Chapter 19:
Bon Voyage
Clarence looked at the small, brown bag hidden under his bed one more time, which contained everything Alywin told him he needed for their time on the road, including Yursinean money in small bills, a few pairs of clothes, bottled and dried food, an extra pair of shoes, and a medium-sized container to hold water. Clarence pulled everything out, separated and sorted everything, then counted everything before organizing it and putting it all back in his bag.
When he was done, he looked out of the window in his room, where the sky was quickly dipping into the sky.
It's been two days since I last talked to Alywin. Clarence thought as he furrowed his eyebrows, He hasn't told me anything that's happening with the plan. I hope he didn't change his mind. I better hunt him down tomorrow and make him tell me what's going on.
With a frustrated sigh, Clarence pushed his bag back under his bed and stood up, going over to his desk. He pulled out his seat, and the chair quietly creaked in protest before Clarence plopped down and looked over his desk, trying to find something to amuse himself with. He looked at the numerous books his tutors had given him to read, and his eyes shifted over to a small notebook sitting forlornly in the corner, dust building on the top where it leaned against the side of the desk. Clarence looked at it in confusion, forgetting what the little notebook consisted of. He remembered looking at it repeatedly over the years, but it had never caught his interest like it did tonight. With curiosity building in his chest, he reached his hand out and grabbed the little notebook. He pulled it over and set it down right in front of him, staring at the little blue notebook, as if staring long enough would suddenly reveal all of its secrets.
The cover was blank, except for some small marks and blemishes that come with age and flippant care. Clarence gingerly opened the cover, which creaked and groaned in response. On the inside of the cover was Clarence's name, written in ink with a childish hand, an ink blot near the cursive C. A musty smell radiated from the book, which Clarence found oddly comforting. He tenderly flipped a few more pages to see crude drawings he had done as a child, the lines incredibly sloppy and rushed, but every line seemed to have a purpose.
Clarence lifted his eyebrows in bewilderment as he quickly flipped through the pages, seeing each time the same drawing, each page growing more frantic to depict the image he had in his child mind.
It was an angel with large wings. Their arms were out open, and a halo sat above their head, light streaming from it. Next to the angel was a small child grabbing the angel's long robe, clutching it tightly as the small child looked up in awe and fear. But the angel was looking down in anger at the small child, it's eyebrows sunken into its downturned eyes. The drawing made Clarence shiver as he continued to flip through the pages, seeing the angel and the child get distorted in a depiction of madness. When Clarence got to the final page in the book, he audibly gasped as he looked at it, the crude depiction unable to hide what the drawing was showing.
It was what Clarence thought to be the same child that had once begged at the angel's feet, now standing over a bleeding person laying on the ground, a sword stuck in the limp person's chest. Though the person laying on the ground looked like the angel, Clarence was not sure, because the halo was gone, and in place of the robe was a shirt and pants, both colored in roughly with ink. The small child now looked down over the person, and tears were running down his face and the person laid there, eyes closed, as if they accepted their fate.
Clarence slammed the book shut with a disgusted gasp and used his arm to knock it off the desk. He shot out of his seat and stared down at the book that contained so much hate and pain. Memories radiated through his body, and Clarence could feel the pain and anger he used to feel as a child bubbling in his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the thoughts in his mind, but flashes of his so-called savior crept into his mind. A fierce headache began to grow in Clarence's head as the betrayal of his "savior" played in his mind like a movie.
"Maid!" Clarence cried, "Maid! Come in here!" A maid quickly scurried in and curtseyed at the disheveled, horrified young prince, "Take that book and burn it! Now! Use the fireplace!"
"Your Majesty?" The maid said, looking at the terrified prince, then the book, "Right away, Your Majesty." She glanced quickly as Clarence as she hurried over to the book, picking it up before hurrying over to the fireplace, where a warm, bright fire was roaring. Without pausing, she threw it into the fire, and they both watched it burn.
The maid turned back to Clarence, also bewildered, "Can I help you with anything else, Your Majesty?"
He shook his head, his eyes glued to the burning book, "That's all. Thank you."
She curtseyed once more before quickly exiting the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
Clarence rubbed his hands down his face as the door clicked shut, trying to rub the memories off his face.
"What horrible memories." Clarence said aloud as goosebumps raised on his arms, "I haven't thought about that, or him, in a long time." Clarence stared at the fire, rubbing his arms as if a chill had entered the room, "It's been so long. He's probably dead now. I can't imagine how he could have survived the elven massacres that have been happening for the last decade. And even if he is alive," Clarence sat down on his bed, watching the fire intently, "He'd be an absolute fool to ever return here."
Clarence laid down on his bed, the soft, comfortable comforter conforming around his slim body. He shut his eyes and tried to sleep, trying to erase the events that had just happened. But even after a few minutes, Clarence could not fall asleep. The memories of the castle and the blonde, young elven man kept flashing in his mind. How the elf had protected a young, naive Clarence, and how Clarence became so pathetically appreciative.
Why did he save me anyway? Clarence thought to himself as he flipped on his back and looked at his ceiling. He tried to kill me after! He should have just killed me the first time! Then I wouldn't have to relive these horrible thoughts.
The events of the parade ten years ago began to flash in Clarence's mind all over again. He remembered how he had seen through Silas's disguise and how excited he had become, rushing to his "savior." He remembered the feelings of dread and horror as his supposed savior raised his sharp dagger against him, a small child.
Clarence flipped to his side and squeezed his eyes shut, I don't want to remember. I don't want to remember any of it. All of those horrible memories can just go away.
…
When Clarence opened his eyes, he realized it was morning. He rubbed the sleep off his eyes and sat up. He could not remember last night when he fell asleep, but he was glad that horrible night was over. He swung his stiff legs over his bed and sat up, giving himself a moment so his legs could wake up. As he shook his legs out and stretched, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in." Clarence said, glancing at the door as it creaked open. A maid entered the room and curtseyed at the prince, who nodded in acknowledgement as a response.
"Your Majesty, Her Majesty the queen has requested you for an audience."
"Fine." Clarence said with a dismissive flick of his wrist, "Call someone in to help me change please."
"Right away, Your Majesty." She said before slipping out and closing the door behind her. Clarence, feeling the strength draining from his legs, sat down on his bed for a moment, running a hand over his face before letting it rest there.
What does my mother want now? She's not having me meet a suitress, is she? Or did Alywin tell her something? No, Alywin isn't like that. He wouldn't betray my trust like that.
Clarence wanted to ponder on it more, but he heard a knock on the door and stood up.
"Your Majesty, I've been sent to help you ready yourself this morning."
"Come in." He said with a sigh.
…
"I spoke to my contacts in the Travel Squad. Your paperwork is all set, here it is."
Eva sat cross armed with the same coquettish smile on her face, her lipstick a dark shade of burgundy blending in with the dim light of the same bar they had met at before. For more privacy, they had requested a room to discuss the terms of their contract in detail. Speaking out those matters in the bar would only cause more trouble. Eva had one of her subordinates send Silas a key to the room, and he was able to meet her without difficulty early that day.
"How did you manage to get me a transfer this fast?" Silas said as he picked up the paperwork and looked it over with a raised eyebrow.
"Someone owed me a favor. It definitely helped the process along." Eva said with her familiar smile, "Do you have any questions right now?"
Silas put the paperwork down on the table and looked up at Eva, "Not yet."
Eva's smile grew.
Sitting at the small, round wooden table, the pair sat across from each other, passing paperwork across the table, which consisted of everything Silas would need to know about while in the Yursear kingdom, including his new identity, who he was working with, etc. Silas grabbed the papers from Eva and looked them over one by one, his eyes falling on the citizen token from the Faelfier Kingdom. His name had been engraved on the token as "Lloyd Weber," a name that could be considered quite Yursinean. The token even had an official serial number carved into the back, and the front had the same insignia as Silas's official one, right down to the finely engraved threads of wheat detailed on the edges of the golden token.
"Will this be my new identity?" Silas asked, lifting up the token to his eyes to get a closer look at it.
��Yes, Lloyd. You'll be using that to travel through the Yursear kingdom." Eva looked down at the token, then back at Silas, "You do know how to use that, right?"
"Of course." Silas said with a roll of his eyes, "I may be an elf, but I'm not an idiot." Eva laughed in response.
"I just wanted to check. I don't allow weak links in my chain." Eva leaned forward and plucked the token out of Silas's hands with one of her gloved hands, "Any checkpoint in the kingdom, you are going to have to present this. When you enter any town too, but the route I've drawn out for you shouldn't have you going through many towns." Eva held the token between her pointer finger and her thumb, staring at Silas, who glared back at her in frustration, "You'll have to present it too if you get randomly stopped on the road, so don't lose it. Though as a Yursinean citizen, you shouldn't have too many issues." Eva put the token back in Silas's hands and reached into her small purse, rustling around until she grabbed something small out, hiding it in her closed fist, "You'll need this too. Meredith told me you were familiar with these, so I'm sure I don't need to explain too much."
Eva reached her arm out to Silas and opened her fist, revealing a small gemstone knotted on a string. Silas leaned forward and looked at it in surprise before gingerly taking the small gemstone out of Eva's hand and putting it in his own.
"I haven't seen one of these in years." Silas said in surprise as he gently prodded the light purple stone, which glittered lightly at Silas's touch, "How did you get a hold of one of these?"
"I can't take credit for this find." Eva said, leaning back and watching Silas, "Meredith made it, along with quite a few others that some of my team are using currently."
Silas closed his fist and shut his eyes, letting nostalgia fill his senses for a minute as the small tingle of mana flowed from the small purple gemstone through to Silas's hand, sending a warm current of magic down his fingers.
"I thought this magic died with my village. It's nice to see again." Silas whispered as he opened his eyes and fist. He grabbed the long string attached to the stone and put it over his head, guiding it down until the gemstone laid comfortably on his muscular chest and the string sat around his neck.
"Why don't you try it out?" Eva said, nodding to the stone, "It looks like you want to."
Silas looked down at the gem, unsure if he should, but the more he stared down at the gem, the more he wanted to try it, "Alright." Silas said with a sigh. He shut his eyes and let the mana in his body flow through him as a small stream of magic enveloped him in a spiral of white and gold wisps of magic as the gem's power resonated through his body, rounding out his ears, enlarging his eyes, elongating his legs, and dulling his bright white blonde hair to a muted brown.
"Wow." Eva said with a gasp as the magic around Silas faded, leaving the only trace of the magic with Silas's new, human appearance, "That was incredible. I've seen this a few times already, but somehow I'm always awestruck by the power of the elven magic." Silas grabbed his empty glass and used the small reflection to look at his new appearance. He touched his rounded ears and tugged at the skin near his human, hooded eye.
After Silas put his glass back down, Eva reached her gloved hand out and gently touched Silas's new face. She intensely stared at the human appearance and took her time to touch all over Silas's face in wonder.
Silas wanted to pull away from her hands, but he kept still after he looked at her face that was full of curiosity.
She better not bother me for anything else after this, Silas thought to himself as Eva sat up and began to pull at Silas's rounded ears. It was only after Eva noticed Silas grimace that she quickly pulled her hands back and cleared her throat,
"My apologies." She smoothed her striped skirt out and sat down, "I haven't been able to get this close to this elven magic in a long time. It made me slightly nostalgic."
"Nostalgic?" Silas said, releasing the magic, which again lightly circled around him, but this time reverted his appearance back to his elven one.
"Meredith did an excellent job. The magic is practically flawless." Eva said quickly, ignoring Silas's question, "You should have no difficulty getting through the Yursear kingdom to your destination point."
Silas opened his mouth to ask Eva about her nostalgia comment, but decided against it. He knew even if he asked, Eva would just ignore it again. Instead, he'd remember her comment and ask her later, when he thought she'd be more apt to answer.
Eva rested her gloved hands on the table, her smile the same as before. "Meredith already received his materials. You'll be using these items to create a new identity while you are in the Yursear Kingdom. As you know, it's not safe for elves right now." Eva tapped her finger on the wooden table, "It's best you travel with Meredith to quickly send the supplies to the Bethell border. My men can't wait any longer than they already have. You'll find out more when you get there."
Silas fell silent, nodding his head, "I understand, Eva. When do I need to leave?"
"Sometime today would be best. I assume you have some unfinished business to wrap up here." Eva smiled with a knowing look, "I'm sure your girlfriend will want to know you're leaving."
Silas's eyes widened and he held up his hands, which took Eva by surprise, "Oh, no. You misunderstand. Adora and I aren't like that. At all. We're just friends." Silas lowered his hands and shook his head, "I do need to let her know I'm leaving though." Silas stood up and nodded to Eva, "Well, I'll be gone by tonight. Goodbye, Eva." Eva nodded, and Silas collected his things and left the room, the door closing quietly behind him.
After a moment, Eva shook his head in surprise, "That poor girl. He's completely clueless." She sighed and stood up, "Oh, well. I have more important things to worry about than his love life," Eva walked over to the door and opened it, walking out with a roll of her eyes, "Or lack of it."