surprise, the trees that were planted in the ground, brought from a nearby farm, have extended their roots deep into the ground and the stone, causing the construction to be even more stable. It quickly became one of the best spots in the Castle. The garden was gorgeous and the whole city could be seen from the edge. It offered the best view and anyone could go there. Despite it being officially the Queen's private garden, Lunahera never closed it from the public and even took pride when she would see it being filled with people who came to admire it. Beautiful things should never be hidden, she would say.

Once at the top, Ildurin quickly spotted Aldryn sitting on the brick wall that stood at the edge. While it was not tall, reaching only his hips, the wall was meant to ensure that no children wandering in the garden would fall from the height and break some bones, or even die in the accident. Then, his eyes fell on the young man that sat near the oracle. He was pale and with black hair. His clothes were dirty from their travel, but they still looked expensive. A member of a royal family, his mind supplied, noticing the almost regal aura emitting from the young man. Yet it was not a face that he recognized, which greatly confused him. He shouted the other blonde's name to gain his attention and approached the duo.

"Ildurin, glad that you could join us", Aldryn exclaimed and jumped down to greet his friend.

"This is Klyran, the person whom I wrote to you about. Klyran, this is Ildurin, my friend and King of the Silver City", the blonde said and waves to his companion to approach them.

Klyran also quickly climbed down and came to stand near the two of them. He extended his arm, having seen other humans do it when meeting someone new.

"It is good to meet you" the King said and grasped his hand shaking it a few times.

Upon setting his eyes on this new human, Klyran could not help himself. He grew curious about this person that Aldryn seemed to have in high regards. He quickly opened the window and nearly gasped out loud.

[Character Information]

Name: Ildurin

Race: Human

Occupation: Swordsman (Level 16), Knight (Level 10), Knifeman (Level 8), Dual Wielding (Level 5), Combat (Level 16).

Strength 14

Magic 6

Physical Defence 13

Magical Defence 8

Vitality 11

Agility 15

Accuracy 16

Luck 13

'There is definitely something off about him', Klyran thought.

'The numbers are too high to belong to a simple human'. He then glanced at Aldryn and begun to think what was the difference between the three of them.

A human's status never rose above 10. At least not a human that he ever saw before. Even the few Knights that Klyran had already seen had an 9 allocated in their strength or defence at most. Yet the three of them gathered here surpassed those number. It was obvious that Ildurin was special in a way. Klyran was a Ryan, Aldryn had the Thrae bound to him and was an apostle, so there had to be something making Ildurin stronger than a normal human.

There was also the issue with the colour. Both him and Ildurin had certain numbers that appeared as red. But in this case, Ildurin's race appeared in that colour as well.

"This city is beautiful" the Ryan said rapidly as a reply, not wishing to arise suspicion, and then glanced back beyond the edge of the wall.

"Thank you. It is my pride" Ildurin said with a smile.

The enigma with the numbers was something that Klyran would have to wait to understand. There was something else, something more interesting that caught Klyran's eyes. The Swordsmanship skill that Ildurin had was at a high level. Making Ildurin his teacher would be something that the Ryan made a note to ask Aldryn about later in the evening, when they will be alone.