The Secrets of Arcana

Julian

"Spit it out then, will ya? What does my father have to say?" I say as I stand up from my kneeling position that I had rolled into and extinguish the flame in my hand.

"He says that tomorrow evening you will be going with his and her majesty to a meeting in Lymphia," the servant, who I know I recognize but am blanking on their name, says. He avoided eye contact with me, like if he did, my eyes would melt his.

I mean maybe.

Nah, I would never do that.

I roll my eyes, "Fine. Could you go and write down the details and leave it in my chambers?"

"Of course, Your Highness," he spins on his heel and leaves.

The other two explode in laughter.

"CHAMBERS?!"

"Oh please you should call it a dungeon!"

"With how dark it is I wouldn't be surprised."

"And the cold! I wouldn't be able to believe your powers involved fire if I had just gone into your room. It's freezing!"

"Honestly though!"

"Alright that's enough!" I yell, "You two are going to give me a migraine!"

They laugh even more and Luka strolls over to his things, "I think we're done. You have to get ready for your fancy shmancy meeting."

Ada giggles as I roll my eyes, I wish we had been interrupted after I threw my fire ball.

"Good luck in Lymphia. Have you ever even been there before?" Ada asks as she moves from her wall spot to a chair nearby.

I shake my head, "No, the king is a paranoid geezer who never lets anyone into his kingdom."

"Have you heard the rumors?" Luka asks as he sits down next to Ada.

Ugh, they really need to just date already. It's so painfully obvious it makes me want to throw a fireball at the both of them.

"No...? But now that I think about it I know nothing about that kingdom other than they think they're better than everyone else."

Luka smirks, "Wow I'd never thought I'd know more than you."

I glare at him and he laughs, "Are you going to tell me or not?"

He fakes a super heavy sigh, "I suppose if I must. I don't know many. And it's mostly bits and pieces I barely remember from when I still lived there and before I made it here. But the main one is that there is actually a secret princess."

One of Ada's eyebrows rises, "A secret princess? How could they hide that from their kingdom?"

"Her parent's never let her leave the castle, if she does exist. And only very specific people are able to leave the kingdom, they have crazy surveillance. No one's allowed in, barely anyone is let out, and no one has any confirmation outside of Lymphia if she exists or not."

"Well why would they hide their daughter?" I ask, "Does she look like a hag or something?"

He shakes his head, "People say it's because the queen has been very infertile, and has had many miscarriages. If they do have a daughter, they're not going to want anything to happen to her. They can't risk it. The royal couple is getting old, there's no chance for them to make another heir before something happens."

Everything starts to process in my mind. If there really is a princess, I'm going to meet her tomorrow night? There's no chance. The Lymphian King and Queen are not going to let their secret daughter out for a dinner party with the Ignisian Royal Family. There's no way! The hatred and rivalry goes too deep.

"You better tell us if she's real," Ada says, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I scoff, "Even if she is, I doubt they'll let her out for a meeting with us."

Ada shrugs, "You never know."

I mean... she's not wrong.

I excuse myself telling them I'm completely exhausted and I should probably figure out just what this meeting is about. Since I have no clue.

Wait- why are we having a meeting in Lymphia? And why am I required to go? I never go! My dad is too stubborn to teach me how to lead because he doesn't want to accept that I'll have to take over for him some day. So why the hell am I going to what I'm presuming is something political? I mean I understand my mom going, she's the only person who has a chance of ever calming him down. But me? It just doesn't make sense.

As I walk into my room, I see a long note laying on my desk. And even though I want to go and take a nice, hot shower, my curiosity gets the best of me, and I decide to take a look at the note first.

There's a lot written down there and the beginning is just a recap of what was told to me; Tomorrow I will be going to Lymphia with my parents for a meeting with the Ignisian King and Queen.

We're leaving at noon, with Dianna and Maira, the two quickest, and most rewarded, horses in the royal stables, pulling our carriage. I am expected to wear formal clothing, and I should expect a servant to come by in the early morning to make sure I stay on track and help me prepare.

Great, a babysitter.

Nice to know how much mother and father trust me.

I decided to stop there and take a shower. The hot water almost immediately relaxed my muscles, and washed off any rogue blood from going at it with Luka for so long.

As I get out I think back to the note. And no matter how hard I think about it; I have no idea what to expect.