Chapter 10: The Palace

Phileas sat at his desk as usual going through the infinite stacks of paper lying all over the mahogany surface. Ever since he turned fourteen, his father began to train him about the palace affairs in hopes of having him support the princess when she would return. To the royal family, his birth meant serving the princess. To him, it felt the same.

The day the princess was born, Phileas was brought to see her. He remembers staring down at an infant in a crib, sleeping soundly. Wrapped in red silk, the baby gave off a golden aura of powerful magic. He overheard the king and queen speak to his father about the princess becoming queen of Rokav. To him though, the aura was just beautiful. He felt like touching the beautiful infant. As he brought his little finger close to her cheek, the infant squirmed a little and smiled. At that moment he knew he wanted to protect her.

As he reminisced his past, Phileas, the fair haired winged young boy began to dose off a little. I wish she would just come here sooner or does she not miss me at all, he thought. He let out a large sigh.

The attendant knocked at the door and peeked in, "Sir Phileas".

"Yes", he replied with his head still in the clouds and his hands poking at a pile of paper regarding the nearby kingdom of Elden.

The attendant walked in and with swift steps approached his table. He leaned in and whispered, "Her highness the princess has returned".

Phileas was not paying attention so he kept nodding, but then it struck him. Who returned? He stood up abruptly almost toppling over the desk. The attendant shivered and jumped a little from surprise. He looked at Phileas, who looked so confused. Of course he was not ready for her to jinx it.

He almost ran down the halls of the gigantic palace and reached the gates. There she stood, looking like a man? He stopped a little on his tracks. He brought his palm to his face. Did she plan to stay hidden with this unusual attire? Through his fingers he spotted Brave standing next to her. He had more important things to take care of, now that she had finally returned.

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Sarah stood at the gate admiring its gargantuan size and the intricate workmanship in design on it. At the centre of the gate sat the emblem of the kingdom, two large wings folded over a sunflower with a face. She felt it was a creepy emblem, but maybe open wings would express more freedom.

Jake on the other hand was getting impatient. He kept tossing dirt with his feet and walking to and fro. His actions were starting to irritate Sarah a little when the large gates began to open. Jake quickly came and stood next to her.

As the crack began to open more and more, Sarah noticed a young man in white suit with fair hair running towards them. Phileas? But then he stopped and brought his palm to his face. What? Is there something wrong with us? Or was he not expecting them? Sarah began to get a little disturbed by this not-so-courteous reaction from the person she came all the way from home to check up on. Phileas' expression changed after a while and with his usual poker face, he began to walk towards them again.

Sarah walked towards him and when she finally reached him, she punched him on the chest. Phileas took a step back in shock.

"What the hell, Phileas. Who leaves like that?"

"I knew you would come to find me," then he looked at the guards and ordered to close the gates on Brave.

Sarah turned around perplexed to see Jake disappearing behind the large gates with the creepy emblem on it, "Wait, he brought me this far, why can't he enter?"

"There is no place for him in this palace. I will thank him for escorting you some other time".

His plan was to make her come find him when she felt guilty and the only way she could do so is with Brave's help. His plan succeeded, and the princess had returned. There was no use for Brave within the palace anymore.

Phileas believed that he is enough to protect her. He will protect her. Only he alone should be next to her.