The Infinity Ball

Chapter 8

Zora

I'm in the throne room again, using invisibility magic to hide. Not because King Peter asked me to be here. He never calls me to the throne room. He barely talks to me, actually. But that's okay because I would have avoided him if he had. I'm here because I heard that Queen Zorana would be briefly visiting him today. I know that eavesdropping is risky because someone could find me, but I am willing to take a risk to protect the princesses' lives. Besides, it's not like I'm going to miss out on listening to a conversation between two people I don't like who also seem to have some issues with each other.

I watch as the throne room doors open and an old woman in fancy attire walks in, attended to by her bodyguards. I can't remember the last time I saw my grandmother, but I don't remember her looking so old. Both monarchs stare at each other expressionless.

"Peter," Zorana starts, breaking the awkward silence. "It is...nice to see you again. I see you have a family now. You have so many daughters..."

"I do," King Peter says in a series tone. "And that is a problem."

"And that's why you called me here," Zorana continues. "Finally, a reason to make amends."

"Make amends?!" King Peter exclaims angrily. "You say that as if I was your old friend, not your attempted murder victim!"

I cannot believe that the guards and bodyguards aren't doing or saying anything about this. They must be sworn to secrecy or neither of these monarchs would be on their thrones.

"You are not here so I can forgive you," King Peter continues. "That will never happen because you will never feel sorry for what you tried to do. You are here because I need you to use your skills to my advantage. You have seen my daughters attending your ball, correct?"

"Yes," Zorana answers. "All of them attend the ball multiple times a week. Your third oldest, Felicity, comes almost every night."

"That is fascinating," King Peter comments. "I need your assistance regarding them. Let me start from the top. My wife Kara is having a baby soon. It will be a boy. For the last twenty-nine years, I have desired a male successor to the throne. I would never trust Norillia with my daughters. However, my son can never be king. Not unless something happens to all of the princesses. Zorana, you are here because I need you to eliminate the princesses."

Felicity

Today is a leap day. The extra day of the year. I feel like leap day is pointless. Why divide days this way if there's one-fourth of an extra day every year? Because of the calendar, leap day gets thrown out for three years only to come back. Was it invited to join the other days again? Or did it only come back to get revenge?

Anyway, it's just a stupid day. I shouldn't be overthinking something so small when there's so much going on, between my sisters going to the ball, my magic lessons, and Rowan. I'm realizing that I have a crush on Rowan. We're becoming friends and we sometimes dance together at the Infinity Ball. While he may have acted like a stalker of some sort when we first met, I have learned that he doesn't frequently follow royals around. But I don't think now is a good time to ask a guy out. I only see Rowan at the Infinity Ball. And that's when I have to keep an eye on my sisters.

Right now, I'm keeping an eye on my spellbook. I'm in my room flipping through one that I found in the Norillia spellbook room. It's on the top floor of the palace. The spellbook is about fire magic. I thought it might give me some inspiration for cool things I can do with my powers. Maybe Fiamma will teach me some of these techniques. Currently, I'm towards the beginning of the spellbook. The spells are in order of difficulty. These rookie techniques are boring. Drawing in the air? Done it. Tiny fireball? I roll one in my hand whenever I'm nervous. I flip toward the end of the book. These techniques should be closer to my level. Okay, maybe most of these are above my level. But at least this part of the book is more interesting than the beginning.