The Demon King's Hero Of Light 169 Chapter 169 Promises Of Freedom

"The artifact was a bracelet that allowed him to partially control the plants around him. I believe he used it to move the branches closer as he was running through the course. Since he wouldn't have been able to use the bracelet without having some form of magic within himself geared towards plants to begin with, everyone was willing to overlook the obvious cheating. When he lost the item, it was declared a big deal. The king at the time declared whoever found it would be granted a huge reward to return it to the royal prince, but it was never recovered. I believe that someone found it, but never turned it in," explained Elalar.

"Interesting," said Aella. The magical item would never be useful to her, because she was certain she had no powers on plant magic, but it would be easy to find if she had the magical goggles she had loaned to Alfred. "Alfred, I need my goggles back."

Holding her hand out, Alfred pulled the goggles from his pouch, on his belt, and handed them over.

"What do those do?" asked Daefina cautiously.

Aella raised an eyebrow before putting them on. This was the first time the princess had acted suspicious around her.

"Why do you ask?" asked Aella. "You've never questioned anything I have done before."

"I don't know, but I don't think I like those goggles for some reason," she answered, frowning at the eyewear.

Aella glanced down at the goggles, then set them in her lap. There were a several reasons running through her head as to why the princess wouldn't like the goggles just from seeing them, and Aella honestly liked the princess. She seemed like someone who could be a good friend, and none of the reasons running through her head were promising such a thing.

"Daefina, what's wrong?" asked Elalar, turning in his chair to look at her. He must have picked up on her unease as well, because he was studying her carefully.

"I've felt weird ever since we saw that altar in Lord Avalon's bas.e.m.e.nt, and the feeling has only gotten stronger since the estate burned down," admitted Daefina.

"Ah, I think I know what's going on," said Aella, climbing to her feet and sliding the goggles on in one smooth movement.

She had her sword out and swinging before the imp on the princess's shoulder could act. As the sword sliced through its head, knocking it to the ground, the princess ducked and screamed in real fear, something that she had never done before in Aella's presence.

"Hey!" cried the king, rus.h.i.+ng to stop Aella from hurting his sister, until he spied the dead imp twitching on the ground beside her huddled form.

Blood was running down her face, as she slowly stood back up, looking around in confusion. Daefina was bleeding from both eyes as she met Aella's eyes through the goggles.

"What did he offer you, princess?" asked Aella with a sigh. "Power? Money?"

"What do you mean?" she asked in a small voice.

"Don't play games, Daefina," growled the king, realizing what must have happened. "Answer her!"

"I wanted to be able to have the freedom to make my own choices," she finally said, wiping the blood away from her face and staring at her hand in shock.

"Then work to earn them, don't try and make shortcuts," said Aella. "I'm going to go search for that magical item of yours. Mind showing me where this training course is?"

The king stared at his sister for several moments before she dropped her gaze to the ground and nodded. Any chances at gaining that freedom she wanted would have to wait while she gained back the trust of her brother. Aella couldn't believe the elven princess had chosen such a route.

Following the princess through the palace, Aella watched the droop of her shoulders and the unsteady gait of her steps. She had lost respect in herself. There was more than just her brother she would have to impress.

The training course had once started just behind the palace, to ensure that the royal family would know who all attempted it, but the entrance had been moved back, away from the palace as the trees grew larger, and some had died.

Aella stood on the starting location, staring at the somewhat maintained path through the branches, wondering what was supposed to trained on this course. The branches were close enough, one didn't even have to try that hard to run across them.

"Further in, it gets much harder," said the princess in a subdued tone, seeming to read her mind. "You aren't supposed to touch the ground, or it will disqualify you at the end. There is a mighty carving at the end, of the crying maiden. A waterfall flows from her eyes, depicting her joy at the winner having completed the course."

"Once I have finished the course, I will get the bracelet, but you will have to do my hair as yours is done. I like that style quite a bit," said Aella, stepping forward to begin.

"You would let me touch you after…" asked the princess, gaping at her in shock.

"Of course. Not everyone makes the right decisions. I once made a choice that killed many of my people, and nothing I did could stop it, but I didn't stop being king. I had to step up and try harder. My people lost respect in me, but I gained it back. You are no different."

Straightening the goggles, Aella gave her a grin before darting down the corridor towards the first bend in the path. There were immediately loops formed in the tree trunks, that she couldn't just run through. She was tempted to fly, as they drew closer, but chose instead to swing from them, grabbing the branches and making her way across the area. Next were vines she had to cross, that allowed her to cross where several branches seemed to be missing. She ran along several branches that bowed under weight but didn't break, and she jumped over to another section, where she had to climb high to stay on the path.

Reaching the top, Aella paused as the breeze played with her long hair, as she looked for where the path continued. Far below her, she saw the path continue, and she laughed, jumping in a controlled glide. Fighting against the urge to use her air abilities, lest she be watched, Aella grabbed the little branches, slowing her descent enough to swing onto the branches that continued the path. They grew further and further away from each other, starting to form a slant, rather than a flat surface, but she didn't hesitate, jumping from one branch to another.

Turning another blind corner, she saw a series of branches bare of any leaves, s.p.a.ced in an odd pattern. Beyond them was the twin waterfalls flowing out of the carved woman's head. The rock on either side of her head hid what race the woman was, making Aella wonder if she was originally elven or if she might have been human once. The water had worn away too much of her face to tell exactly.

Running along the branches, she quickly figured out only one route would lead her to the top, and she took it. Reaching the top, she was surprised to see Daefina waiting on her.

"You beat that faster than anyone in a long time," gasped the princess.

"The last obstacle course I took had deadly traps that would kill you if you messed up," said Aella with a shrug.

"Oh my! How many people made it through it?" asked Daefina.

"Only me," said Aella. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I saw the bracelet."

Running to the edge of the cliff, Aella jumped into the rus.h.i.+ng water of the waterfalls, her gaze locked onto the magical item below her, held in place by the strength of the rus.h.i.+ng water. Moving to the side at the last moment to avoid the rocks at the bottom, Aella splashed into the water, feeling her hands go numb from the force of the hit. Ignoring the pain, she swam down to the bottom, helped by the rus.h.i.+ng waters, and reached for the bracelet. It was lodged in the mud, and her hands didn't want to work well, but Aella managed after a few attempts. Walking along the bottom of the water, instead of trying to fight against the water, she was soon able to swim up and take a deep breath of air.

"Aella!" cried the princess from far away, waving at her in obvious relief.

Alfred was watching, with a deep frown, as Frederik flew down to pull her from the water. Her hands were wet, and hard to hold onto, but they managed. Once she returned to the cliff side with the princess, the kitten sneezed and growled at her to let her know she better never do that again.

Aella opened the bag, surprised she had forgotten it was there, and saw the kitten curled in a ball, and glaring at her in anger, water dripping from its whiskers.