retrieved a towel. She patted her wings dry, then her body, and crawled into bed. It was more comfortable than she'd thought it would be, and once her head hit the pillows, she realized how tired she was from her day's journey. She fell asleep, dreaming of nothing but darkness, and slept soundly until morning.
****
The next day, she was awoken by a soft knock on the door. “Remliel?” a voice asked.
She groggily answered. “Come in!”
The Elf from the front desk, still dressed in brown robes, entered the room. He saw the white towel and golden robe on the ground, and then his eyes turned to the bed. There, Remliel was sitting up, holding the blankets up to her chest so that she was covered from the stranger's sight. Her wings rested softly behind her.
“I was just here to help you clean up the room and bring you some breakfast," the Elf said. He stared at her wings for a moment before he asked, “You're not an Elf? I mean, I thought you weren't last night, since your hair is brown and your eyes are white, but I figured maybe you were just from another realm… what are you?"
“I'm an Archangel,” Remliel answered kindly. “I'm one of two. My brother has made chaos on this world, and I've come to do whatever is in my power to stop him.”
The Elf released a breath as he picked up the towel and robe. “You know, these robes are very important to us Elves,” he said, draping the golden fabric over the end of the bed. “It's part of who we are.”
“I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to disrespect-”
“Oh, don't worry about it! You're Divine, how could you know?”
The Elf threw the towel over his shoulder and shuffled out of the room. He re-entered a few seconds later with a tray, and on it, a plate and a cup. The plate had an egg, two sausage links, and an apple, and the cup was filled with water. “I hope you enjoy,” he said. “Everything was raised on our village's farm, and the apple came from our orchard."
“Thank you,” Remliel said, smiling. “I'm sure it will be amazing.”
The Elf smiled and placed the tray on the end of the bed. He then left, softly closing the door behind him.
Remliel let the blankets drop, and she reached over and dragged the tray toward her. She ate, even though she didn't need to, and as she bit into the meat and egg, she let herself taste the goodness of the molecules. She finished the apple, leaving the core on the plate, and she drank all of the water before getting up and making the bed. She once again hid her wings, and carefully picked up the robe. She draped it over her body, tying it closed and leaving the room.
She made it back down to the lobby of the inn to see the same group of Elves from the day before, standing in their shining golden robes, waiting for her. “You look well rested,” Taylodrin said, smiling. Remliel returned the metal ring with the “3” to the brown Elf behind the desk, thanked him again for the room and breakfast, and went off with the group of golden Elves.
She walked out into the town square and looked up at the treetops. They were around 100 feet up in the air, creating a canopy of protection above the small village. The sun's rays pierced through the leaves, and the Elves hummed and sang to themselves as they went about the day's activities. Remliel noticed there were no men in the village, only women and children. She turned the Taylodrin and inquired about it.
They began to walk as he answered her. “The men are all working. They come home when the sun sets. The women stay at home raising and teaching the children, washing, cleaning, and so on."
Remliel nodded and payed attention to the cobblestone path. They gradually made their way up to the large building she'd seen the night before, and as they neared it, she realized it was a palace.
They arrived at midday, when the sun was in the middle of the sky. The Elves all stopped walking and knelt, craning their necks up to face the sun. They began to sing together, lifting their hands up to the sky. This went on for a few minutes before they ended their song and stood. “I apologize,” Taylodrin said to the Archangel. “That is our daily prayer to the sun.”
“Don't be sorry, it was beautiful.”
The Elves then led her up to the palace, which was made of emeralds, diamonds, and quartz. Two Elves, who were wearing purple robes, opened the large iron doors of the palace, and the group of golden Elves led Remliel inside. Upon entering, the Archangel was in a wide corridor with two smaller iron doors on each side of her. “Those doors lead to the servant's quarters,” Taylodrin commented. Remliel looked forward and saw three different halls, which all forked off of the same wide corridor that she stood in. Taylodrin pointed at each hall and told the Archangel where they went. “The hall on the left forks off into another passage, which leads to the quarters of the servants that work closer with the royalty. At the end of the left hall, there's a staircase to go upstairs to where the royalty sleeps and lives. The middle hall leads to the throne room. Finally, the right hall has many other corridors branching off of it, all of which lead to soldier's living spaces."
The group of golden Elves branched off from each other, going off to do other tasks. Taylodrin stayed with Remliel, walking with her down the middle hall toward the throne room. The walls of the middle corridor were made of glass, and the Archangel could see out into the courtyards on either side of the hall. At the end of the passageway was the throne room. There were two large doors made of rubies, emeralds, and diamond, and two purple Elves stood guard. When they saw Remliel and the golden Elf approaching, they opened the doors, and the Archangel entered the throne room.
There were two golden thrones before her, with the King on the left and the Queen on the right. They both wore white clothes with white capes draped over their shoulders. Their crowns were both made of gold. The room was made of diamond, which sparkled in the sunlight from the treetops. There were two windows on the left and right walls of the throne room, where Remliel could once again see the empty courtyards that surrounded them.
The King held a golden scepter in his right hand, and when Remliel entered, he stood. The Queen followed suit. Taylodrin knelt on one knee before the royalty, and Remliel quickly did the same. “I present the Archangel Remliel, Your Majesties.”
“You may rise, Remliel," the Queen said. She did as she was told. “Somehow, I imagined you to look different.”
“I've altered my appearance, Your Majesty, so as to not frighten anyone,” the Archangel replied.
“I see you come in peace. Word has reached my ears that you have come to destroy your brother, Tetrasiel. Is this true?”
“Yes, in any way I can."
“Then you have the Southern Realm as your allies. We will provide you with and army if you should ever need one; our soldiers are very powerful."
“We will also provide you with some provisions for your journey,” the King chimed in. “We will have a tailor make you some clothes, a blacksmith make you some armor, and we will give you a protective cloak and some food.”
“Thank you, Your Majesties,” the Archangel replied, bowing out of respect. “Your gifts are much appreciated.”
They were dismissed from the throne room, and Taylodrin led Remliel down the right hall into a door on the left, almost all the way down the hall. There, Remliel was stripped of her golden robe, measured, and told to appear in her true form. She did, and she was measured again. She shrunk back down when they were finished, hiding her wings, and she
