The Hidden Orphan (The Chronicles of Mistar - Book 2)

Twelve · · · Monta

Castle Starlight, Crestlin, Tatin, Ablatin

MONTA WAS HOT. Sweating, in fact, and he was used to warmth. Eva had told him it was cold outside so he put on metallic, silk pants and brown boots that matched his button-up shirt. Outside, there was a breeze but when Eva told him it was cold he was expecting below zeros and snow like on Gazar, not mid-thirties.

When he looked to Eva at the edge of the castle's enormous garden, she actually looked cold. She stood there looking at a patch of silver flowers, shivering in her topaz blue cloak. Even from far away, Monta could see the way the princess's body shook from the cold. To Monta, thirty degrees felt like nothing.

Looking to Tapalla, he felt bad for her. Since she had grown up on Gazar her whole life, she was also used to the cold but since her skin couldn't be seen, she was covered head to toe in black. She wore a long black dress made of silk along with Long black gloves and tall black boots that stretched to her mid-thigh. Tapalla was also wearing a dark black cloak and hood that covered her bright blonde hair in which Monta watched as Eva's servants put it up in two messy buns earlier that morning. From behind her hood, he could see the red preserved fire flower petal dangling from her ear. He figured the pearl was in her other ear. It was nice to see her wearing the gift even though they seemed to be in disagreement.

Truthfully, Monta couldn't remember why she was mad at him the first place. A long time ago, Monta gave up on figuring out the real reason he was mad at her. He could tell Tapalla felt the same due to her small glances back him from many indos away.

When she looked at him, all he could see were her eyes. Just like the black clothes she wore to hide the color of her skin, she wore a black velvet mask that covered her nose, cheeks, mouth, chin, and neck. Through the mask, her voice was muffled when she spoke and above her mask, she had on black coal makeup. Tapalla's brown eyes were such a deep, rich brown that they looked almost black to Monta along with everything else she was wearing. The only splash of color he saw was her red earring and the few specks of silver and light blue in her eyes. Monta missed the rosiness and violet of her skin.

He also wished she didn't have to wear all that black. The color just didn't suit her. Monta didn't think she needed to. After the ball, he thought everybody knew she was in Tatin. Monta warned her not to do anything drastic, but he knew she was going to explode sometime after hearing her father and mother being killed. He just wished it wasn't then. With her tantrum, she probably signaled the Night Warriors, somehow, that she was on Ablatin even though the situation was kept pretty contained, or at least Monta liked to think.

Monta turned away from Tapalla. She wanted her space, and even though he swore to his father he would protect her, he respected Tapalla. She told him she needed time and space, so Monta instantly backed away to let her think.

He looked towards Castle Starlight. Eva was still close by though she seemed to have wandered off a little bit towards the edge of garden grounds. On a lone balcony, Chaka and Ray were smiling at each other, a grin from ear to ear. Night was coming fast and they seemed to be watching the invisible sunset that was just beyond the large townhouses and skyscrapers of the city that surrounded the beautiful castle. The two seemed so content. Monta looked back to Tapalla and wished he a relationship like that with her but he had to face the facts, that relationship he wanted wasn't happening anytime soon.

Monta could see nightly, dark storm clouds starting to collect to the north, flashes of blue and yellow lightning making him jump. Honestly, Monta didn't like these thunderstorms as the people of Ablatin called it. They were weird. Different. To Monta, they just felt unnatural. He wished he could be in one of Gazar's comforting snowstorms and have it curled around his feet as if he had power over ice and snow and the storm. He would give anything to go back to his home planet to just exist in one of those storms again. He missed the cold.