Fiel smiled for real this time. Lukas reminded him of his sister back home, always more comfortable away from the spotlight. "I would be happy to tell you about my home," he replied pleasantly, "especially if you tell me about yours in return. As long as I'm not being an inconvenience, I would certainly enjoy a moment to sit and talk in peace. Do you perhaps have somewhere a little less….stately we can go?" He wanted to ask about the crying girl he'd seen a moment ago, but that seemed like a very nosy question so he resisted the temptation.
"we can go to the library, I mean I spend most of my time their, and not many others bother to enter it." Luka shrugged, turning around to lead Fiel to the library. "You are not an inconvenience, I have nothing more to do today. Most of my days are spent dealing with the possible suitors my father sends." He shook his head, "they all try to hard."
Fiel walked with him, listening carefully with his hands clasped behind his back. "Suitors? Ah….I suppose I'll have to worry about that in a year or so as well. I take it marriage isn't something you're interested in yet?"
Luka scoffed, "not to any of them, I am more into g- uh nevermind." He said as he opened the door to the library and walked towards a table, he sat in one of the chairs. Well he flopped into the chair, nearly knocking it over.
Fiel took in the library with a sweep of his gaze, admiring the tall windows and rows of old books. He sat gracefully in the chair next to Lukas, linking his fingers together around one knee. He hadn't quite caught the end of Lukas's sentence, but was beginning to see that the other prince mumbled a lot.
"Well," he began, "You asked about my home. We are an island to the north, surrounded by rough seas and harsh winter storms. The valleys beyond the mountain cliffs are quite sheltered, though. Our capital is at the center, on Mount Uarynn. Our main industry is fishing, then orchard farming. Our most advanced science is meteorology. We speak Taril at home, and nobles learn common languages such as this one. We have a relatively small population, but it is stable and healthy. I have eight brothers and sisters, and one mother, the queen. I was chosen as heir not by seniority but according to my capability and willingness to rule. I hope I can fulfill my duties, but sometimes I feel too inexperienced to—" He cut himself off, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Now I'm the one speaking to much. The most important thing to know about Tarionans is that we are not human, although we appear to be. Were you aware of that at all?"
Luka blinked, "not human? No I didn't now that, honestly I don't think I knew your kingdom even existed" He leaned back in his chair, thinking. "Your home sounds beautiful though" He said softly. He reached behind him and pulled a book from the shelve, it had no title and when he opened it, it was full of notes. His journal of sorts, where he wrote things he learnt that were not in the books around him. He started writing things down on an empty page.
Fiel watched him write. "Thank-you. I've never traveled anywhere beyond its borders until now. But yes…we're not human. Tarilonans are a race that evolved to live high in the mountains, in places no one else can access. So, in short….we can fly. That's how I got here, across the sea." He dipped his head ruefully. "I know it probably makes no sense, but we have wings. We can simply hide them when we don't need them. We have some magic too, but that's used for other purposes."
Lukas looked at Fiel, "you have wings? Can I see?" He asked practically jumping up and down in his seat, he had never been able to talk to someone that was not human. And to see the proof would be..excellent to him. He realized his childish demenor and blushed slightly, he cleared his throat. "Anyway."
Fiel was a bit taken aback by Lukas's sudden enthusiasm, but he seemed well-intended. "All right, I don't mind showing you. They're not that exciting to me, but I understand if you've never seen one of us before."
He stood and stepped to a more open part of the room, turning to face Lukas. Smoothly, he unfolded his wings, and they seemed to appear out of thin air, stretching far out on either side. Even only half-open, they were huge, brushing against the chairs and bookshelves. The feathers were the same glossy black as his hair, and shone warmly in the light from the windows. The three longest feathers on the tip of each wing were a creamy white, barred in black. Fiel revealed his tail feathers as well, which reached almost to his ankles. He felt like he was taking up way too much space now, and cleared his throat self-consciously. "There. See? My family has strong wings, all of us. One of my older brothers has wings even larger than mine."
Lukas stood up and walked over to Fiel without thinking, he gently ran his hand over Fiel's wings. "wow" he muttered. He was trensfixed by the wings. He noticed that he was only a few inches away from Fiel and took a step back. "Uh, sorry."
Fiel blinked rapidly and also moved back a tiny bit without meaning to. "Um…..that's all right." He tried to think of something more to say. "They carry me easily enough, but there is a cost. I need a lot of energy to fly, and that means a specialized diet. They also generate a lot of heat, so warmer southern parts of the world are hard to spend much time in. And of course, they can be rather in-the-way sometimes." He adjusted the cuffs of his jacket awkwardly. "Is there anything else you wanted to know?"
"um," Lukas tried to remember if he had any other questions, but his mind came up blank. "I don't think so, but uh thanks for showing me your wings, they are…beautiful" He smiled slightly, before spinning on his heel and walking back to the table, which he then sat on. "um, what's next?"
Fiel studied the chair he'd been sitting in before. There was no way to use it with his wings and tail out, so he pulled over a tall stool and sat on that instead. "Well…..I suppose I'd like to know more about your kingdom, and you yourself of course. If our people do form an alliance, it will help to be on good terms already, I think." He was still not sure what to make of Lukas, but so far his excitement and honesty were disarming. "What is your family like? What is good and bad about your home? Do you have any hobbies? If I may ask, obviously."
Luka sighed, not really liking to talk about his life, but it was only fair, "My family consists of me, my mother, and my father. Good, that we have a lot of people in our village, and books. I like to read and study. Sorry I don't really like talking about myself that much." He said awkwardly, fidgeting with his sleeve.
"Oh." Fiel looked down. "I see…..We can change the subject if you'd like. I don't mean to pry, I know this isn't any of my business, really." He looked around for something else to talk about. "Actually, I don't suppose you have anything to drink? Maybe something to eat as well? It has been a long journey…"
"Oh yeah, I should probably have asked if you wanted anything," Lukas said standing up and walking towards the door, "Let's go to the kitchen, I can go for a snack as well" He said happy that the subject had changed. Though he felt bad that Fiel told him about Tarlion, but Lukas had not told Fiel much about his home. Perhaps he could show him instead, that might work better.
Fiel nodded, folding away his wings completely so they vanished. "All right, that sounds nice." He followed Lukas, wondering if all the kingdoms around here were this casual with guests. He didn't mind, honestly. It made him less nervous. "What kinds of food do you have here? I saw quite a few farms and fields on my way, so you must have a good climate for agriculture."
"uh food? Honestly I don't pay attention but uh, we have..food?" He said nervously as they made it to the kitchen. He walked in and picked up an apple out of a box full of them and took a bite, the servants in the kitchen mostly ignored he was their, a few nodding to him. For him it was normal for the servants and cooks to take his presence as a normal thing. "I think we grow most average foods, but we have many towns under our rule who send food to trade with." He shrugged.
Fiel was actually impressed by the variety of foods he saw in the kitchen. He was used to seafood and fruit mostly, with seasonal nuts and berries and maybe other kinds of wild game on special occasions. Here he found meat from livestock, eggs, vegetables, breads and cakes, spices—some that he'd never seen before. He took an apple as well, copying Lukas, and tried not to stare in wonder. "You're very lucky to have a good trade system. I can't wait to tell my family when I get home about all this, they'll never believe it."
"Huh..it's a normal thing" Lukas shrugged, "what kinds of foods do you have?" He asked casually, wondering why the foods around them were strange to Fiel.
"Mostly fish," Fiel explained. "It's the most plentiful food, and very nutritious for us. In the lowest valleys, we have huge orchards with trees of all kinds. My oldest brother loves working with trees, and he's in charge of the largest gardens in Tarilon. In the spring you can't see anything except fruit blossoms in that part of the kingdom. But we have to work very hard to keep the orchards alive. Most crops don't like the cold weather and rocky soil. And most places don't have room for cattle or sheep. There are some wild forests, with deer and rabbits and so on, but we usually forage for medicine there and leave the animals alone. The closest we have to bread is made from acorn flour, not wheat or barley. I don't like acorns much. And I've heard of cake and pie but never eaten any."
Lukas looked shocked, "Never had cake? But cake is amazing…mostly, and having only fish or well mostly fish is gross, I think..I have not had seafood much but I the few times I did I was not a fan, maybe because it was from the lake, not the best place to get food but anyway, you have to have cake. Like, I will force you if I have to" He said throwing the apple core away and facing Fiel.
Fiel raised his eyebrows and laughed slightly in surprise. "Well….all right, I suppose I can't say no. What kind of cake do you recommend?"
"Uh red velvet is godly, but not a lot of people I have found enjoy it. Um I don't know." He said with a yawn. And walked over to the cook, he whispered something to her and she walked off, he walked back to Fiel and shrugged.
Fiel watched curiously, trying to stand out of the way in the busy kitchen. "I've never heard of red velvet….I'll just have to take your word for it. Um, what are you doing?" He nodded in the direction the cook had gone, trying to guess what her errand was.
"Telling her to get a peice of cake" He said smiling brightly. He grabbed Fiel's wrist and gently led him to a small table that sat against the wall in the kitchen, He let go of Fiel and sat down in one of the chairs. One of the servants came by and whispered something to him before she left giggling.
Fiel allowed Lukas to lead him to the table, bemused. He sat, realizing just how hungry he was. "You seem to be good friends with the workers here," he observed. "It reminds me of the servants back home, they're practically family. These people act as if they're quite fond of you." He wondered a bit what they could be whispering about, but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt since he was being treated so nicely.
Lukas rolled his eyes playfully at the workers around him, "I spent a lot of time here..avoiding my family and such." He sighed, the cook came over with a slice of cake, with two forks sticking out of it. "Here you go Luka" she smiled setting it on the table and walking away. "Thank you Rosaline" He smiled taking a fork from the cake and eating a bite. He hummed happily.
Fiel took the other fork and speared the cake, taking a cautious bite. His eyes widened—it was sweet like fruit, but in a different way, and much more filling. He liked it a lot. "This is delicious," he said, taking another bite. "Maybe there's a way we can make this back home….or maybe we can trade with your kingdom for the ingredients, if we form an alliance. I'm sure there's something we could offer you in return."
It didn't escape him, though, how Lukas's mood changed when he mentioned his family. He hesitated, then tentatively asked, "Do you and your parents…..not get along then? I don't mean to pry, but I haven't seen them once since I arrived here."
Lukas shrugged, "They get along with each other just fine" He said not looking at Fiel. "but not so much with me." He set the fork down trying to keep his mood under control. He felt hurt just thinking about how his parents treated him. He sat silently for a moment before he put his hands in his lap and muttered to himself.
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