Those already seated at the table all rose in unison, blocking my view of the delegation but giving an excellent view of Alina's expression when she discovered her tutor. Her flawless smile faltered for only a mont. I could see Cali grab her hand under the table, before they both hid the action in their voluminous skirts.
"Welco honored guests, please take a seat at our table." Luckily, King Caderyn was back to the tone he used with his kingdom. I guess countryn and delegations alike get the formal voice.
"Thank you for your hospitality, King Caderyn, on this festive occasion. Happy Birthday, young princess." The man with the longest robe was the speaker. His tangerine garb had the slightest train when he entered the room.
His accent matched that of Alina's professor perfectly. I never knew gnos had accents.
He was a plump individual whose bald head only accentuated how small in stature he was. He must be of great importance to be the one to speak for the gnos.
He took his seat first before his delegation and the Ensisites followed suit. I am not sure if his using the word 'young' was ant to be a slight or just comntary. The gnos did tend to live about 3 of our human lifetis, so I am sure that 18 years did seem quite childish to them.
With everyone seated I could see the professor's face again. He was trying very hard not to look at Alina. He looked uncomfortable, staring at anything that couldn't look back at him. He had the sa expression my younger brother gets when he gets caught doing sothing he shouldn't. Did the king know he hired a gno to teach Alina?
"King Berilo, the honor is ours and my daughter thanks you for the well wishes." The King threw in the title for all of us who had not t nor seen this man in our studies.
King Berilo had taken over the gnomish throne within the last two years after his older brother fell to an illness. Although I could recite recent history, my books failed to supply a picture. It was nice to put a face with a na.
"Does your Princess not speak for herself?" King Berilo looked between the two girls seated at the table. I could tell he was trying to weed out which one was the princess. If the gnos ant us harm, would they not have done it through Alina's tutor? How could they have gotten so close to our crown princess without us all knowing about it?
"Thank you for your gracious and heartfelt greeting, Your Majesty." Alina cut in before her father could respond for her. I could feel a sense of uneasiness in the room, but could not for the life of figure out why.
"Oh, so she is the one?" King Berilo looked toward Alina's professor, who was in fact turning a fleshy tone of chartreuse. Alina's professor nodded.
Berilo continued on, "King Caderyn, as you know you have been housing Duke Hugo under your roof as a professor for Princess Alina since the gnos first saw a vision of her in peril. Well this morning, Duke Hugo had a vision during Princess Alina's studies that was worriso to him. We as a council of gnos would like to try and see this future ourselves." King Berilo nodded as he finished his statent.
What were we supposed to do about this? I would like to see the vision too, but how could we? Why did the gnos travel this far?
"Please allow His Grace to explain the vision that he saw. If that is alright with you, King Berilo." King Caderyn probed suspiciously. Should we leave the safety of our kingdom in the hands of gnos?
Duke Hugo cleared his throat and opened his mouth, before his monarch cut him off. Seed Alina and her professor did not care for their monarch's to speak for them "I do not believe it wise to make interruptions of visions before we all see."
"How are we to help you achieve that goal?" King Caderyn seed lost as well, but did so without wrinkling his brow. I straightened up and mimicked Cali's pleasant but blank expression. Surely at so point this had to make sense.
Duke Hugo finally got a word in "Princess Alina, could you please recite the poem from the Battle of the Forging of the Four Swords?" The gnos, unceremoniously began holding hands up in the air with their forearms together from wrist to elbow. After linking arms the entire delegation closed their eyes.
Alina looked toward her father. He nodded his approval. Alina nodded in return and cleared her throat.
"The eighteenth year had been marked, a new dawning of the sa." Alina gasped. The gnos bent their arms to face the center of the table, and all turned a deeper shade leaning toward green.
What looked like a cloud appeared above the table. In the cloud I could see Alina in her current ball gown on the terrace watching fireworks. The image was clear and pure. I could almost feel the breeze. The tendrils of her hair lightly fluttered. She was radiant.
Alina was frazzled but continued shakily "Betrayal and doubt then sparked, Her country no longer ta." The cloud switched an image of a thin woman dressed in green armor with long black hair. She spoke to a gno whose color was unmistakably green and whose eyes seed to be in a fixed place. This image was a little more hazy. Like a morning dew rose from the bottom of the cloud.
This transitioned into an image with the most fog in the cloud. The sa woman as before was standing over a man. At first I was not sure what I saw. Horrified, my jaw dropped open. My expressionless facade was long abandoned as I looked upon a fallen King Caderyn on marble resembling the castle halls.
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