Previous Chapter
Catherina turned to Rayna once she felt her presence. She looked to her niece, confused by the look on her face, but once she looked behind her, her face cleared of any emotion and she straightened up. Rayna pulled Jewel in front of her so she was out of sight from this mysterious man. Rayna felt a chill run up her spine and she stiffened when footsteps grew closer to them.
Part 2
"Lady Catherina, what a pleasant surprise it is to see you here. We were so worried when we heard of your home going up in flames so long ago. Quite frightening, but we are all so happy to see you survived." A monotonous voice spoke from behind Rayna. No emotion leaked through his words. It was not the voice she was expecting to hear from the man in the black cloak. This voice was higher in pitch.
Catherina cleared her throat, "I appreciate your concern, sir, but I do not believe we have met before." She looked at this man wearily.
The gentleman smiled tightly, "Of course, where are my manners. I am Captain Ronald Azinoos. I am the Commander of the King's army and royal guard, the men you see behind us are his guard."
Rayna couldn't help but peak up at this man in shock at his words. What he was saying was not possible. The Bellator's are the royal guard; her uncle was the Commander and Captain of the King's guard and army. When Rayna got a glimpse of the man, she realized this was not the man in the black cloak. He had thin yellow looking hair on top of his head and black beady eyes. He was not a tall fellow either, just under Catherina's nose, and he has the ugliest mustache some parts of it missing. This Captain was not even looking towards her, but smirking evilly at her aunt.
"I beg your pardon? That cannot be right. The Bellator's have always been the guard of the King." Catherina said, sounding completely shocked and caught off guard by this. How could Kalevi not tell her of this? She tried thinking back if she had missed any letters from him as of recent. Maybe this had only just happened; maybe he didn't know anything of it yet.
Ronald smirked and stepped closer to Catherina, but she did not step back, and neither did the two figures next to her. This did not stop him though, "It is right, my lady. The Bellator's have been demoted to patrolling the outskirts of Terra. After their failure to protect their last king and princess, the new king felt it was best to find a replacement. It is newer information, not common knowledge until recently. Of course, you would find this news surprising." He chuckled darkly, "It has, however, given our prince so much needed free time as he prepares for his betrothal to the Princess of Mendacium..."
Rayna felt the blood in her veins run cold at his words. She had felt anger towards the Bellator's for what happened to her father and her mother, but she knew now that it was not their fault. To hear this man say this, showed how Malum set them up for the fall of his crimes and moved them to patrol the outskirts of Terra as punishment reminded her of the reality she lived in. This was her kingdom, and they were suffering because she was not ready to take the throne back. It bothered her to no end. But the second the words came out of his mouth about the Prince being betrothed to another broke something within the young princess. Not just her heart, but her soul.
Her heart began beating faster and faster, not listening to the Captain's words anymore. The pain she was feeling now was overwhelming. She lifted her hands and moved Jewel's cloak over her head to cover her hair more and turned her to face away from the man. She proceeded to walk forward, not listening to anything around her. She went back to where she was hiding beside the building. She walked through the alleyway and kept going straight on into the Obscurum Jungle.
As soon as she got about ten feet away from town, she looked back to make sure no one had followed her, and ran.
Catherina griped Jewel's arm as she stepped forward to follow Rayna. She did not look in the direction Rayna went, she did not try to call out to her, and she did not acknowledge the Captain any longer. "What interesting news you have to share with us, Captain. Though I am not sure what the Prince's doings have to do for me to know."
The Captain smirked, "Well, Lady Catherina, I figured you would be interested to know what he was up to since your... family is so close with the young Prince."
Catherina saw a gleam in his eyes that concerned her to no end. He was not just referring to her husband but also to her son. She could be wrong, but the way he was speaking was a threat. Not directly, but clearly a threat to remind her that he knew of her son. She felt Jewel stiffen as well, clearly understanding the same underlying message that he was trying to convey. Anyone that attempted to threaten her son would be on the receiving end of her wrath. But she kept her expression even and hid her emotions best she could in her eyes. "Well, I haven't seen the Prince since he was twelve years old. But yes, my husband has written me letters of how fond he has become with the Prince. Thank you for your update on the goings of the kingdom, Captain Azinoos. I do apologize, but my servants and I have more errands to run."
Kalevi! Cyrus! Come quickly! Both she and Jewel kept shouting in their heads. They had made signals between the three witches if they were in any trouble, forbid the Gods. Squeeze one's hand or arm to let them know to be silent. They even had code names to go by as well. Rayna was Alyssa, Jewel was Lena, and they are the servants of the house in case anyone asked.
They walked in the direction that Rayna went to, slowly, trying not to get anyone's attention. When they went behind the building, no one was around; they became frantic.
"She ran into the trees." A weak voice said from behind. Both women jumped to see an old woman lying on the ground. She was an older woman, maybe in her late fifties, leaning against the broken-down building. She wore rags, layers of clothing to keep warm. Her hair a faded yellow and red mixed now with gray. Her skin color was hard to tell, with the soot and dirt covering her face. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you two. But she did seem very upset. I hope she is all right there. It isn't safe. Not anymore."
Catherina's heart was pounding, knowing exactly what this woman was saying. Many creatures in the forest could hurt her. A basilisk, cecrops, dryad, Cyclops, tiger, a siren, Minotaur, any of them even the centaurs could hurt her if they felt she was a threat. None of the creatures could come through town anymore, they were banned because of Malum, and they were bitter about it. Both ends were because much business was lost. The creatures of the jungle and the people of Terra had just started to learn to live in peace with one another. After the Wars, they were beginning to mend the ties that had been broken, all thanks to King Gabriel and King Silas. But now... now many feared that they would be broken forever.
Jewel walked over to the woman and pulled out of her bag a blanket, and a loaf of bread. "Thank you for letting us know, ma'am. We have alerted the Bellator's to come and help us."
The old woman smiled at Jewel, gladly excepting the warmth of the cloth and food. "Oh, bless you, child. You are too kind." Jewel smiled and nodded at the woman and began to walk away from her, but she spoke again. "You know, that young woman wore the same cloak of the mysterious savior they are talking about that comes through the night."
Both Catherina and Jewel turned to look at the woman, curious. "What woman?" Catherina asked, stepping forward a little in front of Jewel, still trying to make sure that Jewel was not remembered.
The elderly woman then proceeded on telling them everything she had heard and seen herself about the mysterious woman in the blue cloak with golden flowers on it. She told them how some say it was the princess taking care of her people. Some say it was her ghost, making sure all was okay. But others believe she lives on.
Catherina's heartbeat so rapidly thinking of the confirmation they just gave the people, parading Rayna around in that blue cloak. Surely people were speaking. How could Kalevi not know of this? There was much she needed to berate him about later.
Speaking of whom, he rode on his horse just then, with both Cyrus and Theo in tow.
"Catherina? What has happened? Is it R-ah erm Alyssa?" Kalevi asked, jumping down from his horse, wrapping his wife in his arms.
She nodded, still looking toward the old woman. When Theo approached, she turned out of her husband's arms and bowed, "Prince Theo, it has been too long since I have seen you." She placed a gentle smile on her face, "And I do believe congratulations are in order." She turned her head to look to her husband as she said the last part, gritting her teeth a hard look given to her husband for keeping such information from not just her.
Theo sighed in what Catherina noticed was frustration and a hint of sadness. "Thank you, Lady Catherina." He looked to Cyrus, who jumped down from his horse and went to embrace his mother. Once they said, their hello's the Prince went on. "Now what seems to be the matter here? Your servant has run off, did she do something?"
Catherina shook her head, "No, she did not do anything, but I think the soldiers in town frightened her, and she ran off into the jungle." Catherina bit her lip as she heard a crash echo throughout the trees. "I am worried about her. She has never gone through there alone before, and I know the creatures are genuinely nice and all, but they do not know her." She hesitated before continuing, "And things... things have changed as of recent. It's not safe anymore."
Cyrus frowned, hearing the crash as well. The only one who did not seem to take notice was Theo. Cyrus tried to listen if there were any trace of Rayna's thoughts calling to him, but he heard nothing. She either was too far away or worse. Cyrus turned his focus to Jewel to find out what she was feeling, and what surprised him was the curiosity he found there along with fear. He followed her gaze on to his friend, furrowing his eyebrows. He wanted nothing more than to take her hand and understand what it was she was thinking of at the moment when it came to the Prince.
Kalevi wasn't listening to any of it. He didn't hear the Prince's sad sigh as he said thank you, or the way that he changed the subject immediately. He didn't pay attention to Jewel looking at the Prince curiously, but not saying a word. If Catherina had heard about the Prince in town, then there was no doubt that Rayna had heard as well. The only part he listened to was how Rayna had disappeared off into the jungle. Alone. And how Catherina feared for her safety.
"Well, we will get right on the search for her, Lady Catherina. What did you say her name was again?" Theo asked as he began to back up to his horse, grabbing onto the reins. Cyrus and Kalevi followed his lead but jumped onto their horses right away, letting the Prince know what direction they were each going to take.
Catherina hesitated as she looked into Theo's eyes so badly wanting to say the name that was on the tip of her tonguet, but instead, she said, "Alyssa. Her name is Alyssa."
The Prince looked out into the jungle, looking through all the trees and the vines that hung low and the creatures that roamed freely everywhere and wondered. Where could she be?
♦ ♦ ♦
Rayna ran as the tears streamed down her face, as all her fears rushed to the surface, all the anger consumed her. It was hard to look at her people and see what Malum had done to them, but the confirmation of the Bellator's pushed her over the edge. And although she knew there was nothing that she could do at the moment, she felt that there was no one to blame for this but herself.
None of that measured though to her finding out that Theo was betrothed to another and to another Princess none of the less. In all the changes that had been occurring in her life since she was ten years old, she did not expect this part of her life to change. Of course, she knew that everyone thought she was dead. So, of course, that meant that she and Theo's engagement ended the moment she "died". But it had never occurred to her that he would find someone else. It hurt worse than she ever thought it would.
Reality had finally caught up with her; everything was officially changed in her life. Nothing was the same. And after today, it never would be.
As she ran, she caught on almost every green, brown vine that hung from the trees; at one point, she had to stop to untangle her ankle from being caught. The large leaves that hung low on certain trees hit her as she navigated her way through the jungle. She hit into and caught on to multiple trees as she passed through the wooded area, her dress tearing at the edges, and scraping her arms as it tarred at the sleeves, and scoffing her shoes. Rayna swatted at the dragonflies and flowers that knocked into her view, though her tears blocked out all of that. If she had not been crying so hard, she might have seen the little hill coming up.
She tripped through her haste of running, falling down the hill and onto the ground, tumbling throughout the dirt and mud and whatever else she landed in. She screamed as she fell, landing hard on her side as she flipped onto her stomach, landing right beside the stream that passed through part of the jungle. Rayna tried controlling her anger, not wanting it to start raining. She gripped the dirt in her hands, as she rolled over onto her back trying to control her tears as the aching pain in her side continued.
She felt like she was suffocating like everything was closing in on her. For being in a place that gave all the space in the world, she never felt so crowded and restricted. She was hiccuping to catch her breath. Her heart was beating so fast, her throat going dry as the jungle began to spin round and round as she tried to focus her anger on anything else.
Rayna sat up wincing in pain as she sat up onto her knees. The earth rumbled as she began to pound her fists to the ground; her cries were growing louder as she took her anger out on the dirt. She did not care that the mud got all over her and her clothes. She just didn't care.
The earth moved as if it were like a rug being shaken out. Rayna did not know what she was doing. If she did, she would have stopped knowing she would draw unwanted attention.
She then placed her palms flat on the ground trying to calm down but then turned to the stream beside her and went on instinct. She pulled the water from the stream, watching as it came to her like it was always meant to. The water floated in front of her as she looked at it with nothing but rage. With just her look and her look alone, not a word spoken, the water before her turned to ice. She created two ice spears with it, both her witch and swords training going to perfect use. With all her strength and all her effort, she screamed out a grunt as she threw the ice she created with the water into the trees. Two ice shards impaled the tree farthest from her.
Looking at the shards, she shook her head, but it wasn't enough as she turned her head to the stream pulling more water from it, creating more shards of ice. Four more pierce the tree, she finally started to feel her heartbeat slow a little, and so she lifted her hands and lowered it slowly, melting the ice shards, letting it seep into the earth around the tree. She huffed as she tried to breathe once more, feeling the anger leave her not noticing her hood had come off in her anger. Not noticing anything as she tried to get it together.
She fell back down on her knees as she placed her hand over her heart and tried the technique that she had used whenever she felt this way.
She did not want to cause a storm that day. This was no place for that. After a while, she was finally able to get her breathing under control, but the tears still came.
Rayna sat on the ground and wrapped her arms around her legs, and just let the tears fall down gently. Not a sound escaping from her.
As she sat there on the ground, she didn't pay attention to what was going on around her. She wasn't expecting anyone to have witnessed what just happened. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as a voice hissed from behind her.
"What do we have here?"
A/N: Oooh! A lot just happened there. Who do you think found her? Any thoughts or predictions? So excited to post the next coming chapters.
Get ready!
J
3/6/2020