Fire of the Sea

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

As Genevieve entered Dorien's room, she saw him packing some clothing and weapons into a bag. Dorien glanced up. "Oh, hey Gen."

Genevieve took in the scene and realized what Dorien was doing. "You're not going with the search party, are you?" she asked worriedly. Dorien's silence answered her. "You can't do that! You could die!"

"She's my best friend too," Dorien quietly said. "You can't go look for her because you're a princess. I can and I want to. Plus, this is what my Father trained me to do."

Genevieve fell silent. "Then promise me that you'll come back alive, okay?"

"I'll try my best," he said. The tone was neither optimistic nor sad.

Genevieve's eyes glossed over. She just lost one of her best friends, and now she might lose another? Before she could say anything, Dorien's arms wrapped around her tightly. "I will find Chelsea," he whispered. "I promise."

"Stay safe," Genevieve said, wrapping her arms around Dorien.

"You too," Dorien replied sincerely, his icy eyes warming. "Be careful. You don't know who you can trust." There was something in his tone that made her shiver.

***

Genevieve headed towards the dining room for dinner. As Genevieve approached the room, the guards opened the door for her to walk in. Inside, her father and mother were in deep conversation. Once they saw Genevieve enter, they immediately stopped.

"Hello, dear," her mother said, lilting her voice.

"What were you talking about before I came in?"

Her mother looked slightly surprised. "Oh. Nothing that you should worry about dear."

Genevieve turned to face her father. "Father," she asked, ignoring her mother's response, "What were you talking about?"

"I'll tell you when Vivien and Lana come, okay darling?"

Genevieve wasn't completely happy with that answer, but she agreed.

A few moments later, Lana and Vivien burst into the dining room smiling at one another. Lana locked her eyes with Genevieve and nodded.

Genevieve smiled. They would be sneaking into the spare room in the corridor on the fifth floor today for a sister's night.

"We have some news for you, dear," her mother said. "We found out who took Chelsea."

Genevieve gasped. "Who?"

"Well, from the evidence gathered and the examinations of the magic traces left behind," their mother started, "it was-"

"The king," her father bluntly stated. "The high king of Fotiá. That thot took her."

Genevieve gasped again. "Father! You could get executed for saying that! It's in the royal protocol book by the High King. You should never utter anything foul about the king."

"Well," her father said, "I never liked the high king to start with."

"You always say that we should never call the high king anything but wonderful," Lana said. "And told us that we could get executed for saying that."

Vivien shook off her shock. "Keep your voice down," she whispered as she looked around furtively. "You don't want anyone to overhear."

"Right," Genevieve muttered, deep in thought. She looked at her parents. "So... you don't like the high king?"

"No, we don't," her father said, as her mother shook her head, mouthing "no." "We only acted like we followed him so that he would leave us alone. Before, he would have his own guards constantly patrolling the castle. You would never get a moment alone."

"Oh," Genevieve said. She wanted to ask them about the Wildflowers, but she had to tread carefully. She pierced her fork in her salmon and twirled it around. "So...does that mean that we are going to rebel against him?"

Her mother looked horrified. "Of course not! We don't want to die! We are just going to subtly resist against him. Small things, that's all. We won't follow some of his directions and come to assembly meetings and whatnot."

"Like that's going to help," Genevieve scoffed under her breath. She continued eating, in deep thought. As she was thinking about the conversation that had just occurred, she glanced at her father. When she did, he looked at her with his eyebrows raised. He took his wine glass and brought it up to his lips, slightly inclining his head towards the centerpiece on the dining table. It was a vase full of wildflowers. Genevieve's eyes widened at the sight of it. He's helping the rebels, Genevieve realized. But Mother doesn't know.