SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF FANTASILIA SERIES
𝘈𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦. 𝘈 𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴. 𝘈 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.
Xanthiene Vivenca, af...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
2412, Strilaxis 14, Daleth
"You made me worried there. I told you to not go into the forest alone. I almost lost you."
Xanthy pushed the body away to reveal a boy with amber hair and bronze-rimmed spectacles. What in the world? Was she dreaming? She cast a quick look behind her to find June and Nyxis staring with their mouths agape. She's not dreaming.
Blood rose to her cheeks.
"I'm sorry," the beginning of a stutter made its way to Xanthy's tone. She narrowed her eyes at the stranger touching her without her permission. "Who are you?"
The boy stared at her in equal surprise. "You can talk?"
Xanthy grimaced. "Kinda question is that?"
The boy blinked like Xanthy just said she had horns on her cheeks. "Sorry," he shoved his hand on his already-messy hair. His spectacles caught the moonlight, making it glow for a moment. "You look like someone I know."
"And you're embracing me and whispering gentle words because of that?" She braced her hips with both of her hands.
The boy offered her a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his neck.
A weird feeling stirred in Xanthy's chest. Was it...honor? Yeah. She felt honored that someone just embraced her out of the blue. It's not everyday boys pop out of nowhere and do that. Destiny was crueler than that.
The world blurred when she was shoved out of the way. Xanthy sputtered. What? A black cloak shielded her view. "Yeah, who are you anyway?" June's voice bled in Xanthy's ears. Ugh. "What makes you think you can touch her?"
Xanthy raised her eyebrows. Wow. June usually never does that. If anything, he was the type to hand her over to the nearest thug and laugh his lungs off as he watches Xanthy fend for herself. What in the Queen's stockings was this forest doing to them?
When Xanthy stepped from behind June, she caught him glaring daggers at the stranger. Would June draw his actual dagger from his belt and start hacking at the boy? Probably.
"Stop it. He means no harm," Xanthy interjected, pushing June away from the stranger in an attempt to mediate the situation. She turned to the boy. "Right?"
The boy nodded while June pulled her back. "Come on, he looks dangerous," he whispered.
Xanthy raised her eyebrows as she regarded the boy over again. Oil-stained coveralls, brown spectacles, and light brown skin didn't scream close to danger. His pointy ears would have scared Xanthy more than anything else but she's moved on from that conditioned fear. She's not in Cardina anymore.
"He's not," Xanthy turned back to June. "Besides," she folded her hands together. "The hug is nice."
"Can you please speak in Ylanenla?" Nyxis's confused voice demanded before June could process what Xanthy had just said. "I cannot understand a thing except that this dude has the nerve to just walk up and hug Xanthy. Nobody decent does that."
