The Hidden

Chapter 8 - [To Be a Warrior]

Meenu returned to her room in a sad mood. She was partly upset because she had made Seliaryn upset.

     However, he seemed to push it aside and left her with a smile, wishing her a goodnight.

     She was mostly upset because Seliaryn told her that he was leaving for a day or two for some sort of assignment. That meant she was going to be all alone in this giant palace.

     Meenu sat on her bed and sighed.

     But as she did, her eyes fell on the balcony of the bedroom, and she remembered that she still hadn’t gone outside to check it out.

     She felt a little bit of excitement as she got off of the bed and walked over to the doors. She knew they were very high up in the palace, so the view must be amazing.

     She opened the doors and walked out, amazed instantly.

     The capital of Raffyre, The Ruby City, was very different from Amberdyse.

     It was crowded, with homes and stores filling the streets. There was not much greenery outside of the palace grounds. Most of the land was covered with mud, or sand.

     So it wasn’t very pretty.

     The streets of the Ruby City were filled with people roaming around. Some of them were merchants, others were beggars. But whoever they were, they were busy with their own business.

     But what surprised her the most was that you could clearly see where the elite lived.

     Closer to the castle were the large mansions of the richer people, there were also some scattered around Raffia, but most of them were clustered around the palace.

     Meenu took a deep breath, but exhaled quickly.

     It wasn’t that the capital smelled bad… but there was a musky scent in the air that made Meenu feel a little sick.

     Amberdyse was different… Amberdyse was fresh and lovely.

     She sighed.

     She then wondered if she would be able to see Amberdyse from here.

     Leaning over the railing she tried to look out as far as she could. “Which way is west.” She asked herself, knowing that Amberdyse was west of the Capital.

     “A Warrior-to-be not knowing which way is west?” She suddenly heard.

     She recognized the voice immediately but couldn’t believe her ears.

     But when she looked up, she saw Blood swing onto the balcony.

     She gasped, stepping back quickly to make way for him and bumping into the wall as she did so.

     He landed inches away from her, on both his feet.

     “I’m quite disappointed.” He said to her.

     Meenu scoffed as he stepped back and walked into her room. “What are you doing here?” She asked him.

     “Look at this room.” He said, ignoring her. “What luxury your fiancé has gifted you with while beggars just outside the gates sleep on the floor.”

     “I didn’t ask for the room.” She said.

     “And is there really a need for it to be so big?” He asked. “Look at all this free space.”

     “What are you doing here?”  She repeated

     He turned around quickly, almost making her bump into him, and then held his hand out. “You left this behind the other day. I thought I would return it to you.”