A Kingdom of Sins

Chapter Six

The clock finally hit 11 and I got ready to leave. I took off the obnoxious emerald dress, and through on a pair of black pants and a dark gray t-shirt. If The King lets me go off castle ground to practice then he wouldn't mind me not wearing a dress, I didn't want to push it. I grabbed my almost metallic red hair and threw it into a ponytail. I went into my bathroom and slipped into my hood that matched the pur night sky. I grabbed my arrows and staff. I could feel the dark gray vines wrapping around my otherwise smooth staff. I walked off the castle ground without any problem. I reached the woods when it hit me, I was alone, I was free. I thought about getting Noah and running, but then I thought about it, Noah was no longer alone, he had friends and the rebellion. I then I thought about Mason, but then I stopped thinking about Mason, "you cannot develop relationship or friendships of any kind," I whispered this to my myself over and over again well I was looking for a place to practice deeper in the forest. I felt like I was being watch but I throw that thought out of my head.

I decided to practice archery so, molded the darkness into small circular far away. I said a short charme under my breath causing stars to come down and circled me. I chose one that I needed to practice, it was a young star from far far away. It was cold and frozen causing my arrows to freeze whatever they landed on. My staff curved instantly so that I could string a tight line. I grabbed my arrow and slid it into the rest. I grasped right under my arrow and put my index finger above it on the string while my middle and ring finger twisted into a circle under my arrow on the string. I pulled back and let it fly through my fingertips. It launched itself through the trees, Not worries it was just free. It flew right into the center of the farthest circle, as it hit the target was filled with jagged ponied ice.

I reached back to grabbed another arrow but something stopped me, I heard a gasp followed by the sound of a broken twig. The string on my bow returned into a star and launched itself towards the noise. I swung my staff towards the noise and saw the deep brown eyes of Mason. the star flew back into the sky as my cheeks turned rosy red. I didn't think he could see my cheeks as they blushed. I'm getting really tired of this blushing thing that happens when I'm around Mason.

"Wow...," he said in amazement. "You know are really bad at your job, right?" He always had someway to make anything into a joke.

"Do you really think it's smart to insult the Astra Fea with an enchanted staff during pure night?" I asked rhetorically but if the smart answer would be NO. "Great, now I need to get you back to the palace," I said as I pushed him out of the forest.

I slipped on a smooth stone as we walked on to the illuminated walkways of the now deserted marketed. Mason caught me in his arms as my hood fell off my head. "Your hair shines beautifully in the moonlight," he spoke quietly as he lift me back onto my feet. I had nothing to reply to that, no jokes nothing. I looked into his face as it was blocking the moon. The moonlight reflected off his face, creating a shining circle around his defined cheen. his deep brown eyes caught mine putting me under a spell. I stood there as he pulled me closer to him and we stood there just the two of us alone under the night sky.

"We should really get back before they find you gone and I get fired," I had broken the nightly spell he put me under. It had felt like we had been their for an eternity He let me go and we continued to walk back to the palace.

"You getting fired wouldn't be good for anybody," I could tell by the way he talked that he wanted to stay out in the night.

I was planning on heading out to the market tomorrow during break maybe I could ask Mason if he would like to join me. "Mason," I said as we walked through the gate. As he had put his hand around my shoulder (probably trying to get me to stay out longer), his eyes looked down on me, "I was planing on going to the market tomorrow. Would you like to join me?" I asked trying to cheer him up.

"Sure, I can finally meet this Noah you're always talking about," get over it I thought. We hadn't talked about Noah at all tonight so why was he bringing him up now? "But you're not getting a break tomorrow.'

I looked into the moon, taking in the pure moonlight as I walked through the palace doors.

"What," I mumbled with a pause, "Why am I not getting a break tomorrow," he was getting one. I now regretted offering the chance to escape to him.

"Well how else would you like to spend your break, than with me?" he asked with a devilish grin before walking down a dark hallway to his room. As I walked to my room in silence his words caught up to me, "than with me." I pondered on the idea of Mason being a different person outside of the palace walls. If tonight was any example I didn't think that spending the day out of the walls with Mason would be bad at all.

I walked into my bedroom and as I walked across the floors a piece of sheet music caught my eye. "Stuck in the Mirror," I had played this song and knew it by heart. The song portrays a story about two people in love but separated by social standards. It's a rather cliche song and something that came from a Lydian compose.  I studied the song before falling into bed, blowing out a small candle, and going to bed.