The Golden Core | Secrets of the Core #1

Chapter One - Part Two

"How can we believe anything that guy says?" Summer asked.

Winter shrugged. "I don't know, but he did save me from falling so I would imagine that's something."

"I would've saved you too, and you know that."

Their conversation stopped when their father appeared in front of them. Winter knew that it wasn't that windy earlier. It was done on purpose.

"There's my two favorite kids!"

Summer rolled his eyes. "We're not kids, Father. I'm practically an adult and Winter is one."

Winter ignored her brother, her attention focused in front of her. "Father...what are you doing here? You've never seen us go into training. What's the special occasion?" Her smile morphed into a small grin as he placed an arm around her shoulder, forgetting the confusion she held momentarily about the random guy. She always loved these moments with him. Each one made her feel more special than the last, something she always cherished because every time she forgot that she was, what the wizards would call, royalty.

They met up with her classmates in the long line. "Hello there, my sweet daughter, I just thought I would come see how you're both doing. I see you've met Phoenix!" her father responded, pointing his finger toward Phoenix to come over next to them.

"You know him?"

He grinned. "Of course I do. Your mother and I have known him since you kids were just little ones! He's been very good to us."

She felt the emptiness on her shoulder as she glanced to her right, realizing her father removed his arm. Confusion swirled within her once again as she recalled the awkwardness of this situation. People around her began to chatter and murmur as their eyes landed on her and Father. Part of her wanted Summer to come keep her company, but he was already over with the friends he made. That was one thing she didn't have.

"That's right! We've done a lot of work together," Phoenix responded.

It was strange that this man randomly showed up right as Father did. Sure she was thankful he didn't let her fall, but there had to be something more important going on. If her father knew about Phoenix for so long, how come she never did? She was a part of this royal family too, shouldn't she know most of the things that they did? Father wasn't happy. Even though there was a smile on his face, his pale skin and the slight trembling told her differently. She could tell that the grin wasn't normal. He usually let her know everything, why didn't he now?

She cleared her throat, frowning as she said, "Is something wrong?" She knew kings couldn't always show compassion towards their loved ones in front of everyone, especially because of where she was heading, but something felt different about this time.

He shook his head and gave her a small smile. "No, no sweetheart. Everything's fine! Go on, I'll be waiting when you get home. I'll take Phoenix with me. You'll do great today. You've always done great," her father answered. He wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her gently as he gave her a hug, but it felt tighter than normal.

Her eyes welled up with water as she embraced the hug, with what felt like a rock lingering in her chest. She held on for as long as she could until the line began to move again.

Something wasn't right.

She nodded and pulled away from him slowly, even though she didn't want to. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" he spoke, wiping the small tears from his eyes with his thumb while smiling. "I'm just so proud of you, Winter. That's all, I promise."

Her eyes grew wide. He hadn't said this to her often, something was going on, but trying to find out his plan would be tough. "Okay?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but before any sound came, her father replied, "I just thought I would come see you. It's not often that I get to do this. Your training is very important to me, even though I may not get to come by much! I love you, Winter." Another smile appeared on his face, but it didn't seem as heartfelt as she thought he wanted it to be. He took a deep breath, looking directly into her eyes, then continued, "Well, I can see that you're busy, so I'll get going. See you at home, love."

She barely had time to process what was going on. It was very weird of him to come by to see her, especially at the same time that the man Phoenix showed up. Did they have something planned? Maybe there was something going on at the castle that she didn't know about. She couldn't ask him though, since he stepped back and grinned, then snapped his fingers. She knew it meant he was leaving.

She was correct.

A few seconds later, another large gust of wind formed around him like a tornado, spinning around his body. Soon, Phoenix was also wrapped in it as they both were lifted off the ground. Bits of the rough wind came towards Winter, making her close her eyes. The wizards all around her looked toward her father and began to watch silently, waiting for him to finish. Stretching his arms out above him, the wind moved faster, quickly making them vanish from the streets. Winter opened her eyes slowly after the wind stopped, then continued forward.

Summer came towards her again after his friends left. "What did Father want?"

"I don't know," she replied. "It seemed like he wanted to tell me something, but couldn't. There's an issue. What if he's hurt?"

The two of them stood still for a moment, his gaze locked on hers as he smiled. "I'm sure he's fine, Winter. You know him. He's always coming to check on you at random times."

Though Summer could've been right, she needed to know what was really going on. But she didn't have time to think about it now. It would be better if she would confront him about it later when she got home. Maybe then he would tell her all about it.

"Well, yeah, but something was different about this time. He wasn't his usual self. I'm worried."

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it a little. "It's gonna be okay. Even if it wasn't, I'll be here for you. I'm not going anywhere."

Winter looked up at him and smiled. She was still worried, but his reassurance let her know that it would be okay eventually. They'd get through it if something did happen. At least she'd have him.