The Phoenix Chapter 36 - A Visit from the King and Queen

----(Rose) "A letter came, Chief. From King Zander and Queen Adelia."----

Liana's eyes widened at the mention of her parents.

(Lillian) "What is it?"

Rose handed Lillian an envelope. Lillian opened it and read the letter inside. As she read, Liana's frown only grew. Lillian was not expressing any reaction to the letter whatsoever. When Lillian finished with the letter, she placed it back into the envelope and handed it back to Rose, who simply took it and stood near the door, awaiting further instructions.

(Liana) "What did they say?"

Lillian had a blank expression on her face as she said,

(Lillian) "They want to come here."

Liana felt there was something strange about the way Lillian phrased it, adding to the fact that Lillian's emotions were still… blank.

(Liana) "What do you mean? Don't they usually just say they're going, then show up?"

Lillian's expression slowly went back to normal, as did her emotions, as she said,

(Lillian) "They can do that for all the Tribes but mine. This is due to the fact that mine is the biggest and the strongest, but also due to its background."

She frowned slightly as she continued,

(Lillian) "But that's not the reason I reacted like that. It's the reason for their intended visit."

Her gaze fell on Kristen.

(Lillian) "They want to discuss some things about the Vayithen Empire."

Kristen's eyes widened slightly.

(Kris) "What about?"

Lillian shook her head.

(Lillian) "They didn't specify in the note."

(Liana) "When will they get here?"

Lillian frowned.

(Lillian) "They said within the day, but they're going to be here in about three hours."

Kris frowned and asked,

(Kris) "Should I go, then?"

Lillian thought for a moment then said,

(Lillian) "No. You can stay, and if they don't like it, you're under my protection."

The other girls all frowned but didn't comment as they trusted that Lillian knew what she was doing.

(Liz) "Are you going to tell them who she is?"

Lillian shook her head.

(Lillian) "The Queen would know from the moment she's within a hundred metres from Kristen."

Liana raised an eyebrow, not knowing what Lillian was referring to.

(Lillian) "Which is why I said you can stay, since she'll know you're not going to be a threat, and they would have no reason to reject your presence as my guest."

(Liana) "Wait. What are you talking about?"

Lillian gave Liana a confused look.

(Lillian) "You don't know your mum's… Oh."

(Liana) "What?"

Lillian had a strange smile on her face as she said,

(Lillian) "Your mum has a skill that allows her to tell whether or not someone is a threat, along with who they are, as long as they're within a certain distance from her."

Liana had a bewildered expression on her face.

(Liana) "She does?"

Lillian nodded.

(Lillian) "She herself doesn't know and thinks it's an instinct, but as it's never been wrong once, she trusts it."

(Liz) "Why doesn't she know it's a skill?"

Lillian smiled.

(Lillian) "It's rare for someone to have a magic skill if they don't have the ability to utilise magic. Most don't even know of their existence."

(Kris) "Then why does she have a skill?"

Lillian thought for a moment, then replied,

(Lillian) "It may have something to do with the fact that the magic in their blood skipped one generation and went straight to Liana. Some of the magic must have gone to her, but not enough for her to be able to harness it."

(Ruby) "It's interesting how everyone has a similar skill but hers is the only one that can be used from a distance, without her even needing to see the person."

Ruby was always a quiet person, even with her love of battle, but she chose to speak up this time, causing the other girls to think.

*

Lillian turned to Rose, who was still standing near the door awaiting instructions.

(Lillian) "Give instructions to the Guard to be ready for the arrival of the King and Queen. Have a few of the Elites with them as well. Let Anne know they're coming and to prepare a meal for us."

Rose nodded, then brought her right fist up to the left side of her chest and bowed slightly. She stood back up properly and left the room without a word.

(Kris) "Do all of them act like that?"

Lillian shrugged.

(Lillian) "When receiving orders, yes. Otherwise, not so much, if you're talking about my main bodyguards."

Liana had a confused expression as she asked,

(Liana) "Wait. So is Hunter an Elite?"

Lillian shook her head.

(Lillian) "Hunter is the guard that was assigned by the elders to be my bodyguard when I became chief. The Elites are a group of soldiers that I hand-picked and personally trained."

Liz had to hide a smirk as she asked,

(Liz) "Hunter wasn't among them?"

Lillian smiled slightly as she replied,

(Lillian) "Hunter is… skilled when it comes to fighting, but the requirements I placed for the Elites also requires them to be quick on their toes and able to process things quickly. Basically, to a certain level, smart."

Liana and Robyn winced at the indirect insult to Hunter's intellect.

(Lillian) "He himself acknowledged it, actually. He's one of the few that know of the existence of the Elites and has yet to request to be added to their number."

(Robyn) "So actually not many know of your Elites?"

Lillian nodded in response.

(Robyn) "Then why did you just tell us without concern that we'd accidentally tell someone else? We definitely won't intentionally tell anyone, but there are always slips of the tongue."

Lillian smirked as she spoke softly,

(Lillian) "You can't. I'm the only one who can tell people who don't already know."

(Liana) "Why?"

Lillian shrugged.

(Lillian) "I put a spell on it."

(Liana) "You put a spell. On a fact."

Kristen and Robyn burst into laughter at the look on Liana's face, and Ruby and Liz looked as if they wanted to as well.

(Kris) "I have long given up trying to understand Lillian's ability to use magic."

(Robyn) "And at that, her thinking that the ability to cast spells on facts is normal. Or anything of the sort that shouldn't be possible."

Liana shook her head lightly, with a disbelieving smile on her face. She still couldn't get used to the fact that Lillian could do all this without even using effort. She recalled a section of the prophecy that she had, even though it wasn't directly about her side:

[The Wolf Empress's daughter a Master of magic.]

*

They continued talking for a couple more hours before heading down to the great hall to wait for Liana's parents. Not long after, the sound of hooves could be heard. If this weren't the Loyal Eagle Clan, and Lillian weren't the chief, a lot of things would be different.

Firstly, the chief would actually have to go to the castle walls to wait for the King and Queen if they were given prior notice that they were going to be visiting. Secondly, because of the Loyal Eagle Clan's traditions, they did not ride their horses through the street, but with Lillian as the chief, she could easily allow this. The reason they didn't ride their horses in the tribe was because it was really noisy and could disturb others as well as cause accidents. Lillian easily made this not so much of a problem by putting spells around the houses that would prevent the noise of horses disturbing the people in the house along with preventing accidents.

*

Lillian and the others with the exception of Kristen, who had decided to wait inside, bowed and greeted the King and Queen, along with all the others, except for Liana, who ran up to her parents and threw her arms around their necks after they dismounted and handed the reins to two of the awaiting guards.

(Lillian, Liz, Robyn, Ruby, Rose) "Your Highnesses."

(Liana) "Mum, Dad!"

There were about twenty guards surrounding them, and Lillian dismissed them with a wave of her hand. They had greeted the King and Queen at the walls, then ran in alongside them as they rode towards the great hall.

(King Zander, Queen Adelia) "Chief Lillian, Lady Elizabeth, Chief Robyn, Lady Ruby."

They clasped their hands into a greeting that Liana had seen many times before, though only used by her parents.

(King Zander) "Liana, darling. We have missed you terribly these past weeks."

Liana giggled and replied,

(Liana) "I've missed you too."

(Lillian) "It would be best that we head inside, then talk."

King Zander smiled and said,

(King Zander) "Yes, we should do that."

It was then that Queen Adelia seemed slightly confused, but it quickly cleared as she whispered something in her husband's ear. King Zander appeared surprised for a moment, but turned to Lillian as if nothing had happened,

(Lillian) "This way."

She led the way into the great hall, but not to the main hall. She led them to a smaller meeting room to the side, where there was a long table, and Kristen was sitting on one of the seats. Kristen stood up and walked towards them when she noticed them enter. She bowed slightly but did not do anything further. The King and Queen did the same, bowing slightly, then took their seats at the table, after which everyone else sat down. Lillian did not miss the interaction and spoke after they had seated down,

(Lillian) "This is Kristen, but you'd probably know her as Empress Laurel, the Empress of the Vayithen Kingdom."

She said this to indicate that they would not be discussing the matters as of yet. Although she knew that they already knew who Kristen was, it was necessary for her to say it anyway. Queen Adelia addressed Kristen,

(Queen Adelia) "Is Kristen your first name, then?"

Kristen nodded with a smile.

(Kris) "It is, Queen Adelia."

Queen Adelia smirked and said,

(Queen Adelia) "You can just call me Adelia, or Ade."

Everyone at the table turned to her in surprise. Even King Zander. He could not understand why his wife was suddenly so friendly with the Empress of their neighbouring Empire. Kris mimicked Queen Adelia's smirk and said,

(Kris) "Then you can call me Laurel, or Laur, although nobody actually uses that."

Lillian raised her eyebrows but decided to just ignore it for the moment and addressed King Zander.

(Lillian) "I have had a meal prepared, after a long journey you must be tired and need food and rest. We can talk in the morning."

King Zander frowned but nodded, knowing she was right.

(King Zander) "Okay. Thank you."

Lillian smiled and nodded, then stood up and gestured for them to follow her to the dining room, where Anne was standing near the door, waiting for them to arrive. When she saw them arrive, she clapped her hands once and a line of staff came out with trays of food. Anne identified all the dishes before Lillian told her and the rest of her staff to take the rest of the day off and go eat as well.

(King Zander) "How have you been these past weeks?"

Liana grinned as she replied,

(Liana) "Lillian has been teaching me how to fight better, along with controlling my magic. She is a brilliant teacher!"

A faint blush decorated Lillian's cheeks as she added,

(Lillian) "Liana is a fast learner. I only needed to show something to her once and she was able to perfect it completely."

Of course, this was probably because of one of her skills, but Lillian didn't mention it. Instead, she continued,

(Lillian) "On top of that, we discovered her affinity to dual-ended blades, along with whip-blades. I have had customized weapons made to fully accommodate her fighting style and skills."

Liana grinned as she nodded. The dual-ended blades were the first discovery, but while Liana was fooling around with Liz playing with the whip weapons, they found she was actually skilled with it. With a little more training, they discovered her affinity for it.

(Liana) "It's amazing and Lillian designed them personally!"

Queen Adelia smiled as she said gently,

(Queen Adelia) "Liana dear, calm down. We're all very close to you and can hear you just fine."

Liana blushed as everyone at the table either stifled a laugh or failed at it. At this, Queen Adelia seemed to realise something and asked gently,

(Queen Adelia) "You've discovered something else recently, haven't you?"

She looked between Liana and Lillian with a knowing look. Liana blushed and said,

(Liana) "She's my—"

She broke off mid-sentence, not sure what exactly they were to each other. They were not soul-bond, so calling her her soul-bound would be inaccurate. She thought of something but wasn't sure whether Lillian would be okay with it, and was stumped, but her father stepped in and asked,

(King Zander) "It's her, isn't it? The one you've been looking for?"

Liana blushed as she nodded.

Chapter 36: A Visit from the King and Queen

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Phoenix169

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Chapter 36: A Visit from the King and Queen

CREATORS' THOUGHTS Phoenix169

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CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Phoenix169