Emerald - ON HOLD

CHAPTER XXXV - The Heart of Bilaura

"Dear brother,

We hope your journey has been productive so far. Please tell Yashee that she will not be able to sit with the rest of the Governors during your wedding feast. It seems that not even her title is enough to be considered an equal by your future father-in-law.

I swear to you, that if he demands me to sit elsewhere, I'll cut his throat myself.

Your angry enough sister,
Rubi."

- Letter received in The Lucky Messenger, by means of a messenger falcon –

The Lucky Messenger and the other ships took a minor river that merged itself with the Sobek river, not long after they left the port. They followed the water course south, sailing against the current.

The next days of travel were quite pleasant. On the east side, the landscape was changing slowly but constantly, and sand dunes were beginning to give way to bushes and trees that could easily survive in those lands. Small lakes could be seen far away, and four days after the ships left behind the Heart of Gahri, a great lake was visible in the distance, bigger than any other lake they'd seen so far.

—That's the Lake of the Thousand Parchments. It'll take us a day to sail through, but we'll be in the Heart of Bilaura after that. —Aten spoke happily as he saw Smaragd watching the landscape.

—The Lake of the Thousand Parchments? Why do you call it like that? —she asked with curiosity.

—It's the largest lake in the kingdom. In fact, you could say it's the only lake in the kingdom. The man who dicovered it went home saying that you could easily find enough papyrus plants to produce a thousand parchments. When the people in the village saw the lake for themselves, well, they saw the name fit.

—I think it's gorgeous.

The screech of a falcon could be heard in the distance, and not much after the magnificent beast landed on the rail of the ship, right next to Aten. The prince took the message from the falcon's back and gave his reward. Once he read the parchment, he frowned and gave it to his fiancee to read it.

—What do you think?

Smaragd's answer was exactly what he expected.

—I was hoping that my father would show at least some respect. Once again, I was wrong.

—You're not to blame for this. We've always known what King Bartal is capable of. Luckily, Yashee knows it as well.

—Yashee?

—Bilaura's Governess. She's an old friend of the family. You'll get along well enough.

They arrived at the Heart of Bilaura the day after, right when the sun was setting in the horinzon. The contrast between the darkening sky and the candle lights of the city progressively turning on formed a beautiful spectacle for the travellers to see. Within the hour, The Lucky Mesenger was arriving at the docks, and its crew was making sure that everything was in order.

The Governess was waiting for the royals, along with some of his servants and some guards that were on horseback, waiting for orders. Aten descended from the ship with his pace as steady as always, and Smaragd was beside him, holding his arm and looking as regal as a hèllaszian princess could afford. They were given their space before the Tajàh descended. The crew remained behind and would follow as soon as courtesy greetings were done.

—It's a pleasure to receive you, Your Highess. My Lady.

—It's good to be here, Yashee. You have a beautiful city. —Aten gave his answer and was followed by a nod and a smile from Smaragd