We were led to our rooms in short order. They were spacious, had high ceilings and the same colorfully painted, ornamental reliefs running along all the walls. Or at least my room was but I doubted that Kaele's would be all that different. The furniture was sparse but both utilitarian and comfortable. Especially for the bed the latter was true. It was comparable to my bed at the inn in Caer'zha. The servant who had led me here stayed with me long enough to help me out of my armor. She helped me undo my hair as well, although I felt a little guilty about that. The queen herself had woven my new circlet into my coiffure after all. Undoing it now kind of felt like a misdemeanor but I really couldn't go to be wearing the thing. Either I wouldn't get any sleep or I could end up breaking the delicate circlet. Neither option appealed to me.

Piece by piece my things ended up on weapon, armor and cloth stands. I was about to dismiss the servant when something occurred to me. I hadn't eaten anything pretty much all day. And more importantly I had talked a whole not without drinking anything either. My throat was starting to feel a little sore after this ordeal. That magically empowered roar hadn't helped either. I probably should do something about it or might just fall sick. Something like that had happened to me before and I didn't feel like risking it happening again. Especially if I could easily do something about it. “Can you get me a little something to eat or at least something to drink? Something for a sore throat?” The servant bowed, and she bowed pretty deep, which had me blushing, and left.

I didn't throw myself straight at the bed as I waited for the servant's return, although I was tempted. Instead I sat down at the ledge of one of the high windows that interrupted the pretty reliefs on one side of the room. I grinned as I realized that the windows had actually been incorporated into the relief. Figures to either side were chiseled into the stone as if they were taking a peek out these windows, almost like me right now. What greeted my eyes was a little surprise. The windows didn't look out across the city as I had expected. Instead they offered me a view of a courtyard with a bountiful garden within the palace. Directly beyond the windows was a colonnade but beyond that lay lush greenery that probably took a lot of effort to maintain. Honestly, the effort necessary boggled the mind.

There had not been this much green along the roads since before we left the hills and reached Caer'zha. Actually, I wasn't quite sure if the lushest of our forests back home could compare to this garden. There were trees, and not just a few of them. Their crowns interlocked about at roof height, forming a dense canopy in most places. There were ferns and flowers below. Some of these even grew upon the trees, their branches and wide roots. There was a dense carpet of moss as well. There was pretty dense underbrush as well, although it was obviously not growing wild. Quite the opposite was true. The growth of all these plants was carefully directed as far as I could tell and together they and the open pathways, waterways and even ponds formed a grand image that touched the heart. It wasn't just plants either. As I watched I could make out various birds and small animals flitting about.

I was still lost in this symphony of life as the servant returned. The woman softly cleared her throat to catch my attention without actually disrupting me all that much. She carried a little tray with some fruit and a small clay bottle that probably contained wine. Sweet finger food and a drink for a good night's sleep. That probably summed it up pretty well. I was tempted to tell her to just put it down here with me at the windowsill but she apparently had different plans. She bowed as she had my attention and nodded in the direction of the garden beyond the windows as she straightened back up. “I can show you the way to the garden my lady. I know many of our guests prefer to have their evening meals out there. There a few quite lovely spots that have been designed for just this purpose.”

That actually sounded pretty tempting. And although I doubted that I would be staying long it might be sensible anyway to get to know the lay of the land. I rose from my perch. “Lead the way then.” She bowed again, still balancing the tray without fail, and did just that. I followed her out of my room and down the hall past a few more rooms like mine and around a corner. I could hear running water from beyond one of the doors as we passed.

The servant noticed my interest. “This is the bathroom for the guest rooms on this side of the courtyard. There is always someone on duty here. If you need something, please don't hesitate to ask.” I nodded dumbly and she led on. I could already see our target past a wide open, arching doorway. There was a guard stationed here. She was wearing the same armor I had seen all others wear so far but she was considerably smaller and slighter of build. As we passed her I finally realized that she was an elf. She obviously took note of us but didn't pay us much heed after giving us a once over. Was she the only guard on duty? Shouldn't there be at least two? Maybe some patrols? No, not here in the very heart of the kingdom. There were layers upon layers of guards further out and people probably didn't particularly enjoy guards in heavy armor patrolling past their rooms at night when they really wanted to sleep.

The servant led me past the colonnade and onto a path of soft moss that led a little ways into the artificial forest. At first I was afraid that I might get lost but then I realized that there were no branching ways. I would just have to follow this path back and would actually have to try real hard to get lost. And even if I were to somehow manage to do the impossible and got lost I would just have to walk maybe a hundred paces in any direction to get back out onto the colonnade. Finally we reached one of the spots she had mentioned. A little creek was flowing along in between moss covered stones here and at the edge of the little waterway a marble bench had been placed. My guide placed the tray down on one end of the bench and bowed once more. “Are you in need of any further services my lady?”

I shook my head and sat down next to the tray with the fresh fruit and the wine. “No thank you. This will be all for now.”

“As you will.” With these words and after one last bow she disappeared into the greenery. The effect was a little spooky. Stories of dryads came to my mind. Forest spirits that lived in the evergreen rain forests far beyond the borders of our kingdom. Supposedly they lured mortals to their doom with tempting fruit and promises of companionship. I looked down at the tablet with the fruit, a few slices of a sweet melon and some pomegranates. Nah, that was a silly thought. I took a slice of melon and started nibbling at it, some of its sweet juice dripping down my chin as I let my feet dangle in the water of the creek. The water was pleasantly warm. What a nice surprise! I was still busy with that first slice of melon when I heard footsteps approaching.

I threw a look over my shoulder to see who it was. A gorgon. A gorgon I had gotten to know rather well a few days ago. Or at least I had imagined that I had gotten to know her. Our meeting today though suggested that I might have been mistaken on that account. I picked up the tablet, shifted around a little and sat it back down so we both could sit on the bench with the food in between us. I decided to directly address the pink behemoth in the room. “You haven't told me that you were a spy the last time we met.”

She sat down and let her toes dangle into the water as well. She flashed me an innocent little smile. “I wouldn't be a terribly good spy if I let everyone know right away.” She picked up one of the pomegranates and started picking it apart. “Besides, I rather see myself as an information broker than a spy.” We sat together eating in silence for a little while before she continued. “I don't go poking my nose into other people's secrets either. Not myself anyway. I prefer to keep a close eye on the trade within our realm and with our neighbors. It might surprise you what one can learn by closely monitoring the movements of goods, money and rumors.” She paused and put what little remained of the fruit she had been eating back down on the tray. “But that isn't why I'm here. How are you feeling? You seem to be doing well but I have learned in the past, that great warriors often put up a brave front to hide how troubled they might actually be.”

I was done with my slice of melon as well and as I reached for the wine my fingers brushed against hers briefly. “I'm fine. Or at least I think I am fine.” I took a swig from the wine. It was incredibly sweet. I could taste some spices as well. “I have been expecting some of the things that transpired today.” I meant the fight with Agar'zan, the brother who was not really my brother. “Others at least didn't come as a surprise entirely.” I looked at her. “I was granted a glance at some things in a divine dreamscape recently.”

She nodded. “You seemed to take today's revelation rather in stride.” She lifted the wine from my hands with some of her hair tentacles and took a sip herself. “There probably will be more revelations waiting for you on your current path. At least I suspect as much. You are not just a girl from the countryside anymore now. You are now a princess, like it or not. And your entrance at court certainly caused some ripples in that particular pond.” She looked a little troubled. “Some of your sisters and brothers who have been at this game longer might not be too enthusiastic.”

I took the wine back before she could completely empty it. “I don't care all that much. Not right now anyway. There are other things that I need to take care of first!”

She laughed out load at my exclamation. “Oh, my dear, I'm looking forward to hearing of your future exploits.”