Chapter 7- Cisses

My Aunt Iris greeted me warmly the second I walked through the door.

The dark circles under her eyes had vanished, leaving behind a youthful, refreshed, hopeful woman. She looked different. Her eyes twinkled with happiness, and her ready, warm smile rarely left her face. It was almost as if she had developed a completely new persona overnight. Maybe she had.

I handed her my days wages along with Adeia's gift. My Aunt Iris's eyes shone with excitement at the extra money I had brought in. 

"Child! Where did you get that?" She asked me, her mouth stretching into a wide beam. She barely gave my wage a sideways glance. It was nothing compared to Adeia's gift. 

"Oh, It's just a... bonus," The words left my mouth before I could think twice. I didn't know why I was lying to my Aunt. It wasn't that I didn't trust her because, in fact, I did. But the thought of Adeia getting into trouble socializing with me made my skin crawl with fear. I didn't want to see her get punished by the King for being nice to me

"A bonus?" My Aunt sounded surprised. "My word, you must really be an excellent asset to the palace if you're earning this amount of money."

"Mmhm," I nodded along, ignoring the horrible sensation of guilt settling inside of my stomach. I hated lying, especially to somebody I loved. 

She took the money as if it were an expensive vase. I heard her laugh softly out of amazement, shaking her head.

"I'm going to the market to get us a filling dinner," She said, grabbing a shawl and throwing it around her neck. "I'll be back in a minute, Heliodora."

"Stay safe," I cautioned her, hugging her goodbye. She flashed me another ecstatic smile and stepped out onto the cobbled streets. 

I closed the door gently, slipping out of my shoes. It always felt good to get home from work, free of all responsibility, at least until the morning. As I hopped about the house, doing odd chores here and there, I concentrated on Adeia.

Her charming smile was pictured realistically in my head. I suddenly wished she was by my side, her arms soft around my body. I imagined the fun we could have together, laughing, joking and chatting all night. 

She was starting to feel like a friend, but I felt closer to her than I did to Mahra and Haidyn. That feeling confused me. Mahra and Haidyn were the best colleagues I could think of, but then again I loved spending time with Adeia.

I pondered over these thoughts as I folded up my Aunt's clothes, feeling mystified. What was Adeia to me then? Was I in love with her?

The next morning, I woke up, urging to see Adeia. I wanted to talk through how I felt with her. I knew she would understand. I knew she would understand. I knew she would listen. 

I ran into work, dodging past the bleary-eyed morning shoppers and exhausted-looking mothers. The sun was just pulling itself out of the horizon, making its tedious trek up the sky to give us light for the day. I felt its weak glow on my back before it disappeared behind a cloud.

The second I arrived, I saw Adeia near the entrance immediately. She was wearing a pale blue dress that reached past her ankles. It trailed lightly on the floor behind her and in my opinion, she looked like a goddess. It suited her perfectly.

Beside her stood a burly, tall and fit man. Upon closer inspection, I noticed how they both had the same eye shape and similar facial features. 

"Heliodora!" I heard her call my name, which made me grin. "How are you on this fine morning?"

"I'm doing very well, thank you, your highness," I bobbed a small curtsey. I only addressed her formally that time, well aware that the man was eying me curiously. 

"And your Aunt?"

"Very well too, your highness." 

"There's no need to call me that," She laughed, patting me on the shoulder, "don't fret, this is just my brother. Cisses."

I held out my hand to him. Cisses shook my hand gratefully, his whole face lighting up. His grin replicated Adeia's, but I noticed that it was a lot wider and much cheekier.

"Nice to meet you, Prince Cisses," I spoke in a polite tone to him, bobbing another little curtsey. He threw back his head and laughed.

"I also don't like formalities," He told me after he had recovered. "Adeia and I both hate being royal."

"Hate is a strong word, Cisses."

"Fine then. Adeia and I dislike having royal blood," He emphasized the dislike so much, I couldn't help but giggle. 

I liked Cisses quite a lot. From how he stood to how he spoke, he didn't give me much of a royal vibe. I didn't feel like I was talking to Prince but as if I was speaking to a close family member.

"Shoo, don't you have something to do?" Adeia joked, waving him off with a flick of her hand. He pouted comically, stepping aside to give us both some space.

 "Nice meeting you, Heliodora!" He called out to me, cheerily, "Adeia's said some very flattering stuff about you."

"Shush!" Adeia shouted, throwing him a death glare, "don't you dare!"

He cackled hysterically and walked off, disappearing around a bend. Adeia rolled her eyes and turned her full attention over to me.

Our eyes interlocked again for a hot second. I could feel the sizzle of electricity pass between both of us and I had the sudden urge to reach out and grab her hand. When we both looked away, Adeia had a small blush over her cheeks. 

"Thank you for the money, Adeia," I thanked her in the most gracious voice I could muster, "this has helped me through a very difficult time."

"You deserved it," She shrugged, "I can't imagine how upset you must have felt when you lost your father."

I nodded silently, dragging her into a tight hug. I rested my chin on her shoulder, pressing her shoulder blades into my chest. We held the hug for a while until I felt her pull away.

As she stared lovingly into my eyes, I realised that what I was feeling for her wasn't normal. I didn't feel this way towards my Aunt, Haidyn or Mahra. Just...Adeia...

"Adeia, can I ask you something?" I asked her, seriously. She nodded, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Of course, anything. I'm here for you, Heliodora. You know that."

I took a deep breath, screwing all of the courage I had inside of me. I reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly but not enough to cause her any pain or discomfort. To my relief, she didn't recoil but instead squeezed me lightly back.

"Adeia, I don't think we're friends," I mumbled quietly, looking dead in her eyes. Her face lit up with panic.

"Wait what? Did I say something wrong?" She quizzed indignantly, looking concerned. I put a finger to her lips and she subsided.

"No, I feel different when I'm with you." My voice shook slightly. 

She opened and closed her mouth, speechless. She removed her head from my shoulder and instead placed her other hand in mine.

"I'm glad that you told me this," Adeia responded, her voice barely a whisper, "but what do you mean?"

"I know we just met and all, but I've never felt so...safe when around somebody. You make me feel alive, special and I dunno..." I trailed off, worried that I had scared her off.

"When I'm with you, Heliodora," She told me, with a small smile on her face, "I feel a million things. I feel happy, hopeful and a billion other things. I haven't felt this way towards anybody else before."

I blushed so hard, I felt like my whole face had been set on fire. I looked down, wanting to hide my tomato face but she lifted my chin upwards with her hand. 

Before we could say anything else, I heard a loud chorus of trumpets ring sound from outside. It was followed quickly by the sounds of people screaming, babies crying and frantic footsteps. 

"Heliodora!" Haidyn was at my side, panting heavily, "We need to go. Now!"

She continued running off down the hallways, with Mahra at her heels. I gave Adeia a confused look before pulling her along after Haidyn. We both ran through the hallways, our feet drumming noisily on the stone floor.

"What's going on?" I yelled over the din, "Why is everybody running?"

Streams of servants were joining us, dashing as quickly as they could, carrying all kinds of objects. Clothes, food, water, bedding...

"It's the rebels," Mahra told me in a frightened voice, "They're here."

Just as she spoke, men dressed head to toe in black appeared at the end of the hallway we were running down. They were armed with knives, spears and bows. 

A chorus of screams erupted from the crowd of servants. I saw one of the men slice a young child in the chest, and she crumpled to the floor, ejecting a stream of blood from the open wound. 

"How did they get in so quickly?!" Adeia gasped as we all started running in the opposite direction, "And where did all of the palace guards go?"

Nobody answered her question. Nobody even knew the answer to it. Nobody had the time to think over it. Our first concern was to get to some sort of shelter. 

An arrow shot past my ear, missing me by a single inch. I screamed, working my legs even harder than I had done so before. They pounded into the floor so hard, it wasn't long until I could feel my whole leg screaming out in pain. 

I heard Haidyn yelp as I saw an arrow puncture her left thigh. She pulled it out, wincing but she didn't stop. It wasn't long before her blood had soaked her entire leg red and it wasn't long until her leg gave way completely. 

"There's no way we can continue running!" Mahra panted, trying to lift Haidyn over her shoulders. Adeia and I tried to assist her all we could, but it was clear that we weren't going to be able to continue running. 

In mere seconds, the rebels had caught up to her, their silver blades glinting hungrily at us. That's when a shiver ran down my spine. We were going to die. There was no way I could see ourselves getting out of this one. 

"Kill her," One of the rebels commanded, pointing his sword at Adeia, "It is her we must kill."