Erthesia Palace

After dinner with my friends, and crying session with Freda, I went to my aunt's cottage. When I arrive my aunt is standing on her porch, as if she knows already that I am coming.

"Hey! I missed you last night." She said, giving me her signature sweet smile.

"I am sorry, aunt Thalia, there are things I needed to attend to." I told her, trying to avoid her questioning stares.

"It is alright. Come inside Malia, I will make some tea, I assume you already have eaten dinner, since it is a bit late." She gestured me to get inside the house, and I follow her, the amazing fragrance of aunt Thalia's garden always makes me feel at home.

    "So who is your date next week?"

     "It is Nicholas, he asked me this morning."

    "Oh, I see, the charming prince of Elpizo Kingdom, he only has eyes for you my dear." She said smiling at me, I only smiled to her, since I don't know how to react. I am glad my aunt did not ask me about Flynn, she avoided the topic, I guess she knew that I am hurting.

     "Malia, you sleep now, you will have class early tomorrow, good night sweetheart." The way my aunt talk to me reminds me so much of my mother in the mortal world.

    "Good night aunt Thalia." I kissed her cheeks, then went to my own room, the bedsheets have been changed to pink heart designs. The room is so clean and organized as usual. I change into my nightgown, I am already lying in bed, but I can't sleep, my tears finally get tired from falling, I am still thinking about Flynn's engagement to Avery.

I woke up early and do some trainings with my aunt. I run around the meadow, while the white serpent serves as my opponent. Serpentina is fast and her reflexes are extraordinary. Aunt Thalia puts some hurdles using her magic, for how many times I stumble to ground, because the obstacles just suddenly appear, I don't know when they will materialize in front of me, it made my training more interesting.

"You need to be alert at all times Malia, you will not know the exact moment your enemy will ambush you." My aunt shouted, from a distance, she is hovering above me.

"Fairies who can teleport is your worst enemy, they will vanish before you can fire at them, then they will attack you any moment. Try using your power Malia, you have the ability to know the exact location of your opponent, connect yourself to your own power." The Goddess said, then I don't see her anymore.

I follow everything she said suddenly, as if my power is controlling me, though I can't see Serpentina and aunt Thalia, I can smell their scent, then I was able to get hold of Serpentina's wing. They both applauded and take shape in front of me.

"Very good, Malia, you are really a natural. That is enough for today, relax for thirty minutes, then take a bath, and we will eat your favorite breakfast." Aunt Thalia said, with a contented look on her face.

Several days passed, and whether I like it or not, it is time for us to go to Erthesia Kingdom. Early in the morning Freda prepared again for our journey. She is so excited fixing our hair and make up.

All the fairies royal, or commoner will ride the carriage, arranged by the committee of the party. Though my heart felt so heavy, I have to keep myself smiling for Freda's sake. The magnificent carriages arrived early, and will depart at exactly eight o'clock in the morning.

      Hale and Nick greeted us warmly, the moment they take us to the entrance of the academy, where our transport vehicle awaits. I don't want to see Flynn, but the moment he emerges at the gate of the academy, I can't help myself, but take a peeked of his handsome face. He looks so dazzling with his charcoal gray suit. I turned away the moment his eyes captured my hopeful eyes.

    I step hurriedly into the foothold of our carriage, then I felt like someone is pulling me away from the vehicle. I lost my balance, then Nick caught my waist in time before I stumble into the ground, I heard the laughter of the female fairies, it seems they are all hoping to see me fall, out of my peripheral vision I saw Suzanne smirked.

    Well, I should be very careful, Avery and Suzanne are not yet ready to stop bothering me, they want me to go back to the human world. They really treat me like an enemy, their popularity was threatened already, they don't even know me yet. I don't know what would be their reactions the moment they know the real me.

   I don't really have any intentions of taking the crown, but maybe for their own entertainment I am planning to play with their games, Avery will never be the queen, if I will take the throne. What Flynn did to me is unforgivable, he may insult me all he wants, but he should never play with my heart, they really make a perfect pair.

    They call forth my desire to claim the crown. I am not really interested, but I think it will be more fun to let them taste the revenge of the actual queen of Erthesia, even for a short period of time, then I can give back the throne to King Cassian.

     I need to rescue my parents first, if I can't find a way to go to the dark kingdom, I don't have a choice, but claim the throne and command the army to search for my parents. I know it is not an easy task, many fairies will oppose, I need to harness my power to the fullest, so that they will give me their unending support.

      Then for sure my parents will allow me to make my own decision to leave this fairyland behind, and go back to my original life as a mortal, or to stay with my aunt at the Magical Forest, I want to spend my time in the forest, I love the solitude and serenity, I know I will never fall in love again.

    The convoy left the academy in a timely manner. I never get tired of watching the beautiful scenery in going to Erthesia, it seems the flowers in Erthesia never stop from blooming. Flynn and Avery boarded the first Landau, decorated with fresh flowers. Their vehicle already looked like a wedding carriage.

  The horses never stop from running, unlike the first time I visited Kentro, in no time we reach the entrance of Kentro, then I can feel the carriage started to climb the hill going to the Palace. Then our carriage halted at the entrance of the Palace gate.

We all climbed out of the vehicle, I can see the magnificent outside beauty of the Kingdom. Several Royal Guards are patrolling the area outside the gateway of the palace. They all greeted Prince Flynn, and their upcoming Crown Princess Avery. All of them bowed to us, when we passed them on our way.

    Grand courtyard greeted our eyes when we entered the gate, it is so wide that I know I will get lost if I will get inside the circling garden maze with green bushes with flowers as walls, found in the center of the courtyard, then at the far end of the courtyard I saw an entrance to a beautiful garden full of different species of flowers.

     The main entrance of the Palace is so far away from the gate, all the students from the academy spread their wings and fly. We do the same, I immediately take out my common wings and soar together with my friends, guards are also patrolling at the entrance of the palace, chambermaids and palace staff greeted us at the entryway, and give us our assigned rooms, there is a chambermaid assigned for each room, I know everything is prearranged by Headmaster Amos.

    I am not surprised at all, once again, Freda and I are roommates. Of course, I don't want to be with anyone except with Freda. Each Royal Prince and Royal Princess have their own room, of course noble family has always given special privileges.

     We get inside the palace concealing back our wings. I can see the grandeur, beauty of the palace from the high ceiling with gigantic chandelier, enormous pillar, the grand staircase leading to the residence of the royal family. The marble floor is shining brightly, that make me so afraid to lose my balance again.

So this is the home of my father, the Ischyros Palace. If the dark king didn't try to steal me, then my life will be very different.

"Welcome home Princess!" Said Freda, the moment she closed the door of our beautiful, enormous room. The color of the bedspread is so feminine, the ambiance of the room is so homey. I immediately lay down on the bed, the softness of the bed is inviting me to take a nap.

I was awakened by Freda, she shook my whole body strongly.

"Malia, I never expect you to be sleeping at this hour, it is still early, don't you have slept last night." She asked me.

"No, actually, I had a very nice sleep, why did you wake me?" I asked her confuse, I don't want to roam around the palace, because I don't want to encounter my enemies.

"Flynn and Hale are waiting for us at the entrance, they will take us to the shops, and we will eat our lunch at the lake again, hoping there is no enemy this time, they already tighten the security for the party for tomorrow, since the guests are beginning to arrive, so no need to worry we will be safe." She explained, Freda is already wearing her rose pink dress for our excursion, while I am still covering myself with blanket.

    Freda pulled me up from the bed? Then she helped me change my clothes into simple, yet beautiful champagne, red velvet sleeveless gown with high side slit. She does my hair and makeup, then we are ready to go.

    Hale and Nick are looking at me with total appreciation in their eyes.

    "You're becoming more gorgeous with each passing day my lady, you too Freda." Said Nick, while taking my hand, then he kissed my knuckle.

    "Yes, you are breathtaking as always Malia." Hale whispered in my ear, then he took Freda's hand. Our carriage is already waiting for us.

    "The business establishments of Kentro is more lively compared the last time we were here." I said, to them looking at the red lanterns hanging on the air.

   "Fairies love festivities, like in our Kingdom, if there is occasion in the castle all the fairies outside the kingdom will celebrate too, they will decorate their homes and all the streets." Said Freda zealously.

   They brought us to a jewelry shop, the store is so big, there are a lot of jewelry stands and display shelves. My eyes widened upon seeing different colorful gemstones on display. I enjoyed watching all the bracelets, earrings, and necklaces made from different gemstones, I bought one for my aunt, and the other one is for Freda, I asked Nick to entertain her, while I choose my gift for her.

   I chose the silver necklace with diamond cut amethyst gemstone pendant for Freda, and for aunt Thalia, a very beautiful necklace, comprised of five sections, each of which is crafted with sparkling alexandrite, flower petal designed gemstone. I pay the items using my monthly allowance as a scholar at the academy, it is Erthesia Currency called Chrimata, the coins are made out of gold. The bigger the coin, the higher the value of the coin, my pouch given to me by Freda is full.

     After I paid worth 500 Chrimata, I only have half of my pouch left. The good thing is I don't need to carry my pouch, I can hide it using my magic, I will only let it out if I need to buy something. Magic is awesome. We saw some of our classmates, shopping at the jewelry shop too.

   We are finally enjoying our luncheon at the Kentro Lake restaurant, our encounter with Walter is still fresh in my memory, but I tried to forget everything, we are here at Kentro to have fun as teenagers, I don't need to worry anything, if danger comes, I will face it without fear. I will try to enjoy myself, together with my friends, while we are in the Kingdom.