Chapter ~ Five

Chapter ~ Five

      Ulrikima at it's finest!

Zaydie:

I'll say one thing, Hakeam sure is a little dare devil!
[is that all you have to say about him? haha]
Oh Quorra!

"Come on! Just make sure you do exactly as I do." Hakeam shouted over his shoulder.
"Um ok." I said looking at Kylun. He shrugged silently.
He suddenly started to scale up the side of a house. Like a monkey!!
"come on! Just trust that the Creator will show you where to step!" He called down at us.
Quorra rubbed her hands together, and Lexi was jumping a little to loosen up.
"I'm all for it!" They both shouted.
"Race you to the top!" Quorra challenged. Dashing up to the wall.
The two started to scale the wall, slower then Hakeam, but at least they made it.
Haha.
The boys weren't so lucky.
After the three of us girls had climbed the wall with ease, we watched as the boys attempted to climb the wall.
"Boy. If they can't get this, their going to be in big trouble!" Hakeam stated, bending down to watch the boys try and climb up the walls.
"Oh use Sindo already!" I called.
Sav used Sindo and jumped up to the roof, with the rest of us. But... Kigo and Kylun didn't.
"Oh.."
I glanced at the others.
"Just... learn the hard way." Quorra shouted.
Kylun rolled his eyes and jumped halfway up the wall. He then grabbed the window sill and climbed up to the top of the window. He swung his left arm up to a decorative piece of tile that stuck out of the wall. Gripping it he swung his other hand onto the roof shingles.
From there he pulled himself up to the roof.
"There. Happy?" He asked Quorra with a grin.
Quorra shrugged.
"I'll take it. But I could do better." She said.
Kylun rolled his eyes.
Kigo came up after several tries, but he finally got here.
"Come on!"
And Hakeam was at it again. This time he ran over to the side of the building and leapt off it!!
"Hakeam!" I cried, dashing over to the edge of the roof. "Whoa!"
I found him giggling as he slid down a waterway.
I laughed. Despite the cold, the water was still in it's liquid form.
I jumped down and slid down the waterway myself.
"Right behind you!" Quorra yelled.
"Me tooooo!" Lexi screamed. I chuckled then realized that the end came.
Hakeam jumped from right before the end of the waterway, and threw himself in the air.
The end came sooner then I thought, and all I could do was jump.
I screamed. And I know that for a fact.
[haha. I'm so glad you have ears.]
Oh shut up.

My fingers gripped on something and I held tight. I was slammed into a wall, and I hit my head.
"Ouch." I muttered. I suddenly remembered Quorra and Lexi behind me. I quickly looked up and saw that I was holding onto a beam.
I pulled myself up onto it and ran onto the roof. Just in time to hear Quorra scream. And then hear a big thud.
[hey be nice.]
Ha!

Soon the rest of us were up on the next roof. Our boots and pants, or skirts, were wet, but other then that we were good!
Hakeam moved on to the next obstacle.
As we moved along the top of the roofs, he showed us interesting things about the city.
I had to admit, it sure was different seeing the world from an eagle's perspective.
Not my particular preference. But it was definitely interesting.
The city sure was something to be admired. It was made of low, round houses built close together. But it all had an elegance about it that I've never seen in a city before. It was beautiful. I loved how they kept it all bright. Even with the skies as grey as they are, the city was lively, and active.
"I love how each street has their own little band. It's really cool." Quorra said. I nodded in agreement.
"Come on. The party's starting! Don't want to be late for that!" Hakeam called. Diving off another roof. We all looked down as he landed in several bales of hay.
I shrugged and followed in his suit. But careful to keep my skirt down. Which is quiet difficult when you think about it.

****

"Ah there you are. I was beginning to wonder where Hakeam had taken you." His mother said as we stepped into the warm room and went strait over to the fire to warm our frozen hands.
"All over the place." I answered with a shiver.
Kylun placed his arm around me to try and warm me up.
"Yes, that is what he likes to do all day! Climb those walls, jump those roofs, try new stunts. It was horrible when he started out! So many scrapes and burses! but now nothing bigger then a black eye." His mother said. I smiled as I heard of how proud she was in her son.
"Now we must be going. You will get something to warm your hands latter. I wish I could offer you finer clothes, but I am afraid we are not doing so well financially." She said with a tone of regret.
"Don't worry. It is perfectly fine. These clothes help us blend in and that's all that we need." I said with a smile. Turning to her and giving her a hug.
"Oh well! I'm glad that we have been able to help in some way. Now come. Let us go." We followed Juwela and her family out of the house and down the street to the palace.

The guards let us in no problem, but the six of us were on the look out. I kept count to see how many guards there was in all. Six guarding just the door. Probably many more on the inside
And of course, my years of Shieven training proved my assumptions to be correct.
Inside someone took our coats for us and we looked around the palace.
The inside, was just as beautiful as the outside.
The domed shape roof was tall, and made of stained glass.
Along the outer rim of the ballroom,
[where we were]
was a balcony, supported by white painted pillars that had green vines growing around them.

If I though that the last part I went to was crowded, ha! That was nothing compared to this one!!
[Well it might have something to do with the fact that practically everybody from Ulrikima was there!]
... true.
We followed Hakeam's mom through the crowd.
Quorra tried to avoid friendly chit-chat as we waited for the Governor and the new couple.

A trumpet fanfare played and the princess stepped through a set of doors, and came into view on the balcony.
The crowd cheered as the princess smiled down at them.
Her gold hair was curled, and a ring of gold was placed on her head.
She wore a gold dress that flattered her figure in a very modest way.

She looked from the crowd to the opposit side of the balcony. we all turned to see prince Dastion come out and smile back at her.
He wore navy blue and white. A military uniform by the looks of it.
The two of them walked to the stairs on the opposite side of the room.
Meeting in the middle, Dastion held out his arm, and the princess placed her own gloved arm through it.
Together they walked down the steps, meeting the Governor at the bottom.

"So not only has my sister been taken away, my own identity has been too!" Quorra muttered under her breath.
I sighed and both Lexi and I gave her a hug.
"We'll get to the bottom of this." I said quietly. "I promise."
She let out a sigh and pulled her scarf up.

The couple mingled around with the people. The princess picked up a little girl and placed her on her hip.
Dastion tickled the cute girl who giggled, and the parents chuckled.
The couple move don with the Governor right behind them.

The princess came up to Juwela and her family. They chatted for a moment, then Juwela's mother bowed, and the princess noticed us.
"Hello. I don't believe I've seen you all before." She said kindly.
She was definitely proper. She pronounced every word specifically. She held herself erect and tall.
[Oh so your saying that I'm not proper?!]
Compared to her? yeah.
[oh shut up]

"We're just visiting." I said with a smile.
"Oh! Well I hope you enjoy the feast. I am princess Venila, and please if you need anything, just let me know.”
We all smiled and nodded. “I don’t believe I got your names.”
I glanced behind me and found that Quorra had slipped away.
We quickly introduced ourselves.
“Very unique names.” Venila complemented.
“Venila.” She turned to see Dastion come up next to her.
“Hello Dastion.” she said kindly. He gave us a nod and a charming smile.
“Hello. Keeping her out of trouble?” he joked.
She scolded him playfully.
“Come on princess. I believe it is time we found our seats.” Dastion said to his bride-to-be.
She nodded and gave us all a curtsy.
“I am honored to have met the Chosen Three. Please enjoy yourselves.” She said.
We all curtsied, or bowed, back, and she was led away by a stunned Dastion.

The whole multitude of people, made their way to the feasting hall.
Inside the hall, four long tables were lined up against the four walls of the room.
Servants were running around lighting candles, and placing last minute platters of food down on the tables.
Juwela and her family slid down on one of the benches. We slid down with them, followed by tons of other people.

I looked around, it seemed that every room had a balcony!
This one however was lined with guards. I made quick count as my leg started to bounce under the table.
“I count six on this side. All armed with bows and swords.” I said, fiddling with my necklace.
“Six on the other side too. All with bows and swords as well.” Kylun said. Leaning on the table with his arms.
I nodded and looked around mindlessly. My leg still bouncing.
“Zaydie. Your making me nervous.” Kylun said quietly, placing his hand on my leg to keep it from bouncing.
“Oh. Sorry. Can’t help it.” I muttered. He nodded and we looked down at the end of the hall, to the Governor and the prince and princess.