Erydor took Luelle to his place, on the way there. All the elves standing outside seemed to look at them. Many waved at Erydor and greeted him. Young elves playing, some running right in front of Luelle, which made her chuckle and smile.
The village was truly breathtaking, made up of many medium sized cottages, all having flowers around them as well as tall trees. But the biggest tree stood at the center of the village, the sacred tree;not nearly as big as the one at Frostavale Peaks, but quite beautiful.
Finally, Erydor and Luelle arrived. Before they were even close to the door, it flung open and out came a tall female elf with her curly ginger hair stepped out. Her light brown eyes softened when she saw Erydor. She threw herself into his arms and sobbed.
"Easy there, what's this about, Azalea?… you're not one to cry" Erydor wrapped his arms around Azalea, holding her in his embrace.
"W-we heard….we heard what happened, we thought something had happened to you!" Her voice was shaky, and she was visibly trembling.
From behind Azalea emerged another elf with a darker shade of ginger hair, her eyes dark brown.
"Brother…" She walked up and hugged him.
"Elenor…Azalea, don't worry…I'm perfectly fine, Haven't I survived having you two as sisters?" Erydor joked, which made both of them laugh.
Azalea wiped her tears, noticing Luelle.
"Wait…is that?…Princess Luelle Rose Feywin?"
"Azalea, Elenor. Princess Luelle will be staying with us from now on" Erydor hoped they would take it well.
Luelle's ears perked up, she stood by awkwardly to the side. To Luelle's surprise, Azalea pulled her into a tight hug as well.
"You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need to, be it for a bit or…forever. An extra sister sounds wonderful" Azalea's voice was warm…welcoming, it reminded Luelle of Terry.
Elenor on the other hand, seemed a bit reluctant. She didn't want Erydor or Azalea to be put in danger by taking Princess Luelle in.
But since it was Erydor's decision, she wasn't gonna go against it.
The cottage wasn't small, it had a second floor. 4 bedrooms, a bathroom in a small shed outside the cottage.
Azalea gifted Luelle some of her old clothes, many tunics, pants, one creamy white long dress. Elenor was crafty so she took Luelle's exact measurements and would work on making her clothes to her exact sizing.
"Teach me" Luelle had never been anywhere remotely close to a sewing needle before, but she wasn't a princess anymore, she had to adapt.
Elenor seemed surprised but agreed.
Adapting wasn't easy. Luelle had never done anything by herself, yet now she had to learn. There was a river nearby that the sisters would use to wash laundry at, Luelle wasn't used to it so her first attempts tired her out quickly.
Azalea was the closest in age to Luelle….with an age gap of 8 years between her and Luelle. Azalea was 21 years old, still considered a young elf in elf ages. Azalea and Luelle were pretty similar, her Mother had also died surely after giving birth to her.
Her father died a couple of years later by a giant snake in a swamp, it swallowed his whole body whole. After his wife had died, he spent his time drinking, Elenor had to step up and look after Azalea.
Erydor wanted to come back and help her, but she refused. Him working as a guard helped them greatly, he would send them gold coins and they got by.
The day their Father died, he was supposed to go out on a mission with a few other elves, trying to uncover the disappearance of a few elves that had disappeared from the village.
He had drunk so much that he was stumbling, not caring, he insisted on going anyway. What they found was a terrifying giant snake.
The snake towered over them. She was nesting near the swampy area. She lunged at them and managed to grab Azalea's father, dragging him down with her.
Those around him managed to kill the snake hours later, but it was too late. When they cut her bulging belly open , he was not breathing, his bones had been crushed.
The reason Luelle knew the story was because Terry had told her once when she was 11.
While Elenor explained to Luelle again how to wash her clothes, Azalea splashed water at Elenor.
"Stop that Azalea-" Elenor stopped as Azalea splashed more water at her. Elenor grumbled and splashed water right back.
Luelle laughed as they splashed water at each other, until they both splashed her as well.
"What- hey!" Luelle splashed water at them.
When they finished, they were soaking wet.
"Hey Luelle, do you know how to swim?" Azalea wiped water off her face.
"No…..why?" Luelle answered as she ran her hand through her long hair.
"I'll teach you, how about tomorrow? I will show you the waterfalls. Your jaw will be hanging open, it's such a gorgeous sight!" Azalea spoke enthusiastically as Elenor gathered the clothes.
"Sure!" Luelle seemed excited, maybe things were finally looking up.
Later in the evening, Luelle observed as Elenor prepared dinner. Mushroom soup.
Azalea helped chop up the mushrooms and rinsed them.
"Say…..the chief has two kids right? His daughter seemed nice." Luelle commented.
"Oh yes! Her name is Seika….she's actually my friend, I'll introduce you one of these days." Azalea seemed to smile.
"And then there's….Rynarion, he's a great warrior, recognized by the whole elf village. He might look like the oldest; but he's the youngest.
He's…around your age, 15 years old." Azalea finished rinsing the mushroom.
"Let me guess, he didn't take kindly to you?" Honestly, he's the chief's son but he's so entitled-" Elenor pinched Azalea.
"Ow- what did you do that for??" Azalea glared at Elenor.
"Don't get on his bad side, more than you already do" Elenor warned.
"Hmph…he can't do anything to me, sweet seika always puts him in his place for me" Azalea stuck her tongue out.
"Yeah we don't really get along, he's such a jerk. I don't understand how he and Seika could be related. It's no wonder he has no real friends." Azalea washed her hands. Luelle kept quiet as she had been intently listening.
Around dinner time, Erydor walked in. As they all ate, Luelle truly felt at home. It would never be the same as before, but it felt nice to know she wasn't alone. Azalea and Erydor were her family now, Elenor too. Even though she seemed a bit reluctant to let Luelle stay.
Luelle didn't take it to her, she understood why she might feel that way. If Luelle was in her shoes, she would also feel that way.
After dinner, Azalea and Luelle went upstairs to bed. Her new room was smaller than the one at Frostvale Peaks. It would be a lie if she were to say she truly loved it, loved her new life. But she had adapted, her old life was gone.
"Erydor…" Elenor's hushed voice pierced the silence.
"How long do you plan to let her stay?" She asked.
"Whatever do you mean? She will stay as long as she needs to." Erydor was calm.
"Valric killed the king, what do you think he will do to you when he finds you? Knowing you're keeping princess Luelle??." She grasped her dress, her finger nails digging.
"I made a promise, I promised I would keep her safe. I won't just throw her out." He got up from his chair.
Elenor slammed her hand down onto the table.
"You don't understand, do you? You're not only putting yourself at risk but us, Azalea and me. Your sisters!" She bit her lips until she drew blood.
"If anything…were to happen, I will deal with it, I would put myself on the line for you two. Either way ... .Valric would look for me, whether I was helping Princess Luelle or not." Erydor wasn't spitting lies.He had been a key reason why Valric's treason had been found out, which led to his banishment.
"But-" Elenor started
"Go to bed sister , your big brother has everything figured out….trust me" Erydor patted her shoulder and headed to bed.