The Mark of Arella(Book One of the Dragonfly Chronicles)

Chapter Eight

The castle was bustling with energy as the servants hurried to prepare rooms for the new arrivals and decorate the great hall for the celebration. Lilly had just finished an early morning run and was walking back thru the grounds to her room. She was disappointed in her stamina. This morning was the first time she had been able to run in over a month and after 30 minutes she started to feel tired and slow. She kept the run to an hour and all she could think about was a hot bath and a caramel latte. Though, she didn't think faeries had caramel lattes or coffee shops and she realized her mornings were going to be really bad if she couldn't find any. She made it to the training yard and saw Jarron walking with a tall blonde haired man she had never met before. They approached her with smiles. "Good morning Jarron, did you sleep well?" "I did. What are you doing out here so early Lilly?" Jarron said. "I wanted to get an early morning run in before the day got too busy. It's the first time I've ran since coming here. It felt good". "You run?" Jarron said. Then the other male interrupted. "There is nothing like a long run in the cold morning air to wake you up and start off your day. I do it four times a week if I can". Jarron looked over at his companion with a shocked expression. "I never knew you were so athletic Elias." "Well, we haven't seen each other since we were young boys Jarron. A lot has changed since then. That is why I asked to spar with you and Rhylan this morning. I've been looking forward to it ever since I got the invitation for the celebration." He looked at Lilly and smiled warmly at her. He was very handsome she thought. His hair was light blonde and it fell down to his shoulders in a wavy mess. His eyes were light blue, almost like the sky. He was a bit shorter than Jarron and not quite as muscular, but he stood tall with confidence. She wondered who he was. He didn't look like a soldier or servant. Elias spoke to her and said, "You must be the cause of the celebration tomorrow. Let me introduce myself. I am Prince Elias from the Eastern kingdom of Dorstrum." He lifted up her hand and kissed it gently. "It is an honor to meet you Princess." Lilly smiled up at him, and saw Rhylan coming towards them with a scowl on his face. She started wondering if that scowl was a permanent fixture.

Elias saw Lilianna look behind him and turned around. "Rhylan! It is good to see you again my friend". Rhylan grabbed Elias' shoulder and said softly, "It has been too long Eli". "Wonderful!" Jarron said. "We are all here. Lilly, I hope I'm not being rude, but we must get to our practice before the day gets away from us. We will see you later." Prince Elias grabbed her hand again and kissed it. It sent little tingles up her arms as she blushed. "Until then my lady, have a lovely morning". He bowed and headed towards Jarron. Lilly was left with Rhylan staring at Elias with daggers in his eyes. He turned to look at her and said, "Where are your guards? The woods aren't safe for you." As if summoning them, the two stumbled out of the clearing, heaving and breathing hard. The taller one whom she decided to call Thing One started throwing up and the other, Thing Two collapsed on the ground grabbing his side. She looked at Rhylan with a smirk on her face. "Oh they came with me, but as you can tell, they couldn't keep up". Rhylan growled at her and looked at them. "Then perhaps we should assign you some guards that can, until then you shouldn't go for any runs." He turned and headed towards the training yard.

"Hey! Lilly yelled at Rhylan and ran towards him. Her guards got up and rushed over to follow her. "You can't tell me what to do, and I'm certainly NOT going to quit running just because they can't keep up. Nothing happened to me and I WILL go out again tomorrow." Rhylan whirred around with a look of rage on his face that caused her to take a few steps back. He walked right up to her almost nose to nose, gritted his teeth and said, "If you try, I will grab you myself and bring you back to the castle" and walked off before she could yell at him. She just glared at him. He was so infuriating. One minute he is soft spoken and kind to her and the next he is rude and dismissive. Thing One and Thing Two stood by her side, silent and humiliated and she walked back to the castle.