The sight of their queen entering shocked everyone. "Good morning your majesty," a unanimous greeting broke her wave of fury. "Greetings to all," she smiled and calmed her head. "How may we be of service?" the same lady behind the counter asked politely. "Could you please tell me the location of Staxius Haggard?" She asked. An innocent grin blossomed ontop of her rage. Xula became a rose, a face as beautiful as the flower and emotions heavily charged with anger – the thorns. "Give me an instant, I shall check when he last crossed the portal."  Xula waited, her anger slowly gave way for calmness and reflection. "Staxius Haggard last took the portal to the royal army's training grounds. Not the one situated on the bottom floor of the tree but the one you ordered to be made for the next Protector of Arda." She pointed to the purple portal. "Thank you very much for your help," without waiting to hear her response; Xula walked straight in. "The queen sure is in a foul mood today," one of the guards uttered when she left. "shut up and go back to work you imbecile." The always strict receptionist fired back.

  'Left, right, up and down,' the sound of sword clas.h.i.+ng made a symphony. Every strike had a rhythm. Curious about the nature of that rhythmic sound, Xula slipped into the shadows and cautiously approached. A small hall led into the training ground. There, a ma.s.sive field with obstacles, training dummies, spell casting bots, S-rank and above training bots. Not to forget the countless number of exercise machines to train a warrior's body. This was only available in Arda, the talented warriors asked for a more rigorous training regimen. This was the scholar's idea, numerous machines that trained different parts of the body.

Baffled by why one would put their body in such peril, Xula walked closer. Staxius came into view and so did the countless numbers of bots inside the closed-off arena. A quick peek on their helmet revealed SS-ranked bots. He had put the training level to SS for that was the max at this instant. The machines moved so swiftly, it took a good thirty seconds for her eyes to adjust. They darted around from one end to the other in a matter of seconds. Staxius remained in the middle, his face partly covered by a shadow and sword sheathed. He dodged, the bots adapted quickly and went through the process of using their best attacks. A volley of charged up fireb.a.l.l.s, arrows, swords, you name it, everything was aimed at his face.

Xula tried to jump in but heard a strange mumble. 'One, two, three, two, one, three, FOUR,' a flash of light, he unsheathed his sword: the spells all nullified, the weapons all broke and their heads on the floor. It looked like he didn't move, the falling of the clunk of metals told another story. The queen stood in awe; a faint glimpse of light revealed her partner's face – closed. The eyes were closed and he bore a smile. "Good morning my queen, it's a bit weird not having someone announce your arrival," a loud buzzer signaled the end of the training session. The cage got swallowed back under the ground. He walked off as if nothing major had happened.

  "Good morning to you too Staxius," she replied, her anger still wasn't that subtle yet. "Why do you have such animosity towards me," he paused and stared at her with a warm and innocent face of an infant. "tis not I who is responsible for your skimpy clothes, that was your own fault for sleeping recklessly." He grabbed a water bottle from one of the many dispensers. "how did you know I was mad about that?" she asked skeptically. "There's nothing much to it." He took a sip. "-the grand sage once told me to leave the room if ever you accidentally fell asleep. Apparently, you walk around at night and can get very hectic if you spot someone else beside you. I also didn't want to sully your reputation for we haven't made the nature of our relations.h.i.+p public yet, dearest Xula." He winked and drank everything. Hearing his response, her cheeks flushed. "Fine, I agree, that was a bit uncalled for on my part, but still; it was embarra.s.sing waking up semi-naked and the thought of you seeing me in that state made my blood both boil with anger and pa.s.sion." She whispered the pa.s.sion bit for she didn't want to cause any more trouble.

  "Worry not my queen, I haven't the desire to fulfill my carnal desires at this moment in time. All I want is to know you, not the queen, but the real Xula; the fairy who could turn into an angel at any given time." He lightly touched the freezing bottle of water's tip on her forehead. That got her out of her daydream, "f-fine." Her eyes looked like a puppy while her face pouted. "Can't believe that you're the queen," Staxius headb.u.t.ted her gently. "We need to head for Oxs.h.i.+eld soon, the day of the banquet approaches fast." He waited for her, "yes, that completely crossed my mind." She scurried to the portal.

The sun's gentle warmth turned into an inferno. The outside soon felt like the entrance to the underworld, it grew so hot that the forest could naught but cower before his splendor. The various elves and guards around had to take breaks more occasionally, the heat made some weak, and some grew sick. Sudden changes in weather were common, try as hard as they might to fight against it, the sheer randomness of this even left scholars speechless. It had now reached the peak of its journey, time was midday.

  "Staxius, have you gotten everything you need?" one of the counselors asked. A short man with a bald head, a mustache paired with vampiric teeth. Ruslan Kromer, one of the many n.o.bles from the various vampire clans. A man who tried to oppose her once upon a time but was shown the vulgarity in his actions. He repented, needless to say, the queen read his mind and it stood true. The man had changed for the better. "Yes, thank you Ruslan," he loaded up the car with luggage and other valuables.

A portal got called forth; the car who normally was parked on the lowest floor of the tree had been brought up to the castle's level. A splendid piece of machinery, something worthy of royalty, a car so costly it'd make the people turn their heads. This was the first time the people in her council saw the beast known as Shadow. If it wasn't for Staxius, they would have had to travelled by a carriage, something archaic but still sought after. Not to forget that said carriage was embedded with gold and diamonds, a sign of their prosperity.

  "Staxius, STAXIUS," a voice called out from inside, "yes?" he answered. "here, here," a girl waved at him. "Ruslan, I'll be here in a minute. Avon, please check if the car is ready to go," he walked forward.  A figure lingered behind him, it looked like Staxius had left his shadow, "as you wish," Avon materialized and winked. As nonchalant as Staxius tried to appear, Ruslan was thoroughly impressed. "We've made a great choice leaving her majesty in his hands." The other curious advisors came out to see how their queen would travel to another province. "I agree, he's both powerful, strong, diligent and most importantly, he cares for her as much as we do. I know not why someone like him; a person who seems too quiet and distant to be so affectionate to our queen. It may seem like he's trying to fool her, but bare in mind, that our ruler has the ability to read minds – this situation is too complex to put into words." The general of the royal army spoke, he was making his normal rounds around the castle until Void caught his attention. "If it isn't Niroz Knakthix," Ruslan added casually. Niroz waved and continued his rounds.

  "Aurora, what is the matter now?" Staxius stood near the entrance. Inside, maids, butlers, and servants ran around aimlessly, the queen got ready to leave. This was a first for her as well as her province, it felt weird leaving everything to a stranger's hands but they all knew that Staxius was the better choice. "Nothing much, I just wanted to give you this." She handed him a candle that was the size of his pinky finger. "There's a faint trace of mana, what's this?" Staxius asked curious about the nature of the said object. "This is a poison detecting candle, you needn't light it. The latter will sense the air around you and warm up if there is even the faintest trace of poison or anything harmful. We can't be too careful; you are going with her majesty as her partner." She took a quick pause. "-rumors have already spread around the kingdom that their ruler is courting someone." She continued. "nice attempt at trying to be subtle, the populous has gone crazy. Not with anger nor hate, they are curious about who has the guts to make their ruler fall in love with him. They're more astonished than anything. Given its just rumors at this point, I'm expecting you and her majesty to make it public. But for that to happen, you need to make sure no harm comes to her." She ended.

Concurrently, the castle grew silent. "My boy, you need to get ready as well, the queen is on her way." The old sage teleported behind him. "As you wish, master." He didn't seem fazed at all, that trick had been used far too many times. Staxius ran inside, changed, and came out looking stunning. The queen still hadn't made it out yet. The attire given to him was a black suit, formal and well-tailored. The quality reflected in the fabric itself, the left side of his chest had a place especially for any n.o.ble crest. As a sign of respect and proof of how close they were, the royal Ardanian crest was placed right next to his. They both shone as brightly as the golden sun outside. His hair still long and tied in a ponytail – Staxius looked like he was the king. A few minutes later, the queen walked out. She was resplendent in the black and gold embroiled dress. She wore a necklace that covered part of her neck, it matched her dress and screamed of n.o.bility. Her greenish hair was tied, the amount of detail in how she looked was worth it.

This was the first time Staxius ever admired how she truly looked. Her face was perfect, with no flaws, pointy ears, not as obvious as elven ones but still point and slightly inhuman. Her cheeks, always slightly red, a pointy nose and luscious lips. Her greenish almond shaped-eyes, the ones that changed color throughout the day matched her hair perfectly. She was as beautiful as Venus herself. Staxius unwillingly stopped breathing, he could not take his eyes off her. "Stop gawking and let's go," she gently elbowed his stomach.

  "Staxius Haggard, you whom the queen has chosen, are to protect her at all times. We from her council shall make sure everything stays in order, have a safe voyage – Queen Shanna Islegust is in your hands, be safe." Ruslan's voice deepened as he spoke the last words. Staxius opened the door for her and then left. A portal got conjured, and the drive to Oxs.h.i.+eld began. Their time had been scheduled so that they would reach Dundee exactly six hours before the banquet; enough time to rest and get ready to set off.