Kapitel 7: The Promise of a Meeting

"I am deeply sorry about the treatments of my men towards your kind. In the name of the people of Vathria, please forgive us" King Adrian was bowing deeply to a group of five elves who were sitting down in front of him. They were now in a dining room where food was served for the guests.

".....How do your people understand elvish? Humans can't speak elvish." A female elf who seemed to be the leader of the group spoke.

"Ah. It's because of this." King Adrian pointed at the necklace he was wearing.

"This necklace allows us to communicate with one another through magic. It is the creation of my kingdom." King Adrian smiled.

"I have never heard of such device...." A male elf said while he was amazed looking at the necklace.

Suddenly, a male elf stood up in rage.

"What are you humans doing in the middle of elven territory! We have a treaty for your kind not to trespass to this region! After you took so many of our people!!!" He bellowed in anger.

"That's..." King Adrian was taken aback.

"Luthien!" The female elf pulled the male elf back down. She whispered to his ears quietly. "Don't you remember how they managed to capture us, elite elves, in a manner of seconds? They're dangerous. We must be careful about our behavior."

"But our territory..." The male elf whispered back.

"I'll deal with this. You just sit down and be quiet." The female elf said to the male elf.

"I also apologize for my men's behavior. We are just quite surprised about your presence in this forest, you see..." The female elf said with manners.

"It's fine. If the same thing were to happen to us, we would react the same way. I shall explain everything." King Adrian explained their situation and their origin in another world.

After the explanation, all the elves were dumbstruck.

"Do you think we would believe yo—ouch!" The male elf was about to lash out again before being grabbed with force by the female elf.

"So your people are from another world?" The female elf asked.

"Yes. You see, elves also only existed in the legends back in our previous world. We were also quite surprised to hear that your kind exists in this world." King Adrian replied.

"Then...why did you arrive in this forest? With all due respect, this is our rightful territory. We usually do have many humans trespassers who cause many problems for us. This is why one of my men here was upset. " The female elf inquired.

The King shrugged. "I apologize as well but we couldn't choose the place of our destination. The legends do say it always chooses the best place for us. From your animosity against humans, I'm guessing they don't treat you well?" King Adrian asked the elves a sensitive question.

"Hah! That's an understatement. The humans have enslaved us for centuries. Our old kingdom was large and the humans invaded us. This forest is the only place where we could be free." The male elf who was angry before replied.

"You have nothing to worry about. Our people do not discriminate based on things like that. We do not have any history with each other....may I also ask where is your settlement?" King Adrian asked.

"I apologize, but we can't reveal that information without consulting with our chief." The female elf replied.

"Then....can I meet this chief?" King Adrian asked.

"That..." The female elf pondered.

"Perhaps we can come to a mutual agreement. How about....a week from now. You bring your leader here and we could discuss our predicaments. Who knows, maybe we could help your kind in some ways." King Adrian said.

"You think the chief would—" The male elf from before stood up in anger before being dragged down by the female elf again.

"Alright. We will discuss with our chief about that. Personally, I do not want any conflicts seeing how powerful your men were...I also want to inquire about something, how did you make us unconscious without us noticing?" The female elf asked while remembering how they were brought here. It truly frightened her that if the other parties were up to no good, they would've been killed or been enslaved by now.

"That's...also not something we can reveal at the moment." King Adrian smiled. In truth, he just didn't know how the intelligence department work. But simply saying he didn't know might show weakness for the other party.

That smile was interpreted differently for the elves. They were suddenly terrified of this person.

"T-then...can we leave?" The female elf said nervously.

"Yes. My men will escort you until they reach the forest. Also, please send a messenger around 3 days in advance notifying us of your arrival. You may leave." King Adrian dismissed the elves. The knights in the room escorted him out.

After the door closed, Braum spoke. "They didn't even touch the food." He frowned.

"Would you eat food served by the people who captured you?" King Adrian said.

"Of course I won't, my liege. But that was one of the last ingredients we had...." Braum looked at the food with a sad face.

"You. Please give the food to the servants in the castle." King Adrian pointed at one of the maids who was standing nearby.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The maid flashed a smile. She was quite happy to serve a generous king.

All of a sudden, a shadow formed next to the King.

"Your Majesty, we could eliminate them if you want. Their presence is a hindrance to the development of our kingdom here. We can't build over another's territory." The shadow was Grant Holmes, the head of intelligence.

"I do not want to cause violence if the other party means no harm to us. And have you seen our population? If we could bring them to our side...we'll grow our forces." King Adrian replied.

"As you wish," Grant responded.

"Also, don't think I'll forget about this. Next time, all important decisions go to ME first, understand? I would hate to relieve you of your position at this time of crisis." King Adrian's eyes turned sharp and warned Grant.

"I will do that, Your Majesty. " Grant wasn't perturbed at all. He quickly disappeared in a flash of light.

"Sigh....I miss the times when I wasn't a King." King Adrian slouched down his chair.