The Princess trade

Chapter 3:The Crescent Moon

She practically ran to the farthest reaches of the library. The shelves were stone this far back and the dust on the books was thick. Her eyes began to gleam with tears, she was only here for another week, leaving everything, and they couldn't treat her normally. She'd prefer to have a good fight with Adrian and lose, then to win and it be over in a few blows. She pulled down one of the books from the shelves, it was a book of rulers and their siblings. Serena chucked it against the far wall, why did the universe have to mock her.

Phillip saw Serena race past him in the library. She seemed frantic, so he followed her. When he turned the corner she hurled a book at the wall from one of the alcoves. Then he heard her talk to herself, soft whispers of terror. He probably shouldn't have followed her, but he was here now. Her head shot up when he turned the corner, but she just crossed her arms and laid her head back into them.

"What. Do. You. Want," she asked, her voice hoarse and muffled by her body.

"To check on you," the prince murmured.

"Well, you've done that so go away." She was so good at hiding her emotions, what had happened? He didn't leave though, instead sitting down next to her. Why did they have to do this to her; his sister was more than happy to leave, but Serena...

"I hear there's a crescent moon celebration tonight, are you going." She raised her head to look at him then back up the aisle.

"No, they're worse than other parties," she said bluntly.

"Alright, what do you do for fun." Her eyes brightened a bit but faded soon after. He knew she didn't want a sorry, a sorry wouldn't fix what was going on. He laid his hand between her wings and flinched as he felt the scar; he'd never noticed it. She brought her wings up over after he removed his hand. Who would have marred her skin to the point healers couldn't even remove it. He didn't bring it up though. She'd tell him where and when she wanted too, and there would be no rushing it. So instead he told her a story from home.

Switch POV***********

Serena listened to Phillip but didn't totally understand what he was saying. She picked up enough to know it was an ancient story about two dragons, a child's tale. It made her feel a bit better, to have someone else there; even if it was him. When he finished he moved his hand back to the scar, that ugly white line she'd have for the rest of her life. She flinched as he brushed it gently; his calloused hands scraping her back as he traced the line. His gasp was subtle when he realized how big it was. Serena met his eyes when he pulled away again, those wild peridot eyes that were filled with concern. He wanted to say something, she could tell, whatever it was though snagged in his throat. "I usually go out to a village or something for festivities," she said, a faint smile starting to grace her lips, "Would you care to join me?" The prince didn't say a word though as he stood and offered her his hand. Then she led the way to the stables.

Switch POV*********

"Abigail, I'm glad I found you," Gavin said walking into the training yard.

"What's up?" Adrian was helping her adjust her hands on her sword.

"Have you seen Blue, I wanted to make sure she was coming to the party tonight." Adrian let go and led Gavin off to the side.

"Gav," he said a bit worriedly, "I'm not arguing that you know your sister best, but she was really upset that I let her win. Are you sure that's how we should approach this?" Gavin wasn't sure, this whole situation was so unpredictable how could he think anything he did was right.

"I don't know anymore, I just want her to be happy," he sighed staring back at Abigail, "seems you've made a new friend."

Adrian followed his gaze, "Blue asked me to help her with her swordplay." His smirk said enough about what was happening but Gavin didn't say anything as he went to look for Serena.