The Felinites

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Abby's POV

Several hours later, we arrive on Satera, landing our craft right at the gate entrance of the castle. The first layer of defense around the planet's royals' home is a thick wall that burns anything and anyone that touches it from the outside. Therefore, we have no choice but getting through this gate. Either this guard lets us through or I shoot him with the strange device in my hand that will put him in a comfortable sleep for a few hours.

Princess Cleo struts confidently up to the guard, a bright smile on her face. "Hello, good guard," she greets warmly.

"May I help you?" the guard asks gruffly.

"I need nothing other than passage for me and my guard," Princess Cleo answers.

"And what gives you the right to enter the castle?" the guard inquires, his heavy tell swishing behind him and his six yellow eyes blink rapidly as if he is trying desperately to understand why she could be here.

Princess Cleo gasps melodramatically for effect, but I feel like she is overdoing it with that particular reaction. Thankfully, we both know the Edacions are known well for their lack of proper education. "What do you mean 'what is my right?'" she demands. "Do you not know who I am? I am Princess Cleo of Filinus. I was just wedded to your prince, Prince Cornelius, yesterday. I am your queen!" she exclaims.

The guard quickly apologizes, "Oh yes, of course. We have all been awaiting your arrival. I am terribly sorry for the misunderstanding." He races over to a huge wheel and begins turning the mechanism. From his exertion and panting, I can tell that opening the gate is a hard job more commonly done by more than one person. He manages to get it just high enough to let us go under, though we do have to crouch down a little to fit beneath it.

Once we are on the other side of the gate, we have a long walk to get to the actual entrance of the castle. "That was surprisingly easy," I comment.

"Yes, almost too easy," Princess Cleo remarks worriedly.

Just then I spot three Edacions standing in a row at the end of the path that leads to the next gate into the castle. They all carry lethal looking weapons and do not look at all like they are willing to participate in friendly conversation.

"Don't worry," I reassure her sarcastically. "Everything is about to become a whole lot more complicated," I say, pointing to the three intruders.

"What do we do?" Princess Cleo asks in a panic.

"We try the same trick we tried on the others," I answer feigning much more confidence in our plan than what I really possessed.

"And if that fails?" she asks, sounding sure that it would fail.

"Plan B," I remind her and, when she gives me a blank expression that reads that she does not remember what that is, I add, "We take them down with these weird defensive guns that the Stepis gave us." I pat the strange devices in question to emphasize my answer.

"Oh yeah, that," Princess Cleo mutters as we reach speaking distance with the Edacions.

"What do you want," one of the Edacions demands curtly as he stares us down.

"Nothing more than passage into the castle that is now as much mine as it is Prince Cornelius'," Princess Cleo announces, her dictation a confident choice but her voice a shaking mess of nerves.

"Oh? Is that right?" he asks rhetorically. "Then just as the former prince, you have no right to be here at all. The only difference is he is here with clearance form his father, our king, while you are here for who knows what with no right at all."