Chapter 6

Ash kept protesting Derek's idea until Derek got a little bit annoyed and sent him out of his office. Ash grabbed a book from the shelf and went back to his room. He had no idea what to expect anymore, although on one hand, he was aware that he would get to see the elven kingdom, which only a few humans had the pleasure of, after meeting Roren and Aria, he knew he would most probably be lonely there and staying for a longer period just seemed a real bad idea, no matter how beautiful and exotic the place might be.

He threw the book on his bed after reading its title, it was a boring history book about the various regions of the continent. He went to the window to look at the ground. But the ground was empty, there was no spectacular fight going on to take his mind away from other things. He left his room in search of something to do. He knew only one person at the keep so he started searching for him. He found Ron in the stable, near the entrance, he was brushing a horse and feeding them. Ash stopped by RIver and talked to him for a while.

"River was an orphan his mother died during birth, he never got too close with any of the other horses," said Ron.

"He seemed normal to me, pretty calm, I rode him easily even though I was pretty nervous," said Ash.

"Yes, that's surprising, he is a very good riding horse though, very powerful, one of the best I have ever seen, you must have a way with animals," said Ron.

"Not really, it's my sister who is good with animals, she once brought a wolf pup back home when she was a kid from somewhere, she named him and everything until dad was finally able to take it back to the forest," said Ash.

"Do you have other siblings?" asked Ron.

"No, you?" asked Ash, he didn't want to talk about Caleb's death.

"No" Ron replied.

"I need to get a letter back home, where can I send one from?" asked Ash.

"You'll have to wait till the end of the month, if you want to do it normally, Sir, Derek has a trained crow, but it's always busy so you might not get a chance soon either," said Ron.

"But I don't have much time, I might be going somewhere far soon," said Ash.

"Well I will be going with my uncle to our relatives down south, where did you say you were from?" asked Ron.

"From the Fang Valley, my town's name is Dwartin," said Ash.

"Ah, we do pass through the valley, so I guess I can take the letter with me, but you will still have to wait for the reply," said Ron.

"It's fine, I just want to let them know that I am fine," said Ash.

"Where are you going then?" asked Ron.

"Somewhere north," said Ash.

"North? From here? You don't mean" said Ron.

"Don't tell anyone" said Ash.

"Wow, I can't believe it, you must be really lucky, it hasn't been even a day yet and you are already," said Ron shaking his head.

"I am not sure if it is my good luck or bad luck," said Ash.

"What are you talking about? Have you seen the elf, Roren brought with him, all the guys haven't stopped talking about her all day, and there will be lots of them there" said Ron.

Ash left the stable after some time and headed back for the tower. He noticed Aria standing alone at the front gates of the tower, the tower guards were talking to her, although it didn't look like she was talking too much herself. She noticed Ash as he slipped past them. She caught up to him as he started going up the stairs.

"Where are you staying?" asked Ash.

"Here, on the third floor," she said.

"Roren has been in Derek's office for a while discussing all the details of his travels," she said.

"Honestly, I was disappointed I wasn't picked to go to meet your king, I mean I know Roren has much more experience than me, dealing with humans, but I am a much better fighter," said Aria.

"Do you want to see my sword? you said you had never seen an elf fight before, our swords are different, I could show you some moves, it's in my room, come on" She turned to a door on the third floor and went inside, Ash entered gulping.

The room was identical to his room, there was a window here too, looking out of which he saw the same view as his, making him realize his room was right above hers.

"I think my room is right above yours," he said turning back. 

Aria was sitting on the bed, polishing a curved blade in her lap. It was a thing of beauty just like her.

"Elven steel, It's called Sky Cleaver," said Aria. The blade had a curve to it unlike most human swords, it was also slightly yellow and blue in color, clearly, its maker had spent much time perfecting it. 

"I can't let you hold it, you have to earn the right to hold it, only someone who can use a blade like this properly should carry it," she said.

"It's really beautiful," he said.

"Even the dwarves can't make something of this quality," said Aria.

"Have you been to the Dwarven kingdom or any other kingdom?" he asked.

"No, this is my first time traveling outside the elven kingdom."

 "Are you a princess?" asked Ash she looked up blinking with her big blue eyes.

"Yes, but there are a lot of princesses like me, I am the daughter of one of the noble houses, and my grandfather is on the council," she said.

"When did you start learning how to use a sword?" asked Ash.

"Since thirteen, I guess, although we did start using bows and arrows even earlier, and even wooden swords," she said.

"Although there is one similarity between humans and elves," she said.

"Boys, they are the same everywhere, always trying to court me," she said.

"you don't have someone?" he asked.

"No, I have been focused on perfecting my skills, never really got a chance to try other things, plus I am a princess, I have the honor of my family on my shoulders, so I can't do anything I want, other families might try to take advantage you never know," she said.

"Then maybe dating a human might be a better idea," he said.

"Hah, I don't think that has ever happened before, at least not in the open, but not many elves come here too so maybe that's why, I mean I won't say I haven't been intrigued by it, all the girls and boys my age are courting each other by now, but I couldn't be distracted," she said.

"DO you have a girl? You do seem pretty good at talking to girls, most other boys get red in the face if I even talk to them for a second" she said.

"no, that's just because I grew up with a sister," he said.

"Hmmm, so you are inexperienced as well, so If I say yes to letting you court me, how will we do this then, I'll be going back anyway soon," she said. Ash was about to answer when there was a loud knock on the door.