The Hunt for the Royal Runaway

Chapter 5: Young Enchanters

Akisha Diamond’s Point of View:

“Ngh…” I felt myself harboring a deep sigh as my eyeballs rolled side to side underneath my shut eyelids. For some reason, I felt my surrounding spinning. My body seemed to be paralyzed too. The only thing that keeps me from losing consciousness is my faint sense of hearing.

“Sol…”

“Is she awake?”

“What if she’s dangerous?”

Child-like voices flooded through my right ear. Slightly, I started parting my chapped lips and knitting my eyebrows in slight confusion. Who are these people? Are they talking about me? Just as much as I wanted to move, my body doesn’t seem to listen. It’s as if all my strength was drained from emitting my magic towards my enemy earlier.

My enemy.

“I think she’s in pain…”

“Kind miss, are you hurt?”

“What should we do with her?”

The strangers’ voices continue to bog me. Alongside hearing them close, an occasional neigh of what sounded like a horse seemed to disturb me from the north. I tried sharpening my senses even more and soon enough, I felt that my body is in motion. As I lay motionless on a hard surface, thuds and mild wobbles disrupt my resting body from time to time. Still, the chirping of birds is evident from up the sky.

“A-ahhhh…” I grunted softly before forcing myself to open my eyes before further danger could even creep in. But as soon as I moved an inch, headache flooded my brain. I felt like my head is going to burst soon. What the hell? I immediately grasp the cloth of my dress that was now torn apart. Shoot.

“Miss Sol, you are awake! I’m so happy you’re safe!” A female child of what appeared to be around 10 years old suddenly grabbed my left hand and made my uneasy heart come at peace.

“H-huh?” I muttered immediately without taking my hand away from her. The child in front of me has almost a pair of glimmering eyes at the sight of me. And beside her is another child which appeared to be older but unlike her, he’s an innocent boy. The two of them is dressed casually ragged clothes and dirty sandals. I remember it now, they were the ones who found me by the river. But if I’m not mistaken, I thought there were three of them. Where’s—

“Oy, woman! Don’t think that this ride is for free. We’ve gone through so much to get this cart…you better pay us for real. We saved your life anyway!” The driver of the cart muttered.

There he is, the other child that I was looking for. I’m guessing that he’s the oldest among the three. Compared to them, this child appears more masculine and fierce. He’s been maneuvering the cart effortlessly and making the horse obey his gestures through his earth magic just as flawlessly. Now that I had a better look at everything in sight, I realized that our whole ride is glowing in the color bright green.

Slowly but surely, I tilted my head upwards to digest the picture even more. We are in the middle of a huge forest that emits the most peaceful vibe. Towering trees govern us from above that I couldn’t help but feel safe. So, this is the mighty power of the Opal realm. How calming.

“H-How long had I been passed out?” I dared ask while attempting to bolt up my seat only to fail painfully.

“You shouldn’t move as much yet, Miss Sol. And don’t worry too much, you’ve only been passed out for about an hour. We’re going to take you home. Tell us, which village do you live in?” The youngest enchanter stammered as she hesitantly came closer to me. Something about her eyes tells me that she’s searching for my trust which I couldn’t give yet. But it calms me down knowing that such innocence sit beside me.

“V-village?” I asked in return absent-mindedly. That’s right. I haven’t familiarized myself about the Opal realm yet and I don’t know any village name here. How am I supposed to tell them this?

“Mmmm…” She responded quite cheerily with growing smiles on the corners of her tiny mouth. Instead of replying further, I shifted my attention to the older enchanter pouting beside her. After I realized that he’s nowhere near sharing interest with me, I tilted my head upwards to get a glimpse of the oldest enchanter driving the cart with a pair of doubting eyes.

I need to think of a real place quickly.

“Oh, I’m uh—“ I mustered a few words only to cut my own sentence midway.

“Don’t tell us you’re from the Shackji Village.” The brief yet proud voice coming from the pouting child behind saved me from being caught up in a lie.

“That’s right! I’m from that village. Hehe.” I tried riding along awkwardly although I may not know what’s in that village exactly.

“No way! So you’re a noblewoman? What are you doing in that river, then?” The one driving raised in amusement as if he just discovered something new.

I cannot be a noblewoman. Not after I stripped myself away from being a royalty. I wouldn’t want to be reminded of my former status.

“N-no…I uhm, I am a peasant…working as a helper in a noble family there.” I lied. Thankfully, they bought it. And just as quickly as the sense of excitement have formed upon the face of the oldest enchanter, his face suddenly sunk in disappointment.

“I heard that there’s a pavement market there that’s selling a lot of magical stuff! Is that true, Miss Sol?” The youngest one followed with a hint of red tint on both her cheeks. I didn’t quite get what she meant but judging from her sparkling eyes, I could tell that they have never been there.

Suddenly, I’ve got an idea. A stupid one to be exact.

“That’s right! I’ll treat you there if you don’t mind…I haven’t got the chance to thank you properly yet, anyway.” I stated quite energetically. For a rookie liar, I’m quite effective I think.

“Really?” The youngest enchanter jumped out of excitement which was quickly followed by the scolding of her two brothers. I assume they are her brothers.

“Now that I remember, I don’t know your name yet…I hope you don’t mind telling me.” I requested politely to earn their trust. I alternated my gaze to the three of them to make sure that I am emitting an equal amount of warmth to all of them.

“My name’s Lita and this is my brother Gen. The one driving our cart is our playmate Carmi!” Lita uttered without hesitation. She even made an effort to crawl near her frowning brother and extend her tiny arms to point him out.

I smiled. Lita is so cute.

“I see. Nice to meet you Lita, Gen, and Carmi…what are you doing back in that lake?” I responded as I slowly help myself up now that I’m starting to regain my physical strength.

“We were supposed to catch magical fish and sell them in the black market.” Gen said monotonously which caused me to furrow my eyebrows.

“B-But catching magical creatures are illegal.” I reasoned back. I can’t believe that these children have been doing such dangerous things at their age.

“You wouldn’t understand because you have the comfort of living in a privileged village. Even if you are a helper, you have a roof above your head and a food to eat everyday. You wouldn’t have to stress over how you will survive for a day. But it’s different for us. We barely have any magic. If we don’t do things our way, we would be long dead.” Carmi explained quite profoundly which made my lips part slightly. I can’t help but notice that for his age, he has such a good articulation. He also has developed a defensive and aggressive aura that would go wild when triggered.

That’s when I thought, is this how they survive in a cruel world? I didn’t know that there exists discrimination in the common realms that we, royalties are far from being aware of. Right at this very moment, I felt more than pathetic.

“I’m sorry. You must have been through a lot…for your age.” I said softly, not sure if I’m even in the place to talk back to them casually like this.

“We’ve only saved you because we thought you have money. Your clothes are decent enough and you seemed harmless and in pain. We’re the one who’s sorry, Miss Sol.” Lita took courage to tug the end of my worn out dress to apologize to me. When she looked up to meet my gaze, I saw that tears of guilt are threatening to fall from the corner of her small eyes.

“Lita…don’t apologize! What have I told y—“ Gen tried to compensate a frim personality to make up with the vulnerable side of her sister, only to get interrupted by me.

“Lita, come here.” I motioned her small and fragile body towards mine to envelope her in a tight and genuine embrace. I caressed her shoulders and brush her hair away from her weeping face. For some reason, Lita’s presence warms my heart. Seeing a child enchanter who went through a lot like her…like the three of them, makes me want to make the Stoneheart Kingdom a better place.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that there’s a bright future waiting for all of you.” I mumbled a soft promise as I let myself treasure this first real world experience.

--

“Woah! I’ve never had anything like this before!” Lita hopped and skipped everywhere as soon as we landed in what they called the Shackji Village Pavement Market.

“Careful Lita!” I giggled before reaching out my hand and helplessly stopping her.

Beside me are Gen and Carmi walk quietly while pouting and furrowing their eyebrows still. By the looks of it, I think that they’re not ready to lower down their guard with me yet and I understand. Lurking behind their poker and pretend bored expressions, excitement is evident too. They’re just trying to hide it from me and I find them cute.

“Gen, Cami…tell me what you want. Let’s buy it!” I encouraged them to speak up cheerfully while browsing through the glowing stalls in both sides of the pavement. The mid-day sunlight grazes upon the golden canopies that occupy both sides of the pavement. About a hundred canopies tells us that there are about the same number of stalls that bring curiosity to every enchanters there is, including the four of us.

Grilled snake, floating meat, talking herbs, and flying ornaments are only some of the marvelous things that this pavement market offers. It is my first time seeing those too so I couldn’t help but drop my jaw in awe. It’s a good thing that I bought extra money with me. Now, I could buy the three children whatever they want as a token of gratitude. And as for myself…

“I’d take this please…” I uttered politely to the saleslady in one of the clothing stalls that’s wearing the prettiest smile. 

I decided to buy a pair of commoner’s coordinated clothes-- brown cotton top with sleeves that extend upon the edge of my wrists and brown medium-sized pants that fit both my petite legs. This is much better than wearing a dress, I think. Now I can blend better with everyone else. This is my first time wearing a commoner’s clothes and I expected to have a strange adjustment yet I feel the opposite. I felt like I was made for this fit. I’ve never felt so comfortable like this in clothes before. Back then, I’ve been wearing dresses and corsets alone so I find it hard to move and eat. But right at this very moment that I’ve changed, I’m starting to think that I could even conquer the world while wearing this.

I’d trade my whole closet for a pair of these

“That would be 150 golden tokens.” She responded warmly with her eyes making contact straight with mine. Gladly, I gave her 200 instead telling her to keep the change.

“What do you think about my clothes?” I revealed myself to the three kids with my newly purchased  commoner’s garments with my hair held up in a ponytail. As usual, Lita’s eyes sparkled while praising me with compliments that I couldn’t help but bow down in a playful manner. On the other hand, I saw Gen and Carmi blushed quietly since they are not willing to admit that I look good in my new clothes. I can’t help but laugh.

“Come on, now! Let’s have an adventure together…the three of us!” I declared with the most pride before placing my hands to my hips and inhaling the fresh air out of the stall. Looks of confusion were painted on the faces of the three children as they thought that our accidental encounter would already end here.

Not yet, I’m not ready to let the three of them go yet. They were my very first real friends…aside from Naris.

“Where are we going? You shouldn’t waste any more mon—“ Carmi was about to warn me about not wasting any more money but he got interrupted by the sudden loud screams of a woman in the far most corner of the pavement.

Out of curiosity, the three of us turned to the source of the scream. Soon enough, we saw a teenage enchanter getting physically hit by an older male one with moustache flowing freely from his upper lip down his chin.

“Why can’t you fight back with the little magic you have? HAHAHA What a disgusting enchanter you are!” He mocked the lady before landing another forceful slap onto her cheeks.

“HEY!” I called his attention without fear.

I froze. Seeing such scene brought my blood to boil. And before I knew it, I was cracking my knuckles and moving forward to punish the s**t out of that guy.

“Come at me with all the stupid magic you have, you fool!” I declared, ready to pick up a fight. 

--

For some reason, the weather isn't good outside. The gray clouds appear as if someone has angered the heavens, coupled with a few cracking sounds of thunder and occasional zit of lightning bolts here and there. It only made the atmosphere inside the palace more ominous and a little bit heavier than how it was supposed to be. 

But the weather isn't enough reason to postpone today's meeting. 

The palace’s jubilee hall isn’t this usually noisy. In fact, the room isn’t supposed to be filled with people in the first place. It is saved for special discussions that require each House’s presence. From time to time, their voices, smells, and even breaths scare the growing cobwebs along the lilac ceiling and brush the dusts under the animal rug in the center of the hall. But it seldom happens because Stoneheart is a peaceful kingdom and crimes that reach the divine hall is almost non-existent.

But now, the situation is different.

The hall is decorated with high-ceiling with enormous diamond chandelier hanging in the center above, fuelled by the palace's natural magic...keeping it alight at all times. The walls were painted in detailed symbols, depicting the history of the House Diamond as well as the involvement of other Houses. Everything is overwhelming about the room, but nothing compared to the voices that echoed along the four walls. 

 “We are clearly going after a traitor now…”

“How can we even keep this matter a secret from the public eye?”

“How do you think can we explain why a 16-year old royalty was able to escape the Diamond palace’s security? We will look like a fool!”

“SILENCE!”

Seven days have passed since the royalty of the name, Akisha Diamond, has gone missing and wasn’t found. For seven days, the royal houses met regularly in the jubilee hall. Their raging and heated emotions turned the hall’s reputation of being the quietest room in the Diamond palace upside down. Whenever one would enter, high voices and nonstop banters between representatives would deafen one’s ears.

“How’s the investigation going?”

“Well, since the princess couldn’t summon proper magic yet, it was hard to trace her energy, but we keep trying…”

“Damn it! For being the next heiress of the crown, she surely is irresponsible!”

“Come on, give the child a break…she just wanted freedom, she will return to us for sure.”

For seven days, nothing has been resolved. The princess’ whereabouts still puzzles the majority of the royalties who knew about her disappearance and it continues to cause inner turmoil among the palace as days continue to move forward.

Each head of the seven royal houses were present in the meetings, four of them agrees that what the princess has committed was treason, while the other three wishes to give her another chance.

“Calm down, everyone! Let’s hear from the king first.” Lady Joanne of the House Sapphire took the initiative to stand up and shut everyone’s chaotic conversation. Her elegant brown dress that hugs her tiny waist just enough to emphasize her hourglass figure and crimson-colored collars stole the show, especially when it suddenly glowed in bright orange that caught everyone’s eyes in some sort of a trance. Everyone who looks at her was in awe of her beauty. Shivers travelled down their arms and back as the head of they voluntarily obeyed the head of the House Sapphire.

The king was quick to clear his throat and pushed his golden chair aside. He travelled down the alley where a mini-staircase lead to a single step deep cavity, south to the center of the hall. The king held his scepter above before a projector magic flooded the air, causing everyone to turn their heads on the floating screen, filled with texts of reports about Akisha’s prior behavior inside the palace. The reports came from the workers inside the palace assigned to take part in shaping the princess’ day to day manners.

“According to some reports, Lady Lana finds the princess’ behaviors unrefined and…let’s see, right here! Quite challenging to tame.” Lord Sebastian Amethyst of the house with his surname openly expresses his doubts upon the childish acts of the Diamond’s only child.

It was the queen’s turn to speak as she stood next to the king’s empty seat and bowed down “Oh dear, we apologize that you need to hear about our daughter’s type of behavior, Lord Amethyst. But rest assured that we have her under control.”

Everyone seemed to acknowledge the most powerful woman in the room. Quickly, they bowed in their direction and listened as she speak in a calm yet soothing voice, perfectly fit for a queen.

“Please, Lord Amethyst…the child is undergoing puberty! Don’t you know children enough? Your House is flooding with a good number I heard.” Lady Joanne quickly backed up the queen, telling everyone that it is only natural for a 16-year old to be well, 16-year old—carefree, active, and least-focused on boring things such as daily lectures and disciplining sessions.

The room fell silent once again, everyone taking their time reading the reports flashed both on the projected screen and the physical copies stacked on the marble table.

“Your Majesty, please explain this particular report from the 1st division captain of the Diamond Palace, Randall Clave…” Lord Allis, the head of the House Garnet raised, earning nods and furrowed eyebrows from the rest.

“My daughter has always been more interested in activities involving physical strength and she has been begging Randall since forever to train her but he continuously refuses. He gives in a few times but he never failed to report me everything that has happened. I was aware that nothing serious has happened so far so I kept on allowing their trainings just for the sake of her enjoyment…” The king responded in detail, making sure to hit every nail of suspicion evident in their eyes.

But, the majority of people inside the hall are still dubious. Lady Joy Sarci of House Peridot browsed the stack of papers beside her and searched for something worthy to ask. After a few seconds of being a silent observer, she finally noticed something different.

“I guess it’s my turn to speak now. Shall I, Your Majesty?” She said, standing up and walking down beside the king, earning whispers and murmurs from the other members of the meeting. The sound of her high heels clanking upon meeting the solid ground intensified the already heavy atmosphere in the air.

“Go on, Lady Sarci…the floor is yours.” King Stephen takes a step back before the female royalty bowed down in gratitude.

“Let me start by greeting everyone a good day. Also, I would like to apologize for my indifferent behavior as I have been silent about everything up until now. I decided to keep my mouth shut since then but just yesterday, I was able to confirm something…” She spoke in such a dignified manner that everyone’s eyes affixed at her. She walks from left to right and gestured her palms against each other while speaking elegantly.

The king gulped down ahrd on the side. “What are you trying to imply, Lady Sarci?”

“I went to the Diamond Palace’s infirmary and interviewed some of the healers there…I hope you don’t mind Your Majesty. After all, my action could be considered a part of the investigation process isn’t it?”

Everyone froze.

Lady Sarci’s prior politeness suddenly disappeared as if she’s been holding herself back achingly and was finally able to enjoy letting go now. A smirk formed in the corner of her mouth before her eyes travelled to the uneasy king to the worried queen and back to the king again.

“Are you aware that what you did was trespassing? I could charge you with a criminal act. How would your House like that?” The king gritted his teeth in fury while the murmurs in the hall continue. Lady Saci seemed unbothered by the threat as she brushes her hand in the air and shrugged her shoulders saying, “go ahead.”

However, she isn’t done talking yet.

“I figured that Sir Randall was rushed in the infirmary to supposedly get treated with the wound he acquired from his little play with the princess…the day before she went missing.”

“If you don’t mind, get to the point already.” the Head of the House Garnet almost yelled in impatience as Lady Sarci only huffed before continuing.

“One of the healers said that they didn’t even have to treat his wound any further because when he arrived in the infirmary, he was almost already healed…by the princess  herself.” Lady Sarci’s smirk turned into a suspicious grin in an instant. The king immediately stepped forward while everybody lost their mind, throwing questions here and there about the princess’ magical property that was being kept hidden from them since she was born.

"Healing magic, isn't that the rarest  type of all magic in the kingdom?"

"What is the meaning of this?" 

"With all due respect, is there something you're not telling us, Your Majesty?"

The stillness of the room was long gone, as everyone struggled to keep composed at the revelation. Everyone was shocked enough for the energy to triple inside, not even bothering the balidity of Lady Sarci's source of information. They were quickly consumed by doubts about the king's intentions that no one succeeded in calming them down...not even the queen, not even the budding ominous weather outside.

"Everyone, please clam down, we can explain this!" The queen was desperate. In panic she raised her right hand and waved a few circles in the air as she commanded everyone she can reach using her touch magic. Just as quickly as the hall turned noisy, silence filled the air once again. 

“What are you doing?” The king snapped at Lady Sarci, although he didn’t let go of the calmness in him.

She only scoffed disrespectfully, “I’m questioning you, Your Majesty…why are you hiding the princess’ healing magic from us?"