Page 70 of I Destroyed the Elf Prince's Harem

I glanced over at Nylian, who was wearing the same bland and emotionless expression he had whenever he was in front of other elves in the palace. However, I didn’t miss the brief twitch in the corner of his eye or the sudden tightness of his lips. Either Queen Sumina or King Beldroth had proved to be craftier than we’d given them credit for.

With a smirk, I inserted myself between Nylian and a servant, opening the carriage door for him. I offered my hand to help him up and bowed my head. “Your Highness,” I murmured.

His demeanor cracked enough to allow him to cup my cheek before he took my hand. “My precious pet,” he purred as he stepped into the carriage. I followed him and tried to take the seat opposite him, but he caught my elbow and pulled me onto the bench beside him. “Behave yourself, my pet.”

“Anything to please my prince,” I replied, which earned me an extravagant eye roll now that we were visually alone. He didn’t believe my new subservient attitude in the slightest. I had no doubt that the guards and servants next to the carriage were straining to hear our every word.

Nylian stretched a hand up and knocked twice on the roof, sending the carriage smoothly forward through the palace gates and into the city proper. “Let us do a little shopping,” Nylian announced.

“As you wish.”

However, Nylian clearly mouthed, Stay close. Be ready.

I got it. There wouldn’t be multiple opportunities today to shake free of both the guards and the servants. We had to remain close to each other or risk being separated permanently.

I nodded, hoping the anxiety creeping up to strangle me wasn’t showing on my face. I wasn’t worried about Nylian leaving me behind. He wouldn’t. He would sacrifice his chance to escape in order to stay by my side. But I couldn’t allow him to do that. We needed to get the fuck out of Ulmenor and head south to Lockeheim.

Of course, that held its own complications. Unless we boarded a ship in Galinaes bound for Lockeheim, all routes across land required us to cut through Wolfrest to reach our destination. Nylian was banned from setting foot in his home kingdom. Those problems were for later. Right now, we had to escape the royal city of Ulmenor in one piece.

The first six stores were tailors who specialized in garments for the nobility and royalty. Each shop owner took time to fawn over Nylian, complimenting everything from his natural grace and appearance to how perfectly he breathed. Most summarily ignored me, giving me a chance to poke about and search for ways to create trouble, but there were a few who sicced assistants on me to make sure I didn’t dare touch anything with my grubby human hands.

After the clothing district, we moved on to shoes, gloves, undergarments, and even a shop that sold walking sticks.

Despite my increasing boredom, I couldn’t deny that all of it was incredibly gorgeous. Each bit of lace was finer than the last. The stitching was exquisite, and the fabric was the best I’d ever seen. It might have broken my heart a bit to walk out of the boot shop without a new pair after feeling the soft suppleness of their work.

The shopping excursion also gave me a chance to take in more of the city sights. When we’d first landed in Ulmenor, Nylian and I had been running for our lives, dodging the City Watch after dark. There had been no chance to take in the beauty.

For an elf city, I found it surprisingly cold and austere. The buildings were all made of pale shades of gray stone, while glass windows sparkled and reflected the sun as it rose higher in the sky. The streets were wide and immaculately clean. That appeared to be thanks to the droves of humans in bland charcoal gray uniforms hurrying here and there to clean up any bit of rubbish, from horse droppings to a stray leaf. Nothing was out of place. Were the humans slaves that had been purchased or gifted from other kingdoms like Kodra?

As the citizens of Ulmenor passed them, not a single one gave the humans a second glance. It was as if they weren’t there, or part of the scenery, like a lamppost or trash can. No wonder they seemed so shocked that Nylian would bother to keep me, even for a pet. I was no better than a Roomba.

The only sparks of color in the entire city came from the garments of the citizens and the occasional window boxes overflowing with bright flowers. So very odd. Elves were supposed to be creatures that embraced nature and were in harmony with it, but in Ulmenor, it was as though the elves wanted the cold precision of stone. Living nature had to be corralled and controlled in boxes. I wanted to ask Nylian about it, but since Galinaes elves surrounded us at all times, I was afraid they might see my questions as rude. I’d have to save them for later when we were out of this town.

Around midday, I caught Nylian’s eye. The day was wearing away, and so were we. The guards and servants had left us with little breathing room all morning. It was time to do something drastic, like set a store on fire. Some smoke and chaos would work wonders at creating an opening for us to escape. And I knew the spot to do it in.

“Your Highness,” I said as I sidled up close to Nylian, “you had mentioned wanting to work on your memoirs soon. Would you like to pop into that stationery store to acquire a new quill and ink? Maybe some new wax as well?”

Nylian stared at me for a couple of heartbeats as if he were trying to figure out whether I’d lost my mind or if I’d actually had a purpose in suggesting this strangeness. In the end, he gave the tiniest nod of his head and led the way to the shop across the street. The reason I’d picked it was because of its relative smallness. A glance through the window revealed it was a tiny place with many shelves displaying their wares. That meant all the servants and guards would have to wait outside or risk being in the prince’s way. Not to mention, a stationery shop would have many things that burned.

We had just reached the stone stairs leading up to the front door when a massive explosion rocked the entire city, sending Nylian crashing into my arms off the second stair. I caught him and held him close as I stumbled to the side, struggling to regain my balance. My ears were ringing, and my heart even felt off-kilter from the blast. Stone and roof tiles crashed to the sidewalk, and people everywhere screamed as they ran.

“What the hell was that?” I muttered as I got both feet under me.

Nylian turned his face toward mine and whispered into my ear. “Why do I feel like that was Jasper?”

Gods help Ulmenor if that was the wizard-in-training. If he’d attempted a spell that big and failed, something had to be terribly wrong. It would be a shock if he were still alive.

Even if it wasn’t, this was a unique opportunity. The guards were already closing in on us, and one of them was shouting for the carriage to take us to the palace. The window was sliding shut before our eyes.

“I think it’s our duty to help the citizens of Ulmenor. To make sure everyone is safe,” I said, raising my voice amid the clanging alarm bells and screams of the people.

“You’re right, my precious pet. We must help.” Nylian squeezed my hand as he slipped out of my grasp. He turned to the nearest palace guard and pointed at the pillar of black smoke that was rising into the sky. It was moving in front of the sun, darkening the city. “We must go assist the citizens and help the injured.”

The guard paled and swallowed hard, his eyes turning into giant saucers in his face. “But-but-but, Your Highness, it isn’t safe for you out here. We must get you to the palace immediately. There are ample people to help the citizens of Ulmenor.”

“Those emergency workers are a far distance off, and it looks like we are only a couple of blocks away. We can at least offer assistance until they arrive.” Nylian lifted his chin and puffed up his chest a bit. “We are going.”

Without another word, Nylian took off, jogging in the direction of the smoke and chaos, not giving the guards or servants a chance to argue. I stuck close to his heels, one hand resting on my waist where I had a dagger hidden under my cloak. If I were lucky, I wouldn’t have to draw it against one of these palace guards, but I was ready if it was necessary. Nylian and I were getting out of here today.

---