The Fall Of Astraea

10. Perania

I was finally relaxed. As the days went by I started to forget about Lykos, and it was better this way. After Laura's birthday ball, I met her father King William. He was shocked by the situation and said that I could relax in their kingdom for now but later on, we needed to discuss how to get my kingdom back. I agreed with him but honestly, I didn't want to go back there. How was I supposed to get my kingdom back? And if I did get it back I would have to rule it. I had no idea about ruling a kingdom. I was so unprepared for this.

A week had passed and it was fun. Laura let me accompany her on her activities. She also attended council meetings which I wished I had done too back home. Her younger brother ended up figuring out that we were here and Malik was not happy about it. He told me every day that we were not supposed to be here but every time I asked for answers he would backtrack and bring a different topic up. I ended up not talking to him for a few days.

Laura and I would hang out in the garden and talk about boys. She told me she could see that I had a huge crush on Malik, which was true but I knew he was never going to open up to me. So it was a lost cause. A part of me just wanted to kiss him and forget about that but I knew I couldn't do it. Later on, Laura talked about taking me to a fun tavern in town. I agreed to go. I invited Phillip and Malik but Malik declined the offer. I rolled my eyes before leaving him in his room.

"So what usually happens at this tavern?" I asked Laura.

"The normal stuff; drinking, dancing, and some singing." She answered as she led us into town.

I looked at Phillip and he smiled and held my hand. "Don't worry. We don't have to drink." He said and I smiled at him. He knew that I had never had a drink and honestly, I didn't think princesses were supposed to. I was starting to see this side of Laura I didn't know about. I still wasn't sure if I liked it or not. Once we entered there were different types of people laughing, dancing, and drinking. There was a woman on stage that singing and there were a couple of men surrounding her cheering.

"The real party is back here," Laura said as she led us to a door at the back of the tavern. I looked behind me to find that Phillip was no longer behind me since I had lost his hand a few minutes ago.

"Laura, wait. I don't know where Phillip is." I said panicking.

"He's over there." She pointed at him and when I followed her finger I gasped. He was kissing a random girl in the corner. How fast did that happen? "He'll be fine. We'll get him on our way out." She didn't seem bothered by it. I was starting to feel very uncomfortable here. A huge security guard opened the door and when he saw Laura he bowed before letting her in. The first lady that appeared to Laura was barely wearing anything. It bothered me. Was she a prostitute? What happened next shocked me more. Laura and the woman kissed and I backed away. This wasn't allowed. Those who practiced it in our kingdom were usually sentenced to death. Laura turned to me with a smile. "Ilene, this is Indra. Indra, Ilene."

She circled me like I was prey and she was a predator. "Hello," I said nervously.

"My, my you are beautiful. Have you ever been loved by a woman before?" I didn't get the exact meaning of the question. What did she mean by that? My mother loved me and I loved her. But I felt she meant something entirely different.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Laura, are you sure it was a good idea to bring an innocent princess here?" Indra asked seriously.

"Well she should know this now than after she gets married," Laura answered. I wanted to tell her that I wanted to leave but she grabbed my hand and led me in between people who were barely wearing anything dancing. Some were completely naked. Others were lovemaking. I assumed that's what it was. I didn't know how it was done but I was pretty sure that's what the man and woman behind the revealing curtain were doing. What had Laura been doing here? I didn't even want to think about it. She took me to a table where two men and one woman were sitting. The girl was a brunette and even she looked anxious to be here. The other man and woman were twins. They had blue hair and pale skin that looked like it glittered in the poorly lit room. Their eyes were hazel colored but there was more to that. I didn't think they were human and from the looks of it, even Laura didn't know that.