"You should tell him the truth," said Daefina."Why?" asked Aella.
"Because when he finds out you lied, he"ll be mad," she said with a huff.
"Are you going to tell him?" asked Aella, curiously.
"No! And have him be mad at me?" Daefina shuddered. "I"ve dealt with enough of his anger issues to last a life time. Do you know that if you point out how he tilts his toes when he walks, he"ll chew you out for over an hour?"
"Sounds like a horrible waste of time," said Aella, trying not to laugh.
"You may think it"s funny but I don"t!" Daefina shook her head and leaned back against the leg of the lion, crossing her arms with a huff.
Aella glanced up to see the lion give the princess a what in the world look, before returning to standing patiently, waiting for someone to release it to fly off. The prince had already let his mount fly off, but the care tender for this lion hadn"t given it the signal to leave. She noticed with amus.e.m.e.nt that her lion"s ear kept ticking back towards her, as if it was waiting for her to say it could go instead of the tender.
"What"s funny?" asked Alfred appearing next to her and looking around.
"Nothing," said Aella with a shake of her head. His timing was perfect.
Frederik landed next to Alfred and folded his wings, breathing slightly hard. "I may need to fly around a bit more. My wings were starting to get tired there near the end."
"Better work on your stamina before she needs you for other things," teased Alfred with a laugh.
"I wish," said Frederik, rolling his eyes. "We both know Aella isn"t going to choose a mate for a long time. There"s too much to do yet."
"You"re probably right," sighed Alfred.
The prince approached while Aella was trying to decide what to say, and waved for them to follow him.
"I"m going to have you go with the animal tenders to the pride rock. That way you can see how they tend to them and what their living quarters looks like."
"Pride rock?" asked Aella, falling in step beside Elalar.
"A family of lions is called a pride, and their home is carved from a great rock, which those with wings love to jump off of. I imagine my sister has already filled you in about the fact they don"t all have wings?"
"Yes, she did mention that," nodded Aella.
"Good. There"s more to these things than just flying around with them," he grumbled.
"Do I need to declare that I am ready to take this test to own him, or do I have to wait for your n.o.bles to complain about the fact you are giving him to me without the test?" she asked with a grin.
"Daefina mentioned that, too?" he growled, glancing at the girl.
"Yes, I asked her what you could be upset about, and that was her best guess. I thought it might be about her betrothal to the dwarven king, but she didn"t think it could possibly be that, considering you didn"t know about it yet," said Aella lightly, looking forward as she spoke.
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Elalar and Daefina together.
"Well, after the drinking contest and the waking up next to each other, I figured it was only right that they get the opportunity to plan the wedding before calling in the cleric right them. Of course, that depends on what your elven rituals demand," she continued, fighting hard to keep a straight face. "Do you really like to braid hair that much? Some of the dwarven beards were pretty intricate."
Daefina was gaping at her as if she had grown a second head, and Elalar was turning an interesting shade of red. It was almost as dark as her blood. Was her blood still red? After a moment of thought, she figured it probably was.
"Brother, I swear to you on mother"s grave," began Daefina but the elven king held up a hand to silence her.
"What game are you playing at, King Aella?" he growled, staring at her with a hard look.
"You have been acting different from when we first met a week or so ago," said Aella, glancing around at the dense trees and intricate buildings woven throughout them. "I wonder what exactly has you all worked up? Surely it can"t just be about why I came through the mountains where I did, or that your n.o.bles are upset over a flying lion. Tell me straight Elalar, what is going on? I can play this game all day if you like. It would be interesting to see what your n.o.bles think of a half dwarven child roaming the royal halls."
Daefina gasped and grabbed her belt, as a look of horror and confusion crossed her face.
Elalar didn"t even glance in her direction. His gaze never left Aella"s face as he seemed to consider what he was going to say.
"I received word that you were seen flying through the air as if a feather on the wind, in the middle of the night, during a storm not long ago. The elf that spotted you, also claimed your companions tried to call you down, but that you never returned, only that you were next seen leaving the mountains with them and my sister. Too many of the facts that I am getting from my people concerning you and your companions are adding up. I can"t help but wonder what other lies you have told me, and what secrets you keep?"
"How exciting!" exclaimed Aella, finally cracking a smile. "I"m sure that you"ve heard all sorts of things from your spies, but I have only lied to you once, in all the time we have talked before now, and that was about taking a boat to get here. As for what secrets I keep, they are mine alone to decide when, or if, to share. I can"t imagine you would care to tell me all of your secrets, elven king?"
"Wait, so that bit about my betrothal wasn"t a lie?" cried Daefina, starting to look a little green around the edges.
"Hush, elven princess," laughed Aella. "Lest any of your n.o.bles hear you and spread rumors. You know we talked about one, and the dwarven king promptly kicked us out. His humor seemed to escape him after the drinking contest failed so utterly. Though, it would be an interesting sight to see what a half elf, half dwarf would look like. Would the child grow facial hair, or have an upturned nose?"
"Fine," growled Elalar. "I understand your unhappiness concerning the current situation. I already agreed that I would give you the tablet you wanted, and I"m making it possible for you to pa.s.s the coming trials demanded by our laws and customs to appease my n.o.bles. I don"t know what else you are wanting."
Aella paused to think about his words then shrugged. "I guess that"s good enough for now."
She turned around to continue walking, and then paused again. "Ah! I remember what it was. I want a breeding stock of your lions to return home with. I think they would make excellent companions for my people, and would be far safer to travel on than mere horses."
"What?" gasped the elven king, staring at her in shock. "Do you have any idea what you are asking?"
"I understand that some of the lions are not born with wings, and that only those with wings are used for traveling in your forest. Daefina told me that they used to live on the plains to the south of here, and hunted the smaller people, the halflings and gnomes. I want to know what you do with those that you don"t think are suitable for breeding once they don"t have wings, and whether they have the s.p.a.ce to truly be free and happy."
Elalar gave Daefina a look and she shrank back away from him. "Let us go see the lions so we can answer your questions," he managed to spit out, turning to continue towards the lion grounds.
Aella whistled at the lion, a sharp quick whistle, and it hopped easily over the handler that was trying to get it to move and landed next to her, keeping pace with her slow walk. Ignoring the shouts of anger from the handler, which the king quelled with a glance, she patted the lions leg without breaking stride.
"How are you able to have tamed him so easily?" asked Daefina, gazing up at the huge lion in amazement.
"It"s an animal thing," said Aella with a smirk, looking ahead as they approached a large archway carved with winged lions.
It was plenty large enough for her lion to fit through, but it heralded the beginning of the largest cage she had ever seen in her entire life. A net stretched through the treetops of the forest ahead, keeping the lions contained against their will.
"Welcome to pride rock," said King Elalar. "We use giant forest spiders to keep the webbing tight and secure, and then feed those same spiders with the newborn lions that are too weak to survive. I have a feeling though, that our methods are about to change."