Chapter 294: The royal court of Taurus

"Lord Amnur! What a surprise, what brings you here?" An elderly centaur asked in complete shock. Having rushed over as soon as he sensed that their personal teleportation had been activated. 

"Ah, Talastos," Amnur paused, the gray hair and graying coat slightly throwing him off. "You have become old since the last time I saw you."

Sighing, the old centaur looked at the flaming dwarf with a mixture of envy and sadness, "That is normal, isn't it? Yet you look the same as back when I was just a teenager."

"Has it been that long?" Amnur asked with mild surprise, knowing how old a centaur must be for even their coat to grey.

"Yes, back then I wasn't even the heir. I am impressed that you could recall my name." Talastos sighed as he said this.

Amnur was slightly embarrassed as he only knew the old centaur's name due to Athtar informing him of who the king was. He had been slightly worried he might cause a ruckus if it wasn't the king who greeted him. 

Amnur paused, he spent very little time with mortals exactly for this reason. Time was so important to them, every year mattered. For him, even a hundred years mattered little. 

"Is your father..." Amnur stopped as he saw Talastos eyes becoming cloudy. 

"He passed nearly eighty years ago. Back then I was only Tier 9, yet I had to take over as king." Talastos sighed again, thinking of how much heavier a burden he had placed on his own son. 

"How are things in the kingdom?" Amnur asked, hoping to change the subject. He generally disliked talking about mortality, and having lost someone recently(the spear), he was even less inclined to talk about death. 

"It is quite a mess. I abdicated, you know..." Talastos said, catching Amnur off guard. 

"Why? You are still in good health?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. However, these aren't peaceful times. I need to be free to move and support my lands where it is needed. Hence I can't stay here overseeing the entire kingdom."

"But that's dangerous, you know who your enemy is." Amnur was again shocked.

"Yes, but how else was I supposed to make it look like we have the support of a legend? If I couldn't ride into battle without a worry, then he would know and we would fall in a day."

"Well, you no longer have to worry about that," Amnur said, giving Talastos great relief and confusion. 

"Are you going to stay here? I thought you had come to take Itireae back."

"No, while Athtar had asked me to make sure she was safe, I came to visit my kin. I will be staying for quite some time, so you can rest assured."

Hearing this it was as a massive weight was lifted from the old centaur, both his backs suddenly looked much straighter. 

"That's wonderful. Come, I must welcome you properly." Talastos said, indicating to the palace not far away.

Amnur had come through the royal teleportation, one limited to very few royal bloodlines. This specific one hidden among the trees of the royal garden. 

Generally, only empires would have royal teleportations. Seeing as these teleportation arrays were linked to the capital network of the empires. 

Most of the time it was impossible to teleport from the kingdom to the empire with this teleportation array. However, it was completely possible the other way around. Allowing certain kingdoms to be capable of receiving massive amounts of reinforcements. Or in some cases receiving a mentor to guide their children. 

"You just want to make it known that I am here." Amnur teased, causing Talastos to nearly trip over his front legs. 

"I can't say that isn't part of the aim. However, I also wish to introduce you to my family. I know it doesn't mean much to you, however, I can still remember when I first met you. You leave quite the impression."

Hearing this Amnur nearly blushed, something which would be quite bad. Who wouldn't become embarrassed when someone said they could remember you clearly from over a hundred years ago.

Shaking down the feelings he wasn't used to, Amnur followed Talastos. Who told the servants to gather all the family, no matter what they were busy with. 

"What type of meal would you like?" Talastos asked after they entered the throne room, where his son was currently being bored by petitions. Petitions Talastos had declined and the nobles now tried to bring up again with a new king.

The young centaur was currently laying down on a raised platform that served as the seat of the king. Due to their tradition and some past events they had decided to not reform their court in the image of human society, but rather make a new one. One that was fit for centaurs. 

The raised platform had two ways of getting onto, to the left stairs and to the right a slope. The stairs going onto a green rug with patterns in purple on the outsides. The slope instead going to a small indoor garden at the back of the throne room. Just big enough for a centaur to rest and enjoy the sound of a flowing spring. 

The raised platform had at its back a mural depicting the wars that have now become more legends than anything. While the platform itself was covered in the greenest grass. Causing the horse half of this young centaur to seemingly disappear. His coat perfectly blending in.

If one were to look carefully at the murals, one would see Amnur in them. Hammering a blade amidst flames, his figure mostly hidden by what one would think is lava in this day and age, but was actually plasma. 

"Do you have any drake meat?" Amnur asked while looking at the young centaur, who was clearly not too invested in the current petitions.

He couldn't blame him, none of these people were talking about the war. They were just talking about grudges of the past, bringing it up in the hope that they could sway the new, young, king. 

"We do, I'll have the chefs get onto it as soon as they can. But first. Everyone! Today's hearing is over!" Talastos shouted, causing most of the centaurs in the room to sigh. However, none of them dared to complain. 

After a few minutes, with the hall now empty, the young centaur who had been bored moved towards his father. "Dad, what's the meaning of this? You gave me the crown, so can you please stop undermining me."

"Ah, Farest. We have an extremely important guest." Talastos said, indicating to the dwarf next to him. 

At first, Farest wasn't concerned, however as he actually looked at the dwarf his small eyes flew open. Just barely managing to stop himself from mentioning that the dwarf was aflame, since surely both he and his father must know that. 

"I'm Amnur, young centaur. A pleasure to meet you." Amnur said, putting his hand forward and offering it for a handshake. 

After a bit of confusion and doubt, Farest took the hand. Shocked by the heat it contained, just barely not enough to burn him. 

"Farest, a pleasure." The young centaur replied after overcoming the shock. He didn't quite get who this dwarf was, however, his instincts told him to not mess with him. His father's respectful attitude making it clear that it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him. 

"It seems that more and more people are beginning to think the mural on the throne is just for show. Farest take a look at it again, recall the stories and legends you were taught." Talastos said.

Farest did just that, not understanding what his father wanted him to see. Moving from one side to the other of the mural, he stopped suddenly. His small eyes flying open as he looked at the hidden figure. Then he took out his sword, the shock becoming even more. 

Rushing back, "I thought those stories were just that. Did you really?" The nod from Amnur confirmed the question he was about to ask. 

"Yes Farest, this is Amnur Fafnir. The dwarven smith who can forge any item you can think of." Talastos said, just to make sure Farest understood what was going on. 

"It's a great pleasure." Farest quickly said, adding a small bow even. "Why have you come to my kingdom, Lord Amnur?"

"Please, dispense with the formality. I came to visit my kin in the Ganalin Mountains, and the fastest way to travel was through your teleportation array." Amnur said, turning to Talastos "Right, when will the meal be ready?"

"In about an hour," Talastos replied, "Lord Amnur, if you wouldn't mind. Would you show us your craft?" Talastos couldn't help but ask this. While he was no blacksmith, seeing a master at work was always inspiring. 

"Do you have a proper forge?" Amnur asked, preferring to pass the time doing something over talking with people he barely knew. Most legends would rarely converse with mortals, since they would most certainly die. 

Getting close to them only meant pain.

"Certainly, I will lead the way." Talastos said, "Would you mind making me a new axe? My last one broke." While he knew this was a bit greedy of him, Talastos had to try and take advantage of the situation. 

"Alright, but you have to deliver the materials. The quality will depend on the materials you supply me with, and that I need to finish in an hour."

"Certainly we can push the meal back," Talastos said with a slight smile, indicating to Farest to go and fetch the highest quality materials they had. Amnur didn't mind that the old king was trying to use him, he felt he needed to pay something for using their teleportation array.