The wedding between Alex and Lynx was a fast and small one. No one she knew was there, except for the two guards that were closest to Alex. They didn't kiss, only practicing the ring ceremony. The honeymoon consisted of Lynx holing up in her room and crying, her stomach churning with regret.
What was she thinking? This is exactly what her father was always warning her about. Impulsivity was her fatal flaw. Now she's in an unfamiliar castle alone.
The only place that felt like it used to was her room. It was untouched from the last time was in it, and her cat was even waiting for her when she returned to it.
Seems someone still remembered to feed the poor thing. Lynx thought to herself. The sound of boots clicking against the hallway floors sent her cat jumping from his spot by the window and running to the door.
"Ali!" Lynx cried out to him. "What are you doing?"
As Ali scratched at the door, she saw it crack open, slowly unveiling Sir Claybourne. He stared at Lynx for a moment before setting down a bowl of fish for Ali and apologizing as he turned to leave.
"Wait!" Lynx stood up to catch him before he left. "You've been taking care of Ali?"
Clay scrunched his eyebrows together, trying to think of a reason as to why he had taken such a liking to such an animal, but he couldn't. So he told her the truth.
"Listen, I uh.." he rubbed the back of his neck. "I found him wandering around and I followed him back here. He was nice. Not many people here are nice so I kept him alive."
Lynx smiled for the first time since she's returned to the castle. "Thanks, general. For everything."
Clay shrugged and averted her eyes. She reminded him too much of his lover. "I should be going. Sorry for intruding, it won't happen again."
"But-"
Clay walked away before Lynx could finish. She watched him walk away as Ali happily ate his dinner.
__
A big black bird swooped down from the skies and landed on Phillip's outstretched arm. It opened its beak and spoke to him in the form of caws and other bird calls, but Phillip answered in the common tongue. Tommy watched on in awe with the others and as Phillip lifted his arm to release the bird, Tommy lifted his to see if it would land on his own, squealing with excitement when it did.
"He says that she is in the kingdom of Brumous," said Phillip with a solemn face. "She's taken the throne with Alexis."
Everyone grew quiet.
William stood with crossed arms, his brows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"
Phillip couldn't answer, he did not know.
Jezzie stewed with anger. She couldn't believe this and yet, she could at the same time.
Alistair shook his head. "I don't believe it. There's got to be other reasons. Maybe he threatened us and this is how she reacted."
"What are we supposed to do now?" Asked Nicolas. "All of our plans are completely void if she's in Brumous."
"Only certain aspects. We can still go through with most of them, we just have to be more careful." Phillip replied. "For now, let's just take it easy. The citizens shouldn't be harmed for a while since Lynx in there."
.
"How attached to Brumous are you?" Jezzie asked Phillip as they strolled through the forest together.
Phillip simply smiled. "It's a lot harder to dissolve a kingdom than you think."
Jezzie flushed red. "What do you mean?"
