"That's not how the story goes"

Chapter 17

Mr. Orman walking into the house. He went right to the study and sat in his chair. He let out a sigh, melting back into the chair.

He heard the light tap of high heels on the floor. Soon, a woman stood in the doorway. She ran over to the desk.

"Allan! Please tell me you found them!" She yelled, slamming her hands on the desk. Mr. Orman sat up right.

"No, Ms. Ellington. I sent knights to search the towns surrounding where we saw them last." Ms. Ellington lightly bit on her nails as she paced back and forth.

"My poor baby! Lost out there! I bet those three dragged her into this!" She looked back at Mr. Orman with an angry face.

"I always knew your son was a bad influence!" She snapped. Mr. Orman rubbed his head.

"Well, I could ditch finding her if that is how you feel," Ms. Ellington took a deep breath and stood up properly.

"You better bring my daughter back unharmed or else!" She scoffed before leaving.

-

Alex dug through his bag for a small pouch of gold coins. He pulled it out and sighed in relief.

He took out 9 coins and placed them on the nightstand. He counted the rest in the pouch.

"We can use that for the rent. I'll go into town to buy food." Alex closed the pouch and hung his bag on his shoulder. He turned to leave but Elijah grabbed his coat.

They were back in their normal form.

"Don't get me anything," He said. "Only get food for you three. I can go hunting later. Save the money." Alex nodded and left the cottage.

He walked through the town street, buying supplies and food for the group's travels. He saw a group of people crowded around something.

Alex walked over and made his way to a spot he could see from. The king stood in the center of the crowd, two knights by his side.

He was talking, but Alex didn't pay much attention to him. He ran back to the cottage and slammed the door behind him.

The others turned to him, confused.

"The king is here!" Alex called, closing the curtains. "We need to go!" He began shoving stuff into his bag. Sub grabbed Alex's arm.

"Alex, calm down!" Alex turned to him. "We can't leave right away! We don't have enough supplies or energy!" Alex relaxed and Sub let go of his arm.

Elijah went over to the window and poked through the curtains. The crowd of people were gone, but a knight stood at the entrance.

"There's a knight out by the entrance," Elijah said. "The kings here."

Soon, there was a knock on the door. The room went silent. There was another knock followed by a voice,

"Open up. Or we'll use force." Alex went back over to his bag and put it back on his shoulder. Denis went over to the back window and pried it open.

Alex took the container filled with tea out. He went over to Elijah, who was sitting on the bed, watching the three run around the room.

"Here. You can hide in my bag again." Alex went to open the container. Elijah held their hand up and Alex stopped. They held Alex's hand.

"There's no need," They mumbled. Elijah took the ring off Alex's finger and went over to the door.

They opened it and stood quietly in the doorway. The knight stepped back and the king was revealed, smiling. He went up to Elijah with his arms outstretched and hugged them.

"Dear god you scared me!" The king cried out. Alex slowly walked over to Elijah, preparing to pull them away if something went wrong.

"I was so nervous Mr. Orman found you before I did!" Everyone paused. Alex relaxed and went over to the doorway.

"Before my dad? I thought you were working with him," Alex asked. The king shook his head.

"Of course not! He asked me to help but I didn't trust him," The king sighed. "He came and recruited some of my knights."

Denis and Sub walked out from their hiding spot in the bathroom. The king looked at them.

"You both are with them too?" The king let out a sigh of relief. "I thought Mr. Orman had taken you, Denis."

The king stepped aside and gestured for the group to come out. Elijah got back on all fours and went out first. They looked back at the others, who stayed in the room.

Elijah tossed the ring back to Alex and moved his head towards the king as a sign to follow.

The others grabbed their things and followed the king back to a carriage. They got inside and were brought back to the castle.

"A knight will show you all to your rooms. You can stay here until I get the problem with you father sorted out." The king said, before walking down the hall. The knight turned to Denis.

"You know where your room is," He smiled. Denis nodded and walked away, waving goodbye to the others.

The knight led them down the hall. He stopped at a door and unlocked it. He pushed the door open and turned to Sub.

"Here you are," Sub went in and looked around the large room. The bed had silk curtains covering it and a large window behind a couch. He turned back to the others and pointed at the room in shock.

The knight then went to another room a little ways down the hall. He again unlocked it and opened the door.

"Your room, Alex." He said. Alex looked inside. It looked like Sub's room with different colors and flipped. He looked down at Elijah.

"I can sleep on the couch." The knight shook his head.

"They have their own room," The knight explained. Alex looked back at Elijah, worried. He sighed and nodded before going into the room. He closed the door behind him and the knight led Elijah down the hall towards Sub's room.

The knight went to a very quiet and empty hall. He went to the end and opened the door. There was a staircase that went to the lower level.

Before Elijah could say anything, they were shoved inside. They fell down the stairs and hit the cement floor.

They wearily got up and ran back up the stairs. They heard the door slam shut and the sound of the lock before even reaching the top.