The Inured Villainess

Chapter 26

Estella

It has been a week since I arrived in Osertia. I was limited to only my room and the library. Having the queen of another kingdom seemed to have gotten Caelus in trouble. He's been trying to calm the council. Istryis even sent a message of war, meaning that Osertia had to prepare.

I sat in the library today trying to entertain myself as Caelus took care of business.

My father must have already started on preparations since everything is not going according to his plan.

I've been holding onto every newspaper I could get my hands on in order to keep up with the times.

"I see that you're here again." Caelus' voice echoed to my ears. He entered the library walking to where I sat on a cushioned sofa.

"There doesn't seem to be much I can do as a prisoner of war." I say, looking up from my book.

He chuckles, sitting down next to me. "What can I say? I do love to be dramatic."

"Your drama is making me lose my mind," I deadpan.

"You and Kyrell like to act the same. Always being so lifeless to me." He dramatically touches his heart as if he's been hurt.

I roll my eyes going back to my book. "Have the nobility calmed down?"

He lets out a sigh, becoming slightly more serious. "They didn't like it but they can't do anything about it. Right now I let them off to prepare their forces. Kyrell was extremely angry when he found out that I took you, he claimed war immediately. Not letting anyone stop him."

"Was it that bad?" I raise my eyes.

"He cares about you more than you think, Estella."

"I don't particularly believe that." I shrug my shoulders back, hitting them against the back cushion. "After all, I'm just a pawn of an arranged marriage. We got lucky that we are on the same side."

Caelus doesn't reply, just stares at me as if I grew horns. "My Lucia, you two are blind," he mutters.

I just raise an eyebrow at him.

"Anyway, that's enough of this." He plucks the book from my lap.

"What are you doing? Give that back." I attempt to reach for it.

"Now that you're free from your custody, let me show you the rest of Lesterna." He grabs my hand pulling me off the soft couch.

Lesterna is the capital of Osertia. It's large, similar to Ronkia, the capital of Istyris.

"You're going to take me into the city?" I ask as he leads me through the hall into another chamber.

The middle of the chamber had a dias that was a cool green color compared to the neutral colored room.

"Yes, think of it as a little vacation away from home." He steps onto the platform. "It's a teleportation disk, I'm sure you have ones in Istryis."

"We do, but I never used one." I use his hand to pull my up onto it as well.

Teleportation disks can only move you in locations of other disks that reside in the shields. So they are limited to the locations you can travel to. I believe they are also limited for higher authority to use.

I wonder if there are some in the palace. Is that how Kyrell was able to travel so quickly to the other palaces?

"Drink this before we go." He hands me a vial. "It will change your hair color, disguising you for a couple of hours."