Chapter 35
Morning couldn’t come fast enough for Avelyn. It came too fast for Demina who groaned when Avelyn opened the curtains.
“Good morning!”
Demi looked up at her, blinking blearily.
“What is so good about?” she grumbled.
“Today, we get to rescue Jaxon!”
“Ava....it’s not going to be today. Today is for planning. We have to find out where Drax is hiding anyway and that could take more than a day.”
Avelyn was silent as she deflated a little bit, sinking onto the bed. Demi sighed, wrapping her in a hug.
“Ava...it’s going to be alright. I promise.”
Avelyn laid her head on her shoulder.
“That’s so sweet, Demina. But you can’t promise that. Not truly.”
Demina was silent. Avelyn was right.
“Ava? Do you remember when we first met?”
“Where is it?” the five year old thought. She glanced backwards, yet again, to make sure that no one was following her. She knew that she shouldn’t be this far from the palace, but she didn’t care. She laughed, running along the field, while still searching for her item. She was looking for the rare Barnstadt Aster Lily to press into her flower book. It was a pretty red flower that she really, really wanted. She finally spotted it and she grinned madly. YES! She ran over to it, hand reached to grab it.
“What are you doing?”
She jumped when she spotted a little girl, looking at her. She was lying down on her stomach, staring at her. She looked to be the same age if not a little older than Avelyn.
“I’m picking this flower,” Avelyn said, rolling her eyes. Was it not obvious?
“I can see that. Do you know anything about Aster Lilies?” she asked.
“Um…”
“It will die immediately after you uproot it. So even if you wanted to keep it, you wouldn’t be able to.”
“Oh.” The girl cocked her head, “It isn’t like that with Imprezan lilies.”
“That might be so, but this isn’t an Imprezan lily. It’s a Barnstadt lily,” the girl replied. The girl had that confused “oh” look on her face, before her face broke out into a sunny smile.
“I’m Princess Avelyn,” she said, shaking her hand. The girl was startled, suddenly feeling shy, but she quickly masked it. She gravely shook her hand as if she was meeting a diplomat. Avelyn giggled.
“Demina Mikios, your highness,” the little girl stated, dipping her head and curtsying. Avelyn wrinkled her nose.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said.
“Do what?”
“You don’t have to curtsy. Curtsies are only for mommy and daddy.”
Demina beamed.
“Do you want to play with me, Av’lyn?”
“Sure! What are we playing?”
“Umm....tag? If that’s alright with you, princess.”
“I love tag. And you can call me Ava.”
“Okay...you can call me Demi.”
Avelyn beamed and took Demina’s hand in her own.
“We’ll be best friends forever, Demi.”
“Forever? That is an awfully long time. Well, I guess that means we get a long time to decide if we like each other or not.”
“I don’t need forever to decide that. I like you, Demi. I like you a lot.”
Demina smiled.
“Yes, I remember,” Avelyn said, smiling back, “What about it?”
“I’ve decided that I like you.”
“You decided this just now?”
“Well, yes.”
“DEMINA GRACE!”
“I am only joking, Ava,” Demi laughed, hugging her, “Ava, you and Jax are going to have forever. I will make sure of it.”
