The Ancient Relics

The King

The dust cloud was now so close that Nova could make out the outline of some horses ridden by men. Maybe those kind people would help them. That is of course if they weren’t originally here to capture them. Nova kept her eyes on the coming people, and she could tell her friends were all doing the same. After a few minutes, the crowd finally reached them. They were dressed in weird looking clothes. A long red shirt with something that looked like a skirt wrapped in a leather strip around their waist. The pants were puffy and were also surrounded by strips of fabric. If Nova had any hope that they were still in her country, it was gone now.

“Joler poul teont la gro,” one of the people spoke. 

What was he saying? Nova knew about fourteen languages and this wasn’t one of them. None of her friends seemed to understand whatever tongue they were speaking. The book then flipped its pages and opened a blank, white paper. Golden letters started to appear: “What are you doing here, strangers” it read. Was this what they were saying?  

“We come in peace,” Esther said. Immediately, the book converted what we said into whatever weird language they were speaking. Esther showed them the book, and they started reading what we said. When they spoke again, the book once more wrote the translation.

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“We have never seen you before. You must meet the king immediately.”

“We don’t know where we are. Can you please show us the way.”

“You are in the Crystal kingdom, the most feared place in this world. If you would kindly follow us to the royal place, we would be grateful.”

“Will your king help us?”

“Our king is kindhearted and fair. If he sees that you don’t mean any harm, he will gladly help you. But if you turn out to have bad intentions, you won’t live to see another day.”

“We will come with you. No need for using force.” 

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Nova and the others rode on the back of some horses. It was about half an hour when they reached a civilized area. Long, tall buildings were found on one side while short ones were found in the opposite side. Nova wondered what those represented. They finally reached the heart of the city, where a beautiful palace was erected. It had white walls and several towers of different heights. The domes were red, blue, and yellow. The palace was a true masterpiece. The soldiers dismounted and guided Nova and the others to the inside of the grand palace. They entered the great hall where everything was elegant and truly spectacular. Long windows covered the walls and let the beautiful sunshine in. Red curtains were hung from podiums in a curve position. At the end of the hall, there was a canopy with beautiful transparent drapes hanging loosely. Inside, there was a throne with lush red cushions and a golden frame. After Nova noticed all of that, she noticed the king. He was tall and muscular, with a broad jawline. He had a short English mustache, which made him look more intimidating. The guard talked and he replied to them, but Nova and her friends couldn’t understand a word. Nova tried to grab the book from her bag, but one of the guards shouted at her. The king directed his head in their direction and began talking. He was clearly asking them something but unfortunately, the only thing they could hear was a bunch of jumbling words. The king’s features began to change from calm to angry. This wasn’t going to end well, Nova knew it. The king started raising his voice in an alarming way. After he got no responses from the girls, his face turned red, and he was about to start shouting. Luckily, another person entered the room, and the king seemed to calm down. He was a boy with winter gray eyes and pure diamond colored hair. The king started speaking with the boy in a sophisticated way. At least, this is what Nova could tell from the tone of his voice. The boy responded to the king and to Nova’s surprise, she understood what he was saying. A quick glance at her friends told her that they could too. 

“Please help us,” Esther said in a new voice.

“Why aren’t you answering my father? You know this is disrespectful, right,” the boy asked.

“We would respond if we actually understood what he was saying,” Autumn said in response.

“What do you mean? You can understand me and I am speaking the same language he is speaking. Plus, you seem to be pretty fluent in Golaria,” the boy remarked.

“I didn’t understand anything from what you just said, but we honestly can’t understand The King. Can you please be of assistance and explain that to you father,” Nova said.

He made a weird look with his face that suggested he was thinking about it. After a few seconds, he nodded.

He returned back to the king and started clarifying the situation. Nova listened carefully to make sure he didn't say anything wrong or get them into trouble. After all the explanation was done, the king responded. Nova’s heart skipped a beat. What was his response?

“He says you can stay here till he can figure out who you are and where you come from. But be careful, you don’t want to mess with him,” the boys translated for them.