Ch.18 Homecoming part 1

While Elric enjoyed having princess Aalis in his lap,it would not be proper to keep her there while he conducted the business of the kingdom. So he had the smaller throne taken out of the room and replaced with the one that used to belong to the queen. Elric had found out that the queen had died while pregnant with her fourth child. She had been given the wrong tonic, instead of one to ease her morning sickness that had made her bedridden, she had been given a powerful sleep aid. With her body in a weakened state the queen of Ash Kingdom fell asleep never to wake up again. Elric and Princess Aalis told the fallen former king of Ash that they were truly sorry for his loss. Both of them had never really known their mothers, as one died giving birth, an the other having to place their child into the care of others for safety.

The hour was getting late, but even though Elric had yet to be officially crowned king then amount of things that needed to be taken care of right away was no small amount. With what to do with the burnt capital city out of the way, Elric decided that for now he would treat the old king of Ash as a guest and temporary advisor, as who better to help him understand how a kingdom that should be close to a third the power of Foust Kingdom based on its size had became so poor it could not afford horses for all its knights. Ash Kingdom was named for ability it had to produce Potash after all. It sold tons of the stuff to the dye makers of Foust Kingdom alone each year, Because it was needed along with the petals of a certain flower that grew in Foust kingdom to make blue dye. Ash Kingdom was the only source of potash on Fargo, and therefore should be a rather wealthy kingdom because of it.

Princess Aalis had long fallen asleep in what had became her throne chair by the time the old king had given a ruff explanation of how all the money had been wasted. He said the problems started with his first son and the other two only made it worse. Being he was the crown prince he took it upon himself to try and expand the borders of their kingdom. He waged war on unlined villages that were not part of any kingdom at first, but started going after bigger and bigger targets. The cost was enormous and quickly drained the kingdom's coffers. One of the battles he started was with a walled city-state, that had hired a large mercenary force. This was the last battle he fought as it claimed not only his life but that of his younger brother that had followed him into battle to prove himself.

The second prince had a taste for other men and not the ladies, causing the king to have to pay great sums of money to keep the fact hidden. As for the youngest of his sons, the third prince he held wild lavish parties even thought he knew that the kingdom was all but flat broke. The parties were filled with booze and women, often the third prince would force whatever castle maid that helped him stagger to bed after them into joining him in it. He held so many of these parties that it might be impossible to find a chaste maid in the castle.

"I see the problem was that you let the three princes do whatever they wanted that the expense of the kingdom and its people. It is no wonder why they hate you and welcome me with open arms."

"I fear that I truly was a bad king and father, not capable of giving my sons the discipline they needed. I only wish that I could have seen it before now. It may have prevented princess Aalis form being kidnap and my subjects from suffering for years. With proper guidance you will make a far better king than I ever could despite your lack of years. I can say this because you stopped to save and old woman you did not know even though you were filled with rage and in a rush to get here to save that lil girl that is fast asleep on my late wife's old throne. It may be cause my sons did not have a mother that they turned out so bad. I hope you have a kind and loving mother that can be both mother to you and princess Aalis as well. It is not good for a girl to grow up without her mother."

"Sadly, I know nothing of my mother or father, other than she brought me from across the ocean. She left two letters with the old man I was left in care of, before she left fearing that she was followed. The old man was Odis, the Grand Advisor to the King of Foust as you probably know. I do not know If Odis has read the letter left for him or not, the only thing he told me was the Blake a swordsman that works for him, he also taught me the sword starting at age 5, saved my mother and it from a bandit in Port Nass after the man that was with us was killed defending us, and that the other letter she left was for me when I turn 18."

** The road between Foust and Ash kingdoms **

A carriage could be seen with two men inside that was in the middle of an army of thousands. It was the army of Foust kingdom, and the two men were King Foust and Odis. Odis held a letter in his hands; it was the one Elric's mother Ciara had written him. He figured it was time that he read it as she had only said to read it years later. It was now ten years later, and he had a few days time to kill on the way to watch her son be crowned king.

Dear, Odis

I want to once again thank you for taking in my son Elric. While I do now know how long you waited to read this, but if it has been a few years you may have noticed that Elric is different from others his age. I can not be sure how these differences may appear as they pertain to the background of both my family and his fathers and it is hard to know what all he might inherit or at what age it might manifest. What i can guess is that he is probably much stronger and smarter than anyone else his age, maybe even some adults. He also might attract magical beast that you thought were only myth and legend to himself. I can't be certain of this as his uniqueness only flashed for a second when he was only a few weeks old. As for the families' backgrounds I will leave that to Him to tell you once he is of age and finds out himself, as only he will be able to judge if you are trustworthy enough to be told what is basically a state secret.

I can however tell you who we are and what brought us to your doorstep. As I told you my name is Ciara Vellen. But what I did not say is that I am Queen of the Vellen Kingdom of Tera. Elric is the only son of myself and his father Artro Vellen the King of Vellen Kingdom,thus making him the Crown Prince.

** At this point in reading the letter Odis was so shocked he almost dropped it. This prompted King Foust to ask if he was ok? After assuring the king he was ok just stunned by what he was reading and said he would give it to him when he was done.**

Our capital city was attacked by a rogue group of hedge witches on the night Elric was born. His father ordered everyone to escape while he and our local forces held them back as long as possible. Please do not tell Elric any of this. I will tell him myself once he is older, The letter I left for him says that he can find me in Port Nass.

Queen Ciara Vellen

After He was done Odis handed the letter to King Foust saying here read this it is from Elric's mother, she wrote it before leaving him with me. King Foust then read the letter, and by the time he was done reading it he was beaming with a huge grin on his face.

"Well, Odis I wish you had read this thing years ago, If you had I would have given him a different reward for saving my lil princess for the well, I guess it is not too late to reward him with that now. I have to ask are you going to tell him?"

"Part of me wants to tell him right away, another wants to do as she wishes and bot burden him with such heavy news until he is older. I guess I will send a scout out to find out if she is still in Port Nass, I would not want him to not find her after so long. Once found I will heave it up to her if she thinks he is ready to find out about his past."

"I think that is best as well, just be sure to have the scout tell her that her son is now the King of Ash Kingdom by his own merit along with him having a freaking pet dragon that can breath fire."

With this ten of the fastest riders were sent out in search of Elric's mother to bring her the news.