ꜱᴄᴀʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋᴇʏꜱ

Chapter 18: Reylyn

 Reylyn anxiously waited for the doorknob of the philodendron to open and for that leprechaun man to come and scowl at them. Not like Reylyn thought he was scary, he was kind of.. Weak.

Joqino stormed in with a sigh, his hair was all messy. "Ah, there you two are!" He took a huge step towards them and almost tripped. It took everything in Reylyn not to start laughing.

Rheton smiled at him. "Welcome back, you!" Jaqino turned towards the door and motioned for them to follow him.

Joqino cleared his throat and gestured to a room that had a few people in it. They immediately rushed up to her and Reylyn.

"Hello! Hello!" said a woman that looked almost identical to Joqino, the only difference was that her hair was curly and frizzy.

Reylyn let out a sigh of relief as she heard Caryx's voice in her head.

"He's alright. Still a bit skeptical of me, but he's happy your okay,"

"Oh? So you didn't say anything stupid to him?"

"No. Even though I did scare him by accident."

Reylyn smirked. Saif was always jumpy.

The girl walked up to her and asked her to follow.

"Any advice for balls?"

"Make your outfit elegant, but simple. Red would be great for you. You're always so fiery and ambitious."

"Are you sure you're not injured or something? You're never this smug," Reylyn shot back smugly as the girl showed her fabrics.

"I'm Jacki!" she admitted shakily. "And yes, Joqino is my companion, or brother!" She laughed nervously. "Anyways, what color would you like?" Reylyn looked down to see five different shades of red.

She looked up and raised her eyebrow at Jacki. "How did you know I would want red?"

"U-uh, we ganaoms have a thing for reading people's personality," she began shakily. "You seem ambitious and-,"

"I'll take the middle one," Reylyn picked up the fabric in her fingers and twirled it around. It was a vibrant red color, with some flower laces around it. "This one reminds me of home,"

Jacki looked scared. "This isn't your home?"

Way to blow your cover, idiot. She scowled herself silently.

"No, I'm just visiting some family members and just so happen to be here in time for the ball!" she lied with a laugh. "You know, big families here in Retano!"

Jacki let out a sigh of relief. Reylyn realized she had elf ears when she moved them in shyness.

"What family are you visiting?"

She laughed nervously. "I-Uhm the Seyword family! Mhm definitely!" she chuckled again and fidgeted with her fingers.

Jacki made a confused face but it changed to a happy one fast. "Oh! I love that family!"

"I'll make sure to tell them!"

"You're a great liar," Caryx's voice echoed in her mind.

"Ha. Thanks very much," She fixed her hair in one of the nearby mirrors, and to her surprise, her hair was already done up in a perfect braid down her shoulder.

Huh? I don't remember doing that. She thought.

"Here in Retano they have elves that can do your hair without you knowing," a deep voice admitted. Reylyn turned around to see a boy with dark brown hair with a charming smile. He was wearing a nice maroon suit. He looked like the prince.

"You seem to know here," the man muttered. "You don't seem to know this place very well,"

Reylyn swallowed back a cry of panic. "No, I'm not," she looked the boy dead in the eyes.

The boy chuckled. "Ahh, fierce. Do you want to know how I know you aren't from this kingdom?"

"How?" she leaned on a rack of plants and glared at the boy.

"I'm the prince of Retano," he smirked. "Welcome to Retano. Must it be different from your normal life in Maleni? Hmm?" the prince grabbed a weapon out of his pocket. "Now Tell me, ms. Maleni. What. are. you.. doing. in my. kingdom," he stepped towards her with an evil glint in his eyes. He dragged the dagger across the wall.

Reylyn backed away from the plant rack and reached for her own pocket, which had her gladius hidden in it.

The prince took a menacing step closer to her. "Go on," he grumbled and traced his dagger along the cracks of the wall.

"And what if I don't?" she challenged. . Reylyn stood up confidently with her gladius resting on the palm of her hand.

"Oh? You want to challenge me now?"

"Yes," she was about to charge at the prince, but he was one step ahead of her.

Reylyn felt a stinging sensation on her arm, and to her surprise, there was already a long cut.

She quickly stepped out of her trance and slashed her gladius across the prince's face. It caused a cut about six inches across his cheek. Reylyn was about to slash at him again, but someone had gripped her elbows. She turned her head to look at Rheton.

"No," he warned her. "He isn't worth it,"

Reylyn turned her head back to the prince and someone had him restrained too. But, instead of being calm, the prince was furious.

"We have someone from Maleni here!" he shouted angrily. "They can terrorize our land like-,"

The guard holding the prince's arms cut him off. "We already discussed her with your dad, she's welcome to stay here. She's with her family,"

"But-," The guard shook his head.

"Listen to me," the guard harshly commented. "This is for your own safety, you don't want getting in trouble because of the most minor inconvenience for you again, do you?"

The prince grumbled. "No,"

"Good, now, your father needs you,"

The prince's face darkened. "Still?"

The guard nodded and he noticed the cut Reylyn had caused across his snobby face. "She has some serious skills," the guard snickered. "I bet you barely even left a dent,"

Reylyn turned her head to look at the wound he had given her. In fact, there was just a tiny cut there. She held a snort.

"You really gotta get better at your sword aim," Caryx interrupted her thoughts.

"Thanks for that information,"