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- 02/20/2020
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Into the fields of Summer - 63. A New Place 1
Yal and I walked through the empty corridor, it was eerily quiet all
I could hear were our footsteps echoing throughout the empty hall.
“Yal?”
“Yes?”
“Why is it so quiet here?” I asked.
“Oh. We’re in a secure area, we’re in a level 7 security zone. Tech and Knowledge acquisition is highly regulated by the realm” Yal replied.
“Oh... I see”
“Don’t worry, there’s more people once we clear this area. Remember, let me do the talking okay? We can’t let the public know you’re already in here, if anyone asks what you’re doing here, tell them you’re a Ratashi”
“A what?” I asked.
“Ratashi... someone who is at least a Silver Level Scholar, that would explain why you’re with me and why you’re in here” Yal said then he winked at me.
“Ah... okay” I replied.
As we neared the end of the corridor, we faced an opaque glass door, on the right side of door, there was a square glass panel on the wall, barely large enough for a hand, which I discovered was actually for a hand.
“Chris, put your right hand on the panel” Yal said to me.
I followed Yal’s instruction and the panel lit green then the door slid open.
As we left the corridor, the space opened up to an atrium, the place had a modern feel to it, white marble floors, glass railings, impressive floor to ceiling height, approximately 16 feet (5 meters) per floor, I discover that we were on the third floor of the building, looking up to the atrium, I see a glass dome serving as the roof of the atrium, allowing a lot of natural light into the building, the dome must have spanned at least 100 feet across. There were several elves walking about, all were wearing either blue or green pastel vests with darker colored jackets that matched the color of their vests. The men wore pants while the women skirts. A lot were either on their phones talking to someone or bringing folders. One thing I did notice though was that most were barely audible when they were talking as if they were whispering, and none were in a hurry, everyone seemed to be calm and taking their time, no one was rushing or seemed to be catching a deadline. Something curious I thought.
As we walked in the area, there were several nods directed towards Yal, which he all recognized with a slight nod as well, however none dared to approach us and none seemed to make a big deal of me being there, okay, so far so good, cover has not yet been blown
I thought.
We approached the elevator thay we were going to take to get to the basement level where Yal’s car was parked. We were waiting for the elevator when Yal whispered to me as we saw a woman approach the elevator.
“Not a single word” Yal said.
“Huh?” I asked but wasn’t able to continue as Yal and the lady that was approaching started to lock eyes on each other.
The lady was wearing a white dress that hugged her petite body, the dress had blue trimmings on the edges and had blue designs of flowers and vines and leaves throughout her white dress, the designs were intricate and only highlighted her figure. The lady looked to be somewhat in her late twenties or early thirties. She had a very corporate look to her, her blonde hair was cleanly tied in a bun, she had thin black rimmed glasses, and approximately stood at 5 foot 5 inches that’s including the 3 inch stilettos she was wearing.
“Hi Master Yalekin, it’s so good to see you” the women said to Yal with a smile which I honestly believe was more of a formality rather than a genuine smile, something about her told me that she was up to something.
“Hi, Retasa, what brings you to our office?” Yal replied to her, his voice taking a more official tone.
“I had a meeting with Deputy Minister Dedaros, you’re office has continuously rejected our requests for access to Setalus Incident”
Yal then looked around and whispered to Retasa, “Let’s not talk about this here” Yal was being careful that no one could overhear us, which I’m sure no one did, as the nearest person was about 30 feet away.
Retasa’s forced smile never left her face “I understand Master Yalekin, however this is not the end of it, we will get the information we want”
Then the elevator ringer telling us our elevator has arrived, we three entered the elevator and Retasa then put her attention on me.
With a smile and inspecting eyes she said “And who might you be? So do you work for Master Yalekin here?”
I was about to open my mouth and Yal cut in, “He’s a Ratashi” Yal said calmly yet forcefully as well, as if trying to say this conversation will never happen.
“Ah, a Ratashi? How magnificent, Well... thank you for your service young man” she smiled at me and I’m very sure she took her time scanning me from head to toe.
Then the elevator pinged to tell us we were on the ground level.
“Ah, this is my stop, I’ll be seeing you Master Yalekin” then she looked my way and said
“I think I’ll be seeing more of you as well” she said, and as she turned around I swear I could see her smile widen a bit and her eyes twinkle as if she found something.
The elevator doors closed and Yal breathed a sigh of relief.
“Who is she?” I asked.
“She’s the lead anchor of Channel 5” Yal said as he grunted.
“And what’s her deal?” I asked again.
“She’s into breaking new stories in her program, she’s a good journalist, too good actually, she keeps on finding ways about getting information from either businesses, local governments and even major government operations” Yal said with frustration.
“Ohh” I replied, didn’t really know what to make of it.
“And I’m sure she’s onto you” Yal said.
“Huh?, what did I do?”
“Nothing... but I swear Retasa has very good instincts, any slip up on our part would mean you on the headlines within the hour”
The elevator door dinged and we exited to the basement parking level which contained several black, gray, or white sedans, all seemed to be very sleek and had a sports sedan vibe to it.
We approached a black car that looked like a BMW G30, just without the logo.
Yal unlocked the doors and he went for the driver’s seat while I took the seat beside him, the interior of the car was modern and had the best kind of leather used on the seats and other sidings. The windows were fully transparent and not tinted in any way.
“Nice car” I said to him.
“Thanks, it’s brand new” Yal chuckled.
Yal pressed a button and the car queitly hummed to life, the engine was very quiet. Yal then took control of the car and we were off the basement ramp and found ourselves on the streets of the Capital. From the outside, Yal’s office stood tall, it was a large building, with 5 floors and a glass dome on top, the facade was painted white, it had a very classical vibe to it, columns reminiscent of Greek and Roman temples rose from the ground to the roof. I then notice that all the other buildings along the road also stood five stories high, however the other buildings were more gothic looking rather than Yal’s office that had a different architectural style.
The sidewalks were wide, probably 15-18 feet on each side, the road had 4 lanes, 2 on each direction, the street was lined with trees about 8-12 feet tall on each side, one thing I noticed though was that the leaves were different in color, some had lavender, others pink, while some orange, while there were the occasional normal green ones from back home. Where there were no trees, there were hedges 3 feet high that separated the sidewalk from the road. There were also equally spaced out street lamps that stood approximately 12 feet high, what was curious about the street lamps was that they were designed to seem as staffs of the 15 feet tall statues that held them. The statues were of various men and women, all elves that were dressed in regal robes of some sort, engravings and etchings on the statues were lifelike and highly detailed.
“Who are these people?” I asked Yal, pointing to the statues that held the street lamps.
“They are either High Mages from olden times or military officers, some were high priests and priestesses as well”
“Oh... that’s interesting”
“Hmm... more than interesting, if you look below, on the pedestals where the statues stand, there’s a brief description of the person, their life story and their contributions to the realm”
There were few cars in the road, all other cars had a similar design to that of Yal’s the colors were mainly the same as well, all were either Black, White, or Gray.
There were a lot of people on the sidewalks, not crowded but certainly a lot of foot traffic. The people were all mostly wearing White, Gray, Yellow shirts, or dresses. Some had paired their clothes with jackets of a darker color to their pastel hued clothing.
Driving through the city, it seemed like I was in an old town in europe with a modern twist to it.
Then I noticed that most people were Northern European looking, mostly blonde and had fairer skin, compared to Yal’s Mediterranean features.
“Uhm... Yal?”
“Yes... what is it? Enjoying the Capital? It’s the finest city there is in the realm” he smiled at me.
“Yes... it’s beautiful... but”
“But what?”
“Why is it that most people here look like Germans or Scandinavians?” I then paused for Yal to take the hint and explain why.
“Ohh...” his eyes filled with amusement as he said that. “Are you asking why me and Hashana look different?”
“Uhm... yes, is it offensive here or anything? Am I missing something?” I asked.
“Not offensive at all, goodness, sorry, we must have forgotten to explain to you that there are four elven tribes”
“Four tribes?” My eyes showed surprise as I said that, why is it nobody has told me of this. Of course it should have occurred to me that Elves weren’t homogenous just like humans.
“Yes, there’s the Elurdeya...” Yal said as he waved his hand around pointing out the people in the crowd.
Then he continued “The Elurdeya are from Northern Europe, then there’s the Sokodeya” Yal said as he pointed to himself “We’re from Southern Europe” then he continued. “Heradeya, from the Near East, hmm, think of Turkey and Eastern Mediterranean, then there’s the Hegodeya, from North Africa”
”Oh I see” I replied. Then I asked another question, “So... just mainly the Elurdeya in the Capital?”
“Hmm... yeah mostly, the Elurdeya are based in the Capital and Northern Province, the Sokodeya in the South, the Heradeya in the East, and Hegodeya in the West.”
“So I’m Elurdeya?”
“Hmm... yes, House of Haldruin is Elurdeya.”
“Ahh... Hmm.. okay” Was my only reply, I had to find out more about this thing. Then I thought back to something that Retasa mentioned earlier.
“Yal?”
“Yes...”
“Retasa, uhm, she mentioned something earlier, uhm, what’s the Setalus Incident?”
For a second or two Yal seemed to lose his composed and clam demeanor while still being able to look at the road ahead, it was as if for a second or two he froze on his spot, as he recovered he said to me but not even looking at me during that time, “Why don’t we talk about that on another time?”
“Ah, I see, sure no worries, just askin’”
As we moved along the road, the crowd started to change, now more people were wearing Red, Blue, Green clothes some had their base colors matched with White or Gold trimmings, and now their clothes had flower and plant designs as well, similar to that of Retasa’s. Hmm, curious. The buildings now also stood taller, from five stories in Yal’s office area earlier, now the buildings were 7 stories tall, the lamp posts and their partner statues also gained a foot or two in height as well.
We then turned a corner and then straight ahead I see a very grand palace at the end of the road. The building stood far from the road as it was behind a large garden from the main road. The palace reminded me of the Palace of Versailles but I’m very sure this one is better! The palace complex surely at least twice if not thrice the size of the Palace of Versailles.
With barely any traffic, we reached a gate on the right side of the palace complex. Two palace guards in blue uniforms approached the car, Yal lowered the windows on both our sides. The guards then brought glass tablets to each of us and Yal and I reached over and put our hands over the tablets, both lit green and we were cleared to enter.
The drive to the main building was quite long as the front lawn/garden whatever you want to call it was larger than how it looked from afar, the drive from the gate to the building took several minutes at least, but Yal did slow down a bit for me to enjoy the beautiful garden, its hedges, and landscaping in general is amazing. Yal lowered the window a bit and the floral scent washed over the interior of the car, it was intense, not nauseating, instead, the aroma lulled me into a state of calm and quiet confidence.
We approached an entry way on the side of the right wing of the building.
“This is the Roshena Wing, it’s the right wing of the Front Building, the main residential palace building is behind” Yal explained.
“Ah... I see, lead the way”
At the side entrance we were greeted by an elf, who immediately took over Yal’s car and whisked it away.
We entered the building, the corridor was big but not as big as the ones I’ve passed through when I first arrived in the palace.
We walked passed several elves in the corridor, some nodded towards Yal some just went about with their usual business. Most were either palace servants or some administration or government officer that had some business to do in the palace.
“The Front Building, also known as the Celestial Palace, is where the administrative and governing aspects are done from, the Royal residential area or building , the Antalus Palace, is behind, then the three smaller buildings of Taha Hall - the Royal Chapel, Haska Hall - the ceremonial and entertainment hall, and the Kesga Hall - the servant’s and staff quarters are further behind, with the Royal Garden in the middle.” Yal explained, then further back, is the Elven Garden”
“The one in front wasn’t the Royal Garden?”
“No, that was just the front lawn” Yal smiled mischievously at me. “The Elven Garden is even bigger than the Royal Garden” he winked.
“Uhm, ... okay, wow, how big is this place?” I asked, still surprised with the scale of things in here.
“Hmm, let me recall” Yal said as he rubbed his forehead as he seriously tried to remember the details, as the Master Scholar, he should remember quickly, “Hmm, the Celestial Palace is roughly 200,000 square meters (2,152,800 square feet) in floor area, all across its 5 levels, the Antalus Palace, 40,000 square meters across its 3 above ground levels and 2 underground levels, Kesga Hall is 30,000 square meters, Taha Hall which can hold 5,000 chapel visitors is 40,000 square meters, while Haska, which can accommodate 3,000 guests is 30,000 square meters” Yal then paused a bit as if to think of more details then continued “The front garden is 25 hectares (62 acres), the Royal Garden is 75 hectares, and the Elven Garden is 130 hectares” Yal said.
“Wow, too much information Yal,
I can’t remember all of that”
Yal chuckled a bit and said “well... you did ask for it, don’t worry though, you won’t need to remember, you’ll see all the areas for yourself, as a member of the Royal Household, you’re entitled to access all areas, thus your Level 10 clearance, I myself, even have only a Level 9”
“Ohh... I see, speaking of the Royal Household, is Patri here?” I asked.
“Yes, he is, that’s why we drove over, let’s give him a surprise shall we?” Yal suggested.
“Uhm. I don’t know about that, isn’t he suppose to be working or something?” I asked.
“Your highness...” Yal said in an almost exasperated tone.
I cut him off saying “It’s just Chris”
“Right..., anyway, I’ve already told the King that you’re here and he wants to see you”
“Huh? When did you talk to him?”
I asked.
“While you were busy addressing the elves in the Ministry of External Scholarship, I sent him a message”
“Ohh... okay”
Yal and I continued to walk along several corridors, there were many statues standing between 6-9 feet most inside niches, in the walls, the statues were made of white marble, some had gold or silver in their clothes or accessories, some had crowns of gold or belts of silver or swords of silver or some parts of their clothing in the said metals as well. The statues were incredibly life like and their gazes calling for attention, each statue a work of art and would each deserving of much appreciation.
The ceilings were on vaulted arches, with murals of nature or elven people in various activities. The colors of the murals burst into the surroundings, once you set your gaze on them, it’s certainly hard to take your attention away.
As we walked, I asked Yal, “So...
I noticed people call you Master around here, so that’s your title right? As a Master Scholar?”
“Hmm, kind of...” Yal mused.
“What do you mean?”
“Master Scholar is the title of the Minister of External Scholarship” Yal smiled back at me.
I took me a second or two to let that sink in. “Uhm, wait... uhm, what? Wait ... wait... you’re a Minister? Like Cabinet Minister?!” My voice raised a bit.
“Chris. Calm down, what’s the matter?” Yal calmly asked me.
“All this time I had a minister with me? Gosh, I must have taken so much time from you, darn”
“Chris... don’t worry, I have Deputy Ministers to take over for me, and in case you’ve forgotten, you’re a prince, being with a Minister shouldn’t be a surprise to you, finding you, was one of our top priorities, so, sending the Minister to personally look for you was a good decision for the King to make, and more time in your world for me gave me more insight about the daily human life as well”
“Hmm... I don’t like you guys hiding stuff from me”
“Well... we really haven’t the fact just never came up” he smiled at me.
“Hmm... you and your word gymnastics” I grinned back at Yal.
We then exited one of the corridors which opened up towards a small garden, after a 2 minute walk, we reached the residential palace which was actually very big, it had baroque architecture with white marble as a facade, and a dark red roof it looked like a slightly larger version of the Vaux-Le-Vicomte in Maincy, France.
“Welcome to the residence” Yal said to me as we walked up the steps to the main entrance. The entrance was guarded by 4 guards, 2 on each side.
The guards noticed us and recognize Yal but not me. However being with Yal made it seem I had the clearance to enter the residences, which obviously unbeknownst to them I did!
We were both allowed to enter with no issues.
We entered a large room, high ceilings as expected, there was a large staircase that led to the upper levels. Above the staircase was a large chandelier.
After climbing up the stairs, we entered a hallway, there were several servants we passed through a long the way, all just busied themselves with their tasks.
We approached a large wooden door with gold decorations of flowers and plants. Yal knocked a bit and after three seconds Yal just opened the door himself.
Yal looked at me, and said “you’re grandfather allows me to open it by myself but I knock out of courtesy”
We entered the room, it looked like a large living room, cozy couches around, a fire place on one end.
Sitting on one of the couches were two people, one was Patri, and the other one was a woman who looked to be in her late forties, light brown hair, beautiful face, wavy hair that just flowed slightly below her shoulders. Both were wearing Red & Gold robes, which I later find out was the color of royalty in the realm.
The woman stood, followed by Patri, my grandfather greeted me with a smile, he came over to me and gave me a hug, while the woman who was probably 5’4 stood still in her place, with tears flowing through her eyes, her hands on her mouth as if trying to stifle a groan or a cry.
Patri says to me as he pulls back from the hug “Chris... it’s my pleasure to introduce you to your grandmother, your Matra, Queen Kalsa” Patri gestured towards the nearly sobbing lady. I approached her, she stood frozen, there was a tug from me towards her, I initiated the contact and gave her a tight hug as she burred her head on my shoulders “Matra...” I whispered into her ears as I hugged her. She began crying even harder and in between sobs she says “Grandson... finally,
I get to see you again, it’s been too long, I thank the powers above for bringing you to us”
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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