The Royals of Glacia

Chapter Three

The house smelled of pumpkins and pancakes the next morning. Astrid hopped out of bed, nearly falling over from confusion. She regained balance as she remembered that she had spent night in Mrs. Castiv's house and not at Selian's. She considered it one of her better decisions so far. She yawned and skipped down the stairs to the kitchen. Diana danced around, humming an old song that Astrid didn't recognize. Her kitchen was painted a gold color and her appliances all glittered green, like her door. The tiles were a metallic purple.

"I really like the décor, Mrs. Castiv," Astrid stated between sips of hot chocolate.

"Thank you, Astrid. It's from before your time, buy you probably won't learn anything about it in school." They never taught what they should have in school. They didn't care about the true history of the country.

Astrid looked up at her in confusion for some sign that Diana was joking, but she was still as bubbly as before. "What do you mean?"

Diana realized she had said to much and froze. Astrid noticed her panic. "I...I didn't mean that. I saw a...a picture of a kitchen like this in a cookbook from a few years ago, and it was quite gorgeous, so I decided to paint mine that way. You don't learn that in school because, well, it's atypical to look at old cookbooks in a primary school." She laughed awkwardly.

"Mrs. Castiv? Are you okay?" Astrid pushed herself up to walk around the counter, but Diana held her hand out to stop her.

Diana shook her head at the ground. "No need to check up on me, dear. I have been through a lot more than you could ever imagine and I can handle almost anything, alright? There's nothing wrong." She couldn't believe what she was saying. The girl was hardheaded, but she surely would realize that something was up.

Astrid brushed it off. "Okay. If you say so." She sat back down.

Diana relaxed and continued to mix the pancake batter. It was bright orange, which meant that they were pumpkin-flavored. Astrid was overjoyed to have a proper breakfast; she'd never truly had one of those.

Mrs. Castiv poured the first pancake onto the skillet and swayed her hips to the tune that played in her head. The batter sizzled. "So...where are you going to school now? I noticed you've been gone."

"Well, at this point, I'm planning on going to the police station and studying from them until they can enroll me in a school that better suits me."

Diana raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Are you sure you want to do that? I trust those officers with my life, of course, but it is very important for you to get all the education you can get, dear. I need to be assured that you will still be learning." She pointed the spatula at Astrid and a piece of batter splattered on the girl's nose.

She wiped it away with her sleeve. "I can assure you, I'll still be learning. Now, I might be small still, but I do understand the importance of getting an education." She tilted her head and rested it on her fist. She didn't break eye contact with Diana.

Diana's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped just slightly. "You really impress me, Astrid. You're so young, yet you speak like a mature soul. I know you'll be growing up to do big things in this world."

The timer dinged, and she hurried to flip the pancake. She finished the rest of them in silence, continuing her gentle swaying.

***

She turned the radio to some instrumental music on the drive to the police station. The ride was long from the center of industries to the outskirts, which meant that Astrid got to listen to multiple songs and hear Diana humming along before she got out of the carriage and went inside. Diana smiled and waved at her, calling, "Have a good day, Astrid! Don't forget what we talked about. You're always safe to come live with me!"