After a long awkward ride, which I swear seemed a hell of a lot longer than it had been, we finally reached the castle, well more of a tree than a castle actually, made from white stone which probably was somehow petrified.
The interior was as impressive, two circular stairways created a circle with a floating chandelier at its middle. This chandelier was made of similar motes of light.
Arthur had informed the King and Queen that he would rather explain what happened before resting so that's what he did.
We were escorted to a rectangular table downstairs. The king sat on one end of the table while Art and me were seated at the other, the Queen sat perpendicularly to the King with Tessia sat right beside her. The elder was sitting right across the pair which left a pretty wide gap between us.
With elbows resting on the table and fingers intertwined the king spoke, "Young ones, what did you say your names were?"
Before I could say anything Arthur spoke""Forgive me for the late introduction. My name is Arthur Leywin and my companion here is my twin brother Fayden Leywin, we come from a remote town in the Kingdom of Sapin. A pleasure to make your acquaintance King, Queen, Elder, and gentlemen."
"It's an honor to meet the royal family" I said with a bow.
This level of maturity in both of us sported a look of surprise on the faces of the King, Queen and the royal guards, while the elder had an amused smirk.
After regaining his stoic composure the King continued, "You two seem more mature than I had assumed. My name is Alduin Eralith and this is my wife, Merial Eralith and my father Virion Eralith. We would like to know what happenes from your side."
And so Arthur began retelling what happened, how he got to the Elshire forest and how he was separated from our family.
When he told them that he was a mage everyone had looks of utter disbelief, one of the guards branded him a liar and demanded proof that he was a mage when surprising elder Virion shut him up.
He explained how he got to the carriage and rescued the princess.
The King slammed his hands on the table and spat menacingly, "I should've known it was humans.."
At this I decided to speak up, " With all due respect the actions of a few slave traders do not define an entire race of people, if that was the case shouldn't Arthur rescuing the princess brand all humans as saviors of elves?"
"You dare-!" A guard spoke up only to be silenced by a withering glare from Tessia's grandfather.
"So you say these slave traders took my granddaughter and you as a child,what, negotiated with them, begged for mercy?" chimes in elder Virion.
"No Elder Virion, I eliminated them and rescued your grand daughter." Arthur responds.
After ending the explanation he asked the important question, "As I have mentioned, it has been almost four months since we have seen our parents. We do not plan to intrude on your kingdom for long as We wish to meet them quickly, so I was wondering if you guys had a teleportation gate that could take us to the City of Xyrus or anywhere inside Sapin."
Rude he didn't even discuss with me if I wanted to go so fast or not. Well my answer would've been the same anyways, as much as I wanted to stay and explore the elven city we have been away from mom and dad for too long and they probably think we're dead so it'd be best we leave asap.
"Wait, you're leaving already Art?" Tessia exclaims with a panic striken face, while the King and Queen had simar looks of bafflement.
Her grandfather however just gave a snide grin and chuckled.
"I don't think it's appropriate for a human such as us to be inside this Kingdom for too long, Princess. Besides, I wish to make sure that my family is safe and tell them we're okay as well," He replied, with a sheepish smile.
The King responds now, "It has been a couple hundred years since the last human has stepped foot into the Kingdom of Elenoir and the two of you, are the first humans to be in the capital of this Kingdom, the City of Zestier. However, saving our daughter and taking the trouble to accompany her all the way back to us entitles you with a proper reward…Unfortunately, the teleportation gate linked with the Kingdom of Sapin opens only once every seven years, for the Summit Conference between the three races. Since the last Summit was two years ago, it'll be another five years until the gate will function"
I couldn't stop a sigh of disappointment escape my mouth.
"However, we are more than willing to send a group of guards to escort both of you back home. You are indeed correct that it may not be wise to stay in this kingdom for too long. While some are tolerant, many hold animosity towards humans because of the war long ago." He finishes with a sorrowful smile.
Phew, while not as fast as a teleportation gate it was still something.
"Please make yourselves comfortable for now, we will prepare your escorts by tomorrow morning" he snapped his fingers and an old elf maid came and led us to our room.