Air Kingdom

Chapter 53-Departure

I forced another smile on me as I shaken another stranger's hand. We were about to leave for Air, but a whole mob showed up at the borders of Vernon. Our departure was supposed to low-key and quiet. When I saw the hundreds of heads in front of us, I gave Anthony a stern look. He insisted the only person he informed was his mother. Knowing Mrs.DeWitt, she would "accidentally" let others know about our taking off. I kindly excused myself from the man and moved closer to Emily who was close by.

I tapped her back. "Hey Emily, it's time to go."

A young girl turned around, but it wasn't Emily. Her skin was slightly darker and she had dark green eyes, the color of forests, unlike Emily's dark, dark ones. She had freckles lightly splattered all over her face. She instantly curtsied when she realized it was me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were a friend of mine." I apologized. She was wearing black and had her brown-almost black- hair twisted up into a bun. From far away, she did look similar to Emily.

She blushed and waved her hands. "It's fine! My friends won't believe it when I tell them that the Princess mistook me as one of her friends. "

I laughed. "Now that's a great story to tell."

She smacked her head. "Oh man, I forgot to be formal. My mom always reminds me, but I never remember. My name's Jennifer." She stuck out her hand. "Your Highness." She hastily added.

I gladly accepted, amused of her rambling. It was endearing in a way. "Please, call me Emma."

She brightened. "Really? Ok then. Are you really leaving for Air now? Will you ever come back and visit Vernon again?"

"Don't worry," I assured her. "I'll be back and I was actually looking for my friends so we can get going. The sooner we leave, the better."

She made a face. "I hope Sam comes back soon. I don't know what'll happen to Vernon when he's gone."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. "There's been talk about how General Anthony wants the throne instead. He has people spreading rumors about how young and Sam is. He's even claiming all the attention from the attack that you went on a few days ago."

If I hadn't overheard the conversation the ball, I would've thought that Jennifer had her facts mixed up. But I guess not everyone in Vernon approved of a teenage leader.

"Does anyone believe him or have the same opinion as Anthony?"

She thought about it. "I guess most people are alright with him. He is kind and mature for his age and so far, there hasn't been any major crisis to prove him to be an unworthy leader. He hasn't done anything wrong yet, but if he slips up or he gets in a scandal, more people will be switching sides. All the support Anthony has now is from people who are in his inner circle, and I'm even sure that some of them have allegiance to Sam, not Anthony."

I wasn't as mad as Sam compared to Natalie, Dylan, and Rodas. He wasn't even one of the six Wizards that helped bring me back and he was only following orders. The guy was a year younger than me; I can't hold a grudge against him long.

"Does Sam know?" I questioned.

"He should right? He is the Prince after all."

From the distance, I heard someone call my name. I took a quick glance in that direction. Ellia was waving her hand at me while Emily stood next to her. Jennifer followed my gaze.

She pointed at Emily. "Is that the girl you thought I was, Emma?"

I nodded. "Yep, her name's Emily. How old are you?"