A few days later, Katie sat in front of her study table, singing a song at the top of her lungs. She danced a random choreography while staying seated, but her hand bumped into the papers on her table, causing her small stack of homework to fall to the floor.
“Ah, crap!” Katie muttered under her breath, crouching to the floor to pick up her lessons.
She heard her bedroom doors open, and a figure crossed the threshold to her bedroom, their hands akimbo. She looked up, only to meet Arden’s brilliant blue eyes. He looked at her with the expression that she usually associated with his 'doctor mode': worry.
“What’s up with your expression?” she asked and resumed picking up her papers. “I told you my bruises are no longer visible.”
“That’s not why I’m here.”
“Why else would you enter my bedroom like it’s your living room?”
Arden was taken aback by Katie&rsquo
Can you hear me?“Who's there?”You! Are you the oracle?“What?”You can hear me! You can set me free! Please help me.“I don’t understand.”Please. I was told you already know this place!“You know that's not usually the case. I don’t know where-”Katie’s eyes fluttered open and she found herself hunched over her study table. She felt her stomach growl and realized that she hadn’t eaten breakfast after getting ready to welcome the Pipers’ return.She exited her room and headed towards the kitchen, fanning herself with her hands. Did the palace get warmer?When she reached the kitchen, the lingering aromas from the dishes made her stomach growl louder. She pat her stomach and headed to the table where her breakfast sandwiches were placed.“Princess, you came later than expected to
“Ah, then… Perhaps you should go check on him,” the queen said, giving her niece a small push toward the palace doors. “Alaster and I have much to discuss. Don’t forget to button up your coat.”Katie nodded and walked to the greenhouse, appreciating that time given for her to thik. She wasn’t satisfied with her aunt’s answer but… It was no use pressing her. She knew that her aunt had much to hide. After all, it goes along with her position.What would make aunt start such a club? Does she believe that the descendant of the war god is revealed soon? What significance does the descendant and the relic have in this peaceful era.“Katie!” Alexander ran to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.The prince’s gesture brought Katie back to reality, but what startled her most was the Prince’s demeanor. Was he this cheerful before?“Hello, Prince Alexander&rd
“Feel Alexander…” He remembered his mother’s words before she died. “The gods can be perceived with emotions.”He remembered his mother’s death. It had been… so long... or was it longer than he thought? Was it a year? He was a child… so it was years ago. Before his mother died, he was not the type to believe in things such as magic or deities.His parents did always urge him to acknowledge the unknown… and that was his mother’s final wish for him. For a change, he started to study various mythologies but he never did quite feel anything towards them. He accepted his father’s offer to ally with Aelysia and they were in the Aelysian palace a month later. Before his mother's death, he would have found the idea of marrying someone from a religious country useless but perhaps if he could study Aelysia's rich history, he could find the engagement a fruitful one.At first, the clueless princess
Katie sat on a swing, kicking at the sand beneath her feet. She thought back to the palace maids. They looked… scary. The staff was the scariest people, in her opinion. They could freely enter any rooms in the palace without arousing much suspicion. They were also the most outspoken people.“Maybe I should have replied,” Katie wondered. “Will I gain their respect if I do that?”She exhaled audibly and scanned her surroundings. She realized that she had been in Aelysia for so long but she never knew any places aside from places she had visited for courtly affairs. She never would have expected there was a playground at the foot of the hill.She looked up. It had started to snow. She stretched her arm out, accumulating snow in her palms. It was these occasions that she always felt nostalgic. Somehow, memories of her family had always been associated with snow. She thought it was because she left her family during winter time.
Alexander ran everywhere around the city, desperately searching for Katie. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman dressed in a nightgown, running away from a man holding a weapon in hand. He rubbed his eyes as the woman’s image flickered. Am I seeing things again?The trees in the direction the man and woman ran to began to dance, as if beckoning Alexander to go there. Trusting his guts, Alexander followed the mysterious pair and wound up in a small playground near the forest. The woman was gone but the man was standing motionless before Katie, staring at her even as she was obviously in excruciating pain.Alexander hurried to Katie’s side, pushing the man away. “Katie! Stay with me!”The light from Katie’s eyes faded and Alexander managed to catch her before her body hit the ground. Pushing him aside seemed to have brought the man back to reality and he gasped at the sight of the unconscious woman. He looked down at
Marielle and Xena emerged from Xena’s tent, both exhausted. They both collapsed on their chairs and sighed.“Does your friend have a history with venom?” Xena asked Alexander.“I don’t think so. Why?”“The venom was neutralized when I was about to take care of it. The decay around her shoulder started to turn back to normal, too.”“Which means…?” Éclair asked.“Which means-” Marielle paused for so long, Alexander could only think it was intentionally for dramatic effect. “Either she’s immune to snake lady venom or she has really fast-working supernatural antibodies. We believe the latter is more believable, otherwise the venom would not have had any effect on her.”“That’s great! Good work, guys!” Éclair smiled. “Perfect timing, too. The food is ready.”They all ate in silence; the only
The group shared astonished glances, all directed toward the couple of people who just came to them tonight. Kaine looked away and snorted, then burst into laughter.“Something funny?” Alexander muttered, mildly irritated.“No! It’s nothing!” Kaine’s laughter faded to a chuckle. “It’s just that… we expected her answer to be a godly parent but her answer was even more unexpected.”“Wait a minute, while Kaine may have a point, that actually makes a lot of sense,” Ryle said, evidently in deep thought. “The new Crown Princess is the missing daughter of the previous King and Queen,” he tilted his head. “But that would mean she wouldn’t have a godly parent.”“Are we really going to disregard the fact that you asked her who her ‘godly’ parent is? Is that some sort of metaphor? Are you royalties too?” Alexander asked.“
When they arrived at the palace, Queen Victoria and the King of Anatolia waited impatiently at the door, the Queen pacing back and forth. “Katie!” the Queen cried out when she saw her niece and ran to hug her. “Where have you been? I was starting to get worried when you didn’t come home at sundown!” “I’m sorry, aunt. I just thought I would stay away from the palace for a while,” Katie said as an excuse. “But I was fine. Alexander found me before it got dark.” Katie turned to Alexander with an expectant face and Alexander simply nodded in agreement. What she said was technically true, anyway. “And Alexander,” his father gave him a squeeze on his shoulder. “You could have at least contacted me.” “I’m sorry, I’ll do that next time.” he replied. "Please let there be no next time. Spare me." “Now, you must be exhausted. Go on up to your rooms and rest,” the Queen gently pushed them to the stairs. Alaster excused himself and