I'm still personally confused about age in this realm but Aslan told me to just worry about the age of people in earth years or Relaine. So I guess I'm 16 if not 160 in Relaine. That makes Houston so much older than me. Maybe after being with the Mages I'll understand more and it won't be an issue but right now it kind of freaks me out.
"Are you focusing?" Aslan asks and I snap back into reality. "Your turn to try." She tells me and I look at the target. The bow in my hand feels heavy as I lift it to the position she taught me. The arrow I fire actually hits the target this time and she seems a little happier but still annoyed with me. "Try again and this time really focus."
It's easier said than done but I know I will have to listen to her sooner or later or I'll be here all day. Finally, I obey and I let the arrow fly. It lands right in the middle as I put my bow down. "That was pretty cool." I tell Aslan and she nods.
"What are you two up to?" Alvar asks as he comes over to us. My heart races in my chest as I try to keep my facial expressions neutral. "I thought you still had dancing practice?" He asks me and I nod. "Then what happened?"
"Houston was being himself." Aslan says as she nods for me to fire my bow again. At least I have something to focus on or I might just break down in tears. I didn't like the way she said he was just being himself. Is this really what I'm engaged to?
"What did you bring up?" He asks me and I release the arrow. Right in the center again. I take a deep breath trying to calm down.
"Age." I say as I look at them. They might not understand but I'm mentally freaking out right now. "It's no big deal. He'll cool down before tomorrow." I feel Alvar watching me. Man he is not helping things right now. "It's not that big of a deal. Men are just jerks." I say and Aslan laughs. I did not mean to say that and I put a hand over my mouth before I say something else. I slowly remove it once I have my anger under control. "Well most guys are." I add the last part quietly but Alvar heard.
"Have people told you about Lisstar?" Alvar asks as I keep practicing my archery. I try not to tense up as I keep practicing. I don't reply so he takes that as a no. "Relaine was founded on pure magic that was inherently good however the people that could not get into Relaine, founded Lisstar. After a while the two groups blended together and formed one sort of society." Of course, good has to ruin all things good...
"But there are still people who are more Lisstarian than Relaininan?" I ask as I run out of arrows. Aslan motions for me to go remove the arrows from the target. They follow me as I start to remove the arrows and put them in my quiver.
"Yes." Alvar replies. My hand stops what it's doing and I turn to face him.
"And Houston is one of those people." I say as my heart breaks in my chest. Alvar doesn't reply but I know he doesn't want to hurt me. I'm engaged to a monster... "I can't wait to get out of this place." I sigh and they watch me. "I'm fine really." I put on a smile trying to hide my broken heart.
"We're not so sure." Alvar leads me away from the archery range and we put up the bow. "Come on I need to show you something." He takes me to the stable and we saddle two horses. Aslan says she needs to go train Hailey or something. I was nervous to be alone with Alvar but at the same time, it would be nice to be away from the castle. I know he wouldn't hurt me but my heart has feelings for him that I don't understand. I'm engaged and my heart is yearning for another. How do things get so complicated?
We mount our horses and we ride away from the house. We ride towards the forest which is lush and beautiful. There are flowers all along the trail and it looks so peaceful here. Alvar doesn't say anything so I have time to think about where my life is going. Where would I be if my mom was still alive or if I stopped practicing magic? "What are you thinking about?" Alvar breaks the silence and I shrug.
"I don't know, a lot i guess. It's been a weird couple of weeks. I found out that the man who raised me wasn't actually my father. I created my own circle, then got all of us cast out because of it. Almost got killed by witch hunters. Found out my father was from a different realm. Then I'm a princess and I have an older sister. I'm engaged to Houston." I stop for a second as I fight to keep the tears down. "Then he's so much older than me. I'm a powerful witch who is going to save this kingdom." I stop. "A lot of stuff." I grumble as I pet my horse gently.
"You're handling this pretty well." Alvar laughs and I nod. If he could only hear my thoughts, he would change his mind. I'm good at keeping up appearances but I won't be able to keep my emotions under control.
"Yeah, but I don't know how much more I can take." We emerge from the trees and Alvar stops his horse. I tilt my head at him as he helps me off my horse. His hands gently touch my waist as he lifts me to the ground. Fire erupts wherever he touches me.
"This is what you are fighting for." He tells me as he takes my hand and leads me to the edge of a cliff. My breath is taken away from me as I look out over the landscape. I could see huge forests, and a couple of villages of varying size scatterer throughout it. I look over at Alvar and a genuine smile spreads across my face. I can't believe the beauty before me.
"This isn't the only thing I wanted to show you." He says as we go back over to the horses. He helps me onto my horse and we move through the trees again. The trees start to thin as we get closer to what looks like a house. There's the sound of children playing and running towards us. I glance over at him confused.
"ALVAR!" A girl and a boy scream as they come running towards the horses. Alvar dismounts and he catches the girl in his arms. He smiles down at her as the boy stops at his feet. "We've missed you." They look around ten years old and they have reddish brown hair. Their clothes are red in color which I can assume is rare among the peasants of my kingdom, so they must belong to some family that has some political or economical power.
"Alvar, what are you doing here?" A woman with a long red braid comes out of the stone house to the right of us. "I thought you were working." For a second my heart stops. Alvar can't have a family. I mean it's not possible for him to love someone especially when I was falling head over heels for him.
"I am. Everyone this is Princess Allura." The boy bows and the mother and daughter curtsey. I sigh as Alvar helps me off my horse again. I'm never going to be used to people doing that.
"There's really no need for that." The children watch me as if I'm some exotic animal. "I don't mean to be rude but I don't know who you are." I say and the woman laughs. The children relax a little as they hear their mother's laugh.
"I'm Rowan's wife, Lilly." She says and I then see the resemblance in the two children. My heart sighs in relief as I release a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"My name is May." The girl says as she strokes my horse. "And my brother's name is Luka." Luka looks annoyed at his sister as he watches me. "Can we give your horses something?" I nod and she smiles at me.
"I'm sorry we weren't expecting visitors or I would have made something." Lilly leads us inside. The house is small but quaint. The furniture looks homemade but loved at the same time.
"Don't worry. I don't need anything. I'm actually just happy to meet some of my subjects." Luka gets tired of watching us so he runs back outside to feed Alvar's horse.
"How is Rowan?" Lilly asks worriedly. "I haven't heard from him." I see the concern in her eyes and I feel guilty for putting her husband in harms way. I really need to learn to protect myself so he could come home to stay. I would make sure to send money to him so he wouldn't have to leave this beautiful family.
"A little preoccupied with his new apprentice but he should be coming through here in two days or so." Lilly looks relieved but she still looks worried. "So he found a new apprentice?" Lilly tries to hide her concern by changing the subject and leading us inside the small dining room and we sit down at the wooden table.
"Yes she is going to be Allura's guards when they complete their training." Alvar looks over at me. I hadn't heard about this and I start to wonder who would show the most promise as a warrior. It's probably Lily or Hailey but I would put more money on Lily.
"Who is his apprentice?" I ask and Lilly laughs. I glance over at her confused. Her nervousness is really showing and she blushes.
"Rowan loves keeping things a secret." Lilly explains and I realize that I don't know much about my guards. Actually I don't know much about anything but I will add that to my long list of things I need to understand.
"Lily was chosen." Alvar explains and my heart swells with pride.
"I'm glad she needed to feel needed." I say but before I can say anything else we hear a horn in the distance. ALvar stands up quickly and I feel my heart race. "What was that?" I ask as Alvar draws his sword. Something must be very wrong if he's ready to fight.
"The rebels are attacking." Luka tells us as he and his sister grab their cloaks and two bags that are at the end of each of their beds. "The horn sounded about ten miles from here." How the boy knew, I'm not sure but Alvar seemed to trust his judgment.
"Grab the weapons." Lilly tells them as she starts putting things into a bag. Luka grabs a sword and May pulls out a bow. "Luka saddle the horses." Their mother says and the two children run out to the barn. "There's a bow in there if you need it Allura, but I pray to the gods that you don't."
"Get on your horse." Alvar demands as he shoves me towards the door. The horses are already saddled so I go and mount up. Lilly comes out and Luka and May come out of the barn leading two horses. Luka mounts one and his sister pulls herself up behind him. Lilly takes the other while Alvar mounts his and unsheathes his sword.
"Do not let them catch you." Alvar tells me. The look in his eyes instills fear in me. "If they catch you, both you and Relaine suffer." We ride away from the farm.