Departure

Zentha huffed at her daughter as she continued to pack, much to her annoyance.

"I'm leaving, mother. It's safer for both of us." Taenya said, paying her anxious mother no mind.

"Fine then! Abandon your poor old mother in her old age!" Zentha shouted.

"You're always so dramatic, mother. You're not even 200. I heard of The University down south, I'm going to go there. Even if I can't get a job teaching they aren't going to turn away an elven gardener."

"Fine, leave your poor mother to be kidnapped by King [I don't think so. I seized his name from history, remember? -Vordea]'s wicked rangers." Zentha said, with a dramatic sigh.

"Mother I swear if you don't cut it out maybe I should!" Taenya said, admonishing her mother for her melodrama. "You'll be fine here in Gilnas City."

"You wouldn't!" Zentha said, shocked, causing Taenya to smirk for a second, before bursting out laughing.

"Mother, you worry too much." Taenya said, stopping to address her mother directly. "Frankly, the further away from the North I am, the safer I'll be. Maybe it's time for you to think of leaving as well?"

"Maybe you're right." Zentha said, seemingly losing her anger in an instant, and looking downcast. "It was our family's home for thousands of years, and with mum gone, being nearby was the only connection we had left."

"Come on mum." Taenya said, hugging Zentha. "Even if we got that back right now, neither of us are nobility material, or even royalty."

The room they were standing in was modest, even by elven standards. Just a few possessions, and nothing to indicate that they were once the most powerful royal family on the planet. The one item of note was Shandalar's necklace and bracelet, bearing the coat of arms of House Valmaris, a symbol outright forbidden to display by the Usurper King.