Oceanum Collis

•Chapter 6• Worrier Princess

That night, Erix paced around in his room. He was biting his nails as he walked around. The young man was still nowhere to be found. He couldn't have gotten far. The doors of his chamber opened. The head guard stepped inside the room. Erix glanced up. "Anything?" He questioned. The man in armor shook his head. "Nothing, sir. We couldn't find him." He answered honestly. Erix groaned loudly, turning away from the guard. "Twenty of our men are still outside the wall trying to find the boy, sir. But, he is nowhere to be found. It is as if...as if-" The guard said. "As if, what?" Erix asked him annoyed. The head guard gulped. "As if someone helped him, sir." He replied. "There is no life beyond the walls." The emperor said. "But, sir, we were on his trails for hours. And he vanished into thin air. Someone must have helped him." The guard replied. Erix turned back to the man in armor. "People don't just vanish into thin air! Someone from inside the walls helped him, and I want to know who!" He yelled at him. The head guard jumped slightly at his loud voice. The emperor took a few steps closer to him. "You find him, and whoever helped him. You will bring them here. Alive." He ordered. "Of course, sir." The guard replied. He made his way out of the chambers, shutting the doors behind him. Erix started to pace around his room again. Help? From where? There was no life beyond the walls. He had made sure of that. Erix walked over to the bookcase on the other side of the room. He pulled out a book and walked back to his desk. He pulled out a piece of paper folded together. It was a map. "Where are you?" He whispered. His eyes scanned over the drawings on the piece of paper. "Where are you hiding?" He added.

Meanwhile, Orlando sat on the rocks in his cell. The young man was facing the cell door. He was using a sharp, little stone to draw on the walls. "What are you drawing?" Suddenly sounded behind him. Orlando jumped at her voice. He glanced over his shoulder to see the she-elf standing on the other side of the door. "What do you want?" He asked her as he turned back to the wall. "I thought you would like some company," Serena replied. "From the person who put me here? No, thank you." Orlando replied. Serena sat down in front of the cell door on the floor. Orlando glanced over his shoulder again. He frowned at the elven princess. "What are you doing?" He asked her. Serena shrugged. "I'm just going to sit here and wait for you to start talking." She tells him. Orlando turned back to his drawings again but turned back to the princess sitting on the floor rather quickly. "What do you want me to say?" He asked her. Serena shrugged in response. She started to play with her green tunic which split at the end for movement. "I don't know. Just talk." She replies. Orlando frowned at her. "Did your father send you to get me to talk?" He asked, "Because if he did, you can get up and leave. I don't know who, or what, you are, and I don't care." He added. The young man looked down at the stone in his hands. "I just want to get out of here and get as far away from Andillar as possible." He continued quietly. Serena tilted her head slightly. "You were telling the truth about that? You ran?" She asked him. Orlando looked at the green-eyed girl. "That's what I've been trying to tell you and King of the Antlers," Orlando tells her. Serena let out a chuckle. "My father is not the King of Antlers. He's the King of the Elves." Serena replies. Orlando chucked. "Elves? As in, the magical creatures from the stories? You know, the kind with wings and magic." Orlando said. "Fairies have wings. And they are naughty little creatures." Serena replies, "But we do have magic, yes." She added. Orlando chuckled at her again. "You're kidding, right?" He asked her. Serena shook her head. The young man holds up his hand. "Hold up, so you're telling me you can do all those things the old man told us?" He asked her. "I don't know what he told you. But, yes, I can do some magical things. I can make vegetation grow, for example." She tells him. "Wow, that's pretty amazing." He admits.

Serena tilts her head at him again. "You're a strange human, you know." She said. "Why is that?" Orlando questioned. "Well, most humans saw us as monsters for having special abilities. And, you're looking at me... as if there is nothing special about me at all." She says. Orlando gently sets the stone down next to him on the rock. "Well, there is something special about you. You're a princess, aren't you?" He asked her. "Worrier and princess." Serena corrected him. Orlando pulls one of his legs up to his chest and wraps his arms around it. He rests his head on his knee. "Well, that explains the weapons." He said. Serena giggled quietly. "But, don't elves have these pointy ears and all that?" He asked her. Serena puts her hand by her ear. She gently pulled the hair that was covering her pointy ears away. "We do have them. I just cover them up." She tells him. Orlando's eyes were glued to her special ears. He had, of course, never seen anything like it. He had heard the stories but never had he seen it in reality. "Why would you cover them up? They're kind of cute." He tells her. Serena pushed her hair back, covering her ear again. "They're really small. I'm kind of embarrassed by it." She admits, "They're the smallest in my family." She added. They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Serena then looked up at him again. "Speaking of family." She started. The young man turned his attention back to the she-elf sitting on the ground. "Basil Adelio," Serena said. Orlando sighed. "Are you still on that?" He asked her. He stood up, turning away from her. Serena stood up as well. "We just want to make sure we're safe." She tells him, "You are the descendant of a man that wiped out a lot of people for power." She added. Orlando picked up his rock, starting to draw on the walls again. "I'm not related to him," Orlando said sternly. "But, you are. Your eyes they-" Serena spoke. Suddenly, Orlando turned around. He grabbed Serena by her tunic, pulling her closer. He was holding the sharp rock against her cheek."I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want from me, but you're crazy. That man was insane. I am nothing like him." He said.