ch.20 Hunting Trip

Elric ordered the blacksmith he had given the Dragon Steel to make three bows along with a set of armor for Princess Aalis. The blacksmith said that that would take around a week and a half to make, this meant that every four days Blaze would need to stop by to relight the forge with her dragon fire. Princess Aalis took full advantage of the time it was going to take the blacksmith to finish the commission, she spent every waking moment with him using the recent betrothal as an excuse to do so. Every night she would beg to be able to spend the night in the Dragon's Keep,and every night King Foust and Elric told her no it was not proper to do so.

However after a week's worth of her constant begging the two of them caved on letting her go with him on his first weekly trip back to the old capital of Ash Kingdom. So in the end she won the battle of wills with her prize being three days alone with Elric and Blaze. The only thing she did not get her way with was that Elric made her sleep by Blaze head at night while he slept with Blaze's tail curled around him. This was an idea he and King Foust came up with before the three left. Elric had planned to stay a full day doing his duties as king, but only a minor matter of a noble house wanting to change the number of lances present on the seal of the family to reflect the birth of the latest son of the head of the family. Because the seal was used to mark official and legal documents it needed the approval of the king to change. With his only pressing matter taking only the time to sign the submitted form to make the change, Elric spent only two hours in the old castle going over the day to day matters with Ethel, before the three of them left to go back to Foust Kingdom.

Princess Aalis upset that her alone time got cut short made Elric make it to her with a bag of sugar stars, a type of rock candy sold all over Ash Kingdom, and a kiss on the cheek. Elric did as she wanted because he did tell her it would be a four day trip,and that if she pushed her luck she would demand her fourth night even if it was in his and Blaze's keep back in Foust. The princess had goten bold enough to occasionally ask for a kiss on the cheek, or to steal one from him. The only time the two had shared a real kiss was during the official announcement of their betrothal in Foust Kingdom. That kiss took the prompting of her father, King Foust, as it was tradition for the bride and groom to be to do so regardless of age, unless the betrothal was done before one or both were born. This was Princess Aalis first kiss, but she was quick to point out that Blaze had stolen his first after he found her stuck in the top of an apple tree. Blaze seeing princess Aalis stealing kisses began to do the same but Blaze tended to use a bit of tongue.

The three got back early so it would still be a day before the three bows and armor for Princess Aalis were done. Blaze relight the forge again just to be on the safe side. The three then left to go back to the Foust Castle, were princess Aalis went to tease Odis with her bag of sugar stars, before even saying hello to her father. Odis had developed a obsession with the hard candy while he was in Ash Kingdom for Elric's coronation, with his favorite being the green apple flavored one. Princess Aalis knew he had probably eaten all the one he had brought back with him, and she had a full bag of nothing but green sugar stars. Elric let her have her fun for a moment before tossing Odis a bag of green, pink, blue, and orange sugar stars all mixed together.

"How was your trip." King Foust said. But before Elric could respond, Aalis told on him.

"Dad he made me sleep on the other side of Blaze by her head, while he used her tail like some kind of blanket, and it was only a three day trip, he promised it was going to be four days. I made him buy me the sugar stars to make up for it, but he got Oids a bigger bag, it is not fair."

"Ok, my lil princess, I will help you, punish your husband to be later, but first let him tell me how the trip went as far as his duty as a king."

"Fine, I will just "punish" him during the hunting trip, don't tell me I'm not going, I already know Elric had the blacksmith make me a set of armor just for the trip."

"That was going to be a surprise, Aalis guess I know what you and the blacksmith's wife talked about while Blaze and I relight the forge earlier. Anyway your majesty, I mean father-in-law, I only had one tiny matter to deal with so, we only spent two hours at the old capital going over the day to day with my Voice of the People. If I may be so bold, you could always make Odis your Voice of the People to help with the workload you are under."

"I will have to ask him if he is up to it, he is an old man after all and it might cut into his nap time. By the way when will the bows and armor be ready, and you are going to let me hunt something and not just watch you an Blaze run down bandits right."

" Father-in-law that is why I had him make three bows, one is for you, the second is for Odis should he join us, if not I will give it to Blake and have in join us instead. The last bow is for myself, I would have had a smaller one made for you Aalis, but you have never held a bow before and even a small one made with a Dragon Steel string will take a lot of strength to pull back. I have another surprise that will be given to you on the first night of the hunt. As we have to eat we will be hunting lots of game, as a surprise for father-in-law one of my best cooks will be joining us to prepare our meals. The blacksmith said that everything will be made by morning, so we can leave for the hunt after we have lunch."

"Good idea leaving at mid-day, we will be able to hunt deer and boar before sunset. So princess how do you want to punish him?"

"He has to sleep next to me every night of the hunt to keep me warm. Blaze can sleep on the other side of him, and you can sleep on the other side of me father. This way you can keep me from doing mean things to him like kicking him in his sleep."

"Son-in-law what do you think of your little queen's punishment for you?"

"I am fine with it as long as you are, as she went as far as to say that you will be on the other side of her, she did put thought into what is and is not proper before we are married."

"There you have it, he has accepted his punishment, does this make her majesty happy?" Odis piped in.

"Yes."

The next day they left for the hunt after gathering the bows and armor from the blacksmith,and eating lunch. The hunting party reached the woods two hours before sunset and made camp. Just before sunset King Foust got the first kill with his new bow Elric had given him. It was a ten point whitetail buck. Odis got his first kill, a small boar seven minutes later. Elric, who had Aalis sitting behind him on top of Blaze manage to get five rabbits and kill two bandits that tried to seek into their hunting camp to steal food. After the meal of rabbit stew and dear steak made by Elric's cook, Elric gave Aalis her surprise, a small hunting dagger made from Dragon Steel with a blue sapphire in the handle. She gave him a kiss on the cheek as thanks.

Princess Aalis maybe somewhat bold but luckily for Elric it would take another four years for her to work up the courage to steal his lips whenever she felt like it.

The next morning the cook prepared the boar along with potatoes and eggs for breakfast. After everyone ate King Foust and Odis went to hunt game while Elric and Blaze set off to look for more bandits. Of course Princess Aalis tagged along with him, and Blaze. He manage to find a bandit camp of twelve men. He shot all of them with his bow so fast none of them could react. After doing so he took Aalis back into the woods a bit, he did not want her to see Blaze eating the twelve bandits. Once Blaze came over to were the two had stopped in the woods they rode back to the bandit camp. Elric freed a woman the bandits held in a cage, and allowed Princess Aalis to test her hunting dagger by cutting the ropes binding the woman's hands. They then gathered the coins the bandits had on them. Elric gave them all to the woman, he was a king after all, such small funds meant little to him, but it would be of great use for the woman. He, Aalis, and Blaze then took the woman back to their hunting camp so a few of the accompanying knights could escort her back to the city she was from. On the way back to her city the knights told her the one that saved her was her King, King Elric Vellen, she was from the Ash Kingdom. Once she got home, the woman told everyone how she had been saved from bandits by their king and future queen.

The Hunt lasted for around a month, and the hunting party made the trip between the two kingdoms a few times so Elric could take care of his people,and so could King Foust. Elric would never say it but, he enjoyed his "punishment",he said nothing of the times she kicked him to wake him up in the morning. Elric manage to save a woman and rid the kingdoms of seventy-five bandits. King Foust got to enjoy the meals made by Elric's cook and hunt to his heart's content. The last night of the hunt Odis gave Elric the letter from his mother.

Dear, Son

I can not know if the old man waited until you were eighteen to give you this letter, or If you have proven to him to be ready for it before then. Know that I love you and only left you to protect you from the ones that made us leave our home, on the day you were born. You are very special and I want to tell you how so myself, and can not risk putting in into a letter or telling others. Come find me in Port Nass when you are ready to learn about your past and can forgive me for leaving you alone all these years. In case I had to move and you can not find me Draw this simple rune on the back of a compass with a drop of your blood. After you do this the compass will point to the closest blood relative of yours that is more than one hundred feet from you. So unless you have children of your own it will point to me as I am the only other member of our family on this side of the ocean.

Love you

Your mother, Ciara.

Elric now knew his mother's name and had a way to find her even if the scouts could not. On the way back to Foust Kingdom the hunting party stopped by the construction sight of Dragon City. In just over a month the workers had manage to build a small tavern for them to stay in and relax as well along with a storehouse that the first floor of what would become the castle. It was designed in a way that even a fully grown dragon could easily enter as well as move about the Main Hall, throne room and king's chambers, along with a space off of the king's chambers that could serve as a bedchamber for Blaze should she want time alone.