Crown

Geptot mērī-Left Alone

Tekina and Kaito had just come back from a morning of exploration and recording of the various plant and animal life around the castle. Tekina beamed at her new notes and Kaito rambled about wanting a reward. This earned him a smack and eye role from Tekina. As they climbed the steps to the hall in which their room was located, they spotted a rather peculiar sight. Slowly but surely, the youngest Prince snuck back into the palace. Seemingly no one had noticed that he was away for so long. Avarice, thinking that no one was around, climbed over the railing that separated the hall from the volcanic cliff and silently rushed down the hall. Tekina and Kaito exchanged glances.

"Hey. What's Mr.Sourpuss doing here?" Kaito called out casually.

Avarice froze and slowly turned. His guilty expression betrayed the cold look in his eyes. But what exactly was he guilty of? He wasn't quite sure himself. Trying to maintain composure, he snapped back in his usual argumentative manner.

"What'd you just call me?"

Kaito raised his hands in defense and laughed."Nothing nothing. We haven't seen you in a while. Where ya been?" He asked.

Avarice scoffed. "What are you my mom? I don't have to tell you anyth—"

"No we're friends who are concerned and something tells me you wouldn't want us letting your mother know that you've been sneaking out for such extended periods of time." Tekina cut him off, not wanting to deal with more of his attitude.

Avarice closed his mouth and averted his eyes. He stared at the ground and with clenched fist and a pained gaze, opened his mouth to speak again. "It's...not like she cares anyways..."

His words were almost inaudible, a mere ghost of his voice. Tekina, noticing his sudden melancholic demeanor, softened her gaze. While she didn't know exactly what was eating at him, she couldn't help but feel sympathy for the boy. She stepped forward to try and reach out him but as she did he flinched away.

"SHE NEVER EVEN NOTICES!" Avarice yelled and sprinted down the hall out of sight.

Tekina looked back at Kaito who shrugged. "What was that all about?" He wondered aloud.

Tekina glanced back at the corner Avarice had disappeared around. "I don't know...but I have a bad feeling."

The pair decided that for the time being, it was best to leave it alone and returned to their room.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Okay! Everybody clear on the plan?" Ri-is had concluded in his explanation of their rescue plan.

Ea and Tah Min exchanged worried glances with each other.

"Are you sure this will work?" Tah Min asked.

Ri-is nodded. "From what the guards reported, there have been a series of suspicious trails left around the palace since July second, so yesterday. One such trail was one that followed Yukimi from her room and to her destination this morning. There was also traces of it near the silent night shelter."

Tah Min raised an eyebrow as if to asked where that was to begin with. Ri-is caught this and kindly responded to her confusion.

"It's near the place where mom takes her baths and near where she entertains guests. It's called silent night shelter because it's so serene and you can only see the moon, even during the day. I asked Luke and he said that mom, dad and the Hatake's were having a drink up there last night and they did see a suspicious person. It's easy to spot the path I used to escort Yukimi back to the palace from that height and they said that the person had apparently watched us for a while before turning their attention back to mom."

Tah Min nodded. "I understand. So this intruder has targeted you and Yukimi as they saw you as the easiest to take down, but don't you think this plan of yours is too dangerous? You're a reigning Prince and one of the candidates for the throne, if something happened to you—"

Ea placed a hand on Tah Min's. "Tah Min, please do not worry yourself so much. I assure you everything will be fine. This intruder must already have extensive knowledge on the palace and its inhabitants to have made it so far into the country without arousing suspicion until yesterday. While they are not to be taken lightly, I promise you're kind heart is more than enough comfort in this endeavor to rescue our friend."

Tah Min blushed and Ri-is rolled his eyes. "Show off," he mumbled jokingly as he watched his brother's impressive linguistic skills come in handy to calm the fretting Tah Min. "Anyways, let's move out! The two of you will watch from afar."

Ea and Tah Min both stood up with Ri-is and with determined steps, followed him out to the scene of the crime.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

The trio stepped onto the field in front of the cave that Yukimi went missing.

"Okay! This is it. The morning dew made the grass wet and once the sun dried it up, the footprints were dried into the soil. We just gotta follow th—"

A guard ran up to them, cutting Ri-is off. "Your highness! We followed the trail! It uh...leaves the country borders."

Everyone stared blankly at the guard. Ri-is was the first to break the silence. "OUT OF THE COUNTRY! Wait it's only a little after noon! She was taken this morning! There's no way they got that far!"

"They stole a boat..." The guard said.

Ea groaned. "So they're already out on the ocean...great."

"I have an idea! Let's go to the place where they took the boat. I can use my magic to trace their trail on the water!" Ea said.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

They made it to the beach and located the spot where the small boat had been dragged off of the sand. Ea knelt down and put his hand to the water. After a brief moment of silence his eyes began to glow an otherworldly shade of blue. A vision of a hooded figure with an unconscious Yukimi on the small boat flooded his mind like the rising tide. The water seemed to shimmer as a wave fluttered out from the trail that became visible in response to his glowing eyes. Ri-is and Tah Min watched in awe as Ea broke from his trance and withdrew his hand from the water.

He stood up, teetering slightly as he closed his eyes and massaged the slight head ache that hammered at his head.

"You okay?" Ri-is said, putting a hand on Ea's shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm fine. They're...they're near Craobh Fuaran..."

"Craobh Fuaran? That's...that's....HOW'D THEY EVEN GET ACROSS THREE COUNTRIES IN SUCH A SHORT TIME!" Ri-is fretted.

"No. They seem to be in the Midlands. In between Yah Rin and Craobh Fuaran."

Ri-is shook his head. "That doesn't change the fact that it's on the other side of the entire continent."

"We can ask the mermaids to take us. We can use their water portal to connect to the water nymphs in Craobh Fuaran. It'll be much faster." Ea reasoned.

They all agreed and headed off to seek out the mermaids.