Invading Will, Chapter 3 Part 2
#9 of Invading Will
Invading Will
Chapter 3
Part 2
By: D. C. Henry ("Ahndeleck")
The city went by in a blur of faces, noise, and color. Raogothcar barely managed to stay beside the prince through the entire parade, with all the distracting cheers. When the parade reached the gates of the tower, the noise suddenly became distant. After crossing the main gates and into the large green courtyard, the world seemed much more silent, despite the continuing cheers from beyond the walls.
The stone street was wide enough for both his mother and father to stand beside each other with their wings spread and still have room on either side. The gates seemed massive when he had walked through them, but the doors ahead of him were even larger. The doors appeared to be made of metal and stone, old elvish glyphs and scenes from lost stories covered the door. The light gray stonework was smooth and expertly put together, nearly seamless even to the small spires from balconies above them.
Raogothcar had never been so close to such an impressive structure. The tower seemed to he been built to look like solid gray mountains stacked one atop the other until it reached into the sky. He knew that the height of the tower wasn't much larger than one of the large foothills near his den, and the mountain he lived on easily beat the tower in size. Despite how big he knew it was, the tower felt gigantic.
As he marveled, the double doors ahead of them slowly swung open. Prince Alan rode through the main gates into the tower, Raogothcar careful to stay by his side. The hall was easily many times larger than his own den, with banners hanging from the rafters making it feel even larger. The floors were of polished stone, while blue carpets with various designs ran from the main entrance gates to a grand staircase. There were numerous other doorways around the walls. In the center of the hall stood very large thick pillar, covered with what tapestries depicting kings and armies, cities and wilds. The gray marbled hall was filled with people around the edges and they all seemed to be waiting for the parade to arrive.
Raogothcar grinned as he looked around him. He had never been inside a human tower, and the idea that they lived inside a building that was larger than any den he had ever been in made the humans seem amazing. He turned to look behind him and saw that the parade wasn't headed towards the inside of the tower, but was turning in different directions about the courtyard outside. Soon the many people all around him began moving outside and a throng of humans started working on removing armor, gathering banners, and corralling the horses.
"Alan!"
Raogothcar turned towards the shout. King Roland came storming down the last of the stairs followed by several people. Raogothcar couldn't think of why he would be angry when everyone else outside was so happy. He decided to sit quickly, and then fidgeted with his leather bag at his neck as he listened.
"Father, the parade was wonderful." The prince said, "It was even better than last year."
"Alan, how many times have I told you not to ride the horses into the hall? What would guests think? Look, you've got hoof prints on the carpets." King Roland turned to one man in the group behind him, "Would you go get someone to clean that up? I don't want soiled carpets when the guests arrive."
The man bowed, "Yes majesty," and quickly went up the stairs.
"I'm sorry father. I wasn't thinking about the horse, besides its not been through mud so it won't soil the floor. Anyway, I was more interested in what Raogothcar though of the whole procession."
"It was amazing," Raogothcar said, looking up from his bag, "I've never seen so many people. There was so much noise and so many things going on. They were throwing things at us and doing things and jumping about. Did you see the-"
"Alan, get off the horse and let someone take it away would you?" The king had walked closer and was pointing at someone behind him. "We can't clean that mess until you let someone take that horse outside. Now get down so we can talk."
"Alright, I'm off." Alan said as she hopped off the saddle.
"I see he's brought the horse inside again." Deanna said as she walked up from behind them.
"Deanna did you see all those people? Did you see how they were jumping and waving-"
"Yes I did dragon. Your majesty, they should have most of the work outside done within two hours."
"Thank you Deanna," the king said, then turned to face Raogothcar, "Now, Raogothcar, welcome to the tower of Freeraven. The whole nation extends its greetings."
Turned and grinned, he couldn't help himself. "Thank you very much! This is so amazing. So many people, and what happens now? Is there another parade? Are all those people going to come in here?"
The prince laughed beside him, then said, "No Raogothcar, next you are the guest of honor tonight. Every year-"
"The guest of honor?"
"Yes, guest of honor." Alan continued, "You've done a great deed to me and Freeraven. We would like to thank you personally at the traditional feast we hold every year in celebration of Freeraven. That is if you would like to stay?"
"I would love to. I've never been to a feast before. Is it like the parade?"
"Thankfully its quiet," Deanna said, "and has less people as well. Your majesty, Prince Alan, if you will excuse me, I need to look after the security for the feast tonight."
"Of course Deanna." The king waved a hand for her to go, then smiled back at Raogothcar. "I've had one of the largest guest rooms readied for you. I'm sure you would like to rest after the parade. Or if you prefer, mage Jegfind and mister Tavmarn and can give you a small tour before you retire for the afternoon?"
"Yes!" Raogothcar said, with more emphasis than he meant to, "I want to see the tower. I've never been inside one, so I'm sure they can show me so many things."
"Wonderful, I hope you enjoy your stay. Now if you'll excuse us, Alan and I need to have a talk."
"The horse did no harm," prince Alan said, "I don't see any harm in a little show."
King Roland turned back towards the stairway with prince Alan right behind him. Most of the small group of people that had followed the king into the large followed at a respectable distance. Then Raogothcar noticed two humans that had stayed as the rest of the people followed the King away. Both of them wore straight blue robes, made from thin material for spring and summer. The other man of the two started forward, a smile on his tanned creased face.
"Raogothcar, its good to meet you. I am Glen Jegfind, the head mage of Freeraven." Glen said, "This is my student, Benjamin Tavmarn."
"Hello," Raogothcar said, "you're both mages? I haven't met very many mages before. Father never let me talk with many of his friends very often. I know I've never met the mage of a whole kingdom though, is it hard?"
Glen laughed, a quiet laugh that Raogothcar liked. The man's smile spread all over his face, each wrinkle growing with his smile. Raogothcar thought that the man must be happy most of the time, which he was glad about.
"No, its not very hard when you're used to it," Glen said, "They ask me to help figure out problems, keep the artifacts in the tower working, and give tours to friends of the royal family, like you. It's a very nice job."
"Do you have the same kind of job Benjamin?"
"No, I teach most of the other mages that are here," Benjamin said, "It's a job I'm never free from since I don't have much help. And then I'm asked to lead people around the tower and answer-"
"Benjamin has a few more tasks he must learn," Glen interrupted, "but it is good to have breaks from them once in a while. Now, Raogothcar, would you like to come this way? I'll show you a few things you might need while you are here."
Glen turned a raised a hand towards the large staircase at the back of the hallway. Raogothcar walked up beside the men and slowed to keep a pace they would be able to follow at. He was careful to always move slowly around the humans. He didn't want to scare them, and their shorter legs couldn't keep up with his larger strides. Whenever they were on horses it would be easy for them to keep up, but Raogothcar decided to go slow when they didn't have a horse.
The king had shouted at the prince for the horse in side the hall. Raogothcar looked back at where Alan had left the horse and couldn't see any problems with the floor. The horse was well behaved too as far as he understood, it hadn't bumped anyone or stepped on anyone's feet. He couldn't see why the kind would be upset, but it would have to be something he would reason out later.