Chapter 410 - 410

Jun's house was indeed a mansion. As they walked inside Allias found himself staring at a wide staircase made of the finest marble, the railings forged from shining gold. That was enough for him to realize that this lord right here enjoyed his luxury. Art work seemed to be appreciated too since there were many paintings of the scenery of Kardia on the walls. There was also one of the palace in Avgee capital. The king stood still for a while, observing it carefully. He hadn't seen an image like that in so long. He wished to keep staring at it for a bit longer but Mark nudged him since everyone was forced to wait because of him. 

The uninvited guests were led to some kind of lounge. It was spacious with many windows that had a beautiful view of the beach and a very pleasant breeze was sneaking in from an opened one. The floors were bare, Allias imagined it was never really cold there, with white marbles. They had golden waters on them as a design and Mark nodded his head in approvement at the decorations. Quite simple: a light brown coffee table and two white couches with beige cushions on them. Allias noticed that in one of them sat the two children, Maris and Naris.. He nodded, greeting them with a small smile and both of them blushed, jumping off the couch and running away. 

"Excuse them, they are my children. Their manners are still a bit incomplete." he said and Allias scoffed as he sat down. 

"Well, I don't mind kids. Arrogant idiots though, that's another case." 

"Excuse my husband, your highness. I assure you he is not arrogant nor an idiot." The voice of a woman was heard. It was deep and smooth, traveling in the room and all eyes focused on the source. "I am Milia, Jun's wife. It's an honor to meet you." She said and bowed respectfully. "Honey, I think one of the children has something to show you, they have been waiting for you all day. Go to them for a while, I will keep company to our guests." she told him with a gentle smile and he stood up. 

She was truly beautiful. Tall with big dark blue eyes and long straight white hair. A small nose and well shaped lips. Her smile was kind but in her eyes there was a spark, she was intelligent. Allias could tell just by looking at her. She elegantly walked to the other couch, opposite of her guest and sat down, her white dress framing her beautifully. 

"Kor, please bring some refreshments. Honestly your treatment of the guests does not show the kindness of our kind" she told him and the man rushed outside in a hurry, the same way her husband did. As it seemed the so called lord was just a front. 

"It's nice to meet you, Lady Milia." Allias said and she chuckled. 

"Oh, please. Just call me Milia. I am no lady." she told them. "I would like to apologize for my husband, sometimes he is not the brightest but he is pretty." she said with a smile on her face. 

"So you married your husband because he is pretty?" Mark asked her with a surprised expression and she shrugged her shoulders. 

"Men do it all the time. What's wrong with a woman doing it too?" she asked them and Allias smiled. She seemed to be a very interesting individual. "He is kind too, that's a plus I guess." 

"Yeah, I guess." Allias agreed. "So we came here expecting to find ruins but after all I see that you people are alive and well. I don't know how to feel about it to be honest." 

"I understand your highness that you must have been through a lot. Thinking that all of your people are dead. We went into hiding a bit later after your father died. Some of the elders at the time believed that your father's decision to become king was against the beliefs of our tribe. That's why they decided to cut us off from the rest of the elves and keep us focused on our work. The war, it was just daily news to us. We had no idea of the severity or the fact that everyone died." She tried to explain but Allias was not satisfied with that answer. 

"No matter what, no matter the so called beliefs you might have here when you hear about a war the most reasonable thing is to actually help your own isn't it?" He asked her. 

"Who said that our elders were reasonable? A bunch of old men stuck to the practices of ancient times. I would never expect help from them. About your father, I am truly sorry. He was my friend. I cherished him and your mother, she loved him dearly." she said. Queen Atalanti barely spoke about his father. Allias barely knew anything about how they met, their love or the story behind his father's exile. 

"Excuse me." Mark said interrupting Allias' thoughts about his parents. "But what exactly is your job?" 

"Oh, that. Yes, we are the keepers of knowledge. Every little magical knowledge of the elves is being kept safe here at the Kardia Library." Milia explained. "I take it that you have come here for that? I do sense some kind of disturbing magic. Someone seems to have a problem." 

"Your magical senses are keen." Allias flattered her and she smiled. 

"Well, I wouldn't be the lady of this place if they weren't. You can visit the library at any time. We won't stop you of course. You are the king of all elves after all. But you should rest a bit first. Your clothes…" she said and looked at Allias' stolen outfit. "You in general, don't look at top condition." she said. "Girls." she called out with her sweet voice and two maids entered the room.  "They will take you to your rooms. Your highness, if you'd stay just a bit longer please" she told him and Mark looked at his best friend wary. Allias nodded, signaling him it was alright and the two boys left with the maids. 

"If you try anything the least suspicious I will make sure Kardia turns into the ruins it was supposed to be." Allias said, his voice turning cold and strict now that the rest were gone. 

"That does sound a bit hostile." the lady said.

"It doesn't just sound, It is. You exiled my father, you did not help in the war. I was excited to visit this place just because my father used to talk so highly about it but as it seems it's not that great." Allias told her honestly. She stared at him, her eyes slightly sad with his words and sighed. Her long legs were crossed, not a very lady like manner and Kor walked in with a tray leaving two cups of steaming tea. He placed them on the table and when he was done Milia spoke again.

"I am really sorry about all that. You have no reason to believe me I know but not me nor my husband were in charge at that time. I guess it's our fault too for choosing to keep things that way. It seems that when you have been cut out of the rest for so long what you have turns out to be the whole world." 

"There is no need to apologize to me. That will not fix anything. All I want is to help my friend. We will stay here tonight and tomorrow we will leave after we visit the library and you will not see us ever again." he said and Milia shook her head. 

"This is not what I want. I want to open Kardia to the rest of the world. When I found out about everything I was shocked. We can help you." 

"I don't know if I want your help." He told her. He was being honest with her. The disappointment he felt when he realized these people, his people, had turned a blind eye to the rest of them during the war was unbearable. How could he trust them after everything?

"I understand. Trust is something that you gain with time. I did not expect you to want to be allies again after everything but we will try. If you accept us too."

"I don't know."

"How about I do something for you. Not one thing but actually two" she said with a faint smile. "Not to gain your trust or your friendship but the possibility of that."

"You can't bribe me." Allias told her with a serious expression and she chuckled. 

"I wouldn't dream of it. A king like you has everything. Or maybe almost everything?" she asked, her blue eyes focusing on his missing arm. 

"What do you mean?"

"Kardia has the best magical healers. I  am one of them. The best actually. I will fix your arm and I will show you your parents" she suggested and Allias' eyes widened. 

"My parents?"