Tale of Two Kings

Word Count: 781

     Fiona wandered around the castle. She was the one thing keeping the king and his brother connected, even if it wasn't much. As she stopped by the stables Talyn, the king of the main kingdom, approached her. "Do you have a few minutes?" He asked. "What do you need?" Fiona responded, she never really had things to do during the day.

        "I know that you often travel to my brother's kingdom deep in the forest," he explained, "I want to meet with him and hear his side of things. Fiona didn't say anything before motioning towards the stable caretaker. He quickly got the two magic horses ready to head out. In order to travel through the magic barrier that separated the two kingdoms Fiona was gifted with two magical horses.

      Once the horses were ready Fiona stepped inside the small carriage and closed the door. She was a bit nervous as she never got a chance to learn the full story of the supposed wicked king. All she could figure out was the fact that they were twins and were separated from each other just after they turned 14. The other thing was the barrier that had showed up after Talyn and his brother were separated.

      Eventually she reached the crimson barrier at the edge of the forest. The carriage drive asked "why do you think Talyn wants to know his brother now? If I correctly he also created this barrier." Fiona didn't say anything and just stared out of the window. Her eyes narrowed at the new information. Most of her information were the rumors traveling around the main kingdom. After a few moments the carriage ed through the barrier.

      Fiona watched the tall, bare trees stretch into the sky. She was always drawn to them for a reason she couldn't explain. Her gaze was drawn towards the castle at the top of the hill. It was mostly black with dark purple highlights. Despite it's appearance Fiona was never afraid like the other residents.

      The carriage came to a stop just outside the doors to the castle. Fiona stepped outside the carriage and bowed to the two black wolves near the entrance. They lazily stood up and trotted behind her as she headed to the throne room. Omre, the second king, was already walking towards Fiona before she could get far. His appearance was something that always caught her attention. He hard long raven black hair tied into a ponytail behind his pointed ears. Fiona had been able to figure out that he was a dark elf unlike his brother.

     The most important thing she learned from Talyn was the hostility towards dark elves in particular. Now she didn't want the meeting to happen to protect Omre. Even though he looked evil that was far from the truth. Omre was kind and just, but was banished after his elf capabilities showed when he was young. "Fiona to what do I owe the pleasure?" Omre asked in an attempt to break the silence. "Talyn sent me to propose a meeting with you." Fiona explained. Omre's calm demeanor was replaced by fear.

     "That's not going to happen. I don't want a relationship with him after he trapped me here." Omre said before motioning for Fiona to follow him. They walked until the double doors to the library came into view at the end of the hallway. The library was the place Fiona wanted to explore since she first entered Omre's territory. "I just need to show you something and then you can explore the library." Omre explained. He briskly walked to a staircase heading down in the back of the library.

    He flipped a switch causing the lights in the stairway to turn on. Fiona carefully followed Omre down the stairs. Eventually they reached the area where the barrier should have been. Instead the space was open. "I finally found a way to leave the forest without Talyn finding me. I'm preparing to head to the kingdom in the mountains, a several days journey from here. They don't treat dark elves differently from everyone else." Omre said a smile forming on his face. Fiona quick realized that she couldn't exactly go back to Talyn since he would question what happened with the meeting.

       The yellow eyed wolf grabbed Fiona's pants and gently tugged towards the end of the long hallway. "Do you think we could travel together?" Fiona asked. "Of course, I was just about to ask you that. We'll leave in a few days." Omre explained. As Omre spoke Fiona felt the tension disappear. It was her chance to hear the full story from Omre and start a new life.

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