The Fall Of Astraea

3. The ancient catacombs

I tried to open my eyes as I could feel the horrible headache that was making me feel like a tree had hit my head. It took me awhile to realize that I was on something soft and I could hear voices. As the seconds passed, I could make out the voices more clearly and realize that it was Malik and Phillip, arguing.

"You are a fool for taking her out there! Were you planning to murder her?" I heard Phillip's voice rise and frowned. I couldn't believe he was here after weeks of not speaking to me.

"I was trying to comfort her! Something you couldn't do clearly because you left her to deal with her grief herself. She has never been outside the palace grounds. I wanted her to at least see how the forest looked like."

"That forest is banned. They are scary creatures out there."

"That is a story that generations of council members and kings have used to scare the people out of the forest. There is nothing wrong with it."

"Ilene is too fragile to go out there. She could get hurt easily."

"That is not true." I heard Louisa speak. She is the one who must have let them in. "She can ride horses and shoot arrows on target unlike a certain somebody." She said and Malik started snickering.

"YOU ARE THE MOST..." Phillip started but I finally got the energy to sit up and Phillip stopped his sentence and came rushing towards me. "Are you okay?" I looked at him and glared. He doesn't speak to me for weeks and the first thing I hear out of his mouth is that I'm fragile?

"I may be naïve, but I'm not fragile." I told him and he saw my face and took a step back. I got out of bed. "You do not get to disappear then come back and act as you care. How dare you call me fragile? Have you forgotten that I'm your princess?!"

" No, your highness." Phillip said as he bowed down to me. We had been friends for years. But now I was starting to doubt our friendship. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked at Malik, who stood beside me. He gave me a face that clearly meant he wanted me to calm down. I breathed in and out slowly, a technique Anastacia had taught me to use when someone insulted you in public. I walked away from him and sat on my bed.

"Could you tell me what happened in the forest?" He asked.

Flashbacks of my father appeared and I sighed. I still didn't know what he meant. I looked at Malik, Phillip and Louisa seriously. "What I say now should remain a secret." They all nodded and I looked at Phillip. I couldn't let years of friendship just pass as if it didn't mean anything. "I spoke to my father." I looked at their reactions. Louisa gasped, horrified and Phillip looked at me like I was mad . Maybe I was giving him the leeway and probably should rethink our friendship. Malik, he looked deep in thought as if he knew something.

"And this is why I didn't want you going in that part of the forest. Are you sure it was your father?" He asked.

"I am sure. I knew it was his presence. He spoke to me of a prophesy. He knew he was going to die and he knew Queen Anastacia was going to murder him. He said it was meant to be. He said the kingdom was going to fall and that I was going to be its savior. I didn't understand that part." No one spoke for a little while.

"I have an idea." Malik spoke up and we all looked at him. "I read this book in the library that stated prophecies are written in the old catacombs under the castle grounds. Apparently magic still exists down there."

"Magic?" Phillip asked, looking nervous. " Magic doesn't exist, right Ilene?" He looked at me and I shook my head no. I had seen fairies, elves and unicorns that people believed were just fairytales. I did not how Astraea forgot about magic but it did exist.

"It does Phillip. I guess that means we're going to the catacombs." I said and Malik nodded.

"Princess are you sure?" Louisa asked. "I also do not believe in magic but if you do then I do."