When we land, Kaden and I walk out first.
"Hi Eady! We're back!" Kaden says.
"Hi, guys," she replies.
"We brought you a present," I tell her.
"What?" she asks.
"You can come out now," Kaden shouts over his shoulder.
Ahren and Camille come out of the plane.
"What is HE doing here?" Eadlyn asks.
"Don't worry, I come in peace. I'm so sorry, Eady," Ahren says.
"Sorry doesn't fix anything!" Eadlyn exclaims with venom in her tone.
"But it's a start!" I exclaim, trying to steer this conversation in a different direction.
"I'm here to--" Ahren starts before he is cut off by the rebel alarm.
"Run!" Kaden yells.
The four of us sprint at top speed for the safe room. Eadlyn's heel breaks and Ahren picks her up.
When we make it to the safe rooms, Ahren puts Eadlyn back down.
"Thank you," she says.
"Am I forgiven?" Ahren asks.
"No," Eadlyn replies, but I can tell they're practically back to their normal selves in spite of Ahren leaving, even if it is just because she doesn't have it in her to fight with him at this point in time.
"Let's go find the others. They should be somewhere near here," I say.
"You're right. Dad would probably flip out if nobody sees us during a rebel attack," Kaden replies.
We wander around until we find General Leger.
"Hi. We're back," Kaden says.
"I have received some news, but I don't know how you'll take it," General Leger says.
"What is it?" I ask.
"The Swendish have discovered a remedy for heart attacks."
"Well, why would we not be happy?" inquiries Kaden.
"Because the Crown Prince of Swendway wants to bargain for it," General Leger replies.
"What's the bargain?" Ahren asks.
"He wants friends, and Celeste and Kaden are only a year younger, so he picked them," General Leger says.
"Welcome to the world of meeting random strangers. Population: well, you guys and me, I guess," remarks Eadlyn.
"What now?" I ask.
"The prince will stay in Illéa for a few weeks. You two will be expected to act like his friends," General Leger tells us.
"That's not that bad, considering that we get the remedy. When will they give it to us?" Kaden asks.
"Two days after they get here," Dad says, appearing behind General Leger.
"That's fine, but why this request?" I question.
"The prince grew up hearing about you two. You're like idols because the Prince August wants to be as talented with fencing as you are," Dad replies.
"We're younger than he is! How are we supposed to be HIS role models?" Kaden asks.
"The prince is seventeen years old and you are sixteen, so that's not too big an age difference. It'll be perfectly fine, and the king and queen of Swendway say he's a nice boy," Dad says.
"Wait, why US? There are much more experienced fencers who have been fencing since long before we were born! What's so different about us?" I inquire.
"You have been on the news, in the papers, and you're the best royal fencers. He didn't want his role model to be a non-royal," General Leger says.
"Okay. When is he coming?" Kaden questions.
"In two days," Dad tells him.
"Do we dress normally or like we do when important people we want to impress?" I ask.
"Impress. They ARE giving us a remedy for heart problems, so we'd want to impress them," Dad replies.
"Okay. But I'm NOT wearing a ball gown and heels every day. I only wear ball gowns at a ball and heels when Jane wants to put me in them and I can't say no because she's one of my closest friends since childhood," I say.
"That's fine, but don't just wear your normal attire either," Miss Marlee says, showing up. How does everyone we know basically appear out of thin air?
"Darn it," Kaden says.
"You two are like your mother during my Selection regarding clothes," Dad replies.
"What did you do?" I ask, curious about his selection.
"We had a bet. I won, but I still got her jeans," Dad says, reminiscing in the memory.
"That was nice of you," Kaden says.
"Interesting how we're talking about this during a rebel attack, Maxon," General Leger jokes, winking at Dad, who laughs conspiratorially.
"What?" I ask.
"Just rebel attacks," Dad says, chuckling.
"Are we missing something here?" Ahren asks.
"Yeah, you guys have a LOT of inside jokes," Kaden says.
"What made you so 'crazy loyal' Mom and Dad anyways, Miss Marlee? Kile's words, not mine," Eadlyn asks.
"They saved me from the death penalty," she replies.
"What?!?" Kaden, Eadlyn, Ahren, Camille, who had been quiet until now, and I exclaim.
"I wanted to leave the selection for Mr. Woodwork, but King Clarkson found out and wanted to have me killed. Your father argued for a less severe punishment and a job here, in the palace," Miss Marlee replies.
"Wow," Camille says.
Author's Note
Now Eadlyn forgave Ahren... Well, kind of. Also, now they know why Marlee is "crazy loyal" to Maxon and America! Yay!
-Nom Nom
