Chapter 3

My First Royal Gathering In Seven Days

Before I knew it, my weekend was over, though it didn’t very much feel like one, thanks to Elyon. My day off from studying was replaced with the exact opposite; I’m at least happy it was a typical day of listening to her speak.

Do you want to know what I’ve learned about my family? I’ve learned that all royal family members have.. or had… fifty different teachers, all at the same time! That’s just crazy; If I had fifty Elyons teaching me at the same time, I’d… probably… well I don’t know, freeze up, perhaps? Trying to answer the question of one Elyon was hard enough as it is. I’ll consider myself lucky… maybe. Now that I think about it, it would’ve been nice to meet new people from time to time. Not that Elyon and Alais weren’t great to talk with, but… I’ve spent all my life in this palace with books and the star-filled sky being my windows to something more.

“Adam, care to repeat for me what I just said?” Elyon asked, seeming to stand taller than ever next to my desk.

I said nothing, lowering my gaze to my pencil and the empty page where my notes were supposed to go. I was slightly embarrassed, again.

“Your project for Alais should be the least of your concerns, Adam.”

“It’s… not that. I was just wondering… when might I get to attend a gathering?”

“A gathering?”

“A ball; I very much would like to attend such an event.”

“If you can’t seem to pay attention to this subject, what makes you think you’d fare any better on ballroom etiquette?”

I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t help but hesitate. I always felt like I could tell Elyon everything, but I was too embarrassed at the time. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings but, I wanted someone else to talk with, someone outside the palace. She picked up my notebook and pencil before beginning to write. Silently, saying nothing, she finally placed it back down in front of me.

“Finish these equations before my return,” She said before leaving the room.

I sat watching her tall figure leave with grace, almost like a ghost sometimes. Studying over the task at hand, I soon realized she took my only pencil.

The questions were in no way simple, as my studies took science as a whole and merged it with Elyon’s higher understanding of magic. I swear, a lot of what she taught wasn’t in any book I’ve read. Magic was one of those subjects that made my head spin, as magic couldn’t be calculated so easily. Even with her assurance that it could, I found myself being pretty skeptical of her at times. I mean, can you blame me? Who calculates astrophysics and then solves for magic? That’s pretty much what I had to do every day. Math and Magic… Magic and Math. Like making a sandwich, but half of it isn’t even a sandwich; Yeah, like dirt with a side of mud.

When she finally returned, I was prompted to give my answers verbally, in great detail.

“Once again, you’ve failed.”

“If I were able to write,”

“You could have been able to do a lot with countless things. And yet the results remain the same, here and now,”

Her words struck like a blade, a dull one but a blade all the same.

“Prepare yourself,” She began while cleaning up my lessons for the day. “Your sisters,”

“Are coming to see me?” I blurted out, instantly regretting my interruption.

“Are attending an event, a social gathering if you will, and you’ll be going.”

“I’d… be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. But going with Violet and Mary, more so Violet, sets me at ease. When and where?”

“A week from now, at the eastern cemetery.”

“Is that not an odd place to have such an event?”

“The Madda family has lived there for generations. So long that even your family would have difficulty taking said land.”

“And keeping a strong relationship with the family is important enough that even I would be of use if only a little.”

“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing,” She said.

“While excited, I can’t help but feel like I’m being used. My windows of the outside world, yourself and Alais, seem limited, so much so that such delicate diplomacy perhaps should not involve me, lest I make things worse.”

“True, your very presence could have unforeseen consequences. The same could be said if you were to stay here for the rest of your life.”

“Elyon, did Mother give you any information to give me about this event?”

“No,”

“Then, I believe the purpose is for me to fail while my sisters clean up whatever mess I make.”

“A great way in learning to swim is to jump in.”

“Also a great way to drown… Would I be allowed an escort?”

“Yes, but only one.”

“Having you there would give me wisdom, however taking former Orc Queen, Alais, would provide protection and strong experience in diplomacy, that is… if her years of isolation hadn’t changed her.”

“Assuming you would be able to take her along. For her crimes, Alais had been stripped of everything, including clothing. It was a challenge to get the Queen’s approval for the shack you wish to build for Alais.”

“Then why did she finally agree to it?”

“The idea of Alais living with the horses for years was acceptable to your mother and her mother before her, but Alais being housed by a child seemed to amuse her.”

“I wonder if she’d think the same if I were to buy her clothing for the event. Hmm… I think taking either of you might be expected of me. You, more likely than Alais. But, there’s still the matter of my friend’s new home.”

My smile was mixed with regret as I rose, palming the back of my thighs. It was as if pins and needles sat under my skin, reminding me of my failure to get up and stretch.