"Roux, you're back," Silas greets. He gently pushes the servant girl out of the way, hardly a nudge of her hip with his hand, and stands from his chaise.
My first impressions are...the prince looks healthy. The last time I saw him, a weight hung over his head and the only smiles he revealed to the world were forced and faked. Not to please himself, but to show others they didn't have to ask about his well-being anymore. Even I got to the point where I stopped asking; Silas appeared to be himself. Seeing him now, I realize I was wrong.
This is the version of the prince the kingdom is used to seeing—what I'm used to seeing, and I know his condition has nothing to do with his personal training. Self-doubt is enough to swallow someone whole, even the prince, and not everyone can get through that alone. It snakes up on the weak, gripping around the throat and wrapping tight before anyone can stop it. Loneliness seeps into the bones, and I believe that's what happened to Silas. He didn't have the chance to drag himself away from the grief of what he experienced.
He steps forward and tugs me in for one of his bone-crushing hugs. I'm immediately suffocated, the breath squeezes from my lungs and my arms are pinned, so all I can muster is patting him on the back with the small stretch of arm I have.
Behind him, I watch the servant girl thread her fingers back and forth in nervousness. Her shoulders hunch as if I've already scolded her for something without saying anything. But, like Silas, there's a brightness in her eyes, too. Every time I've seen her, it's been merely in passing and nothing more than a quick glance.
The young witch has always had a certain dullness to her eyes like she doesn't want to be here and can't wait to find her own freedom somewhere in the kingdom, or possibly the next. That's not the case today. In fact, it appears like she found that freedom, not in a place, but in the prince. How long have I been away, and how long has this been going on?
Everything is changing much too quickly for me to keep up.
"How was the war?" Silas asks once he pulls away. I can breathe again.
"Before we get to that, have you seen Celestine...or Dalis? I can't seem to find either of them in the castle, and no one knows where they are." My heart races in my chest for fear of what might have happened while I was gone; nothing the king could have prevented but everything Silas could have stopped. If something happened to her...
Silas exchanges a simple glance with the servant girl. "She didn't tell you? They took a trip north to visit the beach. It's closer than going to Flitsea, of course, and they wanted to get away. They should be back any day now," the crown prince explains simply.
The relaxed smile on his face is hard to believe. Yet I find myself sinking into the depths of it, finding only the truth laid out in his words. The servant girl backs up his words with a strong nod and doesn't fail to offer a smile of her own. Without speaking to her, I can already tell she's on the innocent side of things.
"That doesn't seem like Celestine." My observation is more to myself but Silas shrugs to offer me something other than silence.
"It's been a stressful time at the castle, I guess. At least that's what your sister said. She wanted to get away, and Dalis offered to be her guide."
I narrow my eyes. "But Mills didn't know where they went? Why wouldn't Dalis tell him?" I inquire.
Again, the crown prince raises his broad shoulders in confusion and allows them to drop once more. "I really don't know. That's something you'd have to ask him. I'm guessing it has something to do with a young witch rebelling against her father. Maybe Dalis is finally starting to branch out." He steps away, walking back over to the servant girl before I can ask another question. Gently, softer than I've ever seen him do anything, he takes her small hand in his and holds the crook of her elbow. "Besides that, I want you to meet Avalie. I'm sure you recognize her, she's the one that tends to my tower."
CZYTASZ
Aligning the Forgotten ✓
Fantasy[Book 3 of the Grounding the Storm series] Renit's worst nightmare has come true. Roux isn't at his side, and he's banished from his throne and his crown, leaving him nameless and on the run. While trying to escape his father's cruel reign, he has t...
