by K T Durham
Luca burst out laughing and tried to wriggle free when Papa started tickling him. He tapped Elly on the head with a low murmur, and instantly a circlet of white daisies appeared atop her black curls.
“Oh, Papa!” she cried, touching the daisies and giggling. She hugged him around the neck as he scooped her up and whispered, “Happy birthday, my Elly! You’ve struck the big twelve at last!”
Suddenly, he flinched in pain. She looked up in surprise and noticed that his wrist was bandaged. She frowned. “Papa, what’s the matter?” She stared at the bandage. “Has this got anything to do with what happened last night?” she demanded. “I thought I heard the bells tolling, and there were shouts. Did you get hurt last night?” Her words tumbled out breathlessly.
Papa chuckled and shook his head. “No need to be alarmed, my dear. I just injured myself on the job. Now, let’s enjoy your birthday!” He then tapped Elly’s palm, and a thick, black, bound book with silver-edged pages appeared: Strange and Delightful Creatures from Other Realms by Myradeth Riverina.
She squealed in excitement and clutched the book. “Oh, Papa! Thank you so much! I’ve wanted this for a long time!” It was true, but she didn’t mention that she had actually wished for the first edition of Roaming the Worlds as a Chameleon, written by her role model, Larabeth Goldberry, who had long since resigned from her duties as an explorer for the High Council. But she was still really happy with this gift; she grinned and kissed Papa on the cheek. He beamed.
“Hey, Papa, no fair! Where’s my treat?” demanded Luca, stamping his little feet in protest.
Papa chuckled. “It’s not your birthday, my boy! Surely, you wouldn’t want daisies! Here, how about this?” He tapped Luca on the head, and a little beanstalk shot up.
Elly laughed while Mama attempted to make it vanish, but Luca darted away and shielded the beanstalk with his hands. “Don’t, Mama! I like it! I’m going to school with it!” he bellowed, running and dodging from his mother.
Mama threw Papa a dirty look, which made him laugh even harder. “Don’t fret, Nidah! Thanks to Elly, it’s a day for harmless fun and plenty of celebration!”
After Mama finally managed to get rid of the plant protruding from her son’s head, she marched them into the dining room, with Elly and Luca perched on Papa’s broad shoulders. When Elly saw what was sitting on the table, she gasped and almost fell off.
Mama had outdone it this time. She had constructed layer upon layer of sweet cake sprinkled with cinnamon, oozing with golden maple syrup, and edged with white vanilla frosting and clusters of wild berries in cream, topped with an iced figurine of Elly with flaming green eyes. The sweet cake tower was so tall that it almost touched the ceiling.
Elly laughed and clapped merrily. “Oh, thank you, Mama! It looks incredible! What a treat!” Mama beamed. Papa looked at his wife proudly.
They all sat around the oak table and scooped chunks from the sweet cake tower while Marlow licked off the crumbs from his massive serving. Mama had given Elly the topmost layer so that she could have the iced figurine. “It won’t melt for another few days,” she said.
Elly closed her eyes as she savoured the first bite. Oh, it was sooooo delicious! Maybe she could just stay home all day, curl up with a book in her hammock, and finish off the sweet cake. Surely, nobody in class would even notice she was absent. Even if they noticed, they wouldn’t care.
Mama’s voice interrupted her wishful thinking. “Ready for your presentation this morning, Elly?” she asked, swatting at Luca as he attempted to topple the sweet cake tower. Elly groaned and buried her face in her hands.
That morning, she had to deliver a presentation in front of her class. Their teacher, Mr Holle, had assigned them the topic “My Dream”, requiring them to give a presentation about what career path they wished to take after graduating from Arvellon Academy in five years. So far, most of her classmates’ dream careers fell into the following categories: minstrel, muse, jeweller, healer, teacher, culinary artist (like Mama), weaver, law keeper, beast tamer, mind seeker, silversmith (like Papa), historian, painter, silver miner, guard, protector, researcher at the Institute of Elven Magic, and High Council minister.
Elly suspected she was the only one who wanted to follow in her famous grandfather’s footsteps and become an explorer. It was not a popular career, nor was it a lucrative one. “As an explorer, you’ll want to learn about other worlds and cultures, and even live among the peoples in those foreign places and adapt to changing environments,” Grandpapa had once explained. “There’ll be plenty of adventure, and endless surprises. But most elves, by nature, prefer to keep to their kind.” Then he grinned. “Perhaps you will be an exception!”
Elly, ever the inquisitive one, had looked at him eagerly. “Do you really think so, Grandpapa? Because I really want to become an explorer like you and Larabeth Goldberry. I want to explore all sorts of amazing realms and make all sorts of discoveries!” She knew that Grandpapa had been good friends with Larabeth, but he had not seen her for many years, not since she got married and retired to live a quiet life far away.
When Elly had asked for her whereabouts, Grandpapa laughed. “If Larabeth Goldberry does not want to be found, nobody will find her.” He had not elaborated. “Tell you a secret, my dear; Gaya, the human realm, is still one of my favourites, though it has been out of bounds for over a century. You would have read that Larabeth was very fond of the humans, too.”
He smiled nostalgically. “I wish you could have been with me when I met with Napoleon of France. He was quite an intriguing fellow, very clever indeed. In those days, despite the lavish use of perfumed water, there was always an underlying smell of unwashed bodies around me. Humans did not make it a habit of washing themselves regularly in the old days. There were exceptions, of course.” He winked. “Queen Isabella of Spain… She was a woman of strong convictions, and rather beautiful for a human, I might add. I had some very stimulating conversations with her and her husband Ferdinand—when he wasn’t drunk, that is.” He chuckled, his face animated. “The Chinese poets and scholars of the Song and Tang dynasties wrote some beautiful, heartrending literature, and to this day I still read them when I have time to spare. And Mahatma Ghandi of India, my, he was a beautiful soul who loved his country. I got to know him in his youth. I was greatly saddened to hear of his premature passing.” He paused. “I became quite fond of my Russian friends. They were honest, hard-working people. Many were gifted in the arts. Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky will forever stay in my fondest memories.” Then he knitted his brow. “But Ivan the Terrible, as his name suggests, was a black sheep. You certainly wouldn’t have liked him, my dear.”
As Elly sat brooding over her class presentation, Luca poked her shoulder and pointed at the iced figurine on her plate with a sly grin. Hey, it doesn’t look entirely like you. The hair should look much crazier!
Elly threw him a withering look. You don’t want to irritate me. I am not in the mood for any of your tricks. Do you want me to turn you into a cucumber? I won’t be sorry if Marlow gobbles you up!
Luca guffawed, feigning a look of terror. “Oooh, Elly-Belly’s in a foul mood!”
Papa gave Elly’s arm an encouraging squeeze. “You’ll show them, Elly! I’ve seen how your presentation looks. They’ll be blown away.” She smiled at him gratefully.
But then her parents began discussing the details of Elly’s birthday party to be held at home that evening. This gave Elly another reason to groan.
Turning twelve years old was an important milestone in elf tradition. It was an elfling’s coming of age. On this day, Elly would finally receive her Royan, and it was this she was so excited about, not the awful party that her parents were throwing for her.
At another elfling’s twelfth birthday party, years ago, she had witnessed for the first time the bonding ceremony under the Grand Canopy, the topmost part of the Tree. She was very young, but the image had been sea
red into her memory; the birthday girl, named Eribeth, had stood under the twinkling silver lights and cluster of silver leaves and branches where enormous, golden-brown acorns grew. Like the other onlookers, Elly had to stand a fair distance away as the bonding ceremony took place. She had to crane her neck quite a bit to catch a glimpse of Eribeth and her grandmother. After a while, she looked on with wide eyes (and a tinge of envy) as Eribeth walked towards them with an awed expression, cradling something in both hands. It was glowing and splayed like a blooming flower. It was beautiful.
Papa had noticed Elly’s stare and whispered, “Every elfling who comes of age is given a Royan, a very special book flowered from the royal acorns of our beloved Tree. Those royal acorns that grow here at the Grand Canopy are much bigger than the small, ordinary ones the squirrels usually feast on below. You’ll see what I mean when your time comes.”
“But what does a Royan do, Papa?” she asked with wide-eyed fascination.
Papa smiled at his daughter’s curiosity. She never ran out of questions. “The Royan will be your friend and your guide, functioning as a journal and intelligence vessel to help you grow in knowledge and wisdom. When you get your Royan, you’ll be declared grown-up enough to serve Alendria!” Elly was so excited she spilt her drink all over the front of her dress; which was just as well, because her mother had sneakily changed the colour to pink when Elly wasn’t paying attention.
After swallowing a mouthful of sweet cake, Elly heaved a sigh. “Can’t we just keep the birthday party to family and best friends?” she protested feebly.
Mama glowered and crossed her arms indignantly. “Elly, we’ve already had this discussion. It’s your coming of age. We must go ahead with it!” she insisted, pouring some unicorn milk from an ewer into silver goblets. “Besides, it’s too late to back out now. We’ve already sent out the invitations to all two hundred guests. Everyone’s coming!” She glared at her husband, who looked very amused. “Sereth! Say something!”
Elly dropped her head into her hands and let out a wail. Two hundred guests? She didn’t know there would be so many people. This was a nightmare. “But I’m just going to be a wallflower! I’ll be the joke of my own birthday party!” she cried. Didn’t they already know about the despicable Three Flamingos and the names they called her? What was the point of inviting people who weren’t even her friends?
Mama shook her head. “It’s not simply a birthday party, Elly. You’ll be a debutante. We’ll be publicly announcing your coming of age!” she said in exasperation.
“A day-boo-taunt? What’s that?” Luca demanded, his mouth full of wild berries and sweet cake.
“It’s what they call a young lady like your sister when she comes of age and makes her formal entrance into society, pledging to take part in serving Alendria and protecting her people,” Mama explained, looking at Elly meaningfully.
Papa shook his head as he popped wild berries into his mouth. “What’s all this nonsense about you being a wallflower?” he exclaimed. “What boy in his right mind would overlook a girl as pretty as you at a dance?” Elly rolled her eyes and Luca pretended to gag.
Elly brooded while her parents continued to discuss the party and Luca played with Marlow. What was so great about celebrating one’s birthday, anyway? She would’ve much preferred to throw a party once she became a real explorer. Now, that would be something worth bragging about. She heaved a sigh and spooned more sweet cake into her mouth. “Why are so many people from school invited to my birthday party? Only two of them really count,” she muttered under her breath as she thought about Aron and Edellina, her two best friends.
Aron had been her next-door neighbour from the day she was born, and they had been best friends ever since. Aron wanted to become a historian. “I’ll tag along with you on your future expeditions, and we’ll both make history together!” he liked to joke.
Then, several months ago, Edellina turned up at the school library when Elly was studying with Aron. She was a head-turner: lithe and tall, and strikingly pretty, with gorgeous, white-silver hair and slightly unusual, slanted violet eyes. She had moved to Evergreen City from a remote region called Morwen Valley that was renowned for the silk they produced there. Edellina seemed very grown-up and independent, for her parents were often away on trips. “They’re your regular merchants, obsessed with the family business,” Edellina had said with a cool shrug when Elly asked if she missed them. Elly and Aron were drawn to her. She felt rather flattered that someone as cool as Edellina would want to be her friend.
Mama clapped her hands, pulling Elly out of her reverie. At a snap of her fingers, the remains of the sweet cake vanished (there wasn’t much of it), to be replaced by two silver goblets filled with unicorn milk. Papa had already gone to get ready for work. “Children, drink up before you head out to school!” She turned to Elly and winked. “Come straight home after school, okay? Don’t linger! We’ll get you ready to party.”
Elly started feeling queasy, barely able to gulp down her milk. Marlow eyeballed the goblet in her hand. Mama frowned. “You better drink up before Marlow swipes it!” When she saw Elly’s pale face, she sighed.
“Darling, you’ll be great! I’ve listened to your presentation, and we were so impressed,” she said, patting Elly on the back. It was true. Nidah was very proud of her daughter, and hated that she was given such a hard time at school. Children can be so cruel, she thought.
Elly untangled herself from her mother’s embrace, looking down gloomily at the scroll in her hands. Oh, she just hated talking in front of the class!
Papa stuck his head through the kitchen doorway. “Do you need Marlow to give you a ride?” he asked. Mama sighed; Marlow had already gulped down Elly’s unicorn milk.
Elly shook her head as she put down the empty goblet and absent-mindedly petted her griffin. “No, it’s all right. You can take Marlow today. I want to walk and clear my head a bit… before I totally humiliate myself in class.” Without waiting for Papa’s response, she quickly blew her parents a kiss and hugged Marlow before stepping outside. As she leapt down the rope ladder, she greeted several twittering birds perched on their branches. Luca had already gone ahead without her, which was just as well; she really wanted some peace and quiet.
She waved as she passed several guards standing at the cross points. “Good morning!” she called to them. Some of them smiled back, while others remained stoically expressionless. Were there more guards on duty than usual?
She sniffed and wrinkled her nose. Strangely, the air was less fragrant this morning. Maybe it’s just my imagination. Then she remembered overhearing snippets of a conversation that Papa and Mama were having in the kitchen before she set off for school… something about how the climate underground had been warmer recently.
Mama sounded anxious as she spoke in a low voice. “I know the goblins live thousands of miles below us, but still, it never really feels far enough, does it? We can never really shake off the knowledge that all they really want is to have Alendria all to themselves.”
Papa had replied darkly, “Hush, Nidah. Let’s not speak of this while the children are still in the house.”
Elly knitted her brow as she walked along, jumping over some rain puddles. For as long as she could remember, she had always felt safe from goblins. She knew they are vile subterranean creatures who avoid the sunlight and hate the elves. But she had never actually seen one before. The guards and protectors seemed to do their job well, vigilantly ensuring that no goblin ever escaped through one of the cross points, where the roots underground connected with the trunk of the Tree. Goblins had invaded through the cross points in the past. But there hadn’t been a goblin invasion for eleven years.
As she approached the towering silver-wrought gates of her school, Elly slowed her steps, and her stomach began to knot up again. The flags of the four houses of Arvellon Academy billowed rather grandly in the breeze, each emblazoned with the emblem
of Arvellon: red for Seaul, green for Cephrin, blue for Lorne, and white for Graille. Soon, the new season of archensoar would start, and these four houses would be at loggerheads again. Last year, the Archensoar Cup had been snagged by Cephrin for the third year in a row.
Elly glanced around. At least the headmaster, Sir Baerin Greenleaf, was nowhere in sight today. He often liked to greet the students at the entrance and cracked the unfunniest jokes.
Then she spotted Aron and Edellina sauntering towards her, and her spirits lifted. How she wished they were in her class.
Edellina was looking lovely as always, her white-silver hair tied up in an elaborate braid. As usual, many pairs of eyes followed her in admiration.
Oblivious to the attention, she smiled and winked at Elly. “Good luck with your presentation today. You’ll be fantastic!”
Carrying a thick book in one hand, Aron grinned and handed Elly a big red toffee-pop. “Happy birthday, Elly! Here, my Mama made this for you! It’s your good luck charm,” he joked, draping an arm around her shoulder.
Aron had dark silver hair and grey-blue eyes, and he would be called truly handsome if he had been taller and broader for his age. “You’re just a late bloomer,” his mother would say firmly whenever her son complained of his awkward lankiness. “Besides, your cleverness more than makes up for anything!” But his bookishness seemed to repel most boys in class, who much preferred practising their archery and playing archensoar to studying.
Aron would shrug and scoff, “Never mind. Exercising one’s mind will reap greater rewards than exercising one’s muscles. They’ll see!” Despite this, Aron wouldn’t miss watching a single game. Being in Seaul House with Elly, he would often drag her along to cheer for their team.
