Savior of the Realms

Chapter 2

I was called early next morning to breakfast, and mercifully, sitting beside Mom was Dad.

"Dad!" I said brightly when I saw him at the table.

"Scarlett, what took you so long? You're never late." he said with a smile that didn't quite reach his ears. I noticed how pale he was, with shadows under his eyes, but he still held his chin high.

"Dad, are you alright?" I asked anxiously.

"I wanted to talk to all of you about something." He said in a serious tone, clasping his hands and looking at all of us.

Mom stilled, her eyes full of concern, while Tom's fork cluttered to the ground along with his plate of porridge. We all ignored and focused on Dad.

"As you know, Traxiva has allies all over Drulpa and the neighboring continents. We are mostly known for our strong international allies and a large trained army of soldiers. Our economic and political reputation is known all over the continent which continued to win us allies until last winter. I have received a letter from the king of Pennolyzia yesterday, demanding a meeting to discuss our alliance. Pennolyzia is a powerful country, and losing this alliance will cause serious problems." He sighed tensely. "Therefore, I'll be heading north in a few hours to sort it out." he finished.

We all sat quietly for a minute, distracted by our thoughts. I personally didn't know what to say. I expected a reaction from other countries, but certainly not breaking an alliance that quickly. I tried to convince myself that it will all be sorted out, but then I remembered my suspicions about magic, and how it might still exist. Then an idea suddenly struck me. What if the disappearance of magic was related to the fall of the last King of Traxiva before its conquest hundreds of years ago? It makes sense because magic disappeared at about the same time of the rise of the kingdom of the Ponlands, which rose mainly by the aid of the first Traxivan king of my bloodline. Theories and questions started to race in my head, but I ignored them and tried to suppress my excitement for now.

"So if they broke this alliance, will we be a poor country?" Tom asked innocently.

"No Tom, Traxiva is a strong country with a strong king and loyal citizens. As long as we're all united, no outside forces can separate us." I answered proudly.

After we finished breakfast, we spent one more hour with Dad before finally saying goodbye to him. I decided to revisit the library to search for books about the rise of the Ponlands.

As I was walking through one of the corridors, a weird flicker of movement to my left caught my eyes. I stopped in my tracks, and I suddenly had the feeling that I was being watched. I continued to walk again as if nothing happened, but instead of turning left in the direction of the library, I turned right towards the east wing of the palace. I walked through corridors and climbed ladders until I finally reached my room.

I entered my closet and made a show of fumbling through my dresses, until I reached a small box right at the bottom. I opened it, and found a lot of jewels: earrings, rings, brooches, and necklaces. I slowly and carefully pulled the bottom of the box up, and found what I was looking for. I took the dagger and quickly hid it in my pocket, and then I took the whole box to the bed, emptied its contents, and randomly took a necklace out of it. I quickly tied the necklace around my neck, put the jewelry back inside the box, and then returned the box back in its place.

I opened the room door and walked outside, heading for my old study room of the east wing. I walked along the corridor again at a casual pace, and started to hum all the way. I arrived at the study room and opened the door. I entered, left the door open for a second, and then closed it. It was dark inside, except for the light rays coming from the windows high up the wall.

At that moment, I didn't quite know what I was supposed to do. A few seconds passed in silence, and I felt like what I did was so stupid. I must have told Anne at least, but now I'm trapped with what was apparently a ghost. Or a magical creature under an invisibility spell. But that's stupid to think of right now.

I started to think that all of this might just be my imagination when the old broken desk under one of the windows was suddenly crushed, followed by the breaking of the glass window above. I screamed out of instinct, but I still managed to see the shadow of fabric at the window before it disappeared almost instantly.