Bab 11: A Grand Welcome
The firework amazed the elves who witnessed it for the first time. At first, some elven warriors raise their bows as they thought it was an attack but after some reassurance from the Vathrian knights that those small explosions were part of the welcome, they calmed down.
"That is truly impressive. I sense some mana flowing through those flowery explosions." Chief Kylantha muttered.
"Mana? Is that this world's word for magical force? But yes, the firework magic was invented in order to be used for celebrations such as this one. We'll proceed to the next event now. Please, follow me." General Tobias replied and motioned the elves to follow.
As the convoy was walking through the settlements and into the castle, the people of Vathria was cheering for them on the side of the roads, creating a parade-like atmosphere out of a diplomatic meeting.
"Mommy! Look their ears are long!" A little baby girl who was being carried by her mother pointed at the elves.
"They're called elves, just like the legends I have told you. They'll be our new friends in this world." The mommy smiled.
"Wow! They move so gracefully!" A teenage girl muttered as she saw the elves.
There were a lot of comments regarding the arrival of the elves, most of it was either positive or curious in nature. The elves who witnessed this were already stunned. No humans of this world treated them this well.
General Tobias noticed the shocked looks of the elven chief and elders and took the opportunity to add more sugar to the blend.
"As we have told you before, your kind truly didn't exist back in our world. Of course, we do not have any discriminatory views for your kind....even if you did exist, our kingdom's constitution bans any form of racial discrimination." General Tobias said and smiled proudly.
Chief Kylantha returned the smile. "I see now. This is truly amazing. It has been millenniums since the humans and our kind had a friendly relationship with one another. You must understand where our shock is coming from."
Even the male elven elder who was against this meeting was moved, although he was still a bit stubborn. "T-this might still be a trick." He muttered.
"Sshh!! Don't be rude in front of the humans." The female elder reprimanded the male elder.
The elven convoy finally arrived in front of the huge castle gate, where King Adrian, Braum, and other officials have waited. Chief Kylantha went ahead of the group to greet the King directly, the latter did the same. They meet at an empty middle point between the two groups.
"Welcome to Castle Dathria, under the rule of my Kingdom of Vathria. I am King Adrian." King Adrian reached his hand out for a handshake. King Adrian did not say 'Welcome to Vathria' directly as he do not want to offend the other party since this land is still officially under the rule of the elves. Instead, he extended his welcome to the area around the castle itself, not the whole kingdom.
Chief Kylantha looked at the King's hand absentmindedly. She did not know what to do.
King Adrian noticed this and became flustered. "I apologize. This is called a handshake. The royalties of kingdoms back in my old world do this as a gesture of good-will in greeting one another. My sincere apology for assuming that the chief knows about this." King Adrian retracted his hand and did the national salute of Vathria instead with his right hand on his chest.
Chief Kylantha smiled at the flustered King. In a sense, his diplomatic mistake humanized him and made him more approachable. Chief Kylantha was used to meeting with the human nobles for treaties but they were all too arrogant and filthy in her opinion. "I understand now. May I try?" Chief Kylantha reached out her hand in front of her.
King Adrian took the Chief's hand in a handshake and smiled. "It is my biggest pleasure meeting you...." King Adrian noticed that the Chief has not introduced herself yet.
Now, it is the elven chief's turn to become flustered. "I apologize for not giving my name first. I am Chief Kylantha Yellana of the last elven tribe in this continent. It is also my pleasure meeting King Adrian of Vathria." Chief Kylantha flashed a smile.
"H-he's touching the Chief's hand!" The male elder elf noticed the scenery from behind. Skin-to-skin contact with the chief of the elven tribe was a taboo.
"Do not make a ruckus! Let the chief handle this!" The female elder elf stopped the male elder elf before he did anything rash.
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The Vathrian and Elven groups were now seated in the courtyard of the castle, which was already turned to a performance stage for the welcoming party. The most important people were seated near the very front of the stage. The knights, including the elven warriors, were left standing behind the seats as their job was to guard their respective masters.
As a symbolic and diplomatic gesture, King Adrian and Chief Kylantha were seated next to each other alone so they could converse with one another and build a friendship between the two groups.
"It is truly kind of you to prepare such a grand welcoming for us." Chief Kylantha, who was seated next to King Adrian, muttered.
"It is true that it was my order, but it was also the people's enthusiasm in welcoming the elves that led us to this." King Adrian replied.
"I see. What will we see in this welcoming?" Chief Kylantha asked.
"I dare not spoil the hard work of my people. How about we both see and be amazed together?" King Adrian motioned the chief to look towards the stage. The show was about to begin.
Chief Kylantha giggled. "Alright, King Adrian. I look forward to the show."
The first show began with a traditional all-female dance involving the acrobatic and graceful use of umbrellas.
"That is fascinating...What is the origin of such dance, King Adrian?" By asking this, Chief Kylantha was also testing if this King truly cared for his people and kingdom, rather than just ruling for power.
"This dance was created even before our time in our previous world; back in the primitive stages of our kingdom when we still believed in a deity. This dance, back then, was used to summon the rain in times of drought. As there was a gender-disparity in the workforce, the males focused on farming while the females were the ones to perform this dance to appeal to the rain god...apparently." King Adrian explained.
"That's impressive...sounds like your people don't believe in any Gods anymore, King Adrian?" Chief Kylantha inquired.
"We stopped believing after we were transported to our previous world. No Gods would allow that to happen...But I apologize, do the elves believe in any God?" King Adrian asked.
"We do. Although God doesn't truly have a name, we do picture the God as an elven protector who has protected us since ancient times." Chief Kylantha answered.
While they were deep in their conversation, the dance stopped. King Adrian turned his head to look a the stage and started clapping. In fact, all the Vathrian natives clapped but the elves were just dumbfounded looking at this.
Chief Kylantha was rather intrigued about the clapping. "The thing you did with your hands was...."
King Adrian noticed again that the elves do not have any concept of what he and his people were doing. "Ah. We apologize. This is called clapping our hands to show appreciation and gratitude for the performance."
"I see....I will try as well." Chief Kylantha started clapping in an awkward manner.
The King giggled at her appearance. "Ah. I apologize. I wasn't laughing at you...it was just a new sight for me to see someone who hasn't clapped before." The King said, not wanting to offend her for laughing.
Chief Kylantha smiled in response. "It's fine. The difference between our cultures is noticeable but it's also quite beautiful."
The two stared into each other deeply after she said that. At that moment, the royal announcer started announcing the next performance.
"The next performance is by the local citizens of Vathria, an ensemble of musical performance. "
A diverse group of men, women, and even children started going up to the stage. They were carrying musical instruments. Some instruments have strings, some are just drums, and some are similar to flutes. One woman of the group walked in front of the stage, took out some sort of magical device, and started singing. Her voice was melodious and extremely beautiful. After the intro of her singing, the instruments started playing rhythmically. The song was a joyous one.
"This is...incredible." Chief Kylantha muttered.
"It is, isn't it? They're not even professionals." King Adrian replied.
"Really?" Chief Kylantha was quite surprised hearing that they were ordinary citizens.
"Well, yes. Many artists did not survive." King Adrian responded with a sad voice.
Chief Kylantha suddenly perked up hearing his words. "What do you mean did not survive?"
King Adrian realized his hubris. He has explained the part about his kingdom coming from another world to the captured elves, but he has not explained anything about the evil forces as he did not fully trust the capture elves yet at the time. "Chief Kylantha. I apologize. That conversation will have to wait until our diplomatic briefing later. Shall we enjoy the welcoming party first?" King Adrian faked a smile and motioned his hand towards the stage once more.
Chief Kylantha noticed his fake smile and started to become suspicious but she also put on her poker face. "I see. Let's talk about that later then."
The song continued and the singing was extremely beautiful. But something odd was happening in the ears of the elves.
"Her voice is beautiful but....King Adrian, you are wearing the magical necklace that translates our language, correct? My warriors told me of this." Chief Kylantha asked.
"That is correct, why? AH!" King Adrian perked up as he realized a crucial mistake again.
"Y-yes...I can't understand her. It seems she's still singing in your native language." Chief Kylantha replied.
King Adrian just remembered that the translation necklace only translates conversations and would not be able to translate singing as it involves rhythm and melody which differs across languages.
"I apologize once more. I hope you still enjoyed the performance." King Adrian's head bowed down in apology.
"You do not have to apologize, King Adrian. I still enjoyed it." Chief Kylantha smiled.
The singing ended and the welcoming party also ended.
"That was truly a joy to behold, King Adrian." Chief Kylantha said happily after the performance has finished.
"Actually, we still have one more special performance but I have delayed it to after our negotiations. Shall we go inside the castle for the briefing?" King Adrian stood up and reached out his hand gracefully to the still sitting Chief Kylantha.
Chief Kylantha took the hand gently and stood up from her seat. "Let's go, King Adrian."
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
KingSquidward
KingSquidward This is the last chapter before the weekend. Winter break is coming! Woohoo!!! But In the meantime...I have a couple more deadlines I have to catch up with.
While Vathria is a fantasy kingdom, it does share a lot of characteristics with our world's culture and traits
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
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-- Power
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