REDEMPTION

42. JEALOUS MUCH.

Soon after that, they were let into the kingdom. The princess had ordered it and no one was to oppose her. They rode into the kingdom slowly. The pedestrians on the road as well as those working all stopped to bow when she passed. They also wondered who that man was. Their princess was known to never ride with a man by her side. It was often confused by dislike but this was soon proven to be false.

The other two riders behind them were also mysterious. Their hoods were still on. All one could tell was that they were well off and foreign. Shawn and the princess made small talk, their destination was the castle. The princess seemed to be holding back while speaking and she did nothing to hide it. Achlysa and Ralph admired the city and remained quiet.

On arrival, the strange overpowering entity was sensed once more. And before long, castle guards surrounded them but the immediately backed down when the princess gave them a cold glare. After disembarking, they were led to the king. Achlysa was uncomfortable with this arrangement. She was in a place she did not know and this was proving difficult.

The colors she had seen around were unfamiliar to her. She soon concluded that the castle was built with stones and ores that could only be accessed here. This made it difficult to walk and she ended up bumping into the wall a couple of times. The others did not notice since they walked ahead and she was good at covering up.

However, Shawn noticed her charade and went to get her. He found her standing behind the corner they had just taken. She was rubbing her forehead. Achlysa held her staff but it was still challenging to find her way. Since she entered the castle, something had blocked her senses. This lade it even lore difficult for her to find her way.

Shawn held her hand and led her to the rest. On seeing this, the princess was angered. Achlysa picked up her anger and let go of Shawn's hand. She then held the staff close to her chest and moved a few steps back.

“How dare you hold your master's hand!” The princess roared. Her hand was raised ready to hit her when she was stopped. Ralph was shielding Achlysa. Shawn had stopped her. The princess snatched her hand from him and rubbed it. Shawn's eyes were hard. He looked at her and dared her to make one more wrong move. The princess got it but was still determined to be stubborn. In fact, she had a right to be.

“That's enough, young master.” Achlysa said. She stretched out her hand and it landed on Ralph's back. Ralph moved aside while helping her advance. Achlysa revealed herself. Her long wavy white hair fell over her shoulders. She adjusted the strands that had fallen over her face before opening her eyes. She paid her respects.

“It's been far too long, Your highness. My name is Guardian Achlysa. Forgive me for not mentioning this earlier but rest assured, there is nothing between me and the young master.”

Shawn and Ralph wanted to stop her but she continued nonetheless. Sighing dejectedly, Ralph also lowered his hood. The princess, however, recognized him immediately.

“Ralphie.” She gleamed before erasing these feelings from her face. She turned back to Achlysa and said, “ I have never heard of a Guardian by that name. Who are you really? If you want an alias, why nit find one that is widely known. Who are you trying to fool?”

Her words bit the more she talked. Shawn had about had enough and he was going to give her an earful. Achlysa startled him when she appeared right in front of him. All of them were taken by surprise and they all jumped back. Achlysa was looking at the princess. Green eyes looked back at her white ones. She felt like Achlysa was peering into her soul making her shudder.

Achlysa smiled. Her smile held no ulterior motives but one could not help but panic. They held their hearts in their hands as seconds painfully dragged themselves by.

“Princess Drastacia Dragonar, first daughter of King Mafilso Dragonar the first…pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

She had finally done it. The look on Drastacia's face was priceless. The color drained from her face making her look like a walking corpse. Her right foot attempted to aid her run but was stuck. Her eyes widened in horror as her hands shook in fear. Her confirmed she had not said her name in Achlysa's presence so how could she have known?

Shawn let his laughter slip. Ralph had turned his back to them, his shoulders vibrated violently. But he could no longer contained the joy and exploded. Shawn joined and their voices echoed in the large hall. Drastacia looked at them bewildered by their reaction. She was on this ship alone. ‘Had she done this before? And who was she really?’ She wondered.

After they had called down, they both pretended that none of this had happened. Drastacia looked at Achlysa wanting to tell her off but no words came. She thought of calling the guards and having her thrown into a cell for humiliating her when her eyes landed on the staff she was holding. She had not been interested in it before but now she knew she had seen something on it somewhere.

“He finally got himself a mistress.” Drastacia said while laughing. “I never thought he had it in him. Tell me, how does it feel to be valued by climbing into his bed? For someone of your status, you should be…”

The strange overbearing entity cut her short. Its intensity had grown so much that feeling it made all of them go on their knees. Everyone in the castle felt it and those with little of it collapsed immediately. Some could not breath while others were light headed. The three, however, felt it tenfold.

Drastacia looked up and saw the color in her eyes. They had changed, a fire was burning inside Achlysa’s empty white eyes. She grabbed the staff tighter. She had held back so much since coming in here that now it was leaking. She tried to control it by calming herself. A few seconds passed and the presence of her entity disappeared just as it had come.

They rose up slowly. Their heads still banged from being fed too much information at once.

“You!...” Began Drastacia.

“Think of your next words carefully. They might be your own undoing.”