"The Parents" is the second to last chapter, so the next one will be final.It will be very lengthy as a final 'hurrah' to this novel. But before that, I will rework all the chapters I had published previously into something more coherent, something that I like more. Chapters will be longer and there will be more of them. But it'll take a while to do that. After all, I wanted it to be exactly 100 chapters. So the numbering of the chapters is actually wrong at this moment right now and will be changed when the new order rolls around. Have fun with how the old Asher is written and look forward to how it's going to be in the future. And thanks for reading.Solomon.
Deep within the southern farmlands of the grand kingdom of Kathe, close to the city of , there were two special humans, Jacob and Zilpah, their specialty was their unremarkability.There was nothing to them which would make them stand out.No special features, they looked as you would imagine any farm couple.No special heritage, both were one hundred percent of irrelevant human descend.No world changing skills.Jacob's unique skill was that every third day he would get nine percent less tired when working with animals.Zilpah's was that she'd get a feeling when any meat-based food she cooked was adequately grilled.Absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary.The only thing that could have made them different was their son, Asher, whom they have neither seen nor heard of in over two years.Their thoughts about him were always filled with worry and concern.What if he was hurt, dead, kidnapped etc. etc. and all the like.Asher, when he was young, was a rather strange child, with littl
At breakfast the next day, after the weirdness Asher had with the dragon last night, he announced that he had big news.While I smeared jelly on a piece of bread he stood up and said to the king, “I’d like for Papia to stay here in my stead, permanently. As a guide, for you, but also as an important task which I’ll believe will help her grow into her future responsibilities she’ll have dealing with all matters related to the elves.I’d also like for Ravana to look over her. A dragon, especially her, is someone I’d trust.What do you say, King Padillia?"There was a silence. I was in shock."I-I don't know- Well, if you, rather, her," he said to me, "think it's best," the king stammered at last."And you, Papia. Are you fine with this development?" Asher asked me directly, "a life in a human castle? Do you think it would befit you?"For a few minutes there wasn't a peep from me. I had to think.What can I say? Just no outright wasn’t a choice.That’s not something Lady Papia, daughter
“What on earth would he want to confront a dragon for?!Get the hell out of here before that monster eats you!”That’s what Papia must be thinking now.She still cowered, just a distance away. Come on, girl. You live in a fantasy world like this and you still think dragons, of all creatures, are mindless monstrous beasts who’ll just eat me?Jeez, she still got a lot to learn about how these things work. Take ten random anime and video games and how often would you see that dragons are just stupid monsters?Often they're the most intelligent creature in any work of fantasy.Proud, sometimes arrogant and the primary source of scalie smut out there. ...But now thinking about it I'm just going to make sure. I don't want to be shredded to cheese when waking it.“Hey, you’re smart, right?” I asked the dragon and readied myself to run away if the worst were to happen.They growled, if lazily, then spoke, "depends on who is the measurer."Didn't seem like there was any danger, phew. I w
My room had an overwhelming feeling of 'this is too much'.It was big as some family houses, gold adorned most pieces of furniture, the chandelier was covered to the brim with gem stones.It was gaudy even.I threw off my shoes and loosened up the dress, then threw myself on the pillow-adorned bed, which was hard.Guess it hasn't been slept in too many times, if ever, but it still beat, sleeping outside on the ground.I closed my eyes. This life actually isn't too bad. I could get used to it, with all the gold and servants.I'd change the style, for sure, but everything else? Wasn't too shabby.I dozed off. I don't know for how long but was awoken by the sound of something smashing on the ground in the room next to mine, Asher's.What the hell was he doing now?There was another smash, a vase or something being broken into a thousand pieces.I had lost the mood to sleep.Getting out of bed, begrudgingly, I'd talk some sense into him. I first thought about banging on the walls, but t
Stopping by a huge portrait of the last king before King Adolar Padillia, Adalier Padillia, his father, the king asked in a tone which made it seem that he forced the question out with an unimaginable sense of awkwardness, “…I don’t want to seem to be rude but you two are not related by blood, are you?”“What gave you that idea?” Asher asked jokingly, “no, King Padillia, Papia is not my daughter by blood, though I love her just as if she were.”He said that so convincingly I believed it for a second, even though I knew that he was lying through his teeth.“I see, …and does she have a mother?” The king followed up.Asher laughed off the question, “not yet, my lord, not yet. You see, for an elf, I am still very young but we choose a partner for life and I'll live for a long time. I want to spend the time with someone I'd feel would not just compliment me, but also her." He was looking at me."But my peers do not feel that way. They already think that I am much too late in choosing a ma
These clothes itch. I really shouldn't have let Asher pick out what I wear. There was one blue dress I thought was cute and 'royal' enough to meet the king but he didn't like it and chose a brown frilly one instead, which in retrospect I could see was a mistake.After I finished this job I could always go and buy as many dresses as I wanted. Blue, brown, red, yellow or pink for all that it matteredHe and I were waiting at the bottom of a wide stone stairway leading up to the castle for about twenty minutes now. Quite a distance, at either end of the stairs, guards were posted.Pacing back and forth in thought mumbling a lot to himself and the air inf front of him, it didn't seem like Asher was enjoying the wait."Are you alright?" I asked."Yes- No- Maybe? Was it the right decision to come here as an elf?" He asked, almost hyperventilating."I don't know? It's not like you could have come here as anything different than you are," I said plainly.He didn't agree to that statement co
Behind a divider a was putting on a dress, one of many that I had already tried on. Stepping out,out, I showed it to my new elven benefactor.And even if his face seemed like it was in deep thought,thought, I already knew that he wasn't going to like this one too.I had already put on at least a dozen other dresses and he didn't like a single one of them. He didn't say why he didn't like them, just that they didn't 'fit' where we were going. And it wasn't just the dress but also the shoes I was going to wear and the rings, earrings, necklaces, gloves, hats, even the pins in my hair.Everything had to fit exactly right.Were elves really this concerned about creating a fashion faux pas?I was exhausted, even just putting on one of the dresses properly took me at least ten minutes and they weren't as comfortable as I hoped.Squeezing and putting a lot of pressure on places I really wished that they didn't.After we find the right one,one, I was going to take another shower.The Inn in w