Orc Dominion: Elfin Descent Ch. 01

Lyriena inclined her head slightly and stepped through the gate. Rose petals had been strew up the walkway to the house creating a path for her, which brought a smile to her lips. She proceeded regally towards the manor, and as she approached the twin doors were opened from the inside. She stepped into a luxurious foyer, which opened into an even larger receiving room. Datoran had every one of his servants lined up diagonally from the corners, while he stood at the center where they joined.

"Your Highness, it is enchanting to see you as ever." Datoran smiled politely and bowed, then gently grasped her hand to place a brief kiss across it.

"Your Grace, thank you for receiving me on such short notice. Really, you did not need to go through such trouble for me." Lyriena tried to give the nervous looking servants a reassuring smile, but it faltered and fell off her lips as she noticed the mutinous glares in some of their faces.

"It is nothing, Your Highness. Certainly it is nothing less than a royal princess deserves. It is the only proper reception! Come, I've had refreshments laid out in the study." Datoran turned and took Lyriena's arm and led her to a library, with Elenorei following close behind as chaperone. "Now then, what brings you to see me so suddenly?"

"I must go away, Datoran. I will be leaving on a diplomatic mission to Zentara."

Datoran frowned at that pronouncement. "Are you sure that's proper, Princess? I don't think you should be traveling away from the Isles, especially not to a place such as Zentara. It isn't safe for proper young ladies."

"I shall be well guarded; and I will be Queen one day. The world is getting smaller, Datoran. We will continue to have more contact with the humans...and the orcs who rule them."

"One's hardly better than the other, if you ask me. And I don't see why you should have to deal with them, Princess. It's been two hundred and ninety-one years since we made contact with the humans, and our royalty has never visited their lands. There's no reason for it to start now, especially not with our Princess." The Duke led Lyriena to a large mahogany table in the middle of the library which was exquisitely laid out with innumerable treats and beverages. Although he pulled out a chair for her to sit, the Princess remained standing.

"Our Ambassador has already tried to reason with them. They won't listen to anyone except royalty. My father cannot leave, which means that it falls to me. When the humans first came here, they used our rivalries and divisions to tear us apart. When the elf lords finally elected my family to lead them, we accepted a sacred trust to represent our people and put their interests ahead of our own. I must do this Datoran."

"I know the weight of responsibility, Your Highness, I've carried it since I was a young man. With all kindness and respect, it is too much for such slender shoulders. Our union will pull our people out of this hole, and then I will be able to carry the load for you."

"I'm afraid there is no time for that. The number of elfs was dwindling already, and now they are leaving the Isles in droves. I have to act now. But I didn't want to leave without seeing you, without saying goodbye." Lyriena smiled tremulously at her fiancé. She was still flushed from spying on the couple earlier, and now she couldn't help but wonder again whether he could make her feel as the other elf woman did.

"If your mind is made up, then I suppose that is that, Your Highness. That being the case, I have a farewell present for you. It was to be an engagement gift, but I suppose there is no reason it cannot be both, eh?" Datoran walked across the room to his desk and unlocked a drawer, and then pulled out a small box. He brought it back to Lyriena and held it out to her. "Something to match your engagement ring, to help reinforce the wealth and majesty of Deznessuian."

Lyriena opened the box, and then gasped when she saw what was inside. "This isn't-you couldn't have found-"

"The Moon of Deznessuian, yes. Finally back in elfish hands where it belongs."

"But where did you get it? It must have cost a fortune!" Lyriena lifted the diamond out from the case and let it dangle from its chain. The gem was the size of a chicken egg, and set in gold shaped and enameled as the sun as if the stone were passing before it in an eclipse.

"It did, but it was worth every Mark. The gem was sitting in the vaults of the old Duke of Braden, the one who was a relative of the King of Heste. When his castle fell, his steward stole the gem, and used it to fund his retirement. It went to a human merchant, who made a large investment right before the embargo and needed gold. He sold it to me for an exorbitant sum. But it's only fitting that the Moon of Deznessuian rests with her Sun." Datoran took the necklace from her and opened the clasp so he could set it around her neck. The diamond rested heavily on her chest, but she could tell that it sparkled amazingly.

"Thank you! It's amazing! You're amazing!" She beamed at him, and then after a moment she started to grin wryly. "But it's a strange sort of engagement gift, isn't it? It's supposed to be cursed; you're not getting cold feet about the wedding, are you?"

The Moon of Deznessuian had a long and storied history in the Isles. The miner who discovered it had tried to keep it for himself, but was discovered and executed. The lord who owned the mine went mad trying to find more diamonds like it, and was eventually killed in a cave-in while digging deeper and deeper. Since then, it had passed from hand to hand, family to family, leaving death and depredation in its wake. Seventy-nine years ago, the last elfish owner tried to overthrow her family and launch an attack on Zentara in conjunction with Heste, but his coup was put down and the diamond disappeared with his son.

"Surely you don't believe that superstitious nonsense, Your Highness? It makes an amusing story for the commons to pass around, but there is no more curse in that stone than there is in our blood." The Duke's pronouncement struck a tense chord, since rumors had started that the elfs' low fertility was due to a curse on elf blood. Really, it was supposed to be a curse on elf seed, but the Princess wasn't expected to know what that was.

"I suppose not. Thank you Datoran, it is a lovely gift. Just...amazing! I cannot say it enough." Lyriena leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek and rest her hands on his chest. "I shall have to come up with some way to thank you. Do you have any ideas?" She held her breath, imagining again what the commoners were doing in the alley.

"Your smile is all the thanks I need, Your Highness."

Lyriena swallowed her disappointment, but then, she expected that she might need to be a little more direct. She glanced over at Elenorei, who was watching them idly, but giving them enough distance for privacy, and then led Datoran down one of the library rows. "I've heard stories about the human lands. They say that it is a wicked place that feasts upon young maidens, corrupting and defiling them."

"It's true, Your Highness, which is why I don't think you should-"

"Meet me tonight, Datoran. I'd rather gift my virtue to you than risk it in that vile place. You're my fiancé, it would not be so improper-"

"Princess! Absolutely not! I would never disrespect your father so, nor you. We must wait until our wedding night; that is the proper way of it!" Datoran looked at her in shock, as if seeing her for the first time. How could the Princess suggest such a lewd and improper thing?

She leaned in to kiss him, but Datoran stepped back, causing her to sigh. "Very well Datoran, you're right of course. How fortunate I am to have you to guide me. A less reputable man would have taken advantage of my foolishness" she replied sardonically, a fact which was lost on him. "Thank you for the gift. I shall treasure it, and wait for the day I can see you again. Goodnight, Your Grace and farewell." Perhaps it's better this way, she thought, I shudder to think of what improprieties I might be tempted into in Zentara if I left here awakened to pleasure.