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Ignorance is Bliss
Chapter 1: The Beginning of it All
The stag had been caught in the trap minutes before. As it ran through the trees, its left ankle had been caught in the thorny snare and it vainly struggled to break free. But its fruitless attempts only worsened its predicament, and blood began to stain the fallen leaves among the ground. The deer stood in a small clearing, underneath a canopy of trees so thick, the sun barely shone to the forest floor. The trees were tall in height, with many branches thick enough to climb.
As the caught deer writhed, trying to escape, it failed to notice someone creeping up behind it. A young man, cloaked in a velvet red robe silently came up behind the stag. He had been out since the crack of dawn pursuing this animal, waiting for it to fall into one of his traps, and it was now past noon. He had become quite impatient, for he had set at least six different traps around the woods surrounding his home town. His scarlet robe was open, revealing a gray shirt and black pants he wore underneath. An almost sadistic grin formed on his face as he stopped inches behind his prey.
He had no weapon, save a small silver dagger he kept hidden in his sleeve, but he knew exactly how to finish this deer. And it didn’t include his concealed knife. The stag, now crazed with fear, twisted its neck around and gazed at the boy, who began to roll up one sleeve of his robe up to his elbow. Its black eyes glittered with fright as it met the boy’s ice-blue ones. Slowly, the young man reached out a frail hand, fingers outstretched. The deer bucked in protest, but it merely sealed its fate as it collapsed to the ground. The grin on the boy’s face widened and he gently brushed his fingertips over the neck of the deer. The animal stopped its escape attempts at his touch, and its eyes glazed over. Within seconds, its breathing stopped, and its body went limp.
The cruel grin on the young man’s face faded, and was replaced by an accomplished smile. Sliding to his knees, his red cloak glimmered warmly in the dappled sunlight that pierced the canopy. It took a few minutes, but the boy eventually pulled the dead stag’s leg from the trap, and began to pull his prey away by the antlers.
“NISEMONO!” A voice suddenly echoed angrily through the trees, and the boy dropped the stag in surprise. Fear reflecting in his blue eyes, he sprinted to the source of the voice, nimbly weaving through the familiar brush. He stopped short as he saw what he was afraid of. Before him, hanging upside down by one leg from a rope suspended over a tree branch, was a young man, blonde hair falling in his face.
Nise stared transfixed at the caught person. The boy was yelling and screaming for help, turning slowly in the breeze. “Nise! Get me down!” he yelled angrily, pushing his long blonde hair out of his face. Nise, on the other hand, was laughing quietly at the other boy’s dilemma. The boy twisted his head to look at Nise right-side up. “Damn it Nisemono! This isn’t funny! GET ME DOWN!” he commanded and waved his arms frantically, causing himself to spin around and sway from side to side.
The comical sight finally getting to him, Nise doubled over and laughed so hard he thought his lungs would burst. Gasping for breath, he stood up straight and looked up at the hanging boy, his normally cold eyes now glittering with mirth. “Sorry ‘bout that Gilean. I assumed that if you or one of the other elves came by, you would notice the traps.” He said, his voice shaking from the laughter.
“Nise. Just get me down.” The elf boy, Gilean, replied with a glare. Still laughing to himself, Nise reached up and cut the rope around Gilean’s ankle with his silver dagger. Gilean plunged to the ground with a curse, and leaves flew up around him on impact. The elf got up and attempted to act composed by brushing his soft leather clothing with his slender hands, and shaking his green cloak. But his composure was lost since there were a bunch of leaves and twigs in his blonde mane. He glanced at Nise, who was trying to hide his laughter by running one hand through his elbow length silver hair.
“So where’s your bow?” Nise asked, looking around. It was odd; Gilean always carried his longbow with him, and a quiver full of arrows slung over his back.
“Back home, smartass.” Gilean retorted. The elf boy never was pleasant to be around when he was in a foul mood. But then again, neither was Nise. The two were brothers, in a sense. Nise was adopted as an infant, so they had known each other their whole lives. With all that time, they had learned to put up with each other’s moods quite well. “Please tell me that you at least caught something.” The elf added exasperatedly.
“Of course I did.” The silver haired boy replied, and walked back in the direction he had come, gesturing for Gilean to follow. The elf rolled his hazel eyes and followed his friend, pushing his hair behind his pointed ears. Nise stopped once he reached the deer, and made a dramatic gesture in its direction. Gilean cocked one eyebrow and whistled in mock impression. Chuckling, Nise and grabbed the front legs, and gestured for Gilean to take the hind legs. The elf did so, and the two began to walk through the woods, dead stag in tow.
“Why do I have to hold the half with the ass?” Gilean asked in an annoyed tone.
“Because, my dear friend, you are an ass.” Nise replied with a smile, which caused Gilean to roll his eyes again, something he did quite often.
“How’d you kill this thing anyway? I don’t see any blood.” The elf changed the subject, examining the deer whilst they walked. “Except the leg of course.” He added, noticing the ankle that had been caught in the trap.
“That’s classified.” Nise replied, glancing over his shoulder.
“And that’s Nise-nese for ‘I used magic, durrrr.’” Gilean stated with a smirk.
“Maaaaaaaybe.” Nise responded, feigning innocence. The two walked on in silence, the trees starting to thin around them. Suddenly, they were before a large gate, surrounded by a marble wall. The gate was curved gold and sparkled in the sunlight, practically blinding the two. “Stupid gate…” Nise mumbled angrily, losing his patience after a few seconds.
“The guards will be down any minute.” Gilean stated, being the more patient one, and stared up at the top of the glaringly white marble walls.
“Who approaches the gates of Silvanahe?” A voice suddenly called down.
“Stupid guards…completely blind…” Nise muttered.
“Prince Gilean Celebrindal and Prince Nisemono Ulsain returning from hunting for the celebration.” Gilean shouted up at the guard in a formal tone. There was silence for a few moments and Gilean lowered his half of the deer to the ground. Then, the gates creaked and pulled inward. Nise sighed loudly in annoyance and dropped the half of the deer he was holding. An elf dressed in silver armor ran over and bowed to the two, then took the deer and walked back into the elven city.
Gilean and Nise ran after the guard before the gate closed with another loud creak. The elven city of Silvanahe was almost completely made of marble, an excruciatingly white marble that sparkled and shined in the midday sun. But the city enhanced the nature around it. Trees and flowers were scattered here and there within the city, growing larger than normal because of the elves’ way with the environment. Quaint houses and shops lined the streets and sidewalks, and some elves would take the time in the day to merely walk down the roads, singing softly to the flowers around them. Small children played in the streets, running and singing as they pretended to be loyal knights defeating evil wizards.
In the center of the city stood the elves’ pride and joy: The Spire of the Sun. The Spire was a tall tower in which the King and Queen of the elves lived with their family. Its slender tips seemed to touch the sun at noon, when the sun was in the center of the sky, giving the tower its name. It vaulted upward in elegant spirals of gold, silver, and white, reflecting a scintillating light throughout the city and into the surrounding forest.
As the two friends walked behind the guard, they suddenly heard a voice and stopped short, flipping around to face a building positioned near the Spire of the Sun. “Nise! Gilean! Next time you guys better take me with you! Y'know I hate being left out!" A young female elf with brown hair falling just above her pointed ears exclaimed. Freckles lightly brushed her nose and face, an unusual trait for elves. Her clothing was also quite unique. While most elves preferred to wear soft leather or animal skins, she wore an orange vest with a gray shirt. Grey shoes with a yellow stripe on each foot were on her feet, and green shorts held up by a yellow piece of material made up her belt, which she tapped lightly with her fingers that were encased in black fingerless gloves. Black and white checkered wristbands adorned her wrists, and to top it all off, she wore a silver chain with a turtle charm around her slim neck.
Before continuing she glared at them with brown eyes rimmed with green. "But no! Instead you two leave me here and I had to get fitted for a dress! I hate dresses! Don't ya know I hate dresses?!" It was true, she did hate dresses. More like, despised dresses. Nise and Gilean both knew that their friend Jayx would much prefer practicing archery or dagger throwing in the woods with them, rather than cleaning or getting fitted for the “horrible” dresses. "But you're back now! And - OOOH! Is that a moose?!" She suddenly piped up in her normally cheery voice as she caught sight of the elven gate guard carrying the deer past them.
“Uh, Jayx? That’s a deer.” Gilean replied, looking from Jayx to the deer, then back.
“Wouldn’t you have to get fitted for the dress soon anyway? The ceremony is tonight afterall.” Nise followed up.
Jayx looked slightly crestfallen after Gilean’s correction, but her eyes turned to green slits at Nise’s comment. “So? I don’t think you want to get fitted for your dress robes, do you? Remember the lace?” she asked, a hint of a smile forming on her child-like face.
At this, Nise’s face went pale. Paler than usual that is. “Oh lovely.” Gilean spoke up sarcastically, and grabbed Nise’s wrist. “Let’s go. Dad’s going to be pissed off enough at us for not being back earlier. And now we have to get our robes fitted.” He added, and began to drag his dazed friend.
“NO!!!” Nise suddenly shrieked. “NOT THE LACE! NOT AGAIN!” He added, attempting to pull out of Gilean’s grip.
“Oh stop whining about it.” Gilean said tartly, pulling on Nise’s arm in an attempt to drag him towards the Spire of the Sun.
“But come on! Remember last time!? IT BURNED ME!” Nise complained, losing his footing.
“First off, that wasn’t from the robe; it was a rash from you trying to scratch the robe off. Second off, maybe you don’t even have to wear white.” Gilean retorted.
“NU-UH!” Nise argued. “The white-ness of the robe burned me! IT WAS EVIL LACE! EVIL! EVIL I TELL YOU!” he cried, but Gilean had already managed to drag Nise to the front door of the Spire of the Sun, Jayx right behind the two.
Gilean and Jayx entered the Spire first, dragging Nise along with them. His struggling had ceased once they entered the circular lobby however, and the King and Queen stood before them.
Beren Celebrindal, King of the elves, looked upon the three with annoyance and puzzlement. The King had bright blue eyes, and long blonde hair that his son Gilean had inherited. He was relatively tall and slender, a normal looking elf. But he always did have a look in his eye that told you he was easily distracted. A silver circlet rested upon his brow, a silver which matched the elegant blue and silver robes he wore.
To his left stood his wife, Nienna, Queen of the elves. A warm smile adorned her soft face, and her emerald eyes gleamed with pride. She was short of Beren only by an inch or so, and she was also lean. Most of the elves said she had a catlike grace to her, her green eyes also reflecting a cat-like persona. She wore a silver circlet on her brow identical to Beren’s, and a matching robe. Except her robe was jade and silver, instead of blue.
“I beg your pardon, Mother, Father. I didn’t know hunting for a mere stag would require…so much time…” Gilean spoke in a quiet yet rigid tone.
“Pssssh. Not your fault. Blame the deer.” Beren replied casually, pulling a piece of lint off his robe. Nienna rolled her eyes.
“Go upstairs to your room, your dress robes are up there.” She ordered before anyone else could speak. “There are two maids up there to make sure they fit. – Jayx dear, your parents will bring your dress over soon, will you accompany me to the dining hall?” she added, and Jayx nodded enthusiastically. She followed the King and Queen down one arched hall, waving good-bye to Nise and Gilean, who went down another.
After a few minutes of climbing marble stairs, Nise and Gilean reached their leisure room, which was a large room with a door on each end that led to one boy’s bedroom. The room was limestone white, the same as all the other rooms and corridors of the Spire. There were a few chairs and tables around the room, and a dart-board on the wall. A dart-board that had more puncture marks than Nise or Gilean dared to count.
At the end of the room, there were two more doors that led to walk in closets. Besides these doors stood two elven maidens, holding a bundle of cloth in their arms. Nise opened his mouth in a silent gasp, and then turned to Gilean, a grin spreading on his face. “I want my sixteenth birthday every day now.” He whispered, the grin growing wider. Gilean glared at his companion, already knowing what was running through the silver-haired boy’s mind.
Perverted thoughts, that’s what.
With a sigh, Gilean walked over to one of the maidens, an elf with golden hair and slightly tanned skin. Her eyes glimmered as she glanced at the male elf. “Evening Gilean.” She whispered, handing the bundle of cloth to him. Gilean looked at her in surprise.
“Alania?” his eyes darted to Nise, who was already having a conversation with the other elven woman, who had silky black hair, and deep brown eyes.
“You’re happy to see me?” Alania questioned. Gilean’s face flushed and he looked at Nise again, a pleading look on his face. Fortunately, Nise caught this look, and grinned again. Grabbing Gilean’s arm, he pulled the elf boy back a few feet, muttering an apology to the elven women.
“So your girlfriend’s here to help?” Nise asked slyly.
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Gilean hissed.
“Is so.”
“IS- you know what? I am not stooping to your level.” And with that, Gilean turned and took the robe from Alania’s hands and walked into one of the closets, closing the door behind him. Nise snorted and took his own robe from the black haired elf-woman and walked into the second closet, the door creaking as it shut.
The closet was very large, looking more like a hall with clothes lining the walls, rather than an actual closet. Another door was on the wall beside the door, leading into the other closet. There was a screen at its top. Nise slipped off his red robe and placed it on one of the empty hangers. He sighed in frustration as he looked at the robe before putting it on.
Unfortunately for Nise, it was white. But not entirely. Black silk markings swirled upward from the bottom in intricate patterns along his side, stopping up at the shoulders. They mostly kept to the sides of the robe, branching off very lightly into the center. Similar black silk markings adorned the sleeves as well. But even though it had black on it, Nise could not ignore the fact that it was white. A very blinding white in his opinion, for it was made of some sort of fabric that sparkled and shined in light. It reminded him of a pearl, his least favorite gemstone. This did not help his liking of the robe at all.
Muttering angrily, he put the robe on, and then whispered through the screen leading to the adjacent closet. “Psssst, Gilean. Done yet?”
“Now I am.” Gilean’s voice answered a moment later.
“Is your robe the same as mine?”
“Don’t know. What’s yours look like? This stupid door is locked…”
“White with black stuff. It’s shiny…” Nise’s voice acquired a disgusted tone with that response.
“Mine’s the same. Well technically mine’s white with reddish-brown marks. Still shiny though.”
“I don’t remember the robes being so shiny…” Nise muttered as he opened the door to the outside room, where the maidens waited. Gilean opened the neighboring door a moment later, smoothing out the sleeves on his robe.
The black haired elf woman nodded in acknowledgement, and began checking Nise’s robe. He grinned at Gilean as the elf lady smoothed the robe around his waist to make sure it fit. Gilean glared at him, his face an unusual shade of pink as Alania began to do the same thing as the black haired elf.
“This one’s fine.” She said, and Alania nodded.
“So is this one.” The blonde lady replied. “You’re presence is now required in the banquet hall.” She added, turning to Gilean and Nise.
The two boys nodded and began walking out the door, with Nise mumbling angrily to Gilean.
Lavish tapestries hung from the walls, in reds, greens, blues, and blacks, all inlaid with golden thread. Chandeliers on the ceiling had candles that burned brightly, casting a warm glow over the room as the setting sun began to disappear through the stained glass windows. Food was already on the table, placed near multi-colored flowers and opulent dishes and trays.
The Coming of Age celebration was one of the most important celebrations in the elven culture, next to marriage and birth. It took place on the 16th birthday of a child, symbolizing that they were now adults in the elven culture. The parties were usually large, but this one would be one of the largest Silvanahe had ever seen. Prince Gilean and Prince Nise shared the same birth date, and their parents, the King and Queen, were throwing an extravagant party. Everyone in the city was invited, guards were off duty. The guests that were rich nobles and personal friends got to eat in the Spire of the Sun, while the other guests got to eat and party wherever they pleased, waiting for the dancers and musicians to parade through the night streets.
Most of the seats were already filled, the guests talking amongst themselves or marveling at the grand dining room. Maids and butlers hurried back and forth, placing new dishes on the table, as the guests munched on bread and other entrées.
Beren and Nienna sat at the head of the table, with proud smiles on their faces. Nise and Gilean sat at the corners, on opposite sides. Gilean was staring down at his plate, his face a pink shade, for Alania sat beside him in a sparkling green gown. She seemed pretty happy, for a smile adorned her face. Jayx sat opposite of her, beside Nise, who was busy playing with a fork. She didn’t seem too happy, since she was wearing a dress. And no one could emphasize enough how much she hated dresses. Though everyone else thought it was quite nice. It was dark blue with sparkles that made the dress look as if it was a broken piece of the night sky. It had translucent azure sleeves, and was quite lacy along the hems. Nise once said that Jayx would probably prefer to be stabbed in the arm with a spork than wear a dress. Gilean had stared at him like he had five heads. After a while, Beren stood up, and raised his hand up. The room was immediately silenced. The King cleared his throat and then began speaking.
“We are here today to celebrate Prince Nisemono’s and Prince Gilean’s crossing into adulthood. This is a momentous day that should be distinguished and cherished in all our hearts, to know that not one, but two among us has reached the milestone in life that is maturity. We as a people are there for one another, especially in this significant time in one of our own’s life. So…um…” His voice faltered as he lost his train of thought. “We shall be there to help them in times of need…and whatnot…so now…WE EAT!” He finished rather quickly and sat back down, stuffing bread in his mouth. The servants began to bring out the main dish. It looked like steaks of some sort, on decorated silver platters. Nise didn’t ask though, and was already forking the meat into his mouth while Gilean was poking his helping suspiciously. Beside him, Alania was eating in small mouthfuls, sitting up straight in a formal manner.
“It’s not poison, y’know.” Jayx spoke up when she saw the elf’s hesitation. The prince glanced up at her with puzzled hazel eyes.
“I know. I was just wondering what it was exactly.”
“It’s good. Just eat it. It tastes like chicken.” Nise interjected, and swallowed another mouthful of food. Jayx covered her mouth to keep from laughing as Gilean glared at his adopted brother.
“You don’t know what it is?” Beren asked, his eyes darting from Gilean to Nise in surprise. Both shook their heads sheepishly in reply. The elf king sighed in exasperation. “It’s the deer you caught.” At this, Nise lurched, practically spitting up the piece that was in his mouth. Neither Jayx nor Alania seemed to be bothered by this however, but Gilean’s eyebrows shot up as he looked down at the deer-steak and then back up at Nise. The silver-haired boy swallowed then looked down at his plate thoughtfully.
“Still tastes like chicken…” he mumbled.
Soon, the sun was fully set, and the moon at its zenith. The dancers would begin their show soon, and the nobles began to pour out of the Spire of the Sun to the center of Silvanahe.
“Want to see the show?” Jayx asked tentatively to Nise. Her friend merely shrugged.
“Do you?”
“Yeah. Sounds like fun.” She said with a cheery note.
“Alright then. Let’s just grab Gilean and go through the back door.” Nise concluded and slipped through the crowd until he came across Gilean, holding hands with Alania. “PSSST! Lover boy!” Nise hissed, and Gilean glared at him. “We’re going through the back, come on.” Nise had felt going around would be easier, so the four wouldn’t need to be pushed along by the large crowd of guests. Instead, he decided the better idea was to go around the back, and thus walk to the show without the stifling crowds.
After doubling back for Jayx, the four found their way to the back, and went outside. The back of the Spire mostly consisted of the Royal Garden, which was filled with flowers and trees of multiple shapes, sizes and colors. But all of this was dulled by the darkness of the night. Even the moon could not shine all its light down, for persistent trees blocked its way. A pathway of pebbles branched out, forming multiple paths to numerous areas. The four paused, and attempted to find the path that led back to the city. The lack of light made differentiating the usually familiar trails difficult though, and Gilean grumbled to himself as he gazed at the different routes.
“It’s that one.” Nise stated bluntly, pointing to the road on the far left.
“Are you sure?” Gilean inquired skeptically. “It’s practically impossible to see.” He added in an irritated tone.
“I can see just fine.” Nise replied in an equally irritated tone, though no one seemed to notice. With a sigh, he snapped his fingers, and a crackling sound split the air. Suddenly, Nise’s palm was ablaze with a green flame. Jayx “oohed” and “aahed” like she always did when Nise performed his magic.
“You know how mother disapproves of that.” Gilean growled, his arms crossed over his chest. Nise shrugged.
“It’s my magic. It’s natural to me like your elven magic is to you.” The response was subtlety barbed, but Gilean didn’t seem to notice.
“So? Mother still doesn’t like human magic. She thinks it’s unnatural, as do most elves…” Gilean mumbled the last part. Magic was Nise’s passion, and talking about it in a negative way in his presence was like shoving your hand into a wasp’s nest. And so the bomb that was Nise’s temper went off.
“Unnatural!?” he hissed. “No more unnatural than the blood that runs through my veins! Human magic is a gift! A gift from the gods!-”
“And humans shouldn’t be trusted with such divine power! All they bring is war and chaos!” Gilean interrupted hotly, but practically choked on the words when he realized what he was saying.
A terrible silence fell upon the group, the only sound being the faint rustling of the wind, and the chirping symphony of crickets. Nise’s eyes were wide with shock, and the green flame in his hand gave his face a gaunt and hollow look. The girls had their mouths open in silent gasps, staring at Gilean. The prince fidgeted under their eyes, especially Nise’s, for his eyes had become blue slits that shot through him like daggers.
“So, that’s all my race is good for huh?” He asked in a whisper that swirled around their ears. “Death and destruction? Well at least my race doesn’t glare down at all the others as if they were no better than the dirt under their boots! Did it ever occur to you that maybe the gods gave humans their magic because they don’t look down at other races like that? Think about it!” his voice snapped at them like an angered rattlesnake, and with that he stormed down the left path, snuffing the green flame out in the palm of his hand. The three elves were left in semi-darkness as they watched Nise’s silhouette blend into the shadows around him.
“Nice going.” Jayx muttered, pressing her hand to her forehead in exasperation. “How many times must you poke an open wound?!”
Now getting Jayx angry was something nobody ever wanted to do. The wrath of Jayx was rarely unleashed, but it was a truly frightening thing when invoked. When Jayx was angry, she possessed a verbal whip, and wasn’t afraid to use it.
“I’m sorry. It just… I don’t know! I hear it so much from others I just…” Gilean’s voice trailed off and he stared down at the ground in embarrassment.
“Y’know what? I’m getting pretty tired of this. Every time you mention that, he gets in a hissy fit, and I have to play peacekeeper.” She ranted. Gilean said nothing and Alania looked like she wanted no part in this conversation. “And on today of all days! Now I’m going to go after him and go to the show. You two just follow. You can apologize afterwards Gilean. And for Lera’s sake, stop looking like a dog that just got kicked! Sheesh!” she huffed. Lifting her dress off the ground, she ran off in the direction Nise had gone, the gown sparkling like the night sky in the half-light.
Jayx slipped through the crowd and sat down beside her friend with a sigh. “There you are. Good thing you’re sitting here in front, or I doubt I would’ve found ya before the show.” She stated cheerfully. She waited a moment for her companion to respond, but he said nothing. He merely stared at the large fountain with an expression that said nothing of what was going through his head. An awkward silence passed between the two, a silence that Jayx gladly broke. “Y’know, Gilean didn’t mean what he said.”
Nise glanced at her, “Yes he d-”
“No.” Jayx interrupted. “He’s only repeating what others have said. That’s just the world we live in. But he didn’t mean it and you know it.”
The prince sighed, and turned his head. “Maybe you’re right, Oh Wise Jayx.” He replied in his usual jokingly sarcastic tone. A smile formed on the elf-girl’s lips, and then the lanterns on the streets suddenly dimmed, leaving the moon as the only source of light.
The show was about to begin.
A/N:
yeah, first story :/ first chapter :/ so I know it sucks. The character Beren is based on my friend Lost Seraph by the way. lol.
reviews are nice, by the way.
