DAY 42-3: PALACE
Orian blinks.
"The palace?" he asks. "Us, too?"
"But of course," Avel responds. "You are to come as my guests. This little lodge in the middle of nowhere will do nothing. If we want to keep your friend alive for as long as possible, we must take him to a proper emergency room for treatment."
"And where is this... palace?" Leda inquires.
"In our capital city, Amore. It's rather far-off from here, actually, so we must depart soon."
"And we're supposed to get there in time for tomorrow?" Orian says in disbelief.
Avel chuckles. Leda pats a bewildered Orian's shoulder.
"They're wizards, Orian. I'm sure he can... transport us there."
Avel summons a smile, proving her hunch correct. "Transportation is the least of our worries here in Straeh. It's rather unfortunate the other kingdoms aren't as lucky."
"Is... that so?" Orian murmurs.
"Though," Avel continues, "unlike us who rely strictly on our levitation magic, I've heard Monds are graced with the power to use portals whenever they'd like. So transportation shouldn't be an issue for you either."
Orian dodges his eyes. "Our... abilities come with limitations."
Avel blinks. But Leda leaps in front of him before he can converse more.
"So how are we getting Ro there?"
He cracks a hopeless sigh. "It's always about this friend of yours isn't it?"
"As it should be," she responds, pointedly. "We deal with him first. You promised."
"Indeed," he relents. "Then the world will be ours."
Avel beckons them inside the room Ro's inside. Leda faces Orian before they pursue him.
"You have to save me from this madness," she whispers.
Orian feigns a smile. "You are very good at persuasion, Master."
"And charming prince quacks," she bitterly adds.
When they're inside, Avel's eyes flitter to the foot of Ro's bed. Grabbing spare blankets and comforters from the nearby closet, he tosses them on top of him, tucking him in as firmly as he can. Once assured he's shielded by enough layers, Avel retreats, and in only an instant, the entire bed floats. Leda and Orian's jaws drop as a results. Unbothered by their shock, he clambers onto the adjacent bed and quizzically peers at them.
"What are you waiting for? Hop on."
Leda can barely suppress her awe. "O-on, as in..."
"I'll fly us to the palace like this," he replies between blinks. "Unfortunately, Hearts are only capable of levitation of simple objects. I can't take us to the palace instantly. However, with this method we should cut our travel time in half."
Sparkly-eyed, Leda climbs right behind him.
"Being able to transport yourself anywhere you want sounds amazing."
"It is," he agrees. "If only the same can be done to the one in possession with my heart."
Leda sweatdrops at once. She avoids his gaze. "Mhm. I-If only..."
Orian offers her a sympathetic glance as he gets on beside her. After a brief inquiry ensuring they haven't forgotten anything, Leda scans the room.
"Even if we're supposed to be levitating, how are we supposed to get through the—"
The bed lurches into the air before she can finish. In unwarranted speed, it manoeuvres to the exit and tilts enough to allow their bed to zip through bedroom door as well as the gaping front entrance. Leda practically stumbles and would've been tossed right off if not for grabbing onto Orian in time, and Orian for hugging onto the wood of the bed for dear life.
"A-Avel!" she yells.
His amused laughter is stifled by the smothering wind that whiplashes their faces.
"My apologies," he chuckles. As if to appease them, they decelerate, and match pace with Ro's bed which he's taking meticulous care not to harm. "I keep forgetting how much you're unfamiliar with Straeh. Are you all right, my lady?"
She crawls properly onto her knees, heaving heavily to stabilize her quickened pulse. "Almost got a heart attack and plummeted to my death, but alive. Orian?"
"I-I'm fine, too, Master," he replies.
Having regained her strength, Leda fixes her gaze ahead. The sight unfolding before her is breathtaking. High up in the sky, the entirety of Compa and the surrounding land glistens under the midday sun, alongside the beautiful colours fluttering through the air. The wintry breeze chills her cheeks and flays through her hair, but the cold is lost to her wonderment.
"W-we're flying," she stutters. "We're actually flying!"
"That, we are," Avel chortles.
She can hardly snap to her senses as the scenery blurs past her eyelids at a faster pace than she can follow. "Is this really happening? Wow. Straeh is amazing!"
"Master," Orian says, transferring his gaze from the view toward her. "Let's not forget where we're headed."
"I'm not," she says. "I'm not, but..."
Avel's lips curl wider as he sneaks a glance at her. "I'd love to take you on a tour—show you around the kingdom to your heart's content," he says, "but for the sake of your companion, we should save that for later."
Leda tears her focus onto the bed flying adjacent to them—at Ro's gruelling state, and his face wretched in pain—and her stomach clenches. She nods. "Please do."
"Hold on tight," he instructs, tapering his eyebrows. "Amore is still ways ahead."
♥♦♣♠
Let alone the exterior of the palace, the prince of Hearts' bedroom is larger than any house Leda's ever imagined. All the floors are a glossed marble, slippery to the touch and spaced out with woven carpets. Disregarding the cluttered books and documents scattered about, there spins a staircase at the back corner of the room, leading to another secluded floor. Portraits adorn the walls, of Avel as a child and other unfamiliar people.
"Excuse the mess," Avel tells them as he weaves both beds seamlessly through his gigantic window and lowering them onto the ground. "I wasn't expecting company. The maids should be coming soon to tidy it up."
"A-are you sure it's all right for us to pop in like this?" Leda asks. They hadn't even come in from the front gates. "Wouldn't they think we're trespassing?"
"I'll notify the guards," he replies. "Besides, other than the servants, nobody waltzes into my room. They won't look at you, let alone regard you."
"Seriously?" Leda murmurs.
When a moan flits into the air, all eyes dart to Ro. Orian worriedly peeks over the headrest of Ro's bed, frowning as he does.
"Where's the room you were talking about?" he asks Avel.
"On the other side of the palace," he responds, bounding up to him. "But before I can tend to him there, I must talk with the other royal family quacks—"
Three, loud consecutive knocks shake Leda to the bone. Avel stiffens like a board, a reaction she hadn't quite expected from him. He swivels to the door, doused in so much fear Leda feels her stomach knot.
"Avelious!" The scream belongs to a girl. One far from kind, or friendly, in the least. She possesses the ferocity of a wild dog. "I know you're in there! Open these doors at once!"
The pounding grows more incessant and chaotic. Like a twister's beginning to brew outside.
"The maids?" Leda feebly asks.
Avel grits his teeth, and with the wave of his hand, roughly lifts Ro up to the second floor. "Someone who'll rip your skulls right of your head if they saw you." He meets Leda and Orian's eyes, flourished in urgency. "Hide. Now!"
Leda and Orian react in a heartbeat, lurching off the bed and into a pile of unkempt clothes. It's in that same moment the door to Avel's room blows open. The bolts burst from their hinges and dart like needles, piercing into the walls. One chunk nearly rams into Leda's head.
"Avelious Uestaga Hestia!"
The girl's voice is higher and angrier than before. Through the crack of the blanket, Leda spots the bottom half of her body. A fluffy pink dress shields her ankles, bright red heels clacking as she surges like a tornado towards Avel.
Leda can spot the tenseness in Avel's demeanour as he reclines, straight into the blanket Orian and her are cowering under. Orian's body is glued to Leda's back, arms wrapped over her abdomen, but he still gives her enough room to breathe.
But with this intimidating girl mere inches from them, it's not even possible for her to draw a breath.
"Princess Valentina," Avel drawls. "What an honour."
"Save it." The princess of Hearts scoffs, her high-pitched tone of voice settling to a milder decibel. Her heels clack once again, loud enough to shatter the marble. "Constantly coming and going at your leisure, as if you don't have responsibilities. Can you not comprehend how much the Queen despises when you go?"
Avel's nonchalance is easy to display. As if he's used to it. "I wanted to see how my citizens were doing."
"Yeah, right," Valentina heaves. "I had Blaze follow you. He told me you were flirting with some girls out in front of a Compa tavern. Then you were off with some foreign girl before he knew it."
"So that was Blaze's presence I felt?" he muses, playing it off with another laugh. "No wonder it was so obvious."
The voice that speaks next doesn't even surpass a whisper.
"I-I apologize for my incompetence, Your Highness—"
Valentina doesn't let him finish. "Avelious, when will you grow up? You go out, concealing your identity every single day to shamelessly flirt with almost every girl in Straeh. For what purpose? The Queen has long decided who you're to marry."
"I understand. Remi is very a beautiful girl."
"And she's the Dia princess."
Orian chooses that exact moment to stumble into Leda. She hitches a gasp, but Avel is quick to play it off as a cough to save her.
Valentina pauses, as if in scrutiny, but goes on anyway, "Refusing to marry her is synonymous to us Hearts refusing an alliance."
"I understand, Valentina. Especially because of her appearance... That figure... Those sizes... She's definitely a full score hottie."
Valentina quiets. Leda can literally feel her twitch. Although she can't tell if Avel's kidding (most likely not), Valentina, without lifting a finger, swings something at his head. Avel flies forward, the impact so hard it knocks him to the ground. What she's hit him with, a pillow, follows after.
"Ouch... You're so mean, Valentina."
"Your engagement party is in three days," she snaps. "Can't you comprehend how disgraceful it is when we have to come up with excuses to why you always dodge our family luncheons to go out to flirt? Next thing I know you'll be concealing a Spade and practicing medicine again."
Now it's Leda's turn to rigidify. Fortunately, Valentina doesn't notice.
"You are the first and only prince of Straeh. Someone who will accept the Divine Right and rise to the throne. You have a role to play as one of the Queen's pieces, Avelious. You don't have time to fool around like that pathetic quack we once knew."
"I get it, Val," Avel mumbles. He rises off the ground without even using his hands then falls criss-crossed. He runs his fingers through his hair. "I won't go out anymore today."
"I'm saying you cannot leave without permission, ever." She stops herself with a sigh. "More importantly, have you heard?"
"Heard?"
"They found an enemy Spade ship right outside Pashee."
Leda's breathing catches in her throat. Oh no.
Avel, unsurprisingly, loses all sense of flippancy. "Those bastards? Why the hell are they wandering into our territory?"
"We're still trying to figure that out," Valentina responds. "We sent Paola and Uno to deal with them, but three out of the four escaped, while the last has been safely captured. If the cold hasn't gotten to them, they're most likely roaming around Compa or even Leste by now."
"And why are you telling me this now? I was there just today."
"You slipped out before anyone could." She kicks something towards his fingers. "I'm telling you just in case. If you end up rendezvousing with other girls, keep these three faces in mind. The Queen has already declared their punishment. They're to be captured without mercy and put to a public execution."
Leda shields her mouth with her hand. She imagines Orian isn't looking too great either.
The three picture Avel holds up—they're perfect sketches of them. Down to the last detail.
Avel is silent. Leda can't see his face, but she knows they've screwed up. And Valentina must have caught onto that—that he knows who they are, where they are—because her voice drops to a dangerous low.
"Avelious. Nobody crosses the Queen."
Avel can't stop the edgy cackle that slips from his mouth, as if she doesn't have to remind him of a fact he's known his entire life.
"Nobody," he agrees.
Then in a low hum, they speak the rest in eerie unison.
"And if you do you're a dead man."