Protecting the crown

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 | Camila |

As soon as I opened the door to my room, I spotted a girl lounging on my bed. She didn't notice me yet, so I sprinted to the bed and pounced on her. I winced as she let out an earsplitting scream close to my ear.

"Oh my god Izzy, you're so dramatic." I rolled my eyes at her antics. She glared at me before punching me in the stomach. Oof, that hurt. "I thought you weren't supposed to come back before Thursday?"

She cleared her throat, "I came early to give you a surprise."

She was the one who got surprised though; I terrorized her.

"How was Izadel? I heard the view was amazing." She went on a vacation for three weeks.. without me. "Were there any cute guys?" I wiggled my eyebrows at her.

She turned red and looked away. "The view was good."

"Ooh what's his name?"

She blushed before mumbling, "Liam Blackwood"

I nodded in approval. "Isadore Blackwood sounds pretty good." She shoved me. Hard. I swear this girl abuses me on a daily basis.

"Anyways, what did I miss?" she asked. I recounted today's events and how Roman was acting strange. Stranger than usual.

She screamed as I got to the invitation part. "I just came back a day ago and I already heard gossip on the streets about the selection. People are fangirling like crazy over Prince Roman. Girl they all wish they were you."

I grimaced, "They don't know how irritating he is."

"He can't have been that bad." I scowled at her. "Okay maybe he was a little bit annoying."

"Remember when he splashed me with water. I was soaking wet for hours."

"Yeah, and you poured a whole bucket on him for that."

"What about the fake bugs." He threw a gigantic spider at me. I've haven't liked them ever since.

"The spider was kinda cute.." Is this girl serious?

"Donut filled with mayo."

"You fell for it." I thought he was just being nice, it was on my birthday after all.

"Pushed me into the lake."

"It was fine. You swam back up."

"I just did my hair and makeup."

She stopped at that. "Now that is pure evil." she declared. Now she's fully convinced he's a monster. "Let's go shopping. We need to get you actual dresses and not just a pair of shorts and sweatpants."

***

Walking past the boutiques brought a sense of nostalgia. I missed the days we went into shops and tried on crazy dresses with no intention of buying them. The crazy pictures in my room were proof of how silly we looked.

We both gasped as we walked past a particular store . On display was a gorgeous black gown with gold and silver highlights. It was sleeveless and flared outwards at the bottom, with ruffles adorning the dress from waist below. We looked at each other at the same time and rushed through the door.

"You have to try that on!" she exclaimed. Wasting no time, I changed into the dress and stepped out of the changing room. She gave me a once over and nodded.  That meant it was incredible. I did a twirl and caught myself in the mirror. The dress was perfect. It fit my body perfectly and complimented my brown skin.

We combed through the other racks for more casual dresses. In the end, I ended up choosing 3 other dresses.

"Two thousand quills."

"What?" We both stared at the cashier in shock.

She looked at us blankly. "That'll be two thousand quills.'

I nudged Izzy. "It's okay, I only need one dress for the ball. I can just wear shorts in the castle."

She was aghast, "You can't wear shorts in the castle."

I shrugged, "Why not?" It was going to be my home for a month anyway. Might as well get comfortable.

"I'll get them for you."

"No its okay, I'll pay for the black dress." Before she could do anything, I handed the money and walked out.

She frowned and rushed to catch up. "Camila! I was going to get those dresses."

"I don't need them though. Its fine." Not like I'm competing with other girls to impress the prince. She opened her mouth and I cut her off, "I'm not trying to impress Roman. In fact I'm gonna do the opposite. We need to get a trash bag for me to wear."

She sniggered and then suddenly looked behind me in alarm. My wrist throbbed in pain, the crescent moon tattoo flared up.

Someone screamed next to me, pointing at a man cloaked in black shadows. Screams filled the air as people tried to get away from him. Something gleamed in his palm. A knife. It was dripping with blood. I could see his smile under the veil; he was unhinged.

He stabbed the person nearest to him and charged forward, causing a stampede. He was getting closer.

"Lets get out of here." I murmured, grabbing Izzy's hand and leading her down an alleyway. It was the fastest path to her house away from the chaos. We reached within minutes and I ushered her inside.

"What about you? Stay in my house until this is over." She gaped at me with wide, terrified eyes.

"I'll be fine," I said as I walked backwards giving her a small wave. When I heard the door slam, I bolted to the nearest alleyway and hid behind a dumpster. "Rise." I whispered and pressed two fingers against the tattoo.

I felt the change immediately. My clothes were switched with my costume and made a neat pile on the ground. A mask burned across my face, covering my eyes and half of my forehead. A leather belt was slung across my hips, sheathing my favorite weapons; a dagger, a taser and a few throwing stars. I wore knuckle rings on both hands that were attached to a thick iron bracelet that served as a grappling hook.

I leaped from behind the dumpster and fired the grappling hook at the roof of a nearby building. As I clambered up from the edge, I saw a familiar figure. He was dressed in black, aside from the streaks of silver along his shoulders and collar. He wore thigh length boots and had a belt of weapons like mine and a black cloak over his outfit with the ends wrapped around his chest.

I grinned at him. "Its been a long time, Anubis."