109 Chapter 109 Elves For Dinner (1/2)
Joseph was eating supper with his parents and Stella, when Stella suddenly turned towards the door.
”Master William, we have guests.”
Joseph could sense three people on the other side of the door. ”Three guests, and none of them are human.”
”They're elves,” said Stella.
His mother straightened in her chair.
”Oh! I need to examine one of them.” Joseph's eyes widened in excitement.
His mom turned to look at him, with a warning in her eyes.
”Not like that, ma'am,” added Stella quickly, sticking up for him. ”Joseph is too young to think like that.”
William calmly said, ”Stella, let them in.”
Stella pulled open the door, with a smile, right as the lead elf went to knock. All three of the elves paused, as they stared at Stella. Stella switched to a full grin.
”Welcome. Please come in. What brings you to these lands?” asked William, standing to greet them properly.
”We came to investigate a very powerful magic we detected in this area,” said the elven leader.
Joseph studied him, curiously. ”That was over a week ago.”
The elf that was talking, seemed unfazed by his words, but the elf on his left gave a small start.
”It took us a while to travel. There is a war going on after all.”
William nodded. ”Yes, I've heard about that.”
”We are surprised to find you here, William. Do you happen to know what the magic was? Were there any witnesses?”
”It was moving day,” he said, sitting back down and motioning for them to join them at the table.
”Excuse me?” asked the lead elf, sitting.
”We came from the north. My son can tell you more. He is the one who cast it.”
”Your son had that much magical power?” The elf seemed unsure how to handle that information
Joseph laughed. ”It wasn't just me. It took a thousand people to make a GATE that big.”
The elf leader paused, but the other two both twitched. ”Does your son have powers like you do?”
”Not the same, but yes.”
”Can you say something in Elven?” asked Joseph.
”Niashalom,” the elf said, hesitantly.
Joseph turned to Stella. ”That's six!” he crowed happily. ”What did he say?”
”He literally said the elven word for 'something'.”
All the elves gave a start at that.
”You speak elven?!”
”Of course, I speak Elven. I also speak the language of my people.”
The elf on the left couldn't seem to help himself, ”How did you learn to speak ancient fey?”
”Gentlemen, it's not nice to pry into a lady's secrets,” said Joseph, and they nodded in a hurry.
Joseph's mom was completely silent, with a wonderful poker face smile that guaranteed there would be a long discussion after their guests left.
”We thought all the ancient fey were gone.”
”Don't worry, she can control her charm,” Joseph said, trying to rea.s.sure them, but for some reason that only seemed to make them more disturbed.
William stepped in, ”My apologies. Would you like to have some supper while we discuss? You must be tired from your travels. How many more have come with you?”
”We brought an entire battalion in order to be sure we were well prepared for any threats, so there are 2000 of us.”
William merely nodded and called for some servants. He gave orders for food to be taken to the 2000 elves outside and for the current guests. They bowed and left.
”So, how would I request to visit the royal Elven library? It has runes I haven't learned yet,” asked Joseph as he went back to eating.
The leader twitched, but the elf on the right would have spit out his drink, if he had one.
”Even elves are not normally allowed into the royal library. Only the king would know what you would need to do in order to get into the library.”
”Could I trade knowledge of runes?”
”Only the king could decide, but our records are far more extensive than the humans. It is doubtful you know any runes which we do not.”
”I know how to create GATES.” Joseph didn't believe they knew more than him in everything. They didn't have access to the system.
Joseph watched as the elf on the left twitched again. He was so very useful.
”I am relatively certain you have lost that rune, or you would have been here faster. What about enchantments? Do you still make magic items?”
Twitch.
”I am afraid I cannot answer that question. That is not something that we wish humans to know.”
”Do you have spirit mages?”
”Yes.”
”Mages that use circles?”
”Yes.”
”Mages that use magic formulas?”
Another twitch.
”Yes.”
”Have you formalized your study of magic into thaumatology?”
”I do not believe it is called that.”
”Did you bring a mage with you I can talk to?”
”You will likely not be able to speak with our mage.”