With a rattling clang the gates closed behind Aurelius as the elven prince sat upon his horse, finishing putting on his gloves before slowly pulling the hood of his jacket over the golden hair that shined brilliantly beneath the waning rays of the evening sun.

An ominous shadow casted itself over his gorgeous features as he finished pulling the hood over his eyes, standing in stark contrast to the twin pair of golden locks of hair that gently rolled down the front of his chest as his fingers gripped tightly around the reins of his horse.

With a bored snort, the equine creature shook its head as its master kicked at its side and clicked his tongue.

As the beast and its master set forth to depart from the Vesely estate a guard called out to the elven prince, wishing him a safe journey back towards where it was that he was staying.

Aurelius gave him a disinterested wave of his hand as he turned his head and looked down to his right.

A fierce scowl greeted the elven prince as Argonok stared back up at him. It was the usual expression that one came to expect to see from the dwarf’s hideous face.

“About time,” The vile and twisted dwarf snarled as he looked away from his princely companion, stepping ahead of the gorgeous elven man and his horse before shaking his head in disgust.

An amused smile crept over Aurelius’ lips as he playfully shook his head at the dwarf’s irritated expression. Ever since the two of them had returned from the furthest reaches of the frozen demonic wastelands, the golden haired prince always took great pleasure in witnessing at how little the dwarf had changed. “Did you have a nice wait?”

No reply came from the stubborn dwarf as Argonok refused to answer the smug elf, continuing to walk down the road towards wherever it was that the two of them would be heading to next. Instead, he stared towards the elven prince and gave him an evil eye.

With a heartfelt chuckle, Aurelius clicked his tongue as he signaled for his horse to catch up with the surprisingly quick footed dwarf as the pair of traveling companions moved deeper into the Ranislavian capital’s noble district.

“In case you were wondering. Yes, I did have a nice meal with the in-laws.” Chuckled Aurelius as a beaming smile escaped from his lips.

The two of them walked in silence for a while after that with only the sounds of the city’s livelihood to make up for the stubbornness of the dwarf’s grumbling silence.

“What’s the point of calling them that if they don’t know that you’re a relative of theirs?” Argonok eventually let out with a rumbling voice as he left out the obviousness of his statement to linger in the air between the two of them.

“I guess that’s true in a way.” Aurelius replied as the two of them matched paces with one another, staying next to each of their eternal travelling companion before the mounted elven royalty would inevitably lose sight of the dwarf as the dense sea of people became more compact the further they travelled into the city. “But I never planned on telling them right away anyway. I’ll let the Duke and Duchess decide on how the Vesely family learns of such a fact.”

Cautious of the hooded prince and the manner of which he spoke in, curious pedestrians twisted their necks to gaze upon the mounted figure as both he and his steed made their way through the crowded streets. Bewildered expressions plastered themselves over the faces of the curious onlookers as they huddled closer together, whispering to one another about the strange man as the elven prince rode past their huddled masses.

Uncertain of why such a conspicuous man would be riding through such an affluent part of the city, more heads began to turn themselves towards the mounted royalty, but Aurelius worked to soothe their worries by politely nodding his head and giving those with cautious gazes an infectious smile.

Most of those nearby smiled along with the elven prince before turning their attention elsewhere, no longer concerned about the mystifying actions of a complete stranger.

Others merely turned to look away as they lost complete interest in the shrouded mysteries of the hooded figure and his shadow cloaked features.

“How kind of you, appeasing their worries by being all polite and warm towards them.” Growled Argonok as he eyed the people around them with an evil glare. “What’s with these false niceties? It hasn’t been all that long since you were condemning people like them to fates that would make even the cruelest tyrant look away in disgust.”

Several people stared at the hooded prince as they desperately sought to confirm whether or not the whispers about his supposed otherworldly beauty hidden beneath the shadows of his hood were true or mere fanciful whispers of flustered women.

Aurelius said nothing as he smiled and waved towards a youthful mother and her children as they waved at the passing horse. Two of the children tugged at the sides of their mother’s dress before pointing towards the “gold haired fairy.”

After the two of them had passed by the mother and her children the prince remained silent as he continued to ignore the dwarf’s comment, even going so far as to keep his lips sealed as they walked through one of the city’s many squares.

The once stifling crowd of people lessened and slowly began to dwindle into a handful of small gatherings the further they strode towards the towering fountain that stood proudly over many of the surrounding buildings.

It wasn’t until the two of them were well out of earshot of any prying eyes that Aurelius had deemed it appropriate for him to respond to the Fire Guard’s poisonous tone.

“My goodness, Argonok.” Aurelius lightly laughed, his lyrical voice dancing wondrously in the wind as he brought a gentle hand over his heart. “If the people around us could hear you now, what would they have to say?”

The two of them laughed in unison as they continued further into the city. The sing-song laughter of the elven prince rising into the air as the two of them disappeared into the shadows of a nearby alleyway.

Several days had passed by since Aurelius’ initial visit to the Vesely estate and he had yet to receive word from his brother-in-law as to whether or not the Duke and Duchess would accept his offer in meeting the two of them. Yet despite his impatience towards how slow the human kingdom managed itself with regards to communicating with one another, the elven prince had decided that the days spent waiting would best be used in finding out the reasons as to why the High Elves were now investing themselves into a region of the world that was a backwater of the magical world.

The time that he had spent during these last few days were all for naught, however. The various vendors and street merchants that populated the many locals of the Ranislavian capital were of no help to the elven prince and his quest for the knowledge that he sought.

In hindsight of his current dilemma, Aurelius now knew that he should have looked elsewhere for his attempts to access the needed information, but there were some merchants that did have at least a little bit of knowledge that might prove useful to him.

“Sorry that I can’t help you friend, but I’m afraid that us little folk don’t know much about those elves.” The owner of a food stall offered his apologies in condolence for not being able to provide an answer to such a seemingly simple question. The man could only shrug his shoulders and offer an apologetic expression as he handed over a small bag of fruits to the hooded prince. “There’re whispers that they rarely leave the grounds of that fancy academy of theirs or that “Amberasy” or whatever it is that it’s called.”

A small chuckle escaped Aurelius’ lips as his eyes closed in a sorrowful expression. There were plenty of others that could only offer a shake of their head for whenever the elven prince asked them the same question, but the man in front of him had at least had the audacity to offer something else than a disinterred shrug of his shoulders before turning to his next clientele.

“Sorry.” The man offered up once again after having witnessed the sorrowful expression that now littered the hooded prince’s shadowed features.

“It’s alright.” A depressed Aurelius let out with a sigh as he shook his head in disappointment, partially grateful for the minute amount of information provided by the vendor. To show his gratitude towards the merchant, the prince handed over a few more coins then what he had already spent paying for the fruits. “I’m sure this is just another time and another place for those people.”

Despite having finally learned of the two places that he now needed to look into, Aurelius realized that he would need to find a way to sneak into either the newly built sorcery academy or the elven embassy.

“Truer words have never been spoken, I’d imagine. Especially for such odd folks if the rumors about them are true.” The merchant chuckled as a slight smile curled over his lips. “But if you don’t mind talking to their students, then rumor has it that there’s a tavern called ‘Mystical Tankards.’ It’s near that fancy academy of theirs, so you shouldn’t be able to miss it if you know where you’re going.”

Reaching into his pocket, Aurelius pulled out several more coins and handed them to the informative merchant as a means of saying thanks for the additional information. “”I’ll go and check it out for myself then,” Smiled Aurelius as he watched the man tuck the extra coins into his back pockets. “And who knows, I might be able to learn some magic tricks from those magical nobles.”

The two men shared in each other’s laughter before parting ways with one another. As he was walking away, Aurelius waved his hand in goodbye towards the merchant as he set out for the newly constructed Royal Academy.

The din of rumbling voices hung heavily in the air as Aurelius seated himself next to a pair of stern looking fellows. Their hunched bodies hovered over the bar as they quietly conversed with one another, whispering about one thing or another as they kept a wary eye on the hooded newcomer.

Being as it was that Aurelius was now in the homeland of his First Wife, the elven prince ignored the whispering men as they continued to keep an eye on his hooded face. Through his conversations with some of the humans who now resided in Ruined Home, Aurelius had learned that it was practically unheard of in Ranislava for a complete stranger to sit down next to a group of people who knew one another.

Strangers were hardly ever welcomed to even the most inviting of places, even more so when such strangers wore hoods that casted deep shadows over their faces, leaving only locks of shimmering golden hair to drape over their chest.

“Can I have whatever you’d recommend?” Aurelius asked of the bartender who was also keeping an eye on the hooded stranger.

The man said nothing as he nodded his head and passed a silver accented mug over to the hidden elven prince.

“Thanks,” Aurelius let out as he caught the mug with one hand before slowly bringing it towards his chest, but never lifting it off of the counter. Keeping his gaze fixated on the countertop, Aurelius’ attention soon turned towards the various patrons of the ‘Mystical Tankards’ as his hands gripped tightly around the florescent maple wood of the mug.

For where it was located, the tavern held a fitting name as being the closest tavern to the Ranislavian Royal Academy. This was of course despite the fact that nowhere within the establishment’s premises there was an obvious lack of anything and all things magical.

To someone such as Aurelius, who grew up in a world where all sorts of magical devices and trinkets were everyday common occurrences, it was quite obvious that the tavern’s owner had decided to cash in on recent events and rebrand itself in such a way that would hopefully cater to the recently arrived elves and the apprentice sorcerers that now called the nearby academy their home. Yet all that such hopes had succeeded in achieving was drawing in a crowd of eager merchants and no-name aristocratic individuals who were eager to make connections with those within the Academy.

As Aurelius continued to feel the air around him, seeking out the familiar sensations that came with coming into close proximity with those of the sorcerous arts, he realized that none of the patrons held even the slimmest thread of magical prowess within their bodies.

His coming here to such a place had been a complete waste of his time.

“Quite the predicament that you’ve found yourself in, yeah?” Chuckled Argonok as he walked up to the hooded elf, smiling to himself as he watched the golden maned prince knock back his head and down the entire mug in one go.

There came a grunt of acknowledgement from the prince’s lips as he gently placed the emptied mug onto the countertop, taking in the dwarf’s words for both their face value as well as what the Fire Guard had been goading him into doing all of this time.

“Come on, now. Why don’t we get on out of here and take a step outside.” Came the poisonous tone as Argonok’s words slithered into the depths of the elven prince’s ears. The two of them shared a vile grin together as the hooded elf rapped his fingers impatiently against the countertop. “You’ve had enough of this pathetic excuse of a charade, yeah? Let’s cause some real havoc and get to the bottom of this.”

Aurelius brought a gloved hand to his face, attempting to hide the vile expression that grew over his gorgeous features as he stifled a poisonous fit of laughter that seeped through the cracks of his fingers.

“It certainly would be an interesting series of events, wouldn’t it?” A chuckling Aurelius said to himself as he moved out of his seat and away from the counter.

With cautious expressions upon their faces, a few of those nearby turned to look at the hooded figure whose golden locks of hair bounced over his chest as he stepped closer towards the exit. Many of those within the tavern kept to themselves as they eyed the odd stranger, but there were a few brave souls that whispered about the man that had shown up for only a few moments before departing in such a rush.

As he reached out to grip tightly around the door’s handle, Aurelius paused in his steps as he felt a familiar sensation in the back of his mind. The sensation had been extremely weak and nearly impossible to detect, but Aurelius was quite positive that a sorcerer had just passed by.

Yet it was quite possible that he had been imagining it as well.

“I’ve got better things to do.” Aurelius mumbled to himself as he shook his head clear of the void that had been left behind by the now absent presence.

Sometimes the elven prince wondered if he was becoming a little bit too paranoid for his own liking.

With his thoughts now clear, Aurelius pushed open the door. Only to have it bounce back towards him as a yelp cried out in pain.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” The prince called out as he slowly opened the door at a slower pace, making sure that he was careful in not hitting whoever it was that was on the other side for a second time.

When there was no face to greet the golden haired prince, a confused expression grew over his face but the sniffling cries of a child brought his gaze towards the ground.

Only for him to see a teary eyed girl clutching at her nose with both hands.

And of course that child was none other than an elven child.