"So, you are the Elven Prince? What is it that you're here, for?" The king, Raulyn, asks Duvainion.
"Sir. My kingdom was attacked by-" He briefly tries to remember what the commander previously had called them. "Orcs. I had to flee, but not many others had that same opportunity. Please, your majesty, we need help."
"Orcs? If they've already destroyed your capital, then it's too late, anyways. Besides, I've got border issues myself, with a completely different headache then those primitive brutes. I'm sorry, I know that you're just a child, but I cannot help you. And I cannot risk an attack from the Orcs, either, not with our current state of affairs. You may stay here for a week at most, but you must then leave. I cannot afford to attract the the attention of the Orcs right now."
"Yes, your majesty..." After being dismissed, Duvainion then heads out, seeming a bit disappointed.
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After being shown to the room where he'd be staying, he soon decides to explore the palace. Despite the fact that he won't be here for long, he would still like to be able to know where he needs to go.
Though as he's traveling about the halls and exploring, he eventually spots a young girl, who appears to be somewhere around his age, or maybe even slightly older. With how well she's dressed, and with the various servants accompanying her, it's very clear that she's obviously some sort of princess. Duvainion wants to talk with her, though all he seems to do is simply stare as she passes by.
The princess, Annette, has long light brown hair done up in fancy barrel style curls that hang down her back, and her eyes are a deep blue color, almost as if they're taken right from the sea itself. "It's not polite to stare, you know."
"S-sorry, I, uh..." Duvainion just seems to stutter a bit.
Having already passed him, she then turns back around to face him. "It is fine. I get that reaction quite often. I am Annette, the kings eldest daughter. And whom might you be?"
"I'm Duvainion. The Elven Prince."
"I can see the Elven part, but a Prince, hm? Why is it that you are here?"
"...I need help for my kingdom, but your father rejected me."
"Is that all? I assumed you were here for...other purposes. I can help, if you would like?"
"How?"
"Oh please, I have my father wrapped around my little finger. He rarely ever says no to me. If I ask, it is more likely to happen."
"Well... If you want?"
"I will talk with my father later on. Good day, Duvainion." She gives him a small curtsey, then heads off again.
"...Okay." He doesn't seem to know what to say as he just again watches her as she leaves.
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"Sweetie, you know we have our own troubles to tend to." Raulyn, the king, tries to explain to his daughter, Annette.
"But our enemies are much more reasonable then the Orcs. They just want their lands back. Why can we not just let them have it?"
Raulyn just sighs, "You're a lot more informed then I had originally thought..."
"Well, if I am to lead this kingdom one day, I must stay up to date on the affairs of our kingdom, after all."
"You certainly are much more mature then your age would show." After pausing to think for a moment, he soon answers. "Fine, alright. If I can get things settled soon, on our end, then I should be able to send some support to the elves."
"Really? Thank you so much, daddy!" She just smiles at him.
"Of course. But I can't be the only one sending troops in, he'll need to find some of his own, as well."
"Okay." She then heads off.
After a bit, she soon finds Duvainion, now telling him about the conversation that she had just had with her father.
"Really? Well, I guess it's better then just being straight up rejected. You've really done me a huge favor. How could I ever thank you, properly?"
"Oh, how about we just say that you owe me a favor. Alright?"
Duvainion then just nods. "Okay."
Annette just smiles at him, then heads off on her way. All the while, Duvainion still only just stares at her as she leaves.
-------
After a few mostly uneventful days, Duvainion is now just exploring a large room that contains a fairly vast amount of history and artifacts from the kingdoms past. Though he soon stops at a small display case that contains only one item, or rather a piece of an item. It appears to be a shard from some type of weapon. The shard is a silvery color, with what seems to be some sort of ancient rune carved into it. As he gets his hand up on the glass near it, the seemingly long extinguished rune soon starts to glow with a dull light blue color. Seeing this just seems to mesmerize him, and before he even knows what happened, his hand is reaching through the very glass, a small dark portal looking thing appears around his hand as he reaches through the glass, and pulls the shard out from the display case. He then seems to come back to his senses after he pulls it out, and now just seems confused as to why and how he's holding it, just looking at it.
Though soon, he can hear the metallic footsteps of an armored guard nearing the room. Starting to panic a bit, he starts concentrating his magic, trying to slip into the shadows again. Just as the guard gets to the room, Duvainion then manages to shadow walk, slipping into the nearby shadows, then quietly slipping past the guard and out of the room. He doesn't even exit the shadows until he gets back to his room.
Looking at the weapon shard again, it still amazes him. The metal has an almost organic feel to it, as if it were once living even. He then quickly shoves the approximately palm sized shard into the side of his boot, in order to hide it.
-------
Now at the end of the week, Duvainion starts to head out, though soon meets with Annette near the entrance hall. "Annette? What are you doing here?"
"Can I not say farewell to my new friend?" She just smiles at him, again.
"Oh, well, thank you, heh. It was nice to meet you, Annette."
"It was a pleasure to meet you, as well, Duvainion. I will look forward to the time when we can meet again. Farewell, young prince. Annette then gives him a small curtsey.
"As do I, princess." He then bows to her slightly. "Farewell."
He then starts on his way out of the palace, still trying to figure out a way to be able to try and rescue Caleldes from the clutches of the Orcs.