A Day at the Hot Springs

I sit with Amelia in the dining hall scarfing down breakfast. It was delicious! The chef made egg tartlets full of veggies, and fresh fruit salad for each of us. “So what do you think class will be on today?” Amelia asks me with a mouthful of tart.

“Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be as interesting as ever.” I say watching her finish her tart. The doors open and Princess Maeve walks in. She looks at the boys and then over at us and smiles heading in our direction.

“Good Morning, can I join you two for breakfast?” She chirps

“Of course, your Majesty.” I say and bow my head slightly to her.

“Maeve, is fine.” She sits next to me, “Since I am acting as an Ambassador, I do not want to be treated any differently.”

“Maeve it is then.” Amelia responds.

“So what have I missed this week? I wish I could have come sooner but my parents only just decided they wanted me to act as an Ambassador.” She sits with perfect posture placing food on her plate.

“You’ve really only missed one language class and the tour of the castle.” I smile at her, “so you can easily catch up.”

“Oh good! I know nothing about Elves.” She says casually, and Amelia and I look at her in shock. “What? Are you guys like experts or something?”

“Well we were chosen as Ambassadors because we have spent years studying Ancient Elvish History and Culture.” Amelia informs her.

“Oh.” She blushes.

“Ambassadors, good morning to you.” Pelleas walks through the dining hall, “Today there will be no class, we will be taking you to our local hot spring to mingle with the general public. If you should need swimming robes please let me know and I will have some sent to your chambers.” All of the Ambassadors raise hands as well as myself. “Very well” He chuckles, “I will have some sent to all of your chambers… and the Prince will be your escort to and from the springs.” I feel myself smiling, Elau will be spending the whole day with us!

Amelia and I practically run back to our chambers. When I enter I find swimming gear laying nicely on my bed. I picked it up. It is a long cream robe with matching bloomers to go underneath. This will do nicely, I think to myself, while stripping off my clothes and sliding into the robe. It ties tight and snug around my wait and buttons at the top to prevent and cleavage slippage.

I walk out of my room and see Amelia in a matching robe, and Ben and Luke wearing matching cream pants and top. We head together to the entrance of the castle, and when we get there we see Maeve is a beautiful baby blue swimming robe as she is chatting away to Elau. Elau listens but with no hint of emotion on his face.

“Good Morning, your Majesty.” Ben walks up to them and bows.

“Good Morning, Ambassadors. I hope you all are ready for a long day. I have to warn you, our general public is quite excited to speak with humans for the first time in a long time.” He smiles at us and waves towards the door. “Follow me, it is a short walk to the hot springs.” As we walk Maeve walks close behind Elau asking him about his favorite flowers or season. To which he politely replies.

“Oh wow, Elauthin. This is beautiful.” Maeve utters as we walk through a cluster of vines and enter a haven full of water pools with several waterfalls.The sight gives me chills.

“Please enjoy your time here and find time to mingle with some of the Elves as well.” He walks over to a rock at the edge of a small pool and takes a seat. Maeve follows him but settles inside of the pool and continues talking to Elau. Amelia, Benjamin, Luke and myself head to the largest pool which is half swallowed by a waterfall. This pool has the most Elves in it so it seemed like a good spot to mingle and meet some of the people who live here. The four of us spend the afternoon splashing in the water and making friends with some of the locals. I meet a lovely young couple who end up inviting all of us to their upcoming nuptials. By the time Pelleas comes to deliver us lunch we are barely ready to leave the water. I climb out and squeeze the water out of my hair. Pelleas set up a picnic in a shady spot so we all gather together and take a seat, dividing up the food, while Elau and Maeve join us.

“Are you all enjoying the day?” Elau asks us, taking a seat next to me with Maeve on his right.

“It’s been lovely, really more than lovely honestly. Elvish people are so kind, and smart, and easy to talk to.” I give him a toothy grin and continue with my meal.

“And what about you, Elau?” Maeve asks and I almost choke hearing her use my nickname. Elauthin looks at her.

“Don’t call me that.” He says sternly. She looks at him in shock. “My apologies, Princess, for the harsh tone. Please only call me Elauthin.” She stares at him embarrassed

“Of course, I’m sorry I should have asked before calling you anything different.” She mutters and takes a bite of Elvish bread. I stare at them surprised. I’ve never heard Elau sound so strict. Elau looks at me and I look away continuing my meal.

“Prince Elauthin,” Benjamin starts, “I would love to meet with you for Ocarina classes. I’ve heard you are an amazing musician.” He looks hopefully at Elauthin.

“I’m sure we can find some time for the basics.” Elau answers.

“That would be amazing.” Benjamin then goes on to rant about how Elvish instruments sound different from human ones.

“Alright, well, I am going to go get back in the warm water.” I announce and stand up.

“I’ll come with you.” Prince Elauthin says following me. I look back at everyone else and they are all smiling, except Maeve who looks aghast.

“Okay.” I begin walking to one of the nearby pools. Medium sized with a couple of local Elves relaxing inside. We sink into the water and I find a rocky ledge to sit on.

“So Ambassador, I’m glad you have enjoyed the day. You seemed to do really well talking with the locals.” He sat next to me.

“It was fun getting to know everyone. I can learn just as much from them as they can from me.” I look into his eyes, “So you were watching me?”

“My job was to observe and make sure everything was going smoothly, so yes, I was watching you.” He chuckled and looked away from me.

“Oh so then which Elf did Luke befriend?” I ask

“... Luke, right.. Um he was talking to the young architect.” He guesses

“Wrong.” I laugh and he joins me.

"Okay maybe I paid a little more attention to you than anyone else.” He says and I feel his hand lay on top of mine in the water. “But you can’t tease me for watching out for my closest friend.”

“Careful, Elau, you are going to make a girl catch feelings.” I flirt locking my fingers with his under the water.

“Would that be such a bad thing?”
He whispers and then releases my hand. Butterflies burst through my chest. I could happily live the rest of my life as his flirtatious friend, as long as it means I get to spend time with him.