Island of ogres
1503 Words
The black sky I was staring at, was accompanied by the moon and the stars.
Every passing minute sent a wave of doubt and fear, what if they figured out the truth about us?
Just then the door of my room opened and Lily appeared with a grin on her face. “I went to a real palace,” she exclaimed loudly, “everything was just perfect, I wish you were there too Sammy.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her, “I was worried about you.”
She rolled her eyes, “That’s because you’re a worrywart. It was amazing, bright and pretty, straight out of the fairytale.”
I shook my head slightly, “How was the meeting? Did you see the king?”
“I didn’t meet the king. The meeting thingy took place in a heavily guarded room and the king was already in that room so I didn’t see him, even though I wanted to,” she walked in front of the mirror, “although I thought there would be more people, I guess only a few important ones were invited. Long story short, I had to stay with other women, I answered the questions they were asking and before you ask, no, no one doubted anything at all.”
Her words made me think, “If Lucius is someone important to the king then why would he lie to him just to save us?”
Lily was too busy twirling in front of the mirror to hear my question, “I am tired, I should get some sleep.”
“Goodnight.”
She stopped before closing the door, “You were fine here alone, the snobby witch didn’t do anything right?”
Putting on a smile which I had mastered, I replied, “Everything was fine here and she didn’t say anything.”
“Good,” she replied with a yawn and shut the door quietly.
I knew Lily would not think twice before starting a fight with Astrid if she knew about our little conversation. We needed Astrid on our side if we wanted to go back.
Feeling thirsty I went to the kitchen, on my way back I saw a shadow in the garden.
Knowing very well who it was, I went to the garden as well, “Can’t sleep?”
“Just enjoying some fresh air. You?” he asked passing his fingers through his dark hair.
“I am just going to sleep,” it was the first time, I observed the sudden mark on his arm. 2 bands were visible on his right upper arm, with something vague written between them.
“Hmm.”
I stood there feeling the soft breeze of air on my face, “How was everything today?”
He turned to look at me with his usual expressionless face, “Everything was okay. Lily handled the situation smartly, no one suspected anything.”
I did not say anything, everyone knew I would have messed up everything that’s why he took Lily with him.
“I should go now, goodnight,” I reached the door but remembered Astrid’s words about the trouble we could cause. I bit my lip, not finding the right words to say, “Thank you for everything Lucius.”
I saw a ghost of a smile forming on his face, “You do not have to thank me.”
I came to bed but couldn’t get rid of the thought, why would Lucius help us and betray his own king?
.
.
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The next morning started like any other day, I picked a peach dress that reached just below my knees, put my caramel hair in a ponytail, and made my way to the dining room.
A slight frown appeared when I saw the empty chair on the end of the dining table. Taking my usual seat, I greeted Astrid and Lily with a small good morning. Lily replied to my greeting with a large smile, showing all of her pearls while Astrid as usual ignored my existence.
After breakfast, Lily and I were sitting in her room.
“There is something weird about these people,” said Lily, from her bed.
I stopped looking at the clouds floating freely in the sky, and looked at Lily, “You mean apart from the fact that these are supernatural creatures?”
Lily got up from the bed, “No. I was asking those women about their King and every time they were changing the subject.”
“Maybe that’s a rule or something.”
“What kind of a rule….” a tiny red hurricane appeared on the table next to Lily’s bed, with confusion she picked up the paper, “Astrid wants to talk to us.”
“Let’s go, maybe she found something,” I looked at the letter disappearing, it didn’t turn to ash like the one from the king, “this is a cool alternative to texting.”
Lily and I reached the living room where everything was quiet...too quiet. Astrid was sitting with the pendant in her hand, with closed eyes and Lucius was sitting opposite to her.
Astrid opened her eyes as we approached her.
“What’s going on?” I asked looking at the pendant in her hand.
“Tell me exactly what happened that day?” Astrid asked without paying attention to my question.
Lily passed me an unsure look, “We were at a friend’s party, a blue light appeared from the pendant and the electricity went out for a couple of seconds.”
Lucius raised an eyebrow, “Was anyone else there?”
Lily shook her head, “No, just us. We were cleaning a stain from Sam’s dress.”
Astrid stood up from her seat, “Nothing else happened after that?”
“No. Just the light appeared that day and then we decided to get rid of the pendant, but what exactly happened the other day is kind of blurry,” Lily looked at me, to which I nodded.
“We decided to throw the pendant after the incident and when I was putting it away I cut myself. The same light came from the pendant and a circle was formed around us. That’s it when we opened our eyes, we were here,” I explained the rest.
“I need your blood.”
I was taken back from Astrid’s strange request.
“The stone in the pendant is the lock to open the door and I have a feeling your blood was the key,” Astrid replied.
Her words did not send any kind of assurance and Lily felt the same as she crossed her arms with a look of disapproval, “No, what if this time we get teleported to an island of ogres?”
“Do not worry, you will fit perfectly there,” Astrid gave Lily a sweet smile that managed to make a vein pop on her forehead.
“Listen to me very carefully, we are not your experiment rats so why don’t you take your genius idea and shove….”
“Enough!!” Lucius’s voice boomed in the living room, making everyone silent, “we do not have time for your childish bickering. Nothing will happen to either of you, we are here.”
Astrid gave him a smile while Lily kept throwing glares at Astrid.
“I am ready,” hearing that Astrid picked a needle from the table and poked my index finger, making me flinch a little bit.
The drops of blood started pouring out and she put the pendant in front of me. As my blood fell on the pendant, my heartbeat increased slightly. I looked at Lily who was standing next to me, not taking her eyes off of the pendant. Lucius gave a reassuring nod standing next to Astrid.
No blue light appeared, no circle was formed around us.
“I do not understand. What can activate this?” Astrid asked herself, “Did something else happen that day? Think about it and then answer.”
“No. I am sure we told you everything,” I replied and Lily nodded in agreement.
“It is alright, Astrid. I am sure you will figure everything out.”
Hearing his words, Astrid held the pendant tightly in her hand and went back to her room.
“Are you okay?” Lucius asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied with a smile, showing him the index finger which no longer was bleeding.
He hummed in response, which was something he did a lot.
Lucius went to do some work as well while Lily and I stood there confused about what happened.
- Writer
