Accession || Ongoing ||

Seventeen: ...And Never Let Your Children Out Of Your Sight

Farron leaned back casually in his chair, causing it to creak dangerously. "Ah, don't you just love the smell of nepotism in the evening?" A derisive smirk played on his lips as he said this , and Alyxia suddenly forgot how to breathe.

"Well that's hardly fair," Alyxia managed to wheeze out. She took a quick breath and continued, "Besides, the Commander has to know that that decision is highly flawed."

"You know what they say," Farron drawled. "Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer, and never let your children out of your sight."

Alyxia couldn't resist the smile creeping onto her face despite the serious mood of the conversation. "I don't think that's how it goes."

A sharp snap nearly made Alyxia jump in fright, but calmed down when she realised that the snap came from Reiley's fingers. She could practically see the machinery whirring in Reiley's brain. "What are you thinking about, Reils?"

"Hm?" Reiley replied, raising her eyebrows as if she'd forgotten about Alyxia's existence. "Oh nothing much," she said as she shook her head absently. "Just more people to protect."

"Your brothers?" Alyxia guessed, but she knew it was pointless to ask Reiley when the answer was so clear.

Reiley nodded sharply. "The Commander already has one child on the run who could foil her plans. So naturally, she would want to keep her remaining two children firmly under her control."

Farron whisted lowly. "I wish I hadn't called that, but oh well." He was immediately met with a frosty glare from Reiley, and he promptly continued whisting and staring innocently at the ceiling.

Rolling her eyes, Alyxia prised the newsfeed from Reiley's grip in order to find something to change the subject with. She knew that Reiley fiercely cared about her brothers, but Reiley would never prioritise them above Alyxia herself because of her stubborn sense of duty. The best thing to do was to give Reiley time to think of a plan of action.

As she scrolled through the newsfeed, a small news story - almost too small to even be noticed - caught her eye:

ROYALS RUMOURED TO BE IN HIDING

A sudden jolt of fear pricked her, and numbness creeped into her chest.  If the  press had found out, that definitely meant that Ember would know as well. She gingerly tapped Reiley's shoulder, directing her attention to the story.

Reiley frowned as she scanned through the story,  and then pursed her lips. "It isn't about us. If it were, the title would read 'royal', not 'royals'."

"Oh," Alyxia muttered sheepishly. "Well if we haven't been spotted, what could it possibly be about?"

"Rumors of some members of the royal family hiding out in the mountain regions, " Reiley relayed. "There was something about a mansion in Thanna?"

"A mansion in Thanna," Alyxia repeated hazily as she was taken back through the fog of her memories.

"We have reached our destination, Your Majesty," Her father's chief attendant announced as the royal armoured car braked to a halt in front of an imposing white mansion with vast snow-topped gardens.

While Alyxia was merely three years old, barely old enough to process her surroundings, she knew for sure that she had never felt cold like this in her life. "It's really cold, Daddy," Alyxia complained as she shivered in her alpaca wool coat. "Why can't we be home?"

"This is your home," Stavros replied as he took her in his arms and stepped out of the vehicle. "Your mommy grew up here, you know."

"Really?" Alyxia exclaimed as a wide grin spread on her face. Stavros nodded in reply as they approached the mansion in all of its splendour. She could barely make out the brilliant white walls of the building in the midst of all the pristine white snow.