Rudimentum: Oracle

Elysia circled the round table slowly, trailing her left hand along its edge. She gazed down at the map of Vasilis all the way from the castle in Umbra to the western tip of the state of Lurvious. This entire land mass hers to rule. She shifted the sling around her neck, her right arm splinted and heavily bandaged that even the dressmakers had to alter her dress sleeves to accommodate.

Swift strolled into the room, wearing the guard's red leather armour tunic with the Vasilis shield on the shoulder. He held a bottle of wine in one hand and two glasses in the other. He said, "Would you like to finally take me up on that offer for a drink, Princess? Uh, I mean Queen."

She looked up and stopped in her tracks. She smiled as he placed the glasses on the table and poured the wine.

"All that time ago you saw me on that ship and intended to ransom Will and I, and yet, I still let you pour me a drink. You are strange and inconsistent."

He handed her a glass with a wink. "Ah, but I am consistently inconsistent." She chuckled. He raised his glass to her than drank half in one gulp. He sighed. "I haven't had wine this good since I stole some from a merchant ship heading out of Yodner." Elysia shook her head. "Do not worry, those days are behind me. If I had ransomed you, I would have been rich but wanted. Now I am poor and still wanted, but hopefully in a different way."

She smiled and took his hand. "Thank you, Ulric Swift." She tipped her glass to him and took a mouthful. "The armour suits you. I think when Anna arrives tomorrow, she will find it quite handsome."

"You think so?" He smiled. "Captain Trebolt has me on prince duty for the moment to get my head around it all. I think he can tell I'm a little rough around the edges. After your coronation I will ask to be transferred into the Queen's Guard."

"Are you sure that is what you want?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"Aye." He frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"To become a Queen's Guard, you must pledge your life to who you are serving. You must be willing to die for them, to follow orders even though you may disagree with them. William became a King's Guard because he felt he owed my father his life for what he had done for him. But you owe me or William nothing, much less your life. I do not know if you are ready to have your life in the hands of another," she said.

Swift remained silent as he finished the last of his wine. Elysia saw his eyebrows furrow, not in confusion but in anger. He placed his glass down and it echoed off the table. A moment of silence surrounded them.

"I should go back," he said. "Are you finished with your glass?"

"Leave it here, I will take care of it," she said. "For the moment I only have one arm, but I am not totally useless." She chuckled and gave him a smile and he returned it half-heartedly.

"Very well. I will see you later, your majesty." He bowed like a stick about to snap.

"Of course." She knew she had upset him, but she did not want him choosing a life he did not truly want.

Swift headed to the door as William walked in with a slight limp.

"Hey Swift," he said. "How is your shoulder?"

"Fine." He walked out without another word.

William looked to Elysia with a frown. "What is going on?"

She gazed at the table. "I told him I did not think he was ready to be a Queen's Guard," she said.

William leaned against the edge of the table beside her, his legs stretched out in front of him, and his arms crossed. He nodded. "Captain Trebolt said a similar thing, that's why he's put him with Prince Louis for a while." Elysia sat beside him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, I think you said the right thing." He kissed the top of her head where the comb he had given her, still missing a gem, was tucked into her updo. Her took her hand in his.

He said, "I received the reports on the outposts, army, and the deals Mordrake signed with Yodner and Kimera."

"We will talk about it with the Council and Mage Stone," she said. "Right now, I just want to sit with you."

"I am with you," he said. "Now and forever."

THE END