By the time we had made it to the town of Creighton, it was well into the night, and I found myself dozing off into a light sleep while holding onto Ulric.

Seeing him fight today had instilled a sense of safety that was likely dangerous in itself. How could I allow myself to trust a foreign man who I had only known for two days? On top of that, he was trading me in as his bounty, whether I wanted to go or not. Thankfully for both of us, I did, in fact, want to go. No, I needed to go. I had to uncover my past and understand what was to be my future. I knew so little about this world.

This was the longest I had ever stayed in Erivale, and I also wondered if I would ever be able to find my way back to the human realm. I had been gone for quite some time; would my parents be concerned? Would my art teachers still grade my finals? What was to become of the life I already have?

I was awoken from my sleep and roiling thoughts as Ulric lifted me from the saddle and began to carry me towards the front door of what looked like a small, medieval inn. Although medieval architecture is pretty much modern architecture here.

"Thank you, but you can put me down." Now that I was awake, it was no longer necessary for him to carry me. With a grunt of understanding, Ulric set me on my feet and walked ahead.

"Stay close," he grumbled. I was immediately colder without the warmth of his body, and I found myself missing his embrace. With a frown, I struck that idea from my head. I had one, maybe two more days of Ulric, at most before he would disappear. Then I would never see him again. He was banned from these lands anyway. Which also made me wonder why we were entering an inn of all places--it seemed like an easy place for him to be spotted.

As the door to the bar opened, the pungent scent of alcohol washed over my senses, and the din of loud chatter and drunken music cascaded over my ears. The main floor of the inn appeared to be a bar. It was quite dark, making it difficult to make out the individuals around me.

Gerard followed closely behind me, his hooves sounding much louder than Ulric's and my footsteps on the wooden floors. Taking another look around, I noticed a few Fauns and Satyrs around bringing large mugs of ale to their lips. There were actually quite a few different races within this bar. While the majority was obviously elves, I also spotted a Centaur, a Minotaur, and a Garuda with a Lilitu tucked under his wing.

Ulric went up to the bar counter where a female Elf in a dress traditional to a tavern maiden stood. Her breasts were practically spilling over the top of the dress, and her black hair shone under the firelight illuminating the room.

"A room please," Ulric growled in his gravelly voice and tossed a small leather bag of coins onto the counter. Without a second guess, she opened the bag, counting out the money and then slipping it into a leather bag around her hips.

"Follow me." She walked us up some creaking stairs to a hallway of doors. As we passed, I could hear some unusual sounds coming from behind some doors that meant intercourse. I blushed and hurried faster after the apparent innkeeper that doubled as the tavern maiden. She opened the door to a room with one single bed and a washbasin with fresh water.

"One bed?" I looked at Ulric, unsure of how the sleeping situation would shake out.

"I may be a brute, but I'm still a gentleman. The lady shall have the bed."

I rolled my eyes. "Ulric, you and I both know I'm far from a lady." A small smile quirked the corner of his lips.

"Either way, get some sleep. I will be back later. Feel free to bathe if you'd like as well, although there are no spare changes of clothes." He headed toward the door.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I must check on something," he muttered.

I wanted to press him further, but he was out the door before I could get in another word, and I sighed in annoyance. Now it was just Gerard and me. "I can help you prepare the bath, Amberleigh," he offered.

A blush tinged my cheeks. Maybe that was standard practice here, but I was not accustomed to, nor was I comfortable with, being helped with bathing – particularly from a male. While I had not officially accepted Gerard to be my personal servant, he was already acting in that role. I had informed Gerard that as I had only known I was a princess for about a day, I was unsure of whether I wanted a personal servant, but that he would be allowed to travel with us to the palace. Once there, if I did not choose him to be my servant, he could work for the palace of another royal.

He seemed slightly put out by my reserved answer but also understood my position. "That's quite alright, Gerard," I declined politely. "How about I help you clean up some of those wounds really quick. I'd hate for them to get infected."

"That is too kind, princess, um, Amberleigh. I do not want to force your hand. I'm fine."

I gave him a soft smile. "Gerard. It's okay not to be fine. Let me help. I'm no medical professional, but I can at least help you clean the cuts."

"If you insist." He bowed his head slightly to me.

"Go ahead and take a seat on the bed." I grabbed one of the small washcloths folded next to the washbasin and dipped into the tepid water. Beginning with Gerard's face, I wiped away the dirt and blood, revealing an olive-toned complexion and pink cheeks. I took extra care with the wounds on his neck, trying to be gentle. Gerard hid every wince or flinch of pain with a smile.

He chattered on about the glade and the construction of flutes common to his clan. It took some time, but eventually, he and his wounds were clean. His skin shone under the light revealing more bruises that were initially hidden under dirt and grime, but he seemed much happier. His ribs showed through his skin, indicating his malnourishment.

"Do you know much about the palace, Amberleigh?"

"No, not really," I admitted.

"The palace will likely offer you plenty of educational resources, so you can learn. They only have the best tutors for Ithican royalty."

"Gerard, how do you know all of this?"

"My father was an advisor to a lord in the court before his passing. I spent quite a bit of time in and around the palace during my youth."

"Can you tell me more about Ithica?"

"Oh yes, Ithica is quite enigmatic. The Elven lands were always immaculate and quite peaceful, especially before the Great War. Of course, at that time, we all still lived separately from one another. It was a very different time."

Gerard told me the history of Erivale and Ithica until I fell asleep to the stories he painted in my mind. For hundreds of years, the different races lived separate from one another, peaceful, but separate. There were the Elven lands of Ithica, where we were now. The western border was home to the water lands of Breeze; the woodlands of Silva located north of Ithica was where the Satyrs and Fauns populated the meadows and glades, the Minotaurs in the foothills of the Fjell, and the Centaurs filled the forest itself. The Fjell to the northeast of Ithica was home of the Garuda and Lilitu; last but not least, located on the icy northern coastline was the land of Gelida and home to the Ursa.

Eventually, all the races joined together to battle an evil Elven sorcerer named Samael of Trinity. Samael was young, and his magic was reckless. When the races joined forces, he was easily defeated and banished to the wastelands. Due to the unified battle, this led to the crumbling of borders between lands, and the nations began to mix and live together.

A council made up of leaders from each race in each country was founded. Ithica was home to this council and the council agreed to decree that Ithican Elven royalty will rule all of the conjoined properties called the Unified Nations.

I was asleep before Gerard could get into the history of the Great War.

The next day Gerard's soft, puttering snore was the background to Ulric packing up a bag with fresh food and water. I peered at the Faun looking surprisingly comfortable on the ground. I briefly wondered if was able to rest easier knowing he was no longer a slave. Another shuffle of packing from Ulric drew my attention to him.

"Is that where you left to last night?" I asked, looking at the food.

"No, I had the innkeeper fetch these for me from the market this morning."

"Where did you go last night?"

"I had to check on an old friend."

"You're so vague, have you ever thought about actually giving out more information sometimes?" I said, frustrated.

"Have you ever thought that I don't want to tell you everything? Just because you are a princess, doesn't mean you can demand others to speak to you and tell you everything," he snapped, and I immediately closed my mouth, taken aback by his reaction.

There was a tense silence in the room, and the only sound was the rustling of Ulric packing the bag and the occasional snore from Gerard. "I see you did not bathe last night, either. Was the washbasin below your royal standards?" he snarked, and I was once again taken aback by his words. This side of Ulric was harsh and brash, and I did not like it one bit. Where was the man who carried me from the horse to not wake me?

"I used the water for Gerard; he needed it more than I did." It was Ulric's turn to be silent as he looked over the much cleaner looking Gerard and his freshly washed wounds. "Ulric," I called his name as I swung my legs from the bed and leaned towards him. "I'm sorry for prying and being pushy and asking so many questions and complaining. I'm just so lost and confused, and you're the only person I know here. Everything that happens is new to me. I'm experiencing everything for the first time, and you were born here you know this place. I'm just trying to learn and frankly not freak out. It's not every day you accidentally fall into a new realm and find out you're a princess." I offered him an apologetic smile trying to convey my pure intentions.

"You will soon be at the palace, and they will teach you everything you need to know. Do not fret, you will know soon enough." I could tell that was, in a way, an apology for his snapping, but I was slightly disheartened, hearing him so ready to pass me off to the palace and get on with his life. Ignoring the stinging in my heart, I gently woke Gerard and tied up my sneakers. It was going to be a long day of travel.

Ulric gave us cakes and fruit this time. At least, I thought it was fruit. They were about the size of cherries, firm like an apple, and orange in color. Their flavor was sweet and tart, but overall quite good. Besides the cakes, it was my first taste of food from Erivale, and it made me curious about what else they had and how different it was to food in my own realm.

Once we finished eating, we made our way out the back door of the tavern to Roach and the old grey horse. We rode out of the city to the east of the direction we needed to go. Ulric said we needed to travel undercover once more, especially as we were getting closer to the heart of Ithica.

The wolves met up with us when we were about half an hour outside of Creighton. I recognized Fenrir and his silver-tipped ears first and a small smile graced my lips; I had sort of missed the slobbery wolf.

"If we still need to stay hidden, how were you able to just go into that tavern like it was no big deal?"

"The tavern is special; it's a safe haven for all creatures no matter what. It does not discriminate by race or deed as long as individuals are civil within its walls. Simple rules for simple matters."

I doubted that it was "simple matters" as Ulric put it. It was likely much more complicated. But after his outburst this morning regarding my prying for information, I figured it best not to bother him.

"Gerard?"

"Yes, Amberleigh?" He kicked urged his horse forward until it was neck and neck with Roach.

"Can you tell me more about the history of Erivale?"

"Of course, Amberleigh, where did we leave off?"

"I think I fell asleep just before the Great War."

"You already know of the Great War?"

"Sort of, just images and feelings, I guess. I know it happened, and I know what it looked like, and I know what it's called. But I do not know the why or the before and the after." Gerard seemed lost in thought for a moment studying my words, just as Ulric did, and I wondered if maybe I should be like Ulric and be more tightlipped with my information. "Should I be telling others that?"

"You can trust us with your knowledge, but I would be careful who you decide to tell in the future," Gerard supplied.

"It is not common to have visions of the past. Until you discover the cause, it is likely the best option to keep it a secret," Ulric added.

"Yes, yes. The elf is right. By the end of this journey, I will have supplied you with a history of Erivale detailed enough to explain any previous visions. You can simply tell others you learned them on your way to the palace. In any case, the sorcerer Samael of Trinity was silent to the lands of the Unified Nations for 37 years before he returned, and that leads us to the Great War."

The journey, this time, seemed much faster as I listened to Gerard. After a few probing questions, I found that his vast knowledge of history was due to his time spent in royal libraries and listening to much of the same information from his father.

Gerard explained that before the Great War, the borders of the Unified Nations faced attacks from strange hybrid creatures called chimeras. Breezian waters were polluted with toxic magic, fires were lit in the forests, and fringe towns were ransacked.

Eventually, the sorcerer made an attack on Ithica as an act of terrorism. He had made his goal clear - to rule all of Erivale and make sorcerers the rulers. Few individuals joined his cause, but he didn't need their support; he magicked his army of chimeras, and he could create them almost as fast as they could cut them down. The military of chimeras marched towards the southern border of Ithica while an army composed of all the races of Erivale met them at the border. It was a substantial war, but it lasted only a day.

Eventually, the Erivalian army won at a considerable cost; many were dead, many were wounded. But Erivale was safe from Samael, who had been killed.

A few chimeras still roam free in the wastelands, but they cannot cross the dark sea to reach Ithica, keeping their threat at bay.

Since then, Erivale, thanks to the strict control of magic and sorcery schools across the Unified Nations, has been mostly peaceful, and the races live together in theoretical peace.

Of course, there were still individuals who felt that the races held different standings in caste, such as the thieves who had enslaved Gerard, but for the most part, there was an understanding that everyone lived and fought for Erivale.

That mainly caught me up on the Great War and nations, but I was sure there was more to the history of this land than that. History is messy and complicated and never-ending.

"Is there more?"

"Well, there is also the history of the Dark Elves." Gerard's golden eyes flashed to glance nervously at Ulric, who paid no mind to the Faun.

"Dark Elves?"

"Yes, not long before the Great War and the return of Samael a faction of elves who firmly believed in a purist elven culture rebelled against the monarchy after the borders of Ithica had been dropped to allow in all races. They spoke out against the mixing of creatures and enacted heinous crimes against 'inferior races.' Quite a few were lords and ladies of the Ithican court and held significant influence over the land. 

To prevent the spread of hate and return the peace, the king and queen at the time banished them to the Draeton mountains, a distinctly rough terrain bordering the dark sea. Post-Great War, the Dark Elves capitalized on the weakened Erivale army and security and began attacking the borders of the Unified Nations. This led to what is known as the Trials. Any race different than Elves, and even those supporting diversity or interracial relationships, were crucified on the foothills of Draeton. The Dark Elves were also stopped by the Erivalian army, and Ithica--acting for the Unified Nations--forced a peace treaty in which no Dark Elves are allowed through Unified Nation land without royal permission."

My brain worked back to all the times Ulric mentioned that he couldn't be seen or why, and it wasn't hard to tell now that it was because he was a Dark Elf.