Incendia

Chapter 17-The meeting

As Incendia nears the bottom of the stairs she hears children gigling with joy over something. As she creaks the landing door open she sees a cluster of blonde  children, the eldest being no older than seven; playing with a ball of yarn and a giant panther. Incendia can't help but laugh at the sight of Vidar playing with children chasing a light blue string across the wooden floor boards. Vidar lets out a light growl at the sound of her short laugh, but he is quickly distracted again by the yarn being dragged along by the giggling golden headed boy.

It's strange for Incendia to think that she had never once encountered blonde hair during her first twenty years of her life and now she is surrounded by it. Blonde and brown hair seem so common, where as dark hair was more common in the Winter Kingdom. Just another harsh reminder Incendia stands out and doesn't belong, her flaming hair makes her quick and easy to spot in either kingdom.

Incendia banishes these gloomy thoughts as she hears murmuring which sounds like a muffled argument over something. As she looks around the small room, she spots a  white wooden door slightly cracked open opposite from where she stands with the children and Vidar that has a warm glow coming from the crack.

Feeling like an intruder, Incendia tiptoes quietly over to the door and peeks ever so slightly inside. She ses at least forty people inside the room surrounding a log, black dining table. She quickly scans the room for Teo while silently berating herself for doing so. However, her annoyance melts away when she sees him standing in the corner by the fire, casting a warm glow to his face. Seeing his usually mischevous eyes looking troubled causes any anger she had towards him begin to vanish. Before she has time to wonder over the feelings stirring up inside her while she looks at Teo, a large bang echos throughout the room when a man about her father's age slams his fist on the table. The man has dark brown hair slicked back along with a graying goatee that sits just under his frowning mouth.

"She isn't strong enough! I warned you all that she would be too spoiled, too sheltered and too naive!" The man thunders glowering at all of them.  

"Now hold it right there!" A womans voice calls out, many heads turn in the diretion of a short, stoutly woman with frizzing yellow hair in a bun falling out onto her face. "How 'bout till you go on ranting and such we hear from Teo since he's spent the last two weeks with her. As far as I can tell you ain't talked to her for not even a split of a second!" The woman commands with an authorative mother aura around her.

At her words the heads all swivell back to Teo standing by the fireplace, whose troubled eyes have no once again hardened. With a sinking realization Incendia understands that this "spoiled" failure they are all talking about is her.

Teo clears his throat to address the crowd of people staring at him all awaiting to hear what he has to say, while Incendia tries to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.

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Teo's POV

Teo clears his throat while his mind attempts to think of what to say. They want to know about this girl. What can he say? He can talk about her brass, bossy personality, or he can talk about the soft, feminine side of her that he saw only twice when she turned her large, gray eyes on him that sest his pulse thundering for no reason. But it must all be a game to her, Tobias and her were clearly having a moment upstairs that he walked in on. Seeing those two together, him touching her and consoling her while she only threatens, insults and glares at him hurt him as much as a blow to the gut from Wolf would.  Teo stands there for a moment shocked at those unwelcome thoughts as he clears his throat yet again.

"Incendia Naveen Salvazor is definetley not what I expected when I first met her I can honestly say that. As Bogart said, she is incredibly naive and ignorant about the world beyond her kingdom." He says indicating to the goateed man. "She also has a temper like you  wouldn't believe. I save her life from the palace and she kicks, screams and threatens to kill me either with her panther or herself. I wasn't sure if I had grabbed the princess or a rabid outsider!" Teo says with a chuckle while many of those around him join in on laughing. He waits for them to finish and as it quiets down he continues; "But she is also brave and fearless and incredibly intelligent. Yes she is ignorant but as soon as she was told about the Outsiders she was ready to fight. She is courageous but secretly good hearted. I think that the war is drawing closer everyday, but we still have time before it gets here. I think that in these months leading up, she should be trained in her physical, mental and magical abilities. Despite how pig headed or whinny she is, I believe she can lead us to victory and to a better world." He finishes making eye contact with Bogart daring him to challenge him.

As Teo and Bogart stare each each other down, out of the corner of his eye he sees a red just beyond Bogart's head outside the door, a red that is more vivid than the fire burning next to him. He breaks eye contact with Bogart to address the crowd once more.

"I forgot to mention one more thing about our little winter princess." Teo says light heartedly.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Bogart grumbles.

"She is also apparently very skilled at moving silently and spying on people without them realizing. With feet that small you wouldn't even know if she was standing outside the door listening to your conversation."

At his words, the crowd begins talking to one another in confusion, Teo even heard a fragment of a conversation, "Perhaps that two week long journey made him ill or he hit his head."

Teo raises his voice above the crowd's confusion and Bogart's insulting comments. 
"Your highness, hasn't anyone ever told you that it is rude to listen at doors? I told you we were witing for you why didn't you just join us when you first came down?" Teo asks gleefully at the door.

"Enough of your foolishness Teodor! " Bogart stomps open to the door and flings it open expecting it all to be a joke. Instead of the empty room he and much of the other people in the room were expecting to see; they see the fiery red haired princess. Whose face Teo was amused to see is actually more red than her flaming hair.

He only smirks at her as she glowers at him from across the room with her red face. He might not get an intimate moment from her like that stable boy could but he also knows noone can get her to glare like he can.

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SOOOOOO I hope you guys enjoyed this!!! I am planning on writing more tomorrow. Please please please please PLEASSEEE tell me what you like and don't like. Also please comment anything else, advice, criticism anything and don't forget to vote either!