Hey everyone! I lost my cover image ;-;. Anyway here's
Chapter 9 That night, Kiara headed off to the war room under the pretext of sweeping, and, fortunately, Princess Qadira was there. Kiara bid her good evening and started to go into the long list of formalities if she were ever to interrupt a royal. However she was cut off. “What is it, Blue?” said the princess. “Well, I-” “Get on with it, then!” “Yes, Your Highness.” And so she recounted the story of venturing into the woods, then smelling nightshade and running back, and of the strange thing written in the book. The princess’s reaction was instantaneous. “You must give me back that book. Right now,” she snapped, obviously taken aback. Straightening up, she told Kiara to get it immediately. And so she did, bumping into Raelinn on the way, who looked a bit hurt at Kiara’s brief hello. When she finally arrived back at the war room, Princess Qadira was waiting impatiently. “Many apologies,Your Highness,” she panted. “Hand it over,” said the princess brusquely, snapping her fingers. Kiara obeyed. Princess Qadira snatched it from Kiara, and immediately stalked out of the room, her green gown billowing behind her. Kiara let out a breath and left the room as well. On her way, she was intercepted by Raelinn, and immediately apologized for earlier, then offered to get her a cup of tea. Together they traipsed down to the kitchens where Kiara made tea in a large brown pot while Raelinn chatted animatedly about the ball guests and her new ball gown. “- layers and layers of pink silk and organza, with a structured bodice, and pearls! Imagine, Kiara…” she sighed dreamily. Kiara smiled and poured her some tea. “-Princess Bellamira of Westbell will be there of course, and her cousin, the Duchess of Noracre, not to mention,” - she wiggled her eyebrows - “Prince Dorian and his valet, who I’m told,” -she winked - “is very attractive.” They both burst out laughing. Then Kiara asked her what she thought of her family’s ball attire. “Well of course, Cynfael is always either shut up in lessons, out riding, or whatever else he does. But I did catch a glimpse once when I peeked in his room. It’s very princely, and he has a purple cape with green trim and red pants, which are the royal colors. We’re all supposed to have them on our clothes, but mine are in my tiara, Mother’s are in the jewels on her dress, I think Turaya has a brooch, of course Father has them all over himself, and Qadira also has them on her crown. Speaking of which-” They spent a very nice evening together, and when Kiara went to bed it was almost midnight. As Kiara settled into bed, she had a thought. Could those visions of the fae princess be real? It was more likely they weren’t. But no matter what, she could get the image of the opening of the fae palace out of her head. Kiara’s mind went in circles, between thoughts of, It’s not real to What if it was real? to Why me? Why did I see that? and far-fetched theories about the location of the palace and the identity of the man who had banished Solanine. Deciding that even if they weren’t real, she would find out more, Kiara closed her eyes. Suddenly, lightning crashed. A booming voice cried, “PLEASE! HELP ME!” and Kiara recognized it as Solanine. END OF CHAPTER 9
2 Comments
Chapter 8 Kiara was becoming more and more suspicious of the book. It was entertaining, but towards the middle, the author, it seemed to Kiara, seemed to slowly be dropping into madness. Either that, or he was a prophet. It had to be the former, since prophets were just children’s stories. Every few pages, the monk made doomsday predictions (long ones). Still, the subject of the fae was becoming very interesting to Kiara. If they could find them and attack them, maybe she could finally get revenge for wht they did to her father. The royal army, though. She wouldn’t be there personally. On her day off, she decided to visit the Ketura Woods on the way back from her father’s house. Ammar was making incredible progress, but it seemed to good to be true. Why had he been wheelchair-bound for years a just now suddenly been able to walk? This time, Kiara had hitched a ride on a hay cart. Once the path was lined with tall pines and thick briar bushes, she hopped off and began to wade through the thicket. The trees made the forest very dark, and Kiara kept tearing her skirt on thorny plants. For some reason, she started thinking about Solanine. No matter what, she just couldn’t get that faery out of her head. She’d seemed so powerful, and it has been heartbreaking to see her banished. No, Kiara thought, steeling herself. To feel emotion for the Unseelie is to give yourself up to madness. Anyway, who was that strange man who had banished the princess? When Kiara had first seen him, her immediate thought had been Solanine’s father. But now, looking back, he had seemed too young to be a parent. Perhaps he was using glamor, though somehow she doubted it. Maybe a brother, or cousin? she thought, stomping a briar out of her way. Suddenly, she heard a rustling noise, and started. Then, a sickly sweet smell began to tingle her nostrils. Nightshade. Remembering her allergy, and not wanting to faint in the middle of the Fae’s Woods, she began to run back to the road. Another hay cart was passing by, and she simply leapt into it without bothering to ask for passage. Kiara must have blacked out on the way to the castle, because when she awoke they were already there. Carefully sneaking out of the cart so as not to alert the cart driver to her presence, she slipped into the servants’ dining hall just in time for dinner. Afterwards, she went up to her room to read the book. She opened it to a random page and almost screamed. The author had painted nightshade along the margins of a detailed account of what had happened to Kiara that day, told in the format of the maiden who would help to put an end to the fan’s attacks, a popular topic in this book. However, this page seemed to have been written specifically ABOUT HER. The maiden shall bravely venture into the woods seeking out the den of the fairys pondering yond which she’d hath heard bef're to defeat the fairys the lady wouldst has't to knoweth their strengths, their weaknesses their assets, what those gents wouldst doth to receiveth what those gents did want suddenly the maiden smells the fairy planteth, and runs backeth to the road, bravely going home to bid the exalted, wise king of what she’d learn’d. Well, it might not have been completely accurate, but it was still strange. She grabbed the book and went off to try and find Princess Qadira, to tell her about this. END OF CHAPTER 8 |
Archives
October 2022
Categories |