The Golden Core | Secrets of the Core #1

Chapter Sixteen - Part Two

She caught up with him as the guard on the left of the door replied, "Yes, he's been expecting you." The door swung open revealing another man wearing a black suit. "Go on inside. James will take you to the King."

"Thank you," Phoenix answered.

They stepped inside as James walked up the stairs with them. Once making it to the top, he moved to the third door on the left and knocked. "Your Majesty, Phoenix Black and Winter Amberstone have arrived to see you."

"Come in," King Jensen responded.

James twisted the door knob and opened the door, revealing King Jensen, then bowed.

The King was sitting at his desk looking at papers, then lifted his head as Phoenix bowed to him.

Winter curtsied and realized he was wearing a long red robe and a red crown on his head on top of his black hair when she looked up. Her eyes met his bright green ones for just a moment.

He walked over to the two of them and smiled. "Hello there, Phoenix. Thank you for bringing her to me."

"My pleasure, Your Majesty."

King Jensen directed his gaze toward Winter. "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you. Please, have a seat." He pointed towards the two seats to the left of him.

She nodded. Unsure of what was going on, she stayed quiet for a few moments looking at everything in the room. His desk was filled with many papers and there was a nice size window behind his big chair. Gold trim surrounded the walls but, like Phoenix's house, there wasn't much on them anyways. As both her and Phoenix sat in the chairs, she couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, why am I here?"

"It's simple, Princess. I've known about you for a long time, but I never got the chance to meet you. Your father wouldn't let you come here. I knew, once I got the chance, that you needed to know about us."

She fidgeted in her seat. "Why?"

He folded his hands, then moved to sit in his chair. "You do know we are The Voided, right? You have heard of us?"

"Of course, but I'm not seeing why you need me. I've known that there were other cities, I just couldn't come see you."

Giving her a small smile, he said, "Winter, we need you because you are to be Queen. You will have the ability to change rules and I need you to see us for who we are. Not the fact that we are named The Voided. We may have no powers, but your father banished us. None of us are allowed in Goldenfordge, aside from those that your father needed at specific times for reasons we will not get into now." He paused, then turned to gaze out of the window before continuing. "We are still people and I believe my kingdom still deserves that freedom. You are the one who can fix this."

After hearing her father banished them, her thoughts were stuck on that. Every other word the King mentioned went completely out of her mind. Why would Father banish The Voided? Sure, they had no magic, but she didn't see anything else wrong. Being raised to not speak to them always had her wondering what really happened, but Father never told her. Anytime she would ask, he always brushed it off.

Now, here she was in front of the King of The Voided and she had no idea what to tell him because she hadn't learned anything about them. So much for becoming Queen. She wasn't as smart as they made her out to be. Phoenix knew they were coming here, why didn't he tell her anything before they showed up? Clearly, he wanted her to figure it all out on her own. Apparently Father did too.

She had to think of something to say, the silence was becoming too long, though her mind was still frozen. Winter cleared her throat and folded her hands in her lap. "I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, Your Majesty, but I am not Queen yet so currently I can't help you."

For a moment confusion splashed onto his face until he twisted his lips into a smile. "I understand, Winter. Though if you see the way we are now, when it comes time for your ability to make changes, this subject will become easier for you to look at. Please, just stay with us for a little while. You'll soon see we are nothing to be afraid of as your father once told you."

At this, Phoenix spoke up. "Your Majesty, Winter will be staying with me for a while. There were a few troubling situations for her in Goldenfordge so she agreed to come along with me."

"Perfect! As you know, she is a Princess so take wonderful care of her while she's here." The King directed his gaze to her. "If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to come to me. I will do my best to help you."

Phoenix chuckled. "Oh, I will, Your Majesty. You have nothing to worry about."

Mentally, Winter rolled her eyes. Something in her mind told her that once they got back to his house, she wouldn't just be stuck for a day. She needed to get out and away from Phoenix. It was possible King Jensen could help her if he knew what was really going on, but she knew Phoenix wouldn't leave her alone with the King. Part of her wondered if her being able to change the rules was the entire reason that Phoenix was tasked by the King to bring her here or if the King was actually involved with whatever Phoenix's plan was.

Once she drifted back into the conversation after realizing she was pulled away by her thoughts, Phoenix was standing up in front of the King. She must've missed it when he mentioned they were going to leave. Quickly, she jumped up and curtsied to King Jensen. "It was nice to meet you. I'm sure we will see each other again one day soon." She smiled at him and Phoenix led her out the door.

After they made it to the end of the bridge, Phoenix held out his palm and then motioned his other hand above it in a circle. Slowly, wind in the shape of a tornado started to form and he grabbed Winter's arm as it got bigger. Soon, the wind overtook them and all Winter could see was darkness. It seemed like she was falling though she knew she wasn't since Phoenix's hand was attached to her arm. She had been through this many times already and each time she was still tense and nervous. Even though he didn't say anything to her, she knew that they were probably heading back to Phoenix's house.

When her feet finally touched the ground and she opened her eyes, she knew the familiar walls. His family was no longer here, they must've been gone too long for them to want to stay, but she knew they were back at his house.

Even though they were no longer teleporting, Phoenix still had a rough hold on her arm. "Come on." His voice was stern. More than likely, he was upset that the King wanted to talk to her, yet he was the one that brought her there. Why didn't he just avoid it if he didn't want her to talk to King Jensen?

Either way, she knew where they were going as he headed down the stairs with her as he did the first time before his mother showed up. She pushed and pulled as best she could to get away from him, but she didn't have the strength. He was too strong for her. "Let go of me!" she yelled.

Instead of letting go, he pulled tighter as they made it to the bottom of the stairs and shoved her inside the lonely room. She fell to the ground, her knees making contact with the concrete floor. Without even giving her a chance to get up, he slammed the door so loudly the echo rang in her ears. A jingle of keys as the door knob twisted back and forth made her realize that he was locking her inside.

Rage flew through her body, her veins pulsing with regret that she ever decided to come with him. Slowly, she got up and banged as loud as she could on the door.

"What is your real reason for doing this to me?" Though it was a question, she shouted it as loud as she could.

All that was left was footsteps crawling back up the stairs, leaving her alone in the locked concrete room.