Mature Content

...After the scouts finally reached, again the surface, and they given to her and the drow prisioners adecuate clothes for the high mountains, again, everything was just marching, marching and marching against the time, to reach with the report of the movements of the drow armies of Negeémiliel, before they act and surprise the Mountain Elf Kingdom of Hebonnor.

They marched for five days, until they arrived to populated lands... Neroe had never been so far in the north of the kingdom, and it was sort of exiting thinking to finally get to know the capitol where The King of the Hill, in his throne, governated over all the Mountain elves... even her small and distant village...

But as well, she was worried of Maylara: Even before leaving the drow army column, she knew nothing of the destiny of her friend Maylara Maltree, and each day that passed, she feared more of the destiny of her friend, and if she was free to do what she wanted, she would have returned to these opresive shadow world of Kazrrad, to find her friend...

But she was obligated to keep with the scouts of the Kings, unnable to leave, and even if she escaped, she really didn't had any resource or anything to do anything else but sit down and die in the mountains.

So, it was the destiny the one who dragged her there.

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She was kind of disapointed: After meeting the drow city of Negeémiliel, with all his misery, greatness, horrors and beauty, as well impressive size, she expected the capitol city of the Hebonnor Kingdom of the Mountain, sucessor of the great kingdoms of Galawkey, Galaradaan and Galaw-Hebonnor, to be something more impressive...

Thhe old fortress of D'Bodon, Under the mountain , builded by dwarves hired by the legendary Grad'Bo I the Great about 2.000 years ago, was more or less a glorious ruin, and the city builded to the wall of a cliff, partially underground, was only a shadow of a glorious and distant past, inhabited by dwarven traders...
Instead, the new D'Bodon extended in the narrow valley, and despise of being bigger than any other Mountain elf settlement was of less than 10.000 souls...

Galaw, humans, dwarves and Hebonnor and all the possible breeds between them walked in the tortuous streets, free, like Uncle Corvin told her in the tales of childhood, to Maylara and herself, and the main building that dominated the city was the Palace of the King of the Hill, builded in nortunk dwarven style, the fashion in architecture in the moment...

However, she wasn't there for the architecture, or see the local colour:

She was dragged here by the scouts, and after the interrogation of the drow prisioners, the King of the Hill itself, Hildetriel IV The Young, was interested enough to want to meet her.

So Neroe, given a dress of a servant of the palace, was conducted by the guards to the main hall, for her audience with the King.

The Main Hall was a large room, decorated and amoblated with luxury, and with a hughe picture window wich dominated all the valley of D'Bodon...

To bad, it smelled like a cheap tavern, smoke, puke and over all, decadence.

She was conducted between the nobles of the kingdom: the proud, violent and iliterate elite, great warriors, of large size and short ears and shorter lives, due their mixed galaw orcs - mountain elven ancestors, common mix in the ruling class of the Kingdom of the Mountain...

Suddendly, the guard make her drop to the ground on her knees, before leaving:

In front of her, in his golden armor and with his long, blue hair, was the Hildetriel IV the Young, the King of the Hill.

"So you are the renegade elf I was informed? Speak to me! don't be shy!"

"...No your highness... My name is Neroe Rhedyn, from the Village of Gigfran Nyth, of Nohalion, and I am not a renegade... I was an adventurer serving the trading city of Zannas, and with my friend Maylara Maltree we where captured by goblins and sold by slaves in Negeémiliel"

"You mean you and your drow girlfriend?"

"She is not my girlfriend!" blushed Neroe... why allways people thinked that? "But yes. My friend, the drow, raised with me, who helped me escape... and who is now still trapped.

"Diwerth!!" yelled then the King. Among the drunken nobles, one slowly incorporated, sitting in a bank, with her face red due the wine.

"Yes your Higness?"

"Supposedly this girl is from one of the villages of your fief... Gigfran Nyth. Do you know her?"

"I don't know every damn sheperdess, Hilde." answered the knight with familiarity produced by alcohol "And she have rather common characteristics. How will I know? Anyway, it have been years since I have outside of D'Bodon, anyway"

"But have you heared of a strange tale, about elves raising a drow?"

The drunked knight thinked for a moment. "Meh. Maybe? not sure... No. I don't think so... I suppose I should ask my bailiff"

"But did this serf of you" asked the king "ever asked for permission to leave her village?"

"I don't think so"

"AhA!" said the king looking to Neroe. "So you are indeed a renegade, as you never asked to your lord to leave... and less to serve to foreign masters!"

Neroe wanted to answer that the people of Nohalion where free to do what they wanted, and they didn't needed to answer to absents lords they never meet in their lives, but she knew it was better to don't say anything.

"Do you speak drow, renegade?"

"...yes your Highness... I learned some during my captivity."

"Excelent, because we need a translator." said the King of the Hill, smiling. "Diwerth!!"

"Your highness?" asked the knight.

"Do you give me your runaway serf there, to put her under my service"

"Yeah... sure!"
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I may, or may not, add some drawings to complete the secuence of the journey of Neroe there -maybe a pic of the Hebonnor city? other connective pics?- but I sort of doubt it