Chapter 149 - The Royal Castle

Chapter 149: 149 - The Royal Castle

The vehicle pulled away from the station with the rest of the royal escort closing around it. Adrien sat beside Amelia while Selene and Caelan took the seats opposite, and through the wide windows Sylvarin unfolded at street level.

From the train the capital had looked almost too clean, all white stone, green avenues and water cutting through the districts. Down here the scale changed. Broad streets ran between rows of old trees, mana-powered vehicles slid past without a sound, and the distant castle swelled larger every time the road climbed.

They crossed the first of the two rivers ten minutes out. The royal district rose between both waterways on a natural height at the heart of Sylvarin, white towers standing clear of the surrounding roofs, silver tiles catching the afternoon light.

"It looked big from the train."

Amelia followed his gaze. "It looks bigger from down here."

"Was all of this built at the same time?"

"No. The oldest parts were built to survive a siege. Most of what you’re looking at came later."

The nearer they came, the heavier the guard grew. Soldiers held the bridges leading into the royal district while Rangers watched the roads from raised posts, and Adrien felt several stronger signatures among them, more than one outstripping anything at the station.

At the first checkpoint the escort barely slowed. An officer traded a few words with the guards, a formation flared across the road, and the column passed through. Another barrier waited farther uphill, its mana washing over the vehicle as they crossed beneath.

"Was security always like this?"

"No," Selene said. "The capital has always been protected, but Laurent increased it after Elowen was taken. The castle even more so."

Caelan looked through the opposite window. "Nobody wants to discover another weakness the same way we discovered the first."

Adrien had no argument with that. By the time they reached the castle grounds he had given up counting guards, and the palace had stopped resembling a single building.

Linked wings, towers and courtyards spread across the high ground between the rivers. Water ran through stone channels beside the gardens, feeding fountains before vanishing beneath covered walkways, while soldiers and attendants streamed through the entrances.

The escort halted before a broad courtyard, and servants came for the luggage at once, though Amelia barely glanced around before starting toward the palace.

That struck Adrien more than he expected. Here she needed no directions, attendants or signs, and several guards greeted her by name while she answered without breaking stride. Cordelia stopped near the entrance stairs rather than follow farther.

"This is where I leave you for now. My family knows the train arrived, and I should go see them."

Lucien shifted the bag on his shoulder. "I’m going with her. I have a few things to handle in the city."

Amelia nodded. "We’ll see you later."

Cordelia gave Adrien a polite nod before she and Lucien turned toward another waiting vehicle, and he watched them go before following the others inside.

An attendant guided him through the western side of the palace while Caelan, Selene and Amelia headed toward another wing. His room turned out to be nearer a private apartment, with a sitting area, bedroom, bath and a balcony above one of the rivers.

His luggage arrived almost immediately. Adrien had barely stepped onto the balcony when voices rose in the corridor, and the door opened with Amelia coming in first, followed by Elowen.

Adrien recognised the princess at once, though she looked nothing like the hollow-eyed girl he had carried out of that place. Colour had come back into her cheeks, her hair had been brushed and bound with a pale ribbon, and she crossed the room at a half-run, none of that earlier fragility left in her.

"Amelia!"

Elowen reached her and threw both arms around her waist, rising onto her toes to close them. Amelia returned the embrace before easing back to look at her.

"You look better."

"I am better." Elowen pulled a face. "And yes, I’m eating and sleeping and resting. Everyone asks me. Every day."

Amelia studied her a moment. "Then I won’t."

"Thank you."

Only then did Elowen turn toward Adrien, and her expression turned serious in the sudden, complete way only a child manages. She did not look uncomfortable, though she had plainly been carrying something for a while.

"I wanted to see you before dinner."

Adrien stepped back inside. "Your father already thanked me."

"That was Father thanking you as the king." Elowen held his gaze with her chin lifted. "I’m thanking you because I’m the one you brought home."

Adrien stayed quiet while she went on, giving her room to finish.

"I remember enough of that place to know what would have happened if you hadn’t found us. So thank you. Not for Sylvamir, and not because I’m a princess. For me."

That reached him differently from everything else he had heard since the rescue. Adrien gave her a small nod, careful not to inflate it beyond what she had made it.

"You’re welcome."

Footsteps came down the corridor a short while later, and Laurent entered without ceremony, three elven women with him. Elowen drifted at once to the one nearest her father.

That woman wore her long pale-gold hair loose and carried herself with the unhurried ease of somebody raised inside a court. The other two stayed beside Laurent while he looked straight at Adrien.

"You actually came."

"You offered me access to a royal treasury. I wasn’t going to forget."

A faint smile touched Laurent’s face. "At least you’re honest."

He gestured to the women beside him. "My wives. Maeriel, Elowen’s mother. Lysara. Thessane."

Maeriel inclined her head first. "I’ve wanted to meet you. Thank you for bringing our daughter back to us."

Lysara and Thessane greeted him in turn, courteous without weighing the room down. Adrien answered each, quietly noting that nobody present found three wives worth a second thought.

Laurent waited out the introductions before glancing at the luggage that had only just arrived.

"You’ve been travelling all day. Unpack and rest for a while."

Adrien looked at him. "And after that?"

"Come find me this evening." Laurent’s expression hardened slightly. "There are a few things I want to discuss with you before tomorrow."

He left with his wives and Elowen a moment later, while Amelia stayed behind. Adrien watched the door close, already turning over the shift in Laurent’s voice.

Apparently the royal treasury was not the only reason the King of Sylvamir had been waiting for him.