Princess of Wind

Chapter 9: Interrogations and Tricky Conversations

Elea woke the next morning lying on the cell's old lumpy mattress. Pushing off the mattress, Elea move to get up and stretch her tense muscles, when a loud knock sounded on her cell door. She had only a moment to right herself, which mostly consisted of straitening her wrinkled dress and trying to tame her frizzy hair, before the cell door burst open and a guard walked in.

"Her majesty requires your presence in the throne room, you are to come immediately," the guard said before motioning for her to exit the room.

Eager to get out of the confining space, even if it was to see Amarantha, Elea walked through the cell door. Outside the room she was met by three guards, who when join by the first, created a circle around her as they escorted her to the throne room.

It took them mere minutes to reached the massive doors carved with all sorts of monsters that led to the throne room. Elea's escort pushed her into the oddly empty room, before shutting the massive doors.

Elea turned her gaze to the two other figures in the room, Amarantha, who lounged on her throne, and Ayden's father, Rhysand, who stood relaxed beside her throne.

"Come closer," Amarantha said, crooking a finger at Elea.

She followed Amarantha's command, unwilling deal with the consequences of fighting against the person who ruled this cruel place.

"Tell me Eleanor, what are you doing in my lands," Amarantha asked before adding, "and none of the lies you told before. No simple traveler wears clothing that you are wearing now, nor do they wander into my lands."

"I am here by mistake, I hold no purpose but to return to my kingdom," Elea responded, "my lie from before, was not one at all. I am a traveler in these lands, and I did get lost in my ventures, a portal brought me her while I was wandering in my homeland."

"A portal brought you here," Amarantha asked, her brow raised in suspicion.

"Yes," Elea responded.

"Tell me then what kingdom did this portal bring you from?"

"One that is located far enough from you courts that you will have never heard its name," Elea said.

"I doubt that my scholars have never hear of it," Amarantha said, "after all we have traveled the entire world and seen all of the kingdoms that there are to see."

"Well if you happened to know all of kingdoms, you would also know their rulers," Elea reasoned, trying to see how far she could draw out this conversation before Amarantha cracked and demanded answers, "so it shouldn't be too hard to find mine, after all my family has been my kingdoms ruler for hundreds of years."

"Indeed it shouldn't," Amarantha said, her mouth forming a wicked smile, "Rhysand, find the name"

"Yes, my queen," Rhysand said.

Before she could even figure out what she was implying Elea felt the claws of a dark presence attacking the shield around her mind. Yet Elea managed to shove them away before they could even get a hold on her mind. Across the room, Rhysand flinched and Amarantha frowned at him.

"Why haven't you taken her mind?" She demanded.

"It seems that she has had training in her mental shields," Rhysand responded, his mental claws retreating from her barrier, "training that was done by a powerful Daemati."

In the few moments of relief from the attack of the mental talons Elea began to slightly relax her shield to fill in the tiny cracks, following the lesson that Ayden had taught her. It was in that time that Rhysand attacked again, this time puncturing through a weak spot she had yet to repair.