Surprise! Here is a bonus chapter for whoever finds it!
ᗩS I ᖇEᗩᗪ TᕼᖇOᑌGᕼ documents in my room, I find my mind wandering off to other things. With the sound of rain sputtering outside the window and the tedious content of the charters before me, it is difficult to focus.
The gentle sound of pattering raindrops is interrupted by rapid footsteps coming down the hallway, muted by my closed door; then, I am startled out of my boredom when the mahogany door bursts open, revealing an out-of-breath Darkling. I stand up from the desk, wide-eyed.
"What's wrong?"
He shuts the door behind him forcefully and leans against it.
"Shh!" he hushes me, raising a finger to his lips.
I pad over to him in confusion and worry, my silk kefta trailing behind me. As I approach, I hear a soft knocking at the door and then a quite familiar voice.
"I found you!" Amelia squeals excitedly on the other side of the door.
"No, there's no one here!" Aleksander announces, "Just a maid cleaning the chambers."
I hear her struggling to reach the door handle, and then her little shoes tap across the hallway, I assume to her bedroom. After a moment, when she returns, there is something scraping on the floor behind her. I realize it is a stool to reach the doorknob. I giggle when Aleksander yanks me away from the door and behind a corner at the far side of the room, securing me to his chest for protection.
I whisper, "Why are we hiding from—"
He puts a finger to my lips as the door finally swings open. Amelia comes hopping in, her golden curls bouncing as she scans the room. When she spots us, her eyes twinkle. "Found you!"
I soon realize why Aleksander was running from her. Amelia holds her tiny jars of glitter in her hands, her eyes glued on the Darkling.
"It's time to play Sparkly Darkly!"
Aleksander shakes his head and backs away.
"You promised!" she says.
Amelia spreads her feet and hunches down, similar to a bull getting ready to charge at a red cloth.
"I remember no such thing," he denies.
Before Aleksander can react, Amelia charges at him and jumps into his arms. He instinctually catches her, but in doing so, gives her leverage to slap glitter on his face. He flinches and coughs as she continues to assault him with the different colors of sparkles until there is no part of his head left unglittered and he looks like a walking disco ball.
"There, doesn't he look pretty?" Amelia says proudly, presenting him to me.
"I hate this," Aleksander grumbles.
"Aw, I think you look beautiful," I say right before he sneezes from some glitter that got in his nose.
He glares at us both and says, "I despise you all."
He sets Amelia on the ground gently, and she bounces up and down. "Who next?"
I smiled deviously and say, "I think I recall Nikolai saying that he loves glitter."
Her smile widens and she grabs my hand. "That's a great idea! Let's go play Nikki Bedazzle!"