The blinding sun rising up the hill that faces the castle's entrance hits my face, forcing me to lower my gaze. After my sleepless night, I slipped out of Lorenzo's room before he could wake from his deep slumber. I barely got the time to bathe before Celeste walked into my room happily to inform me of the arrival of our guests this morning.
We are expecting three girls around my age, including Cateline, along with a younger boy and girl. With the protective dome Lorenzo has set upon Kallista, their parents thought it better for them to seek shelter here during the war. The last thing they'd want is for their heir to perish during an attack on their home.
"How did they enter your wards?" I whisper to Lorenzo who's standing close behind me.
He leans down and whispers back, "I choose who gets past them."
I frown, looking up at the sky where the slightest movement of a glass effect can be seen. "Can the birds fly through?" I hear him chuckle next to my ear and goosebumps litters on my skin.
"I set up wards to protect your kingdom and you ask questions about its effect on the animals?" He says amused.
"I was just being curious," I usher defensively.
"Would you want them to be able to pass through?"
I shrug, "Maybe."
He goes back to his full stance as a carriage is seen rolling up the path and I start shaking my fingers gently, impatient to see Cateline.
I turn to Celeste who seems to catch onto my excitement as she throws me a wink. The carriage comes to a stop and the door flies open quickly, forbidding the poor footman to do his job and letting the blonde I've been waiting for step out of the vehicle.
As soon as Kian sends an approving nod my way, I rush to her with a joyful laugh and she throws her arm around me, giggling madly as well.
"Oh Alora, you look even prettier than the last time I saw you," Cateline exclaims with a toothy smile.
"Same for you, my dear," I tell her as the others get out of the carriage as well.
"Let me present you the others," she says. "First we have Maeve and her little brother, Malcolm."
Maeve bows slightly and her little brother who must be around eight years old follows her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, thank you for letting us into your home."
Celeste nods warmly. "We are delighted to have you with us, we wish it would have been under better circumstances."
"And here are Elizabeth and Jane," Cateline finishes.
Again, both girls bow and Elizabeth expresses her gratitude to the Queen and King. Jane seems a little older than Malcolm and bears a shy expression, contrary to the young boy who I see openly eyeing Lorenzo and frowning weirdly at him. The latest doesn't seem to mind, only arching a brow at Malcom and returning his hard stare, amused.
"We have prepared you your own rooms and we arranged them all in the same corridor as Alora's," Kian informs them with his usual kind tone.
"I'll lead you to them," I offer.
"Perfect, and don't hesitate to ask if you need anything, my dears." Celeste leaves with one last reassuring squeeze to my arm and Kian trails behind her, snaking his arm around her waist.
With Lorenzo to my right, I lead the group inside as Cateline starts blabbering about all the activities she wishes for us to do. I wonder if she chooses to ignore the violent battles awaiting our kingdoms because she is used to it or if she does it to lift our spirits. Whatever it is, I am convinced everyone here is grateful.
Just as I'm about to pass the door, I see a bird landing on the carriage's roof. I turn to Lorenzo, lifting an inquiring brow.
He simply shrugs, setting a foot in the castle. "You wanted birds."
•••
"Our brother stayed in Chrysos, father says it is his duty as the future king to learn the prospects of war," Elizabeth says as she sits on one of the sofas of the lounge we are settled in.
I had planned to show our guests the town and the gardens but I soon realized how tired they were from their long journey. At least, the three girls were, but I couldn't say the same for their younger siblings.
Maeve sighs loudly and drapes herself over Cateline's lap. "You would think I would have that task as well as the future Queen of my land but father-dearest categorically refused my demand."
"Your moment of glory will come, Maeve," Cateline reassures her while stroking her hair. "Maeve Delaney, the bravest Queen to have set foot upon this land! That is what they will call you."
The blonde's amusing comment etches a smile on Maeve's lips and she rolls her eyes sarcastically. "No need to praise me, Miss Ivory."
Although we've only met each other a few hours ago, I already get along with all of the royal heirs really well. Elizabeth and Maeve have been nothing but kind to me and as for their younger siblings, I now believe I have met the cutest kids to exist.
"That," I tell Malcolm and Jane as their intrigued eyes are fixed on the map laid out on the table. "is Andromeda. When I was little, I found interest in the stars I would see in the sky and after some searching, I discovered Andromeda's existence. I used to talk to her every night before going to bed."
"What did you speak to her about? Did she ever respond?" Jane asks quietly.
"I would mostly tell her about my days, but I guess she's a little shy because I never got an answer," I shrug. "That or she thought I was horribly boring."
They both laugh at me, Malcolm laughing the hardest, as I playfully nudge them with my elbows.
"Malcolm, Jane," Elizabeth intervenes. "How about you two go see the stables with Delmont?"
The kids shoot up from their seats, hurrying towards him with excited giggles. "Are there many horses here?" "Can we ride them, Alora?"
I stand up as well, patting their heads affectionately. "We have plenty of them, but maybe we should wait another moment to mount them," I tell them.
"Okay, Alora," Malcolm nods before he runs to the doors with Jane by his side.
"Miss," Lorenzo says. "I can't leave you here unguarded."
I look up at him amused. "Are you so paranoid you won't even trust your own wards enough to keep me safe?"
He throws me an unimpressed look and leans down so only I can hear his words, "Only if you promise me to keep this on you at all times."
I flinch slightly at the feeling of cold metal touching the skin under my corset. I look at Lorenzo's hands to see he has just slipped a sheathed dagger inside my dress, hiding it from everyone's eyes.
"Your father has been teaching you to defend yourself, hasn't he?"
I nod, absentmindedly staring as he replaces the fabric over the weapon.
"Promise me, Alora," he asks seriously.
Gulping at the burning feeling rising onto my cheeks, I gaze at him again. "Fine," I manage to mutter.
"Good."
He throws me one of his usual annoying wink and finally races to join the younger ones, leaving me to take a deep breath. I touch the blade through my corset, wondering if I'll ever have to use it alone.
Since my arrival here, I have almost always had someone by my side whether it be Lorenzo, guards, Celeste or Kian. But I know Kian's lessons are serious, I see it in his insistence when he teaches me. He doesn't only want me to be good, he wants me to be the best so that my security won't be a question of luck.
"I knew it," Cateline states loudly.
"What?" I ask turning back around and sitting beside Elizabeth on her sofa.
"Delmont likes his princess a little more than the king would like," she responds while wriggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Please don't start again with that nonsense," I beg desperately. "You read too many romance novels."
"Well you can deny Cateline's accusations as much as you want, Alora, but that man has been stealing glances at you for the past hour," Elizabeth implies with a teasing grin.
"I second that," says Maeve, chiming into our conversation with a raise of her hand.
"That, ladies, is because he's too paranoid to let me out of his watch," I argue.
It's true, I have never seen anyone as dedicated to his job as Lorenzo. Except maybe Miss McAllister. She loved to remind me about how she never lost a single letter in the almost twenty years of her career. In this world, I have only received one letter yet, it was from Cateline as we promised, and when the footman handed it to me, he didn't look as enthusiastic as her when she handed them.
"And you never had even the tiniest desire to kiss him?" Maeve pushes, turning around on Cateline's lap so she's lying on her stomach.
I laugh nervously at her comment, throwing a pillow at her in a swift movement. "Maeve! Will you all just stop with that?"
"Alright, but you wouldn't be so defensive about it if it was totally false," Elizabeth teases innocently.
"I see how it is then," I tell them before grabbing another pillow and hitting the brunette in the head.
Elizabeth gasps dramatically, "Oh you're on, Auclair."
She takes the dark red cushion under her arm and jumps at me. She misses as I roll onto the floor, standing up quickly to retreat yet another soft weapon. Cateline and Maeve giggle, jumping up to join the action and soon the room is turned into an intense battlefield consisting of a ton of pillows and four laughing girls.
Although I can't even get up from the ground without getting hit in the head, I find myself extremely grateful to have clicked with those three princesses as quickly as I did.
•••
That night, like too many, I wandered the halls because of my trouble sleeping. I took a quick trip to the library to find new books that would keep me up all night, away from the unwanted nightmares that come with the few hours of sleep I could manage.
"Hello General Chamberlain," I mutter silently as I pass the painting of a knight sitting proudly on a tall and majestic black horse. Perry Chamberlain was, as I learned, the kingdom's General during the time Kian's grandfather was on the throne. At that time, The Empire of Valyndra delivered war against Kallista to claim its territory. They mostly wanted to possess the sea route connecting Kallista and Skia, an important economic advantage. If it weren't for Chamberlain and his brilliant war schemes and tactics, our kingdom wouldn't be ours today.
"Madam Crawford," I nod while passing another canvas, that one picturing a kind-looking woman standing elegantly on a pedestal. Oriana Crawford was a scientist who lived many years ago during a violent epidemic that ravaged the whole continent. She searched for months and when she found the remedy she produced enough of it to cure not only Skia's people but also the whole continent. She was awarded the title of scientist of the crown.
A few days ago, Kian had stopped our lesson earlier to have a walk in the castle with me and showed me every single person displayed on its walls. If they are on these walls, that means they are worthy of our attention and an important part of our history, he had said while walking slowly, hands held firmly behind his back.
So now, it has become a ritual for me to greet the paintings as I take my lonely strolls around. I whisper their name as if the walls weren't thick enough to muffle all sounds.
Now just in front of my own room's door, I stop abruptly in my tracks and stare dumbly at the opposite wall. On the normally smooth and blank tapestry is now hanging an intimidatingly big painting with a dark auburn frame.
Its sudden appearance could already be a worrying detail since I doubt any guard or maid would start placing new decorations in the middle of the night, but that is not the cause of my dumbfounded state. The canvas shows a beautiful woman, a woman with the darkest hair and obsidian eyes looking straight at me. And she's floating in mid-air surrounded by a dark mist. Strong-winged crows are flying in every direction.
Just like the storyteller described.
•••
Hello my lovely readers!! I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a nice holiday and if you like the story, don't forget to vote.
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With love, L