The Fairies of Crystal Castle

Chapter 6: There's no going back.

Thump! The Princess collided with something behind her. She knew it wasn't the tent, it was far too solid to be that. Her heart began to pound in her chest so hard it ached. The fear inside was starting to combine with dread and panic. Spinning round to see what was behind her all she saw was grey, until she looked up, that is. Her eyes were met with the cold, ice blue eyes of Onyx.

She opened her mouth to scream with the shock but nothing came out, all she could do was gasp.

Onyx had heard his companion animal growling and barking from the camp fire, so he came back to investigate.

The look on his face was a mixture of shock and anger, of which the anger dominated.

He looked down at the small fairy unsure of how to react. Recognizing the colours of her wings he knew that she was royalty, he is going to need to use some delicacy with the situation and keep his temper from showing. If it was a stranger he would have instantly draw his sword and prepared to fight. Nobody is allowed in his quarters, no matter who they are and the fact that this person was not invited, made Onyx feel very uneasy and angry.

He placed his right hand on his hip, his left hand was already resting on the top of his sword. "What do you think you're doing here?...I thought i told you to stay back at the castle!" Onyx began. Before the Princess could answer the question, he continued to rant on with his outrage, the anger was rising in Onyx and it showed.

"Do you have any idea the danger you have put yourself in by coming here? The king is going to be furious when he finds out about this... if he doesn't already know you're missing?" He shouted.

As the Princess stood in front of Onyx, the only thing she could think about was how intimidating he was. He was much taller, much bigger and much more stronger than her. The guilt and regret was quickly building inside Princess Harlequin making her knees feel weak and her stomach knot tightly. She has never seen this side of Onyx before and was becoming frightened.

"What do you think you are doing, inviting yourself into my private quarters and making yourself at home, and that is completely ignoring the fact that you are not allowed to leave the castle grounds Princess, that is by order of the king, your father!" Onyx's voice was gravelled and authoritative.

Seeing that the Princesses eyes were starting to well up, Onyx knew that his temper had started to show. He could see by her shaking legs that she was petrified and that struck a nerve in him.

With the feeling of guilt sinking into his heart, Onyx left the Princess and made his way back to the camp fire where the rest of his men were finishing of their breakfast.

He's not sure what should be done with regards to the Princess, all he knows is that there will be trouble when he gets back to the castle. Whilst wandering back to the camp fire Onyx decided that perhaps having a quiet word with the troops would help.

After having a discussion with his men, it was decided that 1 soldier will head back to Peridot to inform the king that his daughter is safe and travelling with Onyx in the south. She has the protection off all the soldiers and it is far safer for her to stay with Onyx and his army instead of riding back to Peridot with only a couple of guards.

Onyx was still angry about the Princess disobeying him when the troops set out to continue their search for the Quartz Orb. He ordered Princess Harlequin ride up the front near him with 5 guards either side of her and the rest of the soldiers behind. The same pattern of thoughts kept flowing through his mind as he rode, "How did she find me and my troops? ...She must have been following us! ...Why did she come into the south?". The more he thought about the questions the more angry he got. He needed answers but now was not the time to quiz the Princess, not only had Onyx acknowledged how frustrated he had become with his thoughts, he also could see that Princess Harlequin was still shaken up by their encounter earlier.

Now it is best to leave Princess Harlequin alone with her thoughts and for Onyx himself to cool off. The last thing he wants is for the Princess to think he is some sort of ogre or a horrible fairy-being like Jasper.