10 - One Suspicious Dinner

The Princess promised Aniya to help her find a way to escape, but up till now, there had been nothing of such from her. Instead, all the Princess had done was bring to her more dresses, shoes, and different jewelries.

These things were useless to Aniya; all she wanted was to go back to her own realm.

Nevertheless, she appreciated the Princess's gifts. The clothes and shoes for her son were also useful.

Of all the gifts the Princess had given her, the one she loved the most was the veil. It felt good to be hiding behind something once again, especially knowing how much judgment she would get for her hideous face. The treatment they gave her here was worse than back in Inaymi, her village. Back there, their words were sympathetic, but here, their words were harsh and cruel.

It was so much better to have a veil over her face once again.

She wouldn't have needed the veil at all, but the Princess was insistent on taking her around the castle, something Aniya didn't object to.

If they were to carry out this escape plan, it was important for her to know where to go. So she paid rapt attention during the endless castle tours.

This night, however, the Princess didn't come to take her on another Castle tour. Instead, she came to invite her for dinner.

“Dinner?” Aniya was shocked.

“Well, it is high time you met the family. You have been here for almost half a moon now.”

Half a moon! Already?! Being in the four walls of this castle was making her lose track of time!

“Princess—”

“Oana, please.” She said as she stepped into the room with two maids. “We are friends, remember?” She flashed her smile, and something uneasy settled in the pit of Aniya’s stomach.

It wasn't the princess's smile that made her feel unsettled.

That unsettling feeling had been disturbing her for a while now.

Like, there was something wrong.

It made her think of home and worry. She was worried about Zesika’s safety, the safety of Inaymi, and her sister. She remembered that the Witcher had talked about the return of the Soul Witch who had almost killed her sister, and she hoped that it hadn't actually happened.

Whatever it was, it made her feel unsettled.

She had to go home.

This place wasn't good for her and Arlo.

Oana shut the door behind her as she tried to take Arlo from her arms. Arlo smiled, opening his arms to her. Aniya frowned at how innocent and friendly he was. She wished he would cry and reject people sometimes, so she would have an undeniable excuse to hold onto him.

She didn't give him to Oana though, instead, she positioned herself in a way that he was out of her reach.

“Oana… what about the…” she lowered her voice so that the maids wouldn't hear her, “the thing.”

Oana smiled. “I’m working on it.”

Then she said something to her maid in her language, and they got to work.

“They will help you with the preparation for dinner.” Her gaze zeroed in on how she was clutching Arlo to her. “They won't hurt the little one, you have my word.”

She was starting to leave, but Aniya held her wrist quickly, her eyes begging her to stay. It was a big disadvantage to her that she didn't understand their language; she had no time to learn it, it would be pointless, but that wasn't what was important. She wanted Oana to stay so that she wouldn't have to experience what she experienced when she first got here.

Also, despite her suspicions towards Oana, she still trusted her a little more than these strangers.

This might be an entire facade, and the Princess might hate her more than anything, but there must be a reason she wasn't hurting her for now.

Aniya intended to exploit that.

Oana rolled her eyes playfully and smiled. “Fine. I shall wait here with you.”

___

___

When the Princess said she would be meeting the family, Aniya couldn't say what had particularly ran through her mind, but it definitely was not what she was seeing at the table.

There was only one person at the dinner table, and that person wasn't even the one she had been expecting.

It was a good thing that it wasn't him.

Ikrus never answered her questions, and all he knew how to do was bring her here and lock her up. She hadn't seen him in days, and she wasn't bothered by that at all. She hoped that till she would leave, she wouldn't see him.

If they hadn't crossed paths, she wouldn't even be here to begin with.

He was an unnecessary curse in her life.

She knew she was deserving of punishment, but it certainly couldn't be him.

She would take anything but him and the unfortunate event that he brought along with him.

This Whole Realm! By Ignas, she wanted to go back home.

“My mother, the Luna.” Oana introduced the woman sitting by the table. She was wearing a long white dress, and her hair was the colour of the sun, only duller by a couple of shades. Aniya could see the slight resemblance between the mother and daughter.

She wondered if the Luna would choose to help her too.

“My name is Aniya.”

“Aniya.” She nodded and smiled, as she got off her seat. “And the little one?”

“Arlo,” Aniya watched her as she came up to greet Arlo. “He is my son.”

Arlo turned away from her, and when she persisted in her greeting, he started to cry. Aniya's protective arms tightened around him immediately, and she took a step back from the Luna.

“He doesn't really like other people,” the words rushed out of her mouth way too quickly, her heart racing.

What kind of dinner was this?

“Oh,” the Luna said, and she laughed, while Oana joined in.

Then the Luna walked back to her chair and settled into it. She took the tiny bell off the table and rang it.

“Please sit, Aniya. Let the dinner begin.”

Aniya nodded slowly, trying to observe everything she could in the room as quickly as possible.

The unsettling feeling in her stomach grew, and Arlo’s cries still filled the air as she tried to pat him back into ease and silence.

Something felt very wrong.

Suddenly, she wished Ikrus was here.