The Exiled Princess (sequel to Esther)

Chapter 6

We slept soundly last night. The beds were pretty comfortable like all giant furniture.

"Esther? Come out here. You should see this." Andrew called out from the balcony. I put on my jacket over my clothes, opened the French doors and stepped outside. The sun was rising, casting a beautiful glow on the valley. The flowers were so colorful and peaceful looking. The sky was also a variety of colors making the scenery mesmerizing.

"It's so beautiful." I said as I exhaled. He put an arm around me and I leaned on him. "Sure is." We watched the view until the sun was already up.

"The scenery here in Giant's Keep always changes. It captivates me too. Come on. Breakfast is waiting." Yera said coming behind us. We walked downstairs slowly since I was still limping from the pain of the wound.

"You okay?" Andrew asked me. "Yeah. I'm fine." I said. Actually, I was in horrible pain. But sometimes, you don't want to say the truth. Right?

"Esther?" Andrew'd hands were on my shoulders and he was staring at me. "What?" I asked. "Don't lie. How are you feeling?" "I can never escape you. Can I?" "Nope. I know you better than you know. And your face makes it obvious. So?" "I'm in horrible pain." I said. "You know, there's a big difference from fine and in horrible pain." He said putting air quotations when he said fine. "Yeah I know." He gave me a hug.

We entered the dining room and sat down. Breakfast was served. There was a lot of food. Sheira's sister, Kara was here too. There were eggs, bacon, bread, oatmeal, orange juice, lemonade and so on. We ate heartily. If you could've seen our faces, you would've burst out laughing. We were like bears digging into the food. I mean, imagine watching a bear stuffing eggs and bacon its mouth fast. Tell me that isn't funny. We haven't eaten a good meal for quite a while.

"Esther, Andrew and Yera. The king and queen would like to speak with you after breakfast." Kara said. We nodded and got up. "At the castle?" Andrew asked. Sheira nodded.

We stepped out the door and walked through the town and to the castle. We entered and saw the king and queen in the throne room.

"Good morning. How was your night?" Vern asked. "Great." Yera said. They nodded. "Good." "We have some news for you." Krace said. We waited. "Our soldiers will leave today for Bane and Cordialis. We expect them to bring all the humans here by the end of this week. We'll keep the humans in our underground safety houses. We'll be defending our home well, so they'll be safe here. We have also communicated with King Altri and Queen Amia. They will be here soon. So will Ashley and Brandon." Krace explained.

"Okay. That reminds me. Where's Sophia? I thought she was supposed to be with us?" I asked turning to Yera.

"You're right. She was just behind us when we parted with Sheila and Ashley and Brandon. She was scouting for us. She should be here by now." Yera said with a thoughtful face.

"Is Sophia a young girl with black hair?" Krace asked. "Yes." I answered. "Our scouts saw her. She's in Kara's house." Krace said. "Can we be excused?" Andrew asked. Krace and Vern nodded and we bowed then exited. When we were out of the castle, we started running. We ran to Kara's home and knocked.

"Where's Sophia?" I asked Kara as she opened the door. "She's scouting. She's probably in the meadow." Kara replied with a smile. "Thanks." We said as we turned around and ran towards the meadow.

"Sophia? Sophia!" I called out. An eagle flew towards us then turned into a beautiful girl before touching the ground. "Sophia!" I exclaimed hugging her. "Hey guys." "Where have you been?" I asked putting my arms on my hips. "I've been scouting." "Why?" "Because I sense spies around us. I even saw one and so I decided to explore." "Okay, Sophia. Good work." Yera said coming up.

"And by the way, Altri and Amia were scared out of their minds when they found out you guys were gone. You nearly scared us to death!" Sophia said turning to me and Andrew. We smiled shyly. "Sorry. I couldn't endanger you all." I said. She smiled. "And of course, I couldn't let my wife run off on her own." Andrew said. "We knew that. We just wished that you had told us. Don't do that again." Sophia said hugging us both. "I was afraid you guys would stop me." "True." Sophia said shrugging. "Past is past. Let's go." Yera said steering us back to town.