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

Five · · · Dest (.2)

The only thing Dest could sputter was, "Why?"

"I don't know," Mell growled. She was no longer crying but seemed to be on the verge of it, her tears waiting for the right moment to strike. "Something about immortality and triplets in a dream I once had."

Sighing, Dest admitted, "Again, I'm sorry. I have no idea what you're saying. All I'm hearing are words that don't make any sense to me. Kind of the stories in the books I read."

"I know," Mell replied. "Even I don't understand what going on."

After another moment of silence, Dest asked, "How do you fit into the equation? And the I-am-Casta thing?"

"I'm not just a silly Castan girl," Mell started to say, "I'm more. Their princess. Princess Mell of King Pon and Queen Meg, Heart of the Aca Jungle."

As soon as Mell said the word princess, Dest backed away as far as she could. She stopped when her hands hit the particles of sand that covered the floor of the tent. Dest's mouth gaped open. They couldn't have Casta's princess on Rol. Her people needed her to rule them, especially after what Dest saw happen to her parents on her family's C.S. Then it hit her. Mell's parent's death is probably the reason why she was crying.

Dest closed her mouthed and breathed heavily. When she looked at Mell, the princess looked ashamed, searching for what to say as her bottom jaw moved back at forth. Tears sprouted from Mell's eyes. She quickly turned away, not wanting Dest to see her weakness. Mell's body shook again. Dest winced when she heard a sob come from Mell's mouth.

Seeing Mell cry, Dest felt ashamed too. She shouldn't have got scared about the consequences of Casta's princess escaping to Rol. Dest slowly moved forward and reached out with her hand to touch Mell's shoulder. As soon as she did, Mell's body stopped shaking and so did the sound of her cry. Everything turned silent.

Silence scared Dest even more, but she pushed through it saying, "At least you won't be alone. You said Kast and Ryn might not understand, but I think I do."

"How will you understand?" Mell asked, her voice sounding skeptical. She still didn't dare look Dest, for fear of seeing resentment in Dest's eyes.

"If you look at me," Dest replied. "I know I'm not good at the comfort thing but in most scenarios, it starts with good eye contact."

After a minute or two, Mell finally turned around to face Dest. It made Dest smile to know that her guess about eye contact was right.

"I had a dream," Mell stated. "It was about my parents. I was back at the safe cabin with my parents and were leaving because Ryn warned us of an attack. He didn't want any more death to be apart of the war so he came to save me and my family. Before we left, I got on bad terms with my parents because they did want Ryn to ride in the zumo flyer with me, since they saw him as a threat to my life. I was happy when they finally caved in, though I felt a little bit of guilt since we left the cabin on bad terms. During the ride, the Pents attacked us, killing both of my parents. Ryn saved me, and all I could think was how I was right and my parents were wrong. But then I felt guilty again. At the time, no emotions were coming to me about their death. Now..."

Mell never finished her sentence. Dest didn't want her too. She pulled Mell into a hug and squeezed her until there was no air in either of their lungs. Dest finally pulled away and smiled.

"Thank you for telling me the truth," she said. Then her smile faltered as she said, "I wish I could help more, but as I said..."

Mell stopped her from saying anything else when she put a finger to Dest's lips. "It's okay. All I need is someone who knows how to listen, something both Kast and Ryn can't do."