Our Second World book three: Personal Truth

Chapter 16: Nephinae

The day after Elise's coronation, the others and I were called to the throne room shortly after breakfast. Elise and Rose were waiting for us.

"Thank you for coming, You six," Elise began," I hope you've enjoyed your stay here."

"Yes. It's been wonderful," Haren answered.

"Good. I'm glad," Elise looked to Rose," send them in, please."

"Yes, your majesty," Rose bowed and left through the side door of the throne room. She returned a minute later with three other girls behind her.

The woman I was first drawn to was taller than the other two, and had long silver hair. Her vibrant, sapphire blue eyes contrasted beautifully with the dark crimson dress she was wearing. Next was a slightly shorter girl. Her short blonde hair with blue tips accented her green eyes and white dress. The final of the three girls was the shortest. She was around my height with gray blue eyes to go with light chestnut colored hair.

When her gaze fell on Haren, the little girl wasted no time sprinting over. Tackling the red head in a hug that nearly knocked him over. Burying her face in his shirt, the girl started crying.

We watched in silence as Haren wrapped his arms around the girl and attempted to calm her down by stroking her hair. After a few minutes, the girl stopped crying, but refused to let go of Haren. The man in question didn't seem to mind her clinging to him, and let her be.

Elise called our attention back to her by coughing politely," as I was just about to say: I've called Grace, Artemis and Marylyn here to the capital. This is for a very simple reason. Rose, your men collected the information. Please, explain the details."

"Yes, your majesty," Rose turned to us and cleared her throat," ahem. We have reason to believe there was a third party involved in the initiation of this war. You see, a few years ago, the old king of Mydra fell ill. Just a month before the first attack, he passed from his illness. His only son, prince Evalgo, took the throne a mere two days before the attack."

"It seemed almost too perfect to be coincidence so we had some of our people investigate," Elise continued," in doing so, we learned something quite surprising regarding the current king. A few days before the old king fell ill, the prince was reportedly attacked by monsters. According to the people of Mydra, the prince had always been kindhearted to everyone, but he became cruel and abusive after that attack. We think this had something to do with a specific group."

"The same people who tried to kill the previous queen?" Haren guessed.

"Yes. Your task is to hunt them down. Capturing as many as you can," Elise said," this is an order from the Queen."

"Yes, your majesty."

"This task is one of large importance. Though you six will be doing most of the ground work, I've chosen a few trusted extra hands to help out," Elise gestured to the other two girls, and two men in white armor like roses.

Up until Elise pointed them out, I hadn't noticed the two standing silently to the side of the throne. One had short blond hair, while the other had long black hair that covered part of his face. Both had the same light brown eyes.

"You know the girls, but these boys are Nym and Zylkas Arastina," Elise said, pointing first to the blond, then the black haired boy," they will be helping you. As for where you'll be staying, that's up to you to decide. However, I recommend choosing somewhere that will make traveling around easy and quick."

"There's a town, Avethor, near the border mountains," Haren said," we passed through the first time we came to Croanade, and I'd heard rumors of some old ruins somewhere on the mountains. We could go there."

"True. That would be a good place. It's near the border and away from prying eyes," Elise muttered," Then it's decided. You will go to these ruins and determine whether or not they will be suitable. Should they prove useful, begin your search. I shall have horses readied for the journey. Leave by tonight."

"Yes, your majesty." All of us bowed.

The meeting went long; it was almost noon by the time we had finished. After lunch, the others and I were brought out to the royal stables. There, two covered wagons were waiting for us. One smaller than the other. The smaller wagon had a silky black horse saddled and ready to pull it, while the bigger wagon had two speckled and gray horses.

All of our bags were already stored in the smaller of the two wagons, along with food and other things for the trip. One of the knights coming with us, Zylkas, sat in the drivers seat of the small wagon. The other, Nym, took the reins of the larger wagon with the silver haired girl, Artemis. The bigger wagon had room for the rest of us since all of our things were in the other wagon, and we all climbed in. There were no benches to sit on, like in smaller wagons, but that meant there was more space to sit on the floor.

As we were preparing to leave, Rose came by. She wished us luck on our trip from Elise, and went back inside, but not before I saw her whisper something to Haren.

Due to the secrecy of what we were doing, we took a different route out of town. Riding out through a partially hidden path near the castle gardens. Once a distance from the capital, the tense air from earlier dissipated, but there was still silence. The silence continued until it started getting dark and we stopped for the night.

The blonde girl with blue in her hair, the short girl, and I were put in charge of making the food while Elviya and Sylviana helped Nym give water to the horses. While helping the two girls, I learned that the blonde was Grace, and the short girl was Marylyn. I got to know the two of them further during our meal. Grace was a childhood friend of Haren, and Marylyn was his and August's adopted daughter. Knowing that explained her reaction when she saw Haren, and I felt a little jealous. If it was me, I'd never be able to do something like that in front of everyone. Marylyn was much more confident than I was, and in that way, I held a lot of respect for her. We ended up getting along pretty well, and our first night went without incident.