Allegiance

Chapter 28

In her room in the floating castle, Tessia slowly stirred awake, her arms gliding out of her silky bedsheets to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes as she yawned. She smacked her lips a few times as her eyes fluttered open, with her teal pearls darting across the ceiling as she tried to orient herself from her grogginess. Like water splashing over her face, realization set in, her eyes shot open remembering yesterday, and a wide smile graced her lips.

Tessia quickly and excitedly kicked the bed sheets off her and practically jumped out of bed, feeling elated to see Arthur. She ran to the bathroom, where she did her basic hygiene needs, before returning to the bedroom and running to her closet. Rummaging through the pile of clothes she created from yesterday as she was looking for an outfit to wear for her day out with Arthur, she finally pulled out her exercise apparel.

Tessia quickly got dressed in her purple sports bra, purple training tank top, black sports shorts, and tennis shoes. She walked over to her vanity, picked up her hair brush and hair tie, and brushed her hair back before tying it off into a ponytail. Once finished getting ready, she practically ran to her bedroom door, nearly breaking it, as she exited her room.

"Good morning, sweetie."

Tessia froze as her mother greeted her, seeing her mother and father sitting at the dining table. She was a little surprised to see her parents up so early, not to mention the fact that breakfast had already been served and was neatly laid out on the table.

Alduin took a sip of his coffee before he smiled warmly at his daughter, "Good morning, Tessia. Are you hungry?" He gestured to her seat. "Why don't you come sit down with us."

Composing herself and pushing away her surprise, Tessia returned Alduin's smile, "Oh, um, no thanks." She pointed to the door that led to the hallway, "I was actually going to get my workout in."

"Oh, come now," Alduin chuckled, waving away her statement with a swift hand movement. "You can workout afterward."

"Besides," Merial began as she gestured to the breakfast set up on the table. "The maids were kind enough to serve us breakfast already. And," Merial gave a dejected smile, "Seeing how we will be in council meetings for the majority of the time we are here, we won't be able to see you often."

A sense of guilt washed over Tessia, hearing her mother's saddened tone and seeing she wanted to spend time with her daughter. Tessia's eyes flicked to the door, still eager to see Arthur, but she didn't want to just push her parents aside. She sighed, mentally relenting to her parent's request, and gave them a smile, "Okay. But I'm not going to eat much. I don't want to have a full stomach before my workout."

"Splendid!" Alduin chirped, smiling brightly at Tessia as she took her seat at the table. Alduin sat back in his chair and took another sip of his coffee, "So, how was your day out yesterday?"

Tessia froze as she reached across the table, and her lips curved in a warm smile at Alduin's question, thinking about yesterday. This didn't go unnoticed by Merial, who raised a curious brow, and she smiled amusingly at her daughter's reaction.

Composing herself, Tessia grabbed two pieces of toast and placed them on her plate, "It was good. We had a nice time."

"Glad to hear it," Alduin said happily, placing his coffee down. He rested his elbows on the table, interlocking his fingers, before he leaned forward, smiling at Tessia, "What did you two end up doing?"

Spreading strawberry jelly on her toast, Tessia simply shrugged, "We walked around Xyrus, ate, went shopping, and went to Xyrus Games and Recreation."

"Xyrus Games and Recreation?" Merial said curiously, having never heard of it before. "What is that?"