After a few minutes of waiting, they were very surprised to see Syriel and Lirieth coming in, holding hands with an air of complicity and with a glow in their eyes that reflected a strange, but sincere and loving happiness.
Lirieth hugged her parents.
"Syriel has given me a marvelous white mare of thoroughbred. It is beautiful!" she announced cheerful and excited.
And Syriel addressed his father.
"And Lirieth has given me this beautiful necklace. I beg you, father, to give me the ring," asked Syriel firmly.
"Are you sure?" asked his perplexed father.
"Completely. The kindness that I have seen in her heart makes her its creditor," said the prince.
King Jorion always carried the ring of his beloved wife and promised his son that when he found a sincere love like the one, he had with Clariel, he would give him the ring so that with it he would promise his future wife. When Jorion told Syriel the sacrifice he should make to facilitate the pact with the orcs, he did not think that the princess would receive the precious ring. However, he could not refuse to fulfill his promise after the conviction that denoted the words of his firstborn.
Jorion took out of his pocket a small box of luxurious appearance and gave it to his heir. Syriel took the box and went to the orc king:
"Your Majesty, I ask for your blessing to ask for the hand of your daughter Lirieth, whom I swear to love, to respect, to protect and to be faithful to her until death," declared the prince with both solemnity and enthusiasm.
"Prince Syriel, I am very pleased with your honorable request, and I bless you by agreeing to opt for the hand of my daughter Lirieth, if she so wishes," replied the pleased king, corresponding to the traditional terms initiated by the prince.
Uncovering the box, Syriel addressed the princess and, kneeling before her, he said while her the jewel:
"Princess Lirieth, this ring belonged to my beloved mother until the day of her sad death, it would be a great honor for you to accept it as a symbol and seal of our next union, in solemn marriage," he declared looking into the eyes of the princess which was surprised by the sincere and loving gaze of the young prince.
"Prince Syriel, I give you my hand and accept this jewel gladly. I hope to be worthy of it and to become your worthy wife," replied the princess with emotion, surprised, also surprised by the strange happiness that invaded her.
"You will be the worthiest of the princesses," concluded the prince joyfully.
"Well, if no one has a problem, we will celebrate the happy event at Gargaran, our palace of Teberion, at the next flower season," said King Gulrath.
"There's no problem for me," said Jorion.
"There are still three months before the flower season, I think it's so much time, but I will wait impatiently," said Lirieth as she enthusiastically admired the ring around the finger of her left hand.
"Lunch must be ready now, and perhaps we can improvise a dance to celebrate the engagement," proposed King Jorion seeing that everything was unfolding with greater joy than expected.
Kings and princes left the room in search of the palace's dining room.
The banquet went by without major setbacks, albeit with the logical misgivings between man and orcs, but without any significant altercation.
While Syriel and Lirieth began the improvised dance, after the sumptuous lunch, she addressed her fiancé:
"Syriel, you've been great," the princess addressed him informally, "I think we've convinced them; the detail of the ring has been very moving and it's really beautiful. If someday you want it back, tell me and I'll give it back to you," she proposed.
"Thank you, Lirieth, I told you I could do it without any problems. As for the ring, I'm grateful, but as long as we're together I'll have it too, so don't worry about it. It also has magical power," replied the prince corresponding to the name of his fiancée.
"Really? I detect nothing magical in it. What is that power?" asked the princess.
"It's linked to this one," said Syriel showing her a similar ring on his finger. "As long as we wear them, each of us will know where and how the other is when we are separated."
"How?" Lirieth asked.
"You have to concentrate on the ring, both of them will shine and heat up slightly and we will both perceive where the carrier of the other ring is and his state of mind," said the prince.
"It is curious, I do not perceive any magic…" replied Lirieth concentrated on them.
"My mother gave me mine before she got sick so I could never get lost. I have never had to enlarge the ring; it has grown along with my finger. She also told me that the powers they had come from an ancient elf magic of great power. Perhaps that's why you won't be able to detect it," Syriel clarified.
The entrance into the palace of a high hooded and a médium rogue interrupted the princely conversation.
The hooded man, nearly six feet tall, uncovered a head with unmistakable elf features: pointy, hairless ears in the human area of the beard, and a long black hair that fell straight no further than the shoulders. In his hand he carried an ebony staff, adorned with strange but beautiful filigrees sculpted from the wood itself.
The rogue, on the other hand, was about five feet tall, his ears were also pointed, but in a less pronounced way than in elves. As was customary among those of his race, he had a tangled and curly hair tending to blond and beady brown eyes of vivacious intelligence to which not a single detail escaped.
"Baldrich," shouted the prince enthusiastically. "He's my teacher, I haven't seen him in almost a year. Come and meet him," he invited his fiancée.
After a warm embrace, the prince took Lirieth by the hand and said:
"Baldrich, this is my fiancée, Princess Lirieth."
Baldrich kissed the princess's hand with forced courtesy and said, while staring at the young woman:
"At your service, Your Highness. Please, excuse my apparition by surprise, but I never thought I would see my prince promised with an orc woman, nor that an orc woman could be so beautiful." Baldrich introduced himself with a certain coldness disguised as bad concealed kindness.
"It is a pleasure for me to meet the master who has undoubtedly taught my future husband so well," replied the princess courteously but with some audacity. As an invitation to an initial truce, she offered no resistance to the elf's mental exploration, although she did not have a specific area of her mind.
"I also present to you my loyal médium helper, Bellamir," Baldrich exposed.
Bellamir bowed and the princes greeted him back. The mediam had the sensation of having seen the princess before, but did not remember where or in which circumstances.
After a few minutes of greetings and inconsequential comments, Baldrich announced with concern and denoting a serious urgency:
"Syriel, I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news, I must immediately notify your parents of a worrying information. Princess, would you be so kind as to assemble the kings? Syriel and I will go immediately.
Lirieth agreed at once, with a semblance of deep concern.
As Baldrich and Syriel watched her walk away, Syriel asked his master:
"What do you think of her?"
"I have never seen such a pure soul in an orc… Nor in most men and even some elves," replied the elf sincerely.
"Yes, neither do I. She's an admirable woman, and incredibly beautiful being an orc, too," replied the prince.
"Syriel! You're really in love with her, I notice; and she may be worthy of the ring I've seen shining on her finger. But be careful, I've also seen an area on her finger that I haven't been able to access and that worries me, only