"Your Highness, look what I got my hands on!"
Laila's exclamation of joy had Eliana unseal her eyes. She swept her knuckles on the eyes, squeezing the tears out, ridding her vision of blur.
"It's Platinum Gold Tea, your favorite drink. We also have thirty types of snacks to go with it! Would you like to snack on some cookies perhaps? The meager amount that you ate on the wedding feast must have wore off by now."
Eliana held her peace for a tenth of a second, before pushing the order through her soaked lips. "I can go on for weeks without any food, as it's not my necessity but a hobby. Currently, I'm not in for any leisure pursuit; just a cup of tea will suffice." She ran her gaze on the carriage. The interior was so overwhelming in its majesty, that it could be said to be engineered to imitate the interior of a first-class royal chamber.
A sharp intake of breath had been drawn by her, hints of surprise lurking in her widened globes. She had never laid her eyes on a carriage that resembled anything like this one, prior that day! Earlier, when she ascended the carriage, her heart had been shredding apart, stealing the ability of observation from her. Now, accompanied by her presence of mind, she let her gaze dart around.
While commoners placed their priority on ultimate performance when it came to carriage, the royals or the high-ranking magicians demanded all the pomp and opulence with an extra dose of comfort. Why would they settle for a 'bare-bones' like inside just to save weight when their magic device could easily make up for it?
There would be divergent features and patterns of designs in every single detail included on both exterior and interior of a carriage, letting the owner' personality shine through it.
Hades Costello Alarie, just as she knew him, preferred simplicity with an air of elegance.
A set of glass panels with white iron frames acted as the walls of the carriage, revealing the scrap of clouds floating freely in the air, bringing a deluge of sunlight inside. The airy ambience was complemented by delicate neutrals and dark wooden floors.
The spacious interior boasted a large bed in the middle, where she had been curling up for the last twenty minutes. A large mirror right above the headboard reflected the sitting area right opposite the bed. She got up; her gaze locked with a set of sofa guided her legs there.
"Laila, are we being seen from the outside?" She couldn't help but force out the question that shook her calmness for a split second. Her gaze floated, and could see the entourage both in the front and in the back, keeping the bridal carriage in the middle.
"No, Your Highness." Laila steeped the tea in boiling water inside a cup for four minutes for a higher caffeine level, in order to cater to Eliana's taste. "Eunuch Rochester, Emperor Hades's personal aide, corroborated that the wide-sweeping view of the outside could be savored from the inside, and not vice versa."
With the affirmation to her initial deduction, Eliana lowered her frame on a one-seater sofa, placed beside the glass wall. Albeit, she wasn't informed on it, she could infer, each piece of quilted leather seats had been individually sewn together and every layer of veneer wood had been polished by magic.
Eliana sipped on her tea, surprisingly yet not surprisingly, getting the same cozy and familiar vibe of a typical home. She looked ahead, two winged fire-breathers, flapping their wings, were pulling up the carriage through the rambling clouds and slaughter of the howling wind.
The vault of heaven darkened, clouds rushed into each other before exploding, and birthing a rainstorm. Long whips of rain lashed the sides of the carriage; everything appeared blurry, as if someone threw a grand feast for the clouds in the direction they were coming from, and the clouds raced for it.
The storm soldiered on, lightning snaked through the sky, accompanied by a bright flash, and gales ran amok. Amidst everything, the flock of carriages remained indestructible, competently standing up to all the abuse, due to the magic devices installed in them.
….
"We are about to enter into Firebreath," Laila said.
The tallest mountain range that stretched from one end of the uppermost ring to the other end, entered Eliana's vision with glory. It stood on nothing but air! Clouds enveloped the mountain which crowned its summit with a grand palace.
Songs of this land's beauty once brought her to this landscape, but the typical dusting of snow, at that time of winter, cloaked the valleys of beauteous meadow pasture, and the rich green sides that sloped away from the top.
The entourage of carriage continued their path upward, and Eliana, standing by the glass wall, drank on the beauty that heaven had poured on this ring magnanimously.
All of a sudden, the carriage shook side by side and plunged down slightly in the open mouthed grand canyon between steep rock walls! A hungry river was flowing through it.
The oddness instantly snatched Eliana from her silent admiration. She wasn't someone to dwell on shock. Drawing an intricate circle, the runic spell of a protective barrier inside her head, she was about to channel her mana to activate it, when a serene manly voice interrupted her.
"No need. I already gathered clouds and condensed them beneath the carriage. It won't go down."
"Hades,"
Eliana blinked away her momentary surprise. He was a God, and it came with the perquisite of teleportation to anywhere at any time he wanted. Knowing the carriage being thrown off balance was the fruit of Hades's onerous aura, she dropped her guard. The reason was clear to her why he didn't accompany her from the beginning; then, the question 'why now' rose up.
She looked at Hades's handsome side profile, lustrous golden-brown skin very tight across the cheekbones and jawline. Why was he helping her to increase her power? He didn't put any design past it, did he? Nah, he would never deign to smear his clear conscience for anything.
Eliana bit on her lower lip, chewing on the words of gratitude she should set forth for Hades granted her the ability to teleport. But, an awkwardness cast a barrier on her tongue, and no words came out.
The carriage went on...at a much slower speed than before.
"Neither the dragons nor the clouds can bear my weight for long." Hades pulled out a finger from his fist and pointed it at the dozens of villages that arose in the foothills of mountains.
The news of the Emperor's first wedding must have swept through the empire.
"My subjects have gathered there as you can see. Grace them with your appearance, while raining all these gold coins on them." He held her hand, opened the door, and they stood above a sea of magic-users, the lowest class of Firebreath.
A gentle smile curled her lips, before working its way to her eyes. Twinkle of nostalgia glinted in her orbs—her people were also this loyal.
While the newlyweds waved their hands at their subjects, the air and sky had been filled with blessings.
Eliana sent an inquiring glance at Hades and he acknowledged it with a curt node. Ensuring that, a chest full of coins materialized on his right palm. She used her both hands to scoop up the coins then tossed them in the air.