Outlier

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mystic must have passed out for hours, because when she woke up it was well in the afternoon. Mystic looked around the meadow she had laid in that night. It was beautiful. She never saw anywhere beyond the castle gardens and such, so this was intriguing to her. She looked at the flowers, in her kingdom all the flowers were orange and green, but here all the flowers were blue and gold. They looked like her.

She looked up at her head. The crown was still on her head. Maybe she could live a new life, make a new future for herself. She wouldn't live under her parent's shadow nor her brother's shadow. She could be happy.

Reality sunk in when she realized the facts, these weren't her kingdom's flowers. She must have gone out of her territory. She has heard about the outside territories from her mother. They were said to be mean and rotten kingdoms that only thirst for power and money. She refused to be part of such diabolical things.

Her thoughts were cut short when she heard someone's steps in the leaves near her. She was on high alert. Before her parents found out she was a human. She was trained to be the best queen possible. That includes combat, education, and authority. She did lose some of those abilities or partial of them, but she wasn't hopeless.

The creature emerged from the woods. He was a human with an ice tattoo across her arm. 'He must be from the East Kingdom,' Mystic thought. "Who are you?" The man spoke in a very harsh tone. "I-I'm from the W-West kingdom," Mystic spoke in a whisper. "Then why are you on my land?" The man spoke in an even harsher tone of voice. "I was chased out of my kingdom. My brother was supposed to be the king, but I was crowned instead," Mystic spoke. The man just looked at her. 'This is where I die, huh?' Mystic thought.

The man put his hand out for Mystic to grab. Mystic looked at him with confusion. "Come on, I'll take you back to the castle. I'm Apollo. The king of the East Kingdom." Mystic stared in wonder as she grabbed the man's hand. She has heard many rumors about the East King's temper. He was said to explode over the littlest of mistakes, but right now he seemed nice and calm.

"Get on," Apollo said as he put himself on the horse's back. Mystic stared in wonder at the horse. It was a white horse, one she has never seen before. All the horses she was allowed to see in the stable at her kingdom were black.

Suddenly, Mystic was picked up and thrown on the horse's back. "Eeck!" Mystic yelped. The king sat in front of Mystic, holding the reins of the horse. "You are so light. How old are you, 14?" Apollo said, but he wasn't making fun of Mystic. He was just generally asking a question. "I am 20 for your information!" Mystic answered, rather offended. "No way you're 20. You barely weigh anything," Apollo laughed. "How old are you?" Mystic asked Apollo. "I'm 22," Apollo answered.

They rode together to the castle. They talked the entire way there, literally about anything. He asked Mystic about what happened, she told him everything. (This might have been a dumb move that Mystic made, but you have to remember she never got outside of the castle. She never had anyone to talk to about what was happening.) He is a great listener, he never interrupted her or asked too many questions.

The castle was big with blue accents and gold trim. It was beautiful, way better than her castle. Mystic learned that the rumors about Apollo were fake. He may come off harsh, but he is nice and sweet, from what the staff told her.

He brought her to a massive bedroom, bigger than Mystic had ever seen. It had gold and blue with splodges of white mixed into the room. The bed was huge with flowers and other patterns mixed into the bedding.

"I'm sorry if you don't like it," Apollo said, "this is a guest bedroom we have for any visitors. Most are from our kingdom or the North and South Kingdoms." Mystic was caught off guard by that last sentence. 'Most are from our kingdom or the North and South Kingdoms.' Mystic looked at Apollo, "What do you mean most are from the North or South. I was taught all the kingdoms hated each other and never were to meet." Apollo was stunned, "All the kingdoms get along fine, except for the West kingdom. They hate everyone and refuse to communicate to the other kingdoms. We've tried to have all the kingdoms meet before, but they refused to come." Mystic was wide-eyed. Of course, her parents told her lies to keep her from escaping and fleeing to another kingdom. If the other kingdoms found out Mystic was treated badly and was royal, they could go to war. "My apologies, my parents taught me that the kingdoms hated each other and they were constantly fighting. It was probably to keep me from leaving." Apollo looked at her, "it isn't your fault from what I have heard. Your parents are... something else. They aren't going to find you here though."

Mystic smiled. "Not to change the subject, but why do you still have the crown? You know they aren't going to let you back into the kingdom," Apollo said. "Ah, I was planning to keep the crown," Mystic embraced herself for the laugh that was about to come, but it never came. "Whatever you want," Apollo said, "I'll be taking my leave now. Call any maids to help you if you need it." "Thank you!" Mystic chuckled. Apollo smiled and took his leave.