He studied them all for a moment, and then stepped across the stream. He looked down at Hyden, and smiled kindly.
“My daughter has befriended your hawkling it seems. I hope it is no inconvenience. She only came because she’s never seen a human before, and now she’s grown too bashful to present herself.”
He motioned to Borg, and then pointed at a boulder a short way downstream with his staff. Wordlessly, Borg went to the massive rock to roll it to where the king indicated. When it was in place, at the edge of the firelight, King Aldar sat down with a sigh, and motioned for the others to do the same.
“Princess Greta is shy,” he continued speaking about his daughter. “She’s not yet a woman, but trying desperately to keep from being considered a child. She’s curious, which is good, I suppose.”
He looked around towards the forest from where they had come, and looked like he was about to call her, but must have decided against it. Instead, he touched one of the wolves at his feet. Its ears perked up, and with a “Yip!” it, and another wolf, scampered back across a stream, and disappeared into the woods. With his long staff, the Giant King reached over to the wolf by Hyden’s feet, and touched it softly.
“Hunt,” he whispered.
The wolf rose up, stretched, and after a long tongue-curling yawn, it growled at the rest of the pack, and strode off up the creek bed. All but two of the other wolves followed excitedly.
Turning to meet Mikahl’s eyes, Borg spoke.
“Before the princess shows herself, I would like to hear about what befell Loudin of the Reyhall. He was a man I held much regard for.”
Mikahl started to speak, but thankfully, Vaegon cut him off. The elf told the tale concisely and completely, leaving no important detail unspoken. From the physical descriptions of the two dark beasts, to the radiant magic of Ironspike’s blade as Mikahl wielded it against them, the elf painted the gruesome scene.
Mikahl was thankful. He could barely hold back his tears while listening. If he had had to tell the story himself, he would have broken down, and he didn’t want that to happen; not in front of King Aldar.
As the elf told of the burial of Loudin, and the strange circle of blue flowers, Mikahl saw that Princess Greta had come, and in an attempt to not be rude and interruptive, was wandering about on the other side of the pool. At the moment, she was chasing Talon here and there, like a young human girl might chase a butterfly. The two wolves King Aldar had dispatched after her, were lolling nearby, watching her and the area around her. It became clear that they weren’t just lazing. They were intently guarding her.
Hyden noticed the Princess as well, and studied her as Vaegon spoke. She was his size, but by her girlish manner, it was clear that she was only around ten or eleven years old. Her dark hair fell in ringlets around a wide, but pretty face. Even from across the stream, he could make out the spattering of freckles that ran across the bridge of her nose, from cheek to cheek. She wore a doe skin long shirt that hung to her knees, and loose fitting britches underneath. A bright, rose-red pair of furred boots matched a coat or cloak that lay in a bunch near the stream.
Hyden couldn’t tell if the boots and cloak had been dyed that color or if it was natural. He couldn’t think of a creature whose fur was that bright a shade of red, but there was no telling what sort of animals lived way up in the heights that the giants called home. It was another question he would have to ask Berda when he saw her again. If he saw her again, he corrected the thought. The feeling that he wouldn’t, seemed to grow stronger every day.
By the time Vaegon had finished the telling, the sky was starting to darken, and the faces of the two giants looked grave. There was a long, reverent silence, and then King Aldar called over his daughter and introduced her.
Princess Greta blushed, and hid behind him while he spoke. She curtsied at the appropriate time, and managed to keep from giggling. Then, when the introduction was finished, she made off with Talon as quickly as she could. Her two great wolf guardians followed her dutifully as she went back across the stream to explore. More than once, Borg’s cautious eyes glanced protectively towards the area where she was playing.