Chapter 6
A few minutes later, a servant showed up at Faug and Valin’s door to show them to the dining hall. It was a massive room that was bathed in a soft, golden light that was supplied by hundreds of candles that somehow hovered from the ceiling unsupported. The table went the length of the entire room, even though there were only a few places set at the far end. Faug wondered why they didn’t just use a different room, or even a different table. It seemed kind of a waste of space to use the massive table when there were only a few people there. Telsiel was sitting at the far end of the room, at the head of the table. He glanced up when the two boys entered, smiled slightly, and beckoned them forward. The brothers approached apprehensively. Even though they technically knew everyone except for the dark-haired girl by Hyan who was most assuredly NOT Shyasha, and the small girl near Dalar who was most definitely NOT Shyasha, it was still kind of intimidating. Every one of the eight or so people present seemed both older than them-except for the girl near Dalar-and had some sort of magic about them.
Vain lanced around the table, seeing how many people he could name. That was Telsiel at the end, and on Telsiel’s right was Dalar. Next to Dalar was a small girl with very dark skin who looked no older than eight. Next to this girl was Hyan, and on Hyan’s right was a slender young woman who could pass for his sister. This was probably Tiba, Valin thought. Next to the maybe-Tiba was a male dwarf. Across from Tiba and Hyan were three more people who looked like elves-one female, two males. By the female elf and the dwarf there were two empty places that had plates but no people in the chairs. Telsiel motioned for Valin and Faug to sit there. As he sat down, Faug noticed there was also a spare seat on Telsiel’s left. He also noticed, with a pang in his stomach, that Shyasha wasn’t there. This made him kind of uncomfortable and very nervous. At least he knew Shyasha. Now all he had to talk to was Valin. And suddenly he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to talk to Valin. In fact, Faug wasn’t quite sure whether he was physically capable of opening his mouth anymore.
Finally, Telsiel spoke. “Quick introduction, just so everyone knows everyone. Just go around the table and say your name. I’m Telsiel.”
“Dalar.”
“Liea.” The small girl’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Hyan.”
“Tiba.”
“Shangru.” The dwarf had a very gruff, deep voice.
“Valin.”
“Faug.”
“Tayana.” The female elf next to Faug sounded like she could be a singer. “Shya’s mother.”
“Akalu,” said the male elf by Shyasha’s mother. “Shya’s dad.”
“Iluri. I’m just here.”
“Where is Shya, Telsiel?” Tayana asked in her calm, slow voice.
“She’s coming,” Telsiel said. He glanced up again, noticing movement at the top of the staircase to the dining hall. There Shya was. She was the closest thing to beautiful that he could remember.
Faug and Valin hadn’t thought Shyasha was the kind of girl who would willingly put on a dress and let people catch her in it while she was still breathing. They had thought that she was the kind of girl who would roam the forest in male clothing, never showing her face to anyone and remaining a mystery for the rest of her life. She was a tomboy and was always willing to fight, both humans knew that. She would never be fully contained by anything. However, the intricate braiding of her hair and the pastel dress she was wearing were coming frightfully close to be the thing that contained her. However, they noticed she was still barefoot. Nonetheless, Shyasha was NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, going to wear formal shoes, too. AT ALL.
"Why is she wearing a dress?" Faug muttered.
"Because this is how life is when you're royal," Valin muttered back.
"She looks tired," Tayana murmured to her husband.
"She hasn't slept for four days," Akalu replied. "She told me-she was the night watch on the road."
"Couldn't that older human do it?" Tayana asked, glancing at Valin. "He looks strong enough."
"Shya was the one that was supposed to be protecting them, they weren't supposed to be protecting her."
"She's the princess. She's the one that's supposed to be protected."
"She never cared about that."
"She never cared about anything."
"She cared about staying alive. And she’s named ‘the shadow warrior’ for a reason. She wasn’t going to be like our other daughters, sitting in a tower or going to balls or whatever in order to get married.”
“Only because you wouldn’t let her.”
“And because I wanted one daughter who could think for herself.”
“Maybe she thinks for herself a little too much.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“But after what happened-”
“There’s a difference between mistrust of people because you’ve been hurt and independence because you don’t want to be treated like an idiot.”
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