The Princess of Eden

Chapter 13

As they got teleported back to the Garden of Blossoms near the entrance to Velsmar, Carter made sure to remind Fiona to return the Laira as soon as the meeting is arranged for the 10th time in half an hour of their stay at the Nightingales headquarters.

There were two entrances to the moors- one via Forlight and the other through Velsmar. They had decided to enter the land of thorn (The Moors of Carta) via Velsmar as the entrance at Forlight was barricaded with various enchantments impossible to counter. They had a better chance through the entrance of Velsmar.

When they were in front of the exit, they all collapsed on the ground. Prince Carter held Sia's hand for support which effectively made her blush.

"Can we go inside tomorrow? Velsmar is infested with pixies and stuff. I don't want to meet them again just yet," James spoke up.

The other three nodded in agreement. Just then Sia remembered a question she was meaning to ask them.

"What was that weird dust Fiona used to teleport us here?"

"It was partitius powder. It is super rare and is made by churning endfrite or magic rocks found across the Terram Elementorum except the land of thorn," Carter explained.

"Well, umm, I might have had some of it all along without knowing about its use." Saying this, Sia quickly explained seeing the shocked expression of her teammates.

"WHAT! So you are telling me we had been walking on foot while we could have just teleported to our destinations all along!?" Lynna shouted.

James simply looked dumbfounded; unsure what to do with this new information while Carter spoke up.

"Hey, calm down aqua woman. Leave Sia alone, okay. It's not her fault she has been away for so long that she doesn't know the use of the powder" he said.

After much persuading, she seemed to cool down a bit. As Lynna got busy cooking the food and James left to gather more firewood and set up the tents, Sia sat down beside Carter who was now reading a book.

"Thanks for saving me from Lynna's wrath earlier. I hope I am back in her good graces by now," Sia spoke.

"No problem. I owed you for saving me from the metal monster. Besides, it really wasn't your fault," Carter replied.

Sia smiled at him. She gazed onto those blue eyes of his which looked the shade of the midnight sky under this darkness. She knew she was falling for him. She had accepted it that night. But it felt wrong for some reason. Just thinking that he was destined to marry Princess Deor made her sad. To distract herself she asked.

"Can you tell me more about Carta?"

"Well, some believe that Carta is the personification of darkness and is the mother of Ayante. When her consciousness began corrupting humans, Ayante trapped her energy in the form of a human in the moors which came to be named after her. Some describe her as the 5th unspoken element. She married the then ruler of the moors and gave birth to 10 immortal monsters and several vulnerable ones which were sent to terrorize the kingdoms. When they died, they returned to her dome of existence and reformed and continued the attacks. Tired of this, the 4 rulers killed the king of the moors to stop them from creating more monster children barricaded all the entrances, trapping her. Enraged, she vowed to take revenge and that is why some say that she took Princess Siofra," Carter said.

"Well, all that depressing stuff aside, I wanted to ask you something." Saying this, Carter took Sia's hands in his, keeping his book aside, turning to face her. He stared deep into her eyes.

"I didn't know you had amber eyes."

"We can discuss that later, what did you want to tell me?" Sia asked him. But before he could reply, Lynna called for dinner.

The dinner was very awkward. Lynna could sense the tension between Sia and Carter. They quickly left for bed, unable to bear the tension.

The next day, they cleared off the campsite rather quickly. Then Sia handed Carter some of the partitius powder awkwardly as he snapped his fingers, teleporting them as on the other side of the Velsmar entrance inside the Moors of Carta. Sia quickly stuffed it back inside.

They started walking towards the building which she assumed was a fort rather than a palace. When they reached near the entrance, it opened itself.

"Guys, keep your weapons out. It could be a trap," James warned as we walked inside.

The walls were made of dark oak and black curtains were draped around all windows. When they made their way to the throne room, they could clearly see Carta sitting on the obsidian throne in the far end. She was wearing a glittery black V-necked dress with luscious black hair falling to her hips and eyes void of all emotions. They stood in front of her throne.

"Greetings, Demon Queen. We come in peace. Kindly return us the Lost Princess and we shall leave without any disturbance," Sia spoke. At this, she just laughed.

"Return someone I don't have? That egotistical king sent many soldiers here to search for her. It was easy to blame me, even if I am not to blame" she spoke in a voice full of venom.

"But the Laira said we'll find answers here," She said, now panicking if they had made wrong assumptions.

"Ah, I see. You want answers; I shall give them to you. You, Sia Rivers, are the Lost Princess herself. Your foster mother was a servant of the queen. She left for the mortal world along with you on the queen's orders. She hoped to keep you safe until the time came. Your search has been in vain."

Sia thought that her ears were tricking her. But when she glanced at her teammates, their faces of utter shock and disbelief confirmed her fear as she just stood there, shock taking over her when she felt the warmth of another person near her. Carter.

"That is impossible!" Sia shouted.

"It is not. Now, since I have answered your questions, it's time to repay me. You shall be my servants unlike the rest." Saying this, Carta snapped her fingers causing darkness to rise from the ground, engulfing Lynna and James as they were now under her control. She would have been too if Carter had not got her out of the way.

"Ah well, these two will have to do. Guards, take the other two to the dungeons. You will get a lot of time to think there."

Two guards of metal tried to take them but Carter's sword kept them at bay. But then several hags came instead and overpowered them and took them away, seizing their weapons.

As they locked them inside their cell, Sia still couldn't believe her ears. She could not have been the Lost Princess. She was still too shocked to think anything.

She was holding onto Carter for support. Unable to think, she just buried her head in Carter's shoulders and starts sobbing quietly.

"What is happening? I don't understand anything. How can I be the Lost Princess" Sia spoke between sobs.

"Shh, calm down. Everything is gonna be fine, okay. We can think about this later," Carter's speaks slowly in a comforting voice, stroking Sia's hair and patting her back. He brings her close to himself. "When all of this is over, I have a surprise for you. So be brave, okay."

At least Sia knew she could rely on Carter amidst all of this confusion.