Brenda swiftly walked into the vast hallway outside of her room with Meriah at a short distance behind her. Brenda's step had a bit of pep in it as she began walking faster and faster down the hallway. Meriah had to pick up her dress slightly as well to keep up with Brenda's pace.
The long hallway matched the walls and flooring of her room, as marble-like stonework made up for the structure of the entire manor with hardwood covering the floor, except for a giant velvet carpet down the center of the hallway. This carpet left only narrow passages of the hardwood on the sides. While Brenda walked hastily on the velvet carpet, Meriah, cautiously, kept the pace along the narrow sides, avoiding various types of decorations with the clacking of her shoes loudly echoing throughout the hallway. To anyone in the manor, he or she would always know when an elf made it down any hallway.
Along their way down the hall, Brenda waved at many figures who lined it. They were various adult figures of all different heights, hair colors, and styles, but they all wore the same color and dirty outfit. Upon closer inspection, one would see that they all had the same kind of ears: pointed with various notches carved in them. Brenda and Meriah reached the end of the hallway where one of these figures, an elderly elven man with sunken cheeks holding a large silver platter with a tea kettle and a single teacup stood next to a large black door. He was wearing a tattered tucked-in shirt and pants that seemed too short for him, which was of similar color brown as Meriah's; however, it seemed he had a higher prestige than Meriah as his clothing looked more on the formal side, but it was still stained and torn at the ends. Lastly, parts of a large tattoo were seen through the multiple holes in his shirt.
"Miss Brenda." The elderly elf spoke, "It is good to see you this morning."
"Reau!" Brenda said with a smile, "It is good to see you as well."
"Please." Reau bowed slightly, "Your greetings are too much, and the pleasure is truly mine."
Reau looked over to Meriah and gave a slight smile and nod, but he stayed silent to her. Meriah returned the same pleasantries with her curtsey. As Brenda glanced back towards Meirah as she curtseyed tremblingly, she got a glance at the many scars and new wounds on her legs. Brenda bit her lip, and Meriah covered her legs as soon as she noticed Brenda was looking.
"I apologize, miss," Meriah said solemnly.
Brenda raised her hand, "No, I…"
Reau, reading the situation, handed Brenda the empty teacup and promptly began to fill it, "For you, Miss."
The aroma of the tea hit Brenda's senses like an arrow to the heart. It was such a pleasurable scent that she began to relax from the scent alone. It was the scent of Milkleberries from the groves outside, which her father specifically had imported from a continent that takes six months travel by boat and incredibly difficult to procure, and a type of herbal leaf locally grown but was known for uses on relaxation and stress-relief. With a tinge of orange-lemon, this tea became sweetened to blissful perfection.
"Your favorite, Miss Brenda." Reau said calmly, "I can assure you that your father expected excitement from you today, so he wanted to spare no expenses." Brenda giggled as she went to take a sip, as Reau held out his hand, "Apologies, Miss. That might be a tad hot."
Meriah's eyes widened as she went to speak, "Wait. That's forbidden—", but she was slow on the uptake.
Reau snapped his fingers as his chest tattoo gave off a faint purple light, and a small gust of wind appeared above the teacup swirled slowly, removing the heat away from the surface level of the tea. Brenda always loved to see magic at work, but it was the simple magic that made her enjoy it more. Brenda took a sip and gave out a large sigh of relief.
"You have such wonderful control of your magic, Reau." Brenda whispered with a smile, "It's the fine control of it that I am jealous of."
Meriah cleared her throat, moving closer to Brenda's ear, "Miss, your aptitude is exceptional for magic. Once you become of age, you can begin learning how to use it more and more through refined teachings."
"I agree." Reau said softly, looking directly at Brenda rather than Meriah, "Your control will one day be much better than mine." He then bowed lowly, impressively keeping the platter straight with his right hand, "I apologize for using magic in front of you, Miss Brenda. I know it's not allowed by your father, so I will take myself to the punishment yard later."
"Reau. You will do no such thing." Brenda spoke sternly, "I have told you many times that I am okay with it. I am not my father, and he is behind that door. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."
Reau stayed bowed, "I show my humblest gratitude to you, Miss Brenda. You are truly kind." Reau slowly turned and with his left hand, now free, opened the large door beside him. Brenda proceeded into the room, leaving Meriah behind with Reau, as he closed it afterward.
A few moments passed by as Meriah gave out a sigh of relief, "Another morning success."
Reau didn't speak as he looked down at his shirt to see another single mark on his shirt where the upper part of his tattoo became slightly more revealed. He grimaced in pain as he tried to hold it in, and he did so. He managed to subdue the horrendous pain that his tattoo bore upon him, still impressively carrying the platter on his right hand.
"Reau." Meriah said with deep concern as she reached forward to assist, "Are you okay?"
Reau instantly pushed her hand away with a displeased look on his face, "Do your best to remember that in the manor, elves do not speak to elves." He looked down at her legs again, "Haven't you learned that lesson already?"
Meriah silenced her worries immediately and nodded, biting her lip. She silently moved over to the other side of the hallway, waiting by the door for her master.
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As Brenda walked through the door, she instantly was met with another large room with marble walls, but this room was different from the other rooms in the manor. The room was an office with the floor being coated in the same velvet red carpet from the hallway, and it was filled with plenty of light from two large windows on both sides of the room with the sills draped with, what seemed to be, fine silk. Large paintings and achievements were framed and posted around the walls, including an incredibly large one of a military decorated young thick-mustached man posing with his hand on his sword in a dark purple uniform. In the center of this room was a large wooden desk, elaborate with many furnishings and drawers, but solid on the back facing the doorway, and various papers and materials were lying on the top of it.
Behind the desk sat a stout man, middle forties with a large mustache, short brown short hair, and dark blue eyes. He was wearing a similar purple outfit to that in the large painting, but he appeared to have witnessed much more since that picture's origin. This man dutifully worked at the papers on his desk as he looked up to see who opened the door. A large warming smile appeared across his face.
Similarly, a little bit away from the desk was a giant brown-furred chair with a woman sitting daintily in the center of it. She appeared to be in her early thirties with strawberry blonde hair and light blue eyes, and she wore a similar dress to Brenda's, but more filled out. She wore a golden bracer on her left wrist and a golden necklace that seemed to shimmer with the light. She, too, was watching the man work at the papers on the desk when the door swung open, and a similar smile ran across her face.
"My dear." The man spoke with a joyous tone, "It is good to see you this morning."
"Good morning, father." Brenda curtseyed before turning to the woman, "Good morning, mother."
"Is that Reau's tea that I smell?" The man said with a raised eyebrow.
"The very same!" Brenda said smiling, "He got me my favorite for today."
"It smells delightful." The woman said, smelling the air.
Brenda, in response, took a sip of the tea and wrinkled her nose happily as the tea hit her tongue. It was the perfect temperature, and the taste was very sweet with a hint of a refreshing feeling as an aftertaste. It was as if Brenda was on a cloud from one sip alone.
"I would much like to have some of that later then, if it is that good." Her father said before going back to his writing, and his tone becoming lighter than before, "I assume your maid has told you of the news."
"Not everything." Brenda said as she moved closer to the desk to stand about a meter from her father, "Only that we are going to another kingdom today," Brenda's face turned to a big grin, "Is this true?"
"Yes." The man said as his large feather pen continued to speed up, "We are going to capital city of the Raugan Kingdom. You see, you will be turning eighteen in a few days, and that means your destiny will be read to you by the vision orb. We will be going to stay in the city until that time."
"How far away is the kingdom?" Brenda asked with utmost glee, taking a sip of her tea.
"It is a six day travel, sweetheart." The woman spoke softly with a giggle, "You seem very happy about the trip rather than the kingdom itself."
"I've never gotten to leave this place." Brenda said with a pout, "I can be excited, okay?"
"Psh. You are excited about the wrong thing." The man gave off a mocking smile, "You went plenty of places when you were younger."
"None that a three-year-old could remember, dear." The woman chuckled, "It's only fair that she is excited."
"Very well," The man said, putting down his large feather pen beside his ink bottle, "Then allow me to—"
A loud knock came from the door of the room as it opened unexpectedly. It was Reau, who immediately bowed his head, the platter on his right hand was still straight as he bowed. He cleared his voice, ready to convey a message.
"This better be important for you to barge in, Reau." The man said sternly.
"Reggie, let's hear him out first." The woman said as she walked over to her husband, laying a hand on his shoulder. She turned to Reau and said in a cold tone of voice, "Speak."
"Masters Reginald and Claire, and Miss Brenda, I formally apologize for entering in this way." Reau said with a somber voice, "It seems there is a commotion at the front of the manor. Three human males from the town have come back with one of our elven maids, and they are claiming reparations."
"Reparations?!" Reginald yelled out in anger as he reached below his desk and pulled out a long saber with a purple scabbard, much like the one in the picture, "Lead me to them, now."
"Yes, sir." Reau immediately turned around and left through the open door, as Reginald burst out after him. A tingle of a purple aura began flickering around him as he left. The door was left open as Claire and Brenda watched them make their way down the hallway.
"I am going too," Brenda said as she began to walk forward, only to be caught on her arm by her mother.
"There is no need, Brenda." Claire said in a serious tone, "Your father is more than capable to handle this."
"Mother, please. I want to know." Brenda said with conviction, as she broke away from her mother's grasp and bolted out the doorway.