Kingdom Come

Chapter Sixteen: Resiila and Wishing

I get back to Ray Castle in Resiila the very next day. I trot Aura up to the guarded gate, I immediately get stopped by a few guards, I fall onto a name I've always used in case my real name couldn't be announced for some reason. The same one I gave to Zack...

"[F/N] to see the King and Queen," I announce calmly. One of the guards eyes widen, I vaguely remember seeing him before, the other one stays guarded, as he's new. The guard who recognizes me quickly bows,

"O-Of course! They've been expecting you," he says, the newer one turns to him,

"What?! They haven't-" he's cut off by the one who recognizes me elbowing him in the stomach. I urge Aura past them, and toward the stables, I wave off the stablehands, putting her in a stall myself, and handing her reins off with an order to keep them for only Aura, and that I'll be back in the morning to check on her.

I then walk back toward the nice, large entrance, the guard who recognized me earlier rushes over,

"Mi'lady, let me go wake your parents, my comrade will go with you to your room?" he offers nervously, I smile slightly,

"Thank you sir, I'd like to see them as soon as possible please?" I ask him, he freezes for a moment before nodding and rushing off, the newer guard trots over to me,

"This way miss," he says, though his voice is guarded, and he seems more suspicious of me. I can't help but marvel slightly at the regalia now that I haven't seen it for a while. I glance back toward the guard. I'm kinda okay with the hostility, but a lot of Royals and Nobles wouldn't be...

"J-just so you know, for the upcoming events, you're probably gonna want to learn the 'code names' of the Royals and Nobles. A lot of them are pretty pretentious about it," I tell him with a small eye roll. He stares at me for a second, annoyed, before realization dawns on him,

"I-I'm so sorry My Princess!" he shouts nervously, bowing low. I blush slightly.

"Um... p-please, d-don't bow," I mumble. It's been so long since someone's bowed to me that it feels wrong. "It makes me feel important, and I'm not really yet," I add with a small chuckle. He swallows, following after me. I get up to my door, and push it open, marveling at my own room. "Thanks for walking me! I'll just wait in here for my parents," I tell him with a smile, he nods, bowing slightly before rushing off. I shut the door with a soft click. I then go and quickly brush my hair and add a bit of makeup to my face, knowing my parents WOULD NOT like me looking even the slightest bit messy, though I keep the clothes on.

A minute later, my parents enter my room, without knocking, in their full regalia. I'm not even joking. My mother's wearing a long evening gown and a tiara while my father is in a neat suit, they both give me small, propper smiles,

"Ah, Darling. We've been worried sick!" my mother exclaims calmly, bullcrap.

"Yes, I am so happy to be back in Resiila at the Ray Castle, where I belong," I tell her with a small nod and a tiny, professional smile. I can already feel the knives edge I'm on. My parents learned how to dance upon the edge with so much grace you'd never know unless you looked really hard. Luckily, I've learned how to as well. "I cannot wait for the upcoming ball in three days, I am so excited to see Princess Cathy of the I3itch Kingdom!" I tell them with a smile, (yes, it's I-THREE-itch,) I tell them with a large smile, I don't wanna see Cathy. She's such a bitch... but we're supposed to be friends. I then press my hands slightly together, "Now then, I am going to take a bath so I will be suitable for tomorrow," I add with a tiny smile,

"Ah, yes. We will leave you then, " my father comments, already turning around,

"We will send in the maids!" my mother tosses over her shoulder as she leaves with him. I close the door and immediately sigh in relief. Ugh... I'm already tired of this crap... I go into the large bathroom and happily slip off the clothes Zack gave me, and turn on the water. It steams up as it pours into the bathtub that's a bit more like a small pool. I turn on the other faucets around the edges, yes. There need to be multiple faucets in order to fill the bathtub up in a timely manner.

I slowly step down onto the steps, and YES. There are STEPS to get down into the bathtub. I slowly sigh as I settle down, the water slowly rises around me. Somehow, it's less luxurious than when I'd bathed in the hotels. I lean my head back, my eyes closing slowly. I'm almost craving hearing Zack banging the door open and cursing and then 'knocking' on the door to the bathroom to shout about how long I'm taking.

I want desperately to make sure he's okay... to unbind his wound and smile and be able to say "looks like it's all healed up!" and know he's alright. I'd honestly even take his ripping out his stitches. Because knowing that means I'll be able to stitch his wound back up and scold him about being careful.

I want to watch him sleep and think about how much less angry he looks when he's asleep, and how adorable he can sometimes be. How he looked annoyed but caring at me breaking his rules. I'd even take cleaning the blood out of his hair at this point. Or simply cooking something for him to scarf down.

I smile sadly. I wish I hadn't left... my smile fades, cracks, and shatters in a single second.

If I hadn't left, he would've eventually killed me.