The Pale Truth

Chapter 3- The Palace

The duo traveled amongst the bookshelves. They chatted about a great many things; books, where the history section was, how the map was connected to the charm, where the history section was, how the charm was made, where the history section was...
Finn had to explain to Alina a great many times that it was just up ahead, according to the map and charm. Alina scoffed and obviously didn't believe him, as she continued asking.

She weaved in and out of the bookshelves, despite Finn's warnings that she might get lost. It really seemed like she didn't care. Or maybe she was acting aloof? Finn was too busy pondering his map to work it out. The history section should be right up ahead...
Bugs wandered around them, not looking up. They didn't bow, nor make way for the prince and his royal visitor. That's what pleasured Finn about libraries: nobody cared who he was. To them, everyone here was a humble student surrounded by as much knowledge as they needed, no matter their age, race, religion, social status... Everyone here was respected.

As Finn walked, he ran his hand along the books stored on the shelf. He felt every spine under his fingers, every bit of knowledge...

Suddenly, he slammed into someone, nearly falling. She caught him by the waist before he was halfway to the ground, staring him right in the eyes.

"Dryya?" The prince tilted his head as she set him back on his feet.

Indeed, it was Dryya. The warrior-in-training stood proudly in front of him, posture relaxed. Her three horns twisted up elegantly, seeming to have grown since the last time they had seen each other.

Dryya gaped, squinting her eyes with obvious confusion. "Finn? I almost didn't recognize you. You've grown since your grub years!"

"Our grub years. We're the same age," the prince responded, nudging her softly.

To Finn, Dryya was like the sister he had never had. Being an only child was lonely for him— especially with his parents gone half of the time— and friends were hard to make. So when a strange girl came up to him out of the blue while he was walking with his guards on the street and asked him if he wanted to play with her and her friends, of course he had said yes. Their small group had basically grown up together. Dryya was the leader, fierce and fiery. Then there was Hedgemol, who was the mightiest— and biggest— of them all, despite being soft-spoken and surprisingly empathetic. Isma, the kindly 'mother' of the group, kept everyone together in the toughest of times. Ze'mer... was a mysterious one. She didn't speak a lick of Wyrmtongue and relied on Isma to translate for her. When she spoke, almost none of the words she uttered made sense to any of them. Finn often wondered where she came from, to know such a wildly different language. Ogrim was the most loyal and devoted of their little group, and it was rumored that he even had a romantic attraction to Isma! Scandalous, for sure. Last but not least, there was Finn. He had no battle training whatsoever, unlike the others, and was the smallest. They took him in anyway, which he was eternally grateful for.

Everything had changed when Finn's parents had decided it was time to prep him for leadership. They had pulled him away from the group, away from his only friends. They all went to warrior's training, while he was stuck in the palace for all that time. Finn simply thought it was unfair and brooded in his room until his parents had told him to 'stop being so petty'. At that, Finn had decided to become even more petty and just not talk to them for a while.

Of course, this silent treatment couldn't go on forever, so his parents did have their way eventually.

Too caught up in his abrupt encounter with his old friend, Finn didn't realize that Alina was lurking behind the shelves at his back, waiting to pounce. When she did strike, it was very startling indeed. She walked up behind him and placed both of her hands on his shoulders, making him jump.