After several minutes of walking, the three protagonists entered the house; Erwin, who had lost consciousness after the terrible battle with Rudolf, had not yet woken up, and was thus placed on the small sofa to be treated.
"Go ahead and sit on the chair, Elaine" – Ron said in the meantime, pointing to the chair placed right next to the sofa on which Erwin was resting; Elaine was still hesiting for a moment, as she was still scared of the possibility that Rudolf might appear at any moment, looking nervously around her.
"Don't worry, I'm sure that bastard won't show up so soon..." said Ron, trying to reassure the girl; the young elf, seeing the conviction and determination in the eyes of the middle-aged man, felt somewhat relieved, and then went and sat down in the chair;
"Good, now wait for me here..."Ron immediately went to the basement located between the part dedicated to the inn and their home, staying there for a few seconds; after which, he returned with two small glass vials, containing a strange golden yellow liquid, which gave off a faint light; Ron threw one glass towards the girl, who caught it without too many problems, apart from feeling a pang coming from that hole still in her belly, half patched up by Ron with his fire magic.
"Drink it, your wounds will disappear in a few moments..."
The girl, upon hearing those words, had some doubts: she didn't know such effective potions, in fact, she was certain that such potions, even if they existed, they were extremely expensive and rare; yet, it was enough to look at Ron's eyes to understand that he wasn't lying at all at that moment.
The girl therefore opened the ampoule, and without hesitation, swallowed that strange yellow concoction that tasted of earth, iron and spoiled meat; the terrible taste and smell of her made the girl gag, and she initially regretted swallowing something truly disgusting. But a few moments later, her body was suddenly enveloped in a golden light: the pain in her abdomen that had been accompanying her for several minutes suddenly disappeared, and with the pain, that terrible wound also disappeared, leaving room for a small vertical scar on the belly; her energy was also slightly restored, leaving the girl completely stunned.
[What kind of potion is this?!] The girl wondered, still not believing in her eyes; looking at Ron, in that moment, many things went through her head: it was already strange enough that a formidable man like Ron lived in a poor village forgotten by everyone; furthermore, she knew many top-level wizards scattered throughout the kingdom, and she thought that a man of that enormous power must necessarily be famous, believing that it was impossible for him to remain anonymous.
"What did I tell you?" said Ron meanwhile, who in the meantime helped Erwin to drink the same potion, and the same thing happened: all his wounds and his fractures healed within a few moments;
"Mhh... huh? Where am I...." Erwin said, completely lost, feeling a strange unpleasant taste in his mouth;
"You're at home, you idiot..."
" ...What happened? I don't remember anything" Erwin asked, still confused by the situation and why he was on top of the couch; he tried to think about what he remembered, but as soon as he saw Elaine sitting in the chair next to him out of the corner of his eye, all his memories began to resurface: from the life-or-death fight with Rudolf, up to his late "victory" achieved at the last moment.
He also remembered when Ron came to save him, then... everything turned black. At the same time, he also remembered the order that Ron gave him shortly before leaving the management of the inn to Erwin, that is, that he must not go near the woods for any reason.
[Oh-Oh...] Erwin thought, who at that moment began to sweat coldly, expecting some punch on his head or some punishment; but when he looked at Ron, he didn't notice any hint of anger, on the contrary, he seemed happy, although his face was still the same, emotionless.
"S-Sorry Ron, I didn't listen to you..." said the boy, who didn't want to risk anything anyway;
"Well, not that I expected anything different from you..." Ron said, snorting, although in truth, he was happy to see how strong Erwin had become. - "But don't think you can get away with it, I'll think about your punishment later" said Ron, suddenly hitting him on the back of the head.
"Ouch!" The boy exclaimed, clutching his head in pain;
"Anyway... you did good against that guy; Well done."
When he heard those words, Erwin almost had tears in his eyes; since they had known each other, that is, since Erwin was 5 years old, Ron had been strict with him, and although Ron himself saw his progress in martial arts, he had never given him a compliment that could be called such, making fun of him or not considering his improvements at all, at least as far as he showed.
" Eh..ehehehe..."
Erwin began to laugh, too happy at that moment. Ron, however, as soon as he saw that smile on the boy's face, felt somewhat uncomfortable, hitting the boy on the back of the head in the same place again, giving him a bump.
"Don't think in the slightest that I will forget what you did tonight..."
Elaine remained to watch that scene from the sidelines: watching them, in a certain sense, was beautiful but also sad, since in their behavior she saw a little of her relationship with her father.
[Dad...] thought the girl dejectedly, looking at her toes.
" Anyway..." - said Ron approaching the girl, thus interrupting her thoughts - "Go wash yourselves... Not only do you stink and are infesting my house with your disgusting smell, but your clothes are a rag.. I assume you're hungry, right? We'll talk when you've completely changed and eaten something..."
-------
Elaine took her time washing herself; after having washed every corner of her body carefully, she decided to spend some time inside the tub, being pampered by the heat coming from the water.
"Now that I think about it, it's been a long time since I relaxed like this..." said the girl, starting to play with the water; After all those days of running away, she didn't think she could finally relax so soon.
But as he enjoyed his well-deserved bath, he remembered his true goal.
"Yeah, it's not over yet, I'm not safe here..." the girl said, getting out of the tub and covering herself with the towel Ron gave her. The girl knew that the longer she spent still, the more the chances increased that someone could take her by surprise and capture her, and although almost an hour had passed since Rudolf had left the village with his tail between his legs, she was aware that her "brother", would arrive in the kingdom of Lorien in about 2 days... she thought that se had no time to waste, and that she had to take advantage of this additional time that had landed in her hands by pure chance.
After drying herself and changing into some clothes that Ron always kept in the basement, the girl finally went down into the living room, showing herself in front of Erwin and Ron, who were anxiously waiting for her; when Erwin saw the clean and decently dressed girl, he realized how much, under that dirty and filthy robe she was wearing, a beautiful girl was actually hidden.
[P-Pretty...] Thought the boy, who was almost enchanted by such beauty.The young elf noticed the boy's looks, and annoyed, she threw an ugly look at the boy, who, intimidated, looked away from the girl, turning his gaze away.
[T-There was no reason to look at me so badly...] Erwin thought, slightly annoyed by the way he had been taunted... without practically saying anything.
"Come on Elaine, sit here and eat...." said Ron in the meantime, who despite having noticed that strange situation, had no interest in the type of games he considered "for children"... On the contrary, he was amazed at the fact that Erwin was completely speechless for the first time.
The moment Elaine's eyes fell on the plate, her belly began to rumble loudly, embarrassing her slightly, with her face turning purple.
"Excuse me..."
The girl placed herself in front of the plate, a simple chicken broth, with what looked like some type of pasta inside; the smell was so inviting that she began to devour the dish at an incredible speed; It had been a long time since she had eaten a dish that could be called such, having become accustomed to eating from some dead animal carcass, or on the worst days, to drinking her own urine and eating grass.That dish then reminded him a little of his mother's cooking, who didn't cook particularly heavy dishes, but which were of a unique delicacy.After eating the dish and drinking some water, the girl was finally ready to talk.
"Thank you for the food... Mr. Ron..." the girl said, bowing her head slightly.
"Of course. Do you feel ready to talk, Elaine?" Ron asked without hesitation, thus shifting his attention to the main topic.
"Yes, I'm ready." - the girl replied decisively – "What do you want to know?"
"Everything from who you are, what happened to you, and why they're following you."
"Everything, huh..."
Elaine let out a short deep sigh: to tell the truth, if it was up to her, she wouldn't have opened her mouth, keeping everything to herself; but she had a vague feeling that Ron and Erwin could be trusted, even tho Ron was ready to "sell" the girl to Rudolf for the sake of the village.
"Well... I am Elaine... Elaine Blueheaven, and I am the 5th child of Arvedui Blueheaven, King of Lorien and the elves."
"So you are... the princess of Lorien?!" Ron exclaimed, surprised by what he had heard: sure, to force soldiers to chase a little girl all the way here, Elaine had to be an important person, but he never would have expected that the the girl in front of him was a "Princess", and that the elves themselves would turn against the "main" family, going so far as to persecute their princess.
[What's going on in that kingdom?! It's not that...Then it means that Arvedui is...!!] thought Ron, who however seemed to have half an idea about what was happening, even though he didn't want to believe it.
[An... Elf?!] Erwin thought instead, who had in fact never left Hakvill, without ever seeing the other races present on Earthland; he had heard of elves, dwarves and orcs, but seeing one in the flesh still affected him, and now he understood why although the two were similar, some parts of them were so different, like the ears.
" Exactly..." - the girl replied to Ron, looking towards the ceiling, assuming a melancholy expression - "Or at least, I was..."
" I thought so..." said Ron, seeing his hunch come true – "You've been the victim of a coup d'etat, right?"
" Yes..." the girl said, confirming what Ron said – "It's exactly as you say..."
"It all happened a month ago, although for some time now, things had become particularly dangerous in Lorien... You see, as you well know, the Kingdom of Lorien is ruled by three families: the Blueheaven, which is the main house that deals with relations with the other kingdoms; the Darksold, who manage military power and related missions, and the Greenold, who manage the kingdom's treasures and economy and have Galadon as their patriarch. they have ruled over Lorien since ancient times, dividing power equally, although the final word always belonged to the Blueheaven forn the decsion making. Things have always worked like this, and even in the great magical war that occurred millennia of years ago, the three families had not betrayed each other. , since basically, we are all related. But things changed radically when, five years ago, Umarth became the patriarch of the Darksold family..."
" Umarth...." Ron whispered, starting to touch his beard;
"Do you happen to know him, Mr. Ron?" said the girl, who heard Ron utter that name under his breath.
" Uh...no, not at all" the middle-aged man denied, however giving the impression to Elaine, and especially to Erwin, that he knew perfectly well who that man was.
"Okay... as I was saying, things were going great, until Umarth took over from his late father, Aegnor Darksold, as Patriarch of their family. But even before then, a lot of strange things happened. .."
"Strange things? What do you mean?" Erwin asked, curious as to what the infamous Umarth had done that was so terrible;
"Well... Aegnor, despite his advanced age, was a man full of vigor and energy, and thanks to his mana, he managed to have the physical appearance of a fifty-year-old, although in reality he was more than 120. But one day, suddenly, Aegnor fell seriously ill, and within a few hours, he died, without even the best healers in the kingdom being able to save him..."
" Are you perhaps implying that..."
"That's right, in all likelihood, Aegnor was murdered by his own Umarth." replied Elaine with disgust, rubbing her arm delicately; for a moment, there was a deafening silence in the room; Ron seemed calm and impassive, although in reality he felt a certain sense of disgust for Umarth, even though he didn't know him personally.
And Erwin? Well, Erwin at that moment felt boundless hatred for Umarth; he, who had lost his own father, would have done anything to get him back, and without a doubt, he would never have been able to make such an extreme gesture, no matter the situation. At that moment, he thought what kind of monster this Umarth could be to carry out such crazy and reckless actions.
"Damn worm..." Erwin hissed softly, clenching his fists tightly;
"Unfortunately, it was not possible to perform an autopsy on Aegnor's body to determine the reason for his death, but I am certain that his death was not of natural causes..."
"And what makes you think that?" Ron asked, intrigued by the way the girl spoke, with words full of conviction.
"You see, the fact is that Umarth should never have been the new Patriarch of the Darksold; this is because there were 25 people, brothers and sisters, ahead of him for the position of Patriarch, both for older age and/or by merit. Sinc ehe was the last of Aegnor's children, he alway had low chances of becoming Patriarch, also due to the bad relationship between him and his father and brothers. But things started to change when, little by little, Aegnor's children began to disappear, leaving Aegnor dubious letters of apology telling them that they were never returning to Lorien."
-In the end, before Aegnor's death, 4 brothers remained, including Umarth, and it is when their father died that his plan really began to come to life: in fact, when the will of Aegnor was read, it was not Umarth who was elected to be head of the family, but Rok, the eldest son of Aegnor. However, Umarth did something unexpected: using the ancient rules of the Darksold, he leveraged an ancient custom of their family: in fact, if the successor of the family was not recognized as such by at least 3 direct descendants of the households, Those who did not support the new patriarch would face the latter in a fight to the death; This tradition had been forgotten over time, not only because of Aegnor's longevity, but also because they were the same members of the family to decide the future Patriarch in secret, wanting to avoid unnecessary deaths... But unfortunately, with the systematic disappearance of the remaining children, among whom there were potential successors to the role of head of the family, Aegnor found himself forced to nominate in his will Rok as Patriarch."
-So Umarth pointed precisely to this tradition, refusing his brother's investiture; but the crazy thing was that between the 4 remaining Darksold, there was a lot of bad blood, and in fact, they really hated each other. For this reason, Umarth's refusal did not other than creating a domino effect, also involving the remaining brothers, who refused Rok's investiture.The four brothers would therefore challenge each other, with the role of Patriarch at stake; at the time, no one believed that Umarth could win, and they had every reason to think so: first of all, Umarth had never been as strong as the 3 brothers and for years, he was considered "the weakest one". Furthermore , although the three brothers hated each other, they hated Umarth much more, and it was obvious that they would attack Umarth first."
- But what happened on the evening of Aegnor's death was something incredible, macabre and frightening... In fact, the three brothers underestimated Umarth too much, who, at the moment who declared war on Rok, who, unlike the brothers who stupidly relaxed, was already prepared for the war; thanks to some henchmen loyal to him, Umarth poisoned the brothers' food, rooms and even their clothes. They didn't die immediately tho: in fact, he made sure that they would show up in pitiful conditions for the battle, so that Umarth could kill them in front of the eyes of the two Household, that is, my father and Galadon. Even before the fight, he admitted to have poisoned them, since it didn't go against the tradition, although it was an absolutely mean act; The brothers still tried to defend themselves, but they were brutally killed by Umarth, who, in front of the astonished eyes of my father and Galadon, dismembered the bodies of his brothers, and then subsequently threw them to the wild beasts of the woods...
- Of course, in a normal situation, my father would have intervened before things could deteriorate further, but the Darksold were tied to their ancient traditions, and there was also a law that prevented families from intervening in other families' affairs. My father and Galadon respected these laws, and as much of a monster as Umarth turned out to be, there was absolutely nothing they could do."
"... This Umarth is brutal!!" Erwin said, shocked and disgusted at the same time by such a story; Erwin at that moment, could not conceive how such an evil being could exist, given that in Hakvill, apart from a few skirmishes, they were all good people; However, the fact of hearing a story as macabre as it was dark made him wonder if, around Earthland, there were people worse than Umarth...
"And after he became Patriarch? What happened?" asked Ron, although, upon hearing the story, he had half an idea of the consequences of such events."
- ...I was just about to continue the story. Everything I told you happened five years ago, and the moment that monster became Patriarch, things began to change dramatically in Lorien... That bastard, having the power military all for himself, he decided without consulting my father or Galadon to increase the raid towards the dangerous and treacherous dungeons; he said he did this because the kingdom needed to be recognized throughout Earthland, but in truth it was there a double aim, that is, to eliminate the weak soldiers and train the strong soldiers. Furthermore, in their terrible training, many soldiers ended up seriously injured, some even died! it was frightening and horrible, and many families found themselves without father or mother, in some cases, without both..."
- Some of those who survived those suicide missions retreated due to the shock they suffered; the others who remained actually became stronger, just as Umarth told them, thus deciding to follow blindly that monster.Furthermore, that madman began to personally train some exceptionally talented boys, throwing them into dungeons with a high death rate, or beating them until he almost killed them, saying that it served to fortify them; in exchange, Umarth brainwashed them by giving them money and food, convincing them that his method was the right one. My father and Galadon remained still with their hands folded, since since he was the one managing the soldiers without any imposed limits, everything he did "was right" in front of the law... they tried to talk to him, to make him try to change his mind, but their words didn't have the desired effect, on the contrary, they did nothing but worsen the relationship between the three household."
- The situation then became critical when the population also began to follow his words; I don't know when it began, but at a certain point, Umarth also became interested in politics, sending out his propaganda to the population... his message was only one: that is, the Elves were the "Supreme" race, that they were in top of the food chain and that, as Elves, it was up to them to expand their territory, taking reference what happened between the three great kingdoms of Earthland;It was a crazy, senseless and dangerous message, and yet, for some strange reason, his message began to spread among the population like a damned plague; and if at the beginning, his words were taken as those of a madman, after a while his words were at the center of numerous debates, creating numerous doubts in the population, and starting to dramatically increase the number of his followers around the Kingdom."
- At first, my father believed that his words were the result of his inexperience and youth, and that he was not serious when he shouted in front of the people that he wanted to expand our kingdom; but he soon realized that Umarth was damn serious about this, and had to use all his knowledge to ensure that "his" army, once dedicated to protecting the country and protecting the weakest, could invade the kingdom of Mykotos or the kingdom of the dwarves; In fact, with some help, he created some new laws, which denied the three main houses the possibility of invading any kingdom... This obviously didn't please Umarth, making the situation even worse, but at least, my father was able to stop an imminent war."
- Because of all this, although my father and Galadon had tried several times to make him reason by holding extraordinary meetings just for him, they both realized that the only way to stop him was---"
" ...kill Umarth. It's the same thing a man with a minimum of intelligence would do...it makes sense..." Ron said with such a cold expression; Elaine, watching that cold glaze, had the impression of being faced with Umarth. scaring her a little bit.
But then, she remembered why she was now there, and did not give it too much thought, although still the disquiet didn't disappear completely.
"Exactly..." - said the girl, trying to remain lucid and not be scared by Ron's gaze - "That's exactly what my father thought. And he wasn't the only one, since the Greenolds were d 'agreement with my father..."
"...There's one thing I don't understand though" said Erwin, looking with a confused look at Elaine, who looked at the boy curious to know what his question was;
"Why did your father and the Patriarch of the Greenold family hesitate to act, acting only when the situation became catastrophic? From what I understand, your family is the most important in Lorien right? So what stopped your father to get rid of that monster?"
"It's a good question...." - said the girl, who did not expect such a sensible question from Erwin. - "...You see, the fact is that in addition to the 3 families, there is a fourth reality of equal importance in the kingdom of Lorien, but they act in the shadows: they are called the Drikus. It is said that when the three great families were born, there was a need to establish a fourth force, which would work to ensure that there was a balance between the three families; for this reason the Drikus were born, whose role was to enforce the laws of the inhabitants of Lorien and the big three families, also enforcing the tradiotns of the three houses by remaining impartial, also judging and condemning transgressors without distinction. Furthermore, to ensure that their word was respected by every member of the 3 houses and their future generations, using the blood of the 3 patriarchs plus the blood patriarch of the Drikus, they created a permanent magical bond that, in addition to protecting the Drikus from any proveninete attack from the 3 great families, gave the Drikus the power to forcibly enforce the laws written by the 4 families, which they were forced to abide by because of the bond, and if ever one of them even attempted to ignore this bond or attack a Drikus, the violator would die instantly or be executed anyway; This magical bond, however, compelled the Drikus to remain in the shadows of the realm and not to meddle in other affairs that did not involve compliance with the laws. ... Now do you understand why my father was unwilling-or rather, unable-to act? Although what Umarth had done was morally disgusting and brutal, it was not against the law, and therefore my father could do nothing about it and could not take any risks either."
[...Crazy!] Ron and Erwin thought in unison as soon as they heard about the Drikus and the crazy magical bond that was imposed on families.
"However, even if because of this stupid bond my father was reluctant to attack Umarth, he saw himself that the "virus" that Umarth had spread among the population was becoming stronger and, more violent, and out of fear that it might reach a point of no return, he decided to force his hand, organizing secret meetings with the Patriarch of the Greenold, meditating on a way to kill Umarth before being blocked by the Drikus or before the bond would kill them."
"But this meant that once Umarth was killed, your father and Galadon would necessarily have to face the judgment of the Drikus..."
"Exactly: in fact, my father and the Patriarch of the Greenold were ready to do anything to "eradicate" Umarth and his dangerous belief that was infecting the elves... they were even ready to sacrifice their lives for the kingdom; For this, besides my father and Galadon, the only ones who knew of the plan besides the two patriarchs, were the wise men of both families and the successors of their respective families to the role of Patriarch.The plan was simple: it was foolhardy to attack Umarth head-on, given that in number and strength the Darksold house was superior to the Blueheaven and Greenold combined; therefore, they decided to create a fake secret meeting away from the kingdom and away from the prying eyes of the Drikus, thus forcing Umarth to come alone, since he was a very suspicious person. It seemed like a stupid plan, but Umarth certainly never expected such move from my father and Galadon, given that they were known to have a soft heart..."
- Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and everything was now ready for the day when Umarth would die, but unfortunately, not only had my father miscalculated the type of person Umarth was, but he hadn't taken into account the fact that there could be a spy among us..."
" Rudolf..." Erwin said with wide eyes, Finally understanding the reason for such similarity between the elf and Elaine.
"Exactly. Rudolf, in addition to being my brother, was supposed to become the patriarch of our family, and my father had the utmost trust in him,; but unfortunately, my father didn't know that Rudolf was rotten to the core... so rotten that he share the same ideals of conquest of Umarth; So rotten that he even betrays his entire family..."
While Elaine spoke about Rudolf, in her eyes Ron and Erwin could see the suffering, fear, hatred and sadness once she said Rudolf's name; For both of them, it was clear that although Elaine spoke words of hatred toward Rudolf, that blood bond between them made it clear that the girl, despite everything, still had feelings for her brother, although the feeling she felt was really minimal;
" ...Rudolf, along with other vile traitors working with Umarth, revealed in full detail the plan set up by my father. So, on that fateful day, Umarth showed up at the meeting anyway."
" Wait! Did he really show up?!" Erwin exclaimed, surprised by what the girl said;
"Exactly... In fact, in those 5 years Umarth had not been idle... Without any of us knowing, that bastard trained hard, becoming so strong that he erased the old and pathetic itself from the past, who had even been forced to poison his brothers in order to survive; and so, that day, it was not Umarth who had a bad surprise, but rather my father and Galadon, who were humiliated. In the meantime, however, Umarth was already 10 steps ahead of all of us, and while he was taking care of my father and Galadon, his men, fully armed to the teeth and thirsty for blood, attacked the two families, setting the castle on fire, killing each member of the two households and their collaborators, but capturing the direct descendents of both families;Umarth took the two patriarchs with him in front of their families, giving the order to Rudolf to kill every member of the Blueheaven and Greenold in front of the shocked eyes of my father and Galadon; Rudolf, like the best of the dogs, He cold-bloodedly decapitated the GreenOld and his own blood, enjoying in all of it..."
- And after my father and Galadon witnessed their deaths, were ultimately executed by Umarth, all under the eyes of the Drikus themselves, who somehow ended up being manipulated by Umarth himself into believing that all members of both houses were involved in this "coup d'etat", and the Drikus were therefore forced to condemn both houses with the maximum penalty,that is death, while giving Umarth the possibility of choosing the way in which the "rebel" houses would be "eliminated" from history...." concluded Elaine, with bitter tears streaming down her face;
" ...It's terrible. I'm sorry for what you had to go through..." said Ron, gently placing his hand on Elaine's shoulder, who didn't stop crying;
"For some strange reason, that bastard Umarth spared me and I managed to escape... but frankly speaking, at that moment I wanted to die with them!" the girl said angrily, forcefully wiping away her tears, as if she wanted to erase that weak side that he was showing to the two of her in front of her.
" ...Now what is your goal?" he asked with teary-eyed and sad-looking Erwin, who could understand a little the pain the girl felt, since he too, had lost someone really important.
" Hide... I don't want to have anything to do with such a monster...." the girl said, looking away from Erwin.
"I understand..." - said Ron, although at that moment he had doubts about the answer given by the girl - "I hope you can succeed in your aim... We will give you all the help we can." the man concluded, smiling slightly at the girl, who smiled for the first time that evening, thus returning the gesture;
"Thank you...thank you..."
END OF CHAPTER 8 – History of a lost house.