Bonus Material - A Tour of the Elf Kingdom with Bleu

This place is beautiful. I’m standing in the middle of a verdant land, surrounded by lush green rolling hills criss-crossed by paler gravel roadways and glittering crystal-clear streams. In the distance ahead of me is a thick forest and beyond that is a reminder that I’m not in Kansas anymore. Well, England anyway.

The horizon is black in all directions, dark and forbidding, and sharp cragged mountains rise up beyond the trees. Those trees seem like a barrier to me, separating this incredibly green realm from the grim black lands of the rest of Hell. I’ve visited one of those lands earlier in this tour, the Third Realm where King Thorne of the demons reigns. It’s not as bad as it looks from here. I guess the contrast between all this green, and all the colourful flowers that dot the landscape, and all that dark grey is more pronounced when you’re on this side of the fence.

My host for the day, Bleu, is busy discussing something with a small group of what I presume are warriors. The tall beautiful males all wear their skin-tight black armour, leaving very little to my imagination. Even Bleu is wearing his armour today, the black scales hugging his lithe and powerful figure. He’s ditched his helmet though, so his wild blue-black hair flutters in the playful breeze sweeping over the land, occasionally revealing the pointed tips of his ears. Thankfully, he has chosen not to cover his hands with his armour either, so I don’t have to worry about his black claws if I say anything that annoys him.

“Apologies about that,” Bleu says as he joins me again, his deep voice sending a tremor down my spine. A half smile tugs at one corner of his mouth, brightening his violet eyes, and he looks back at the men as they head off deeper into the cluster of pale stone buildings that forms a village. “It seems there was a little trouble near the free realm. They were just relaying their report to me.”

Bleu seems strangely calm today and I wonder whether it’s because he feels at home here in this land, and all this nature is soothing him. He’s been quite off kilter recently, ever since the war between the Third Realm and the Fifth Realm ended. Maybe this is just Bleu as he is when he doesn’t have a battle to fight. It’s unnerving, but I’m not going to complain. I’ll take this calm, relaxed dark elf over the moody one he normally is, and I’ll be sure to think before I speak so he remains this way throughout our tour of his homeland.

“This village is beautiful.” I can’t help smiling as I look around it. Each thatched stone building is more beautiful than the last, and I love the three windmills that stand on the outskirts, their wooden blades slowly turning and mesmerising me.

Bleu shrugs and I frown at how uncomfortable he suddenly looks.

“What?” I say.

“What?” he counters and goes to walk off. I grab his wrist and he looks back at me, his air that of a man who doesn’t want to answer my question.

“It’s not beautiful?” I look around the village again and wonder if there’s a more peaceful place in all the three realms. It sits on a hill, overlooking a rolling valley, with a broad stream flowing through the centre of it. Little stone bridges traverse the babbling brook. It’s quaint. Perfect. Beautiful.

He shrugs again, looks away from me, and mutters, “I grew up here.”

My eyebrows shoot up. That explains one thing. Bleu is relaxed because he is home. While he might live in the castle with Prince Loren now, he was raised here in this village. I watch three young elf boys running past and can’t help picturing Bleu at that age, causing mischief and no doubt getting into a lot of trouble.

He’s all grown up now though, and two young elf women passing by seem to notice that as they cast furtive glances at him and giggle to each other.

Maybe it’s common knowledge that Bleu is probably the biggest bachelor catch out there. He’s over four thousand years old after all. I don’t think there are many men who have been single that long, indulging only in short term flings.

“You really grew up here?” I want confirmation because this place doesn’t seem to fit Bleu, but maybe that’s because he’s been through a lot since leaving it behind as a young man.

He nods. “Yes. I worked in the mills until I was old enough to join the military.”

I know for a fact that he enlisted as soon as he was allowed because Loren told me that he met Bleu when he was only two hundred, the human equivalent of a scraggly mouthy teen, and Bleu had already been in the army some years by then.

“I see this peaceful land and then I look at you, and I can’t help wondering how a boy who comes from this quiet life comes to join the army.”

Bleu rakes his fingers through his hair, down the back of his head and rubs his neck. He shrugs again. “I wanted to protect my family and this place.”

I smile and he scowls at me. “What? It’s noble, and beautiful. You wanted to protect something so you joined the military, and now you’re the commander of the elf legions. Your parents must be proud.”

He looks uncomfortable. “My mother is.”

“Not your father?” I feel I’ve poked my first sore spot of the day when he huffs and turns towards the windmills. “Why not?”

Bleu stares at the blades slowly turning. “He runs the mills.”

“And he wanted you to take over the family business?”

He nods. I can see why that might have caused a little bad blood between them, but not enough to last four thousand years. I want to tell Bleu that his father is probably proud of him, but hold my tongue when Bleu’s violet eyes come back to me.

“I promised to show you the castle.” He holds his hand out and I don’t hesitate to place mine into it. I’m getting used to this teleporting lark.

Bleu pulls me against him and I have to tip my head right back to keep my gaze on his. He’s too darn tall at six-feet-five. I feel tiny. He wraps his arms around me and I close my eyes as cold rushes over me. When it abates, I risk opening them again and gasp.

The main fortress of the stone castle looms over me, a fairy tale palace built of pale and dark stone, made up of incredibly tall towers topped with conical roofs and large square buildings with balconies. It stands in the middle of a rich green courtyard surrounded by pale walls.

Elves dressed in black armour mill around in the courtyard, following the stone paths to destinations unknown. Bleu nods to a few of them when they look our way and releases me.

“Come along.” Bleu jerks his chin towards the castle and I hurry to keep up with him.

It’s a truly beautiful palace, with green everywhere. Vines trail over structures above each balcony, their green leaves and bright blue flowers adding a softer touch to all the crisp stone.

“It must be nice living here,” I say and Bleu’s shoulders lift in another easy shrug.

“I spend most of my time in the garrisons with the soldiers, handling troop deployments and missions.”

Sounds boring. “I thought you mostly followed Loren around.”

Bleu laughs and I almost trip over my feet. I don’t recall ever hearing him laugh before.

“I do not follow my prince around. I have appointments with him from time to time throughout the day and when I’m not busy with my duties, we often spend time together.” He holds his hand out towards a huge arched entrance. “Want to see inside?”

I nod and follow him. It’s cool inside, and darker, but all the walls are unadorned pale stone that glitters in the light. We stroll down hallways that all look the same and then I’m in one I recognise. Beautiful statues line the vaulted corridor and I feel as if they’re watching me. These are the past rulers of the elf kingdom. Prince Loren and Prince Vail’s ancestors.

I stop when I spot the statue of Loren and then the place where Vail’s once stood. It saddens me a little as I stare at the empty space.

“You look like Loren,” Bleu says and my gaze darts to him. He stares at the empty space where Vail’s statue should be. “He gets that look when he stands here, seeing the place where his brother’s statue once was. I think he would banish whoever removed it if he discovered their identity.”

I wouldn’t blame him for it either. Loren has been trying to save his brother for millennia. It must have hurt him to come down one day and find his brother’s statue gone, as if he had lost a part of him.

“I know you have your reasons for feeling animosity towards Vail. You didn’t take it did you?” I say and Bleu solemnly shakes his head.

“Whatever my feelings for Vail, I wouldn’t do that to my prince. I know what his brother means to him.” Bleu walks on, past a room with an open door.

I peek inside as we pass, catching a glimpse of several men dressed in robes. The elf council I presume. They’re deep in conversation at a round stone table. The most elegant chair is empty. Loren must be elsewhere, leaving his council to work without his input.

“I had intended to show you to Loren in his rooms but he has been called away by...” Bleu’s expression sours. “King Thorne of the Third Realm.”

It’s going to be a long time before Bleu can say that man’s name without scowling and growling it.

“I really wanted to get a glimpse of one of the apartments in the castle.” I guess I’ll have to cut my tour short.

Bleu pauses at the bottom of an elegant stone staircase. “You could see my apartments.”

I have a sudden flash of Cribs go through my mind. Bleu’s Crib. Should be interesting. I nod.

Bleu looks wary, as if he’s reconsidered his offer, and then heads up the staircase. The stone used on this floor is darker. He leads me past a wooden door.

“That is Loren’s apartment.” Bleu points to it and moves on, heading left along a corridor. There’s another door ahead.

“Who’s apartment is that one?” I ask as we turn away from it and head up another darker stone staircase.

He glares at the door. “Prince Vail’s.”

It makes sense that Loren has kept Vail’s apartment for him. It’s the sort of thing I would expect from him. He wants his brother to come home and everything to return to normal. I wonder how possible that really is. After everything Vail has done, I doubt he will be welcome in this kingdom by anyone other than his brother.

We reach another floor and Bleu shoves one of the wooden doors open.

“It is smaller than my prince’s apartment,” he quickly says and I head inside, expecting to find a tiny room.

It’s huge.

Three arched windows line the dark stone wall directly opposite me, with an arched doorway off to the right of them. I can spy a balcony beyond it. Bleu has a room with a view.

Below the three windows is an enormous bed with pale blue satin sheets. Slightly rumpled. Evidently, Bleu’s version of making the bed is dragging the covers sort of into place. There are weapons tossed at the foot of it too, a mixture of silver swords and knives. I raise an eyebrow at them.

“I use them for training purposes,” Bleu says. “It is entirely possible to have my teleportation and telekinesis skills bound. I like to ensure I can fight with any weapon available to me.”

He sidesteps right towards a row of wooden wardrobes and I pretend not to notice him kicking the clothes strewn across the stone floor into a pile which he then teleports out of existence. Presumably, I would find them in the bottom of the wardrobe if I dared to open the doors.

Bleu is very much a bachelor to the core.

There are metal canisters cluttering the top of the wooden sideboard to my left, opposite the wardrobes. I avoid them. The only thing I know an elf has out of a metal canister is blood and I don’t want to know if there is congealed remains in any of them.

I head around the bed towards the door onto the balcony and pause when my gaze falls on a silver picture frame on the wooden side table next to it.

The woman in the picture is stunning. Her violet eyes sparkle with her smile as she stares at the camera and holds up a silver chain with a glittering sapphire shaped like a teardrop hanging from it. Pale blue sheer layers form a beautiful dress, hugging her curves and held in place by a series of brushed metal swirls and spiked curves that form a corset.

I look back at Bleu and catch him staring at the picture, a distant warm look in his violet eyes.

“The one that got away?” The words are out before I can stop them. Whoever this woman is, Bleu loved her, or loves her. It’s right there in his eyes.

He smiles. “No. Why does everything have to be about my fated female with you?”

I shrug. “I just figured she was bound to be a conquest of yours. If she’s not the one that got away... she’s...?”

“My sister.” Bleu scowls at me, strides forwards and picks up the photo. “I took it a few years back when she was in the village for a visit.”

He fondly strokes to picture and shakes his head as he smiles.

“She found that stupid rock she had been after for centuries. Gods only know how many times I had to pull her arse out of the fire for that damned thing.” He sets the picture back down and opens the doors onto the balcony.

I follow him out and find him leaning against the dark stone balustrade, his gaze on the horizon, back in the direction of the village. I lean next to him and soak it all up. The courtyard below is bustling, with warriors coming and going. There’s an orchard in the outer courtyard, the trees heavy with red apples and oranges. While elves consume blood, they can also eat fruit and vegetables, and other things.

It’s peaceful in this land and I can see why Loren and Vail moved their people here, and why it’s the envy of many of the other realms.

“Thank you for the tour, Bleu,” I whisper, not wanting to shatter the serene atmosphere. “I could stay here forever.”

He smiles again. “You would have to find a fated mate in an elf for that.”

I shrug. “Anything is possible. Even getting a bachelor to settle down.”

Bleu looks across at me. “I’m letting that one go.”

But I’m not. Bleu is going to need a bigger apartment when he wins over his fated female, but the balcony is a good start.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of the elf kingdom with Bleu from the Eternal Mates series.