Roseblood

🍃Nine🍃

"Training" turns out to be a long, long, long, long walk. It lasts for pretty much the entire day, which on its own is terrible. But, of course, things have to be made worse by inviting along Aura and Brooke. Even though they stay quiet (for the most part) and seem like they're not there, I can feel the Airblood princess' eyes pinned to my back the entire time. It's been like this for a while despite the attempts of small talk from me. ("Are we even allowed to leave the fort?" I asked to which I was responded with "No one's stopping us, Rosy.")

"Airblood," Adam suddenly calls from in front of me. Aura groans out a "what" in response.

"Do you recognize where we are?" From the way he asks the question, it's obvious to everybody that he knows where we are.

I hear a long and dramatic sigh. "If you're too slow to notice, we're in Caeli, east of the base of the Synoro Mountains," comes her immediate response. "I'm guessing that we're heading towards the forest that is also east of the Mountain base, which I'm surprised you even know about. But I'm warning you, Your Royal Nebbiness," she adds. "There are a few groups of natives and wild animals that aren't going to appreciate our little visit."

Adam doesn't say anything, but I catch on to his muscles tensing ever so slightly. Honestly, how he manages Aura without bursting is beyond me.

"How do you know where these places are?" I ask Adam.

"There's such a thing called maps, Rosy," Aura snaps, "and it isn't illegal to have one of a different kingdom."

"Calm down," Brooke says quietly, almost under his breath.

"So do you know where Fort Stone is then?" I ask.

I swear that everyone flinches at the name I came up with for the building we were in.

"Fort Stone?" Aura says. "More like Fort Forgotten. The place was built on the Caeli-Hortus border centuries ago as an outpost. That was back when things were more violent between everyone."

"Violent?" I ask.

"You don't know about it?" Surprisingly the voice belongs to Brooke, who looks completely lost at my apparent ignorance. "Are you not taught about Hortus history?"

Er... "I was," I answer back.

The Waveblood raises both of his dark eyebrows to the hairline of his blond hair. "Was?"

"Am," I stutter. "Of course I'm taught about Hortus history. I live there." I don't tell them that most of this "history" is recent and that I have never heard of Hortus being in a war. I've always been taught that we've been neutral towards everyone. How could I not know that? More importantly, why wasn't that taught to me?

Overhead, Elang does his version of a shrug. Maybe you should've paid more attention.

You can't be serious, I say. I do so pay attention. It's only because of you that I get tired. It really is his fault. Watching humans talk about things that do not concern him puts him straight to sleep, and most of the time his fatigue is passed onto me.

Don't blame your problems on me, he retorts.

Whatever. But seriously, did I really miss something that important?