“I wasn’t in that much danger, really.” - Lady Celeste

My rough escort returned and now hastened my arrival to the Royal Hall.  Which was more than worth the lengthy, arduous, and often humiliating journey.

The throne room itself was everything King Alexander had described: a rotunda lined with pillars of delicate detail.  The room itself conveyed all the intelligence, expertise, ancient wisdom, beauty and pride of the race of the Winged Ones.  Upon their respective thrones resided Lord Azure and Lady Ariel, stoic and wise rulers of the Isle.  To the side, on a slightly smaller chair, was their daughter Lady Celeste, a while ago rescued from the dreaded Minotaur by Daventry’s favorite Prince, looking terribly bored with the audiences, yet remarkably interested in her pretty pink fingernails.

When asked about the replacement of the Cliffs of Logic with the expansive stairway, Lord Azure replied that, “With the peace and settlements that followed the discovery of Alhazred’s treachery and deceit, and the crowning of Alexander and Cassima, we felt that perhaps it was time to show a bit more hospitality to the humans. Especially since most of you would never be able to decipher the puzzles the Cliffs held. And there may have been some complaints about falling bodies.”

Fair enough!  I asked Lady Ariel what had become of the catacombs since the defeat of the Minotaur.

“Few of our race are eager to re-enter, and so most of the catacombs have been shut off from entry at this time.  We have

future plans to explore our ancestors’ tombs, however.

We are most grateful to King Alexander for his rescue of Celeste, of course.”

Lady Celeste felt it necessary to interject.  “I wasn’t in that much danger, really.”

When asked further about the Minotaur and her captivity, Celeste declined to answer after receiving a stern look from her mother.

Could they tell us something about the Artists Boulevard?

“The Artists Boulevard and the Theatre are two of the greatest collections of talent, intelligent and pride among the Winged Ones.  Few humans have ever been so fortunate as to see and explore the Boulevard in full.  You should consider yourself quite lucky.”  I assured Lord Azure that I did, and proceeded to inform them of the reaction of the Winged Ones in both market and home to my presence.

“Could you truly expect less?  We may have opened our borders more, but we cannot change how the people think of humans.  If you were to drop into my pool unannounced, I admit I may very well have reacted in a similar manner,” Lady Ariel explained.  Celeste echoed her mother’s sentiments.

“I’d have pushed you off myself.” I thanked her for the honesty.

When asked about the enormous wall near the City, the rulers declined to give a detailed answer.  “It is there for a very specific reason, you may trust in that, human.  Beyond that, you need not know its purpose.”

Then informed of another audience they had waiting, the rulers dismissed me.  “You understand, of course.  If the civilians were to hear that we were granting more time to a human dirt-digger than we were to our own people, there would be quite an uproar,” Lady Ariel detailed.

Despite my protests that I was a reporter and not a dirt-digger and had only been in the Hall itself for maybe ten minutes, I was rushed out by my previous escort and given a hasty return flight to the gates, where I unceremoniously dumped on the ground. Though my request for a lift to the shoreline was scoffed at heartily, I was informed that there were faster ways to the ground than the stairs; for example, jumping and flapping my arms.

And so my tour of the Isle of the Sacred Mountain ended there, as I trudged down the majestic stairway, undoubtedly leaving footprints of water and sand behind me, my notebook ruined, my dignity barely intact, and but a single coin to my name.  But what a marvelous and whirlwind tour it was!