Chapter 11 : The Arrival (2)
Deep within the transportation chambers of the royal palace, the atmosphere was heavy. The hall was grand and spacious, with pillars lining the walls.
In the center of the chamber, there were two crafted teleportation structures. They were built in the form of circular gateways.
Prince Asher and Sofia walked inside as the heavy doors were opened by the guards standing at the entrance. The four elite guards followed closely behind them, their shiny and heavy armor making sounds as they walked.
Sofia looked at the massive circular gateways as she gazed at the runic edges of the structures. "Every time I see this, I remember the day when you came to propose to me in front of my father. That was flashy and bold of you," she sighed as she began reminiscing about their younger days.
Asher offered his arm while chuckling lightly. "I promised you at the last year of the academy that I would come to your home and propose you there, and I kept that promise."
"Bold is an understatement at what you did," Sofia replied as she leaned towards him. "They were very shocked as I hadn’t told them about our relationship. Father and Marcus were shocked seeing you there and propose me inside the Hayes estate."
"Well, Prince Asher doesn’t do things halfheartedly," Asher said seriously as he shamelessly praised himself.
Sofia rolled her eyes with an amused smile as they waited for the teleportation gateways to start.
Asher turned his gaze towards the essence runesmiths while releasing a bit of his presence. "Stop listening to us and activate it immediately," he ordered the eavesdropping experts in a cold and commanding tone that demanded no delay.
The runesmiths shuddered under his presence. Snapping out of their daze, they hurriedly began to mark the co-ordinates of House Hayes border territory in the gateways. As they marked the co-ordinates, they powered up the device with the essence ores.
The gateway began to hum as the essence ores powered it up. The runes along the edges flashed with a bright light, enveloping the Prince, Sofia and the four royal guards who were standing at the center of the array. The space inside the chamber tore open, swallowing them whole as they teleported to their destination.
A second later, everything returned to normal in the teleportation chamber.
Far away from the royal capital, six people appeared high in the air, just a few kilometers away from the Hayes territory. Asher caught Sofia by the waist as he manipulated his essence to keep them floating mid air.
The guards descended to the ground and one of them retrieved a royal carriage from his storage artifact. The carriage was golden, with the royal crest at the center of front and back panels and was embedded with silver at the four edges. It was designed to run on any direct supply of essence.
The guard placed high grade essence blocks as fuel to empower the carriage. The engraved runes flared instantly as it let out a steady hum. The carriage lifted into the air, floating five inches above the ground.
Asher and Sofia floated down, stepping inside the luxurious cabin while the four royal guards positioned themselves at the four corners of the carriage, ready to move.
From inside the cabin, Asher released a pulse of his essence and initiated the carriage to move forward. With a sudden burst of speed, the hovering carriage moved forward as they went towards Hayes’s territory.
Meanwhile at the high walls of Viscountcy, squires stood watch as they monitored the perimeter. One of the patrolling guards spotted the incoming carriage and signaled the gatekeepers.
As the heavy gates swung open, the guards came outside for a routine entry check, only to immediately bow and clear a path forward.
"We greet the royal guests!" they shouted in unison.
The carriage went right past them, leaving the guards to close the gates and return to their posts. The hovering vehicle glided across the outer territory as they headed deeper towards the main estate.
While the royals were moving across the land, a massive shadow was cutting through the clouds directly above the forests of Hayes territory.
The Ashgrove elven lineage was traveling by air. They were riding atop a huge domesticated storm blessed monster hawk. It spanned over fifteen meters from one wingtip to another. This lineage of hawk was a symbol of Ashgrove family.
On the back of the giant hawk, Kellan Ashgrove and his wife, Elara Ashgrove, stood comfortably. He wore a silver colored robes beneath a long, leaf green coat and complemented by a light gray traditional trousers. His coat fluttered in the wind as he gazed forward, his long silver hair catching the day light. He possessed elongated ears and a sharp, slender build.
At his side, Elara wore a flowing green gown with silver trim along the sleeves, perfectly matching her husband’s attire. Like him, she also possessed silver hair and long, elegant ears.
On the opposite side of the territory, along the rocky terrain, an open wagon, pulled by the earthen golem wolves was heading towards the Hayes territory. The carriage had two long seats, facing each other.
Master Dorren, the elite dwarven blacksmith, was short and wore a leather vest along with black shorts, his thick red beard elongated neatly till his chest. He sat at the back of the carriage.
"These human roads are rough and a disgrace to engineering!" Bram, his forge assistant, grumbled loudly as he rubbed his back.
"Shut up and be seated, Bram," Dorren grunted, without taking his eyes off the road. "This is border passage and it is meant to be rough. They don’t want enemies marching towards them smoothly."
Back at the inner estate, a dense crowd of whispering locals had already formed. Carriages of all shapes and sizes were pulling up to the courtyard.
Marcus had informed all the citizens of the Viscountcy’s main city to join the midday feast at the inner district. The security was exceptionally tight and a long line of people was already forming at the perimeter gates.
Outside the estate gates, hundreds of commoners were already gathered, dressed in their finest woolen clothes, along with several regional merchants. The atmosphere was a blend of a festive mood among the citizens and strict military discipline. For this occasion, Marcus had completely exempted all the citizens of Hayes Viscountcy from this month’s taxes.
Deep within the manor, Leon sat comfortably in his small, cushioned high seated chair that was placed at the center of the farthest wall inside the main hall. Iris sat beside Leon, her focus on the arrival of her friends.
Meanwhile, Viscount Marcus stood by the entrance doors alongside Vera and Roland, waiting for the arrival of the guests. Outside, the entire inner territory was lavishly decorated.