LuNortha (Book 1 of LuNortha trilogy)

Chapter 5

¤ Veronica ¤

The next morning came quickly as lightning itself, the sun shines as usual, so far it is not so hot until after the afternoon when the heat makes everyone sweat. The horse scrawls forward towards the castle. They had to first go towards the Portia border, the border between the Thena Empire and Northa so that word has broken that their Princess Mareena and their crown prince is returning to the capital. The prince looks at her with a strange look and does not let go of eye contact.

'' What is it, little prince?'' She releases eye contact and looks out at the window. Out at the green grass with its wild flowers.

'' Not little prince but Kai, don't forget that... I'm just wondering if you feel ready.''

Veronica rolls her eyes. '' Ready? A little too late to ask me about, right!'' To that, she gets no answer which causes her to return the attention back to the prince. His strange gaze is still there, narrowed eyes and eyebrows that give him small wrinkles on his forehead. Again, she rolls her eyes at his uneasiness.

'' You can rest easy dear cousin, I'm ready.'' She gets a nod in response. He closes his eyes and with each passing second she sees him relax. Veronica continues to look at him and doesn't let go of her gaze, during the week that had passed he had been annoyed with her. And every time she had watched the broadcasts at night he had watched them together with her in silence. The prince had tried to hide from her but she had known every time.

' You say I'm here for Princess Kaira but am I really here for just that or for something bigger.' she thought suspiciously. There's something about the prince that she can't put a finger on. A feeling of recognition but at the same time a feeling of running away from him comes and goes.

A pair of large, tall and red city gates emerge from the corner of her eye, causing her attention to go back towards the capital. With each step the horse takes, they approach the castle, her worst nightmare. Don't think about it right now. Focus on the mission and then I don't have to see these city gates any more.' she thought.

The gates open and they go through them until she hears them closed. The sound of the two doors slamming together makes her think of her mistake she had once made and ever since regretted it.

A crowd has already gathered waving and smiling at the carriage. All of these people have gathered to see their princess and crown prince. Who knows which of them will remain until tomorrow, during the week and in a month. Through the window of the carriage, Veronica sees old but also young people with colorful clothes on. As if it were an honor to see the royals, scrawing past them without stopping and talking to them. You can smell various strong spices, curry, cumin and more.

Children run around playing games while they all laugh. Yet they do not know how dangerous and cruel the world is. How from the moment they leave their childhood nothing will be the same. Kai waves for the people and everyone starts cheering that their crown prince has finally returned home. He turns his gaze to her and points his finger at the windows. ' He wants me to wave at them? Why not, I might as well start getting started on my character.'

Ideally, Veronica would like to hide from the curious glances but she still does what the prince said. A tacked-on smile and small winks and the people start cheering for her. After the crowd ended, Veronica closed her eyes and leaned her head against the window.

For what feels like an eternity, the horses stop and she knows before she opens her eyes that they have arrived. The castle in front of her or if you want to call it a palace is big with red walls that have gold decorations and lots of windows. When the sun shines against the glass, it gives the city a light pink color that gives the feeling that you see blood on the ground. Kai walks out of the carriage but Veronica doesn't move, looking in shock at the king and queen, standing, waiting for them.