Valkyrie Demons

Chapter 16

"I... Uhm... hi..." I'm at a loss for words. His eyes are distracting me and I just stare at him for what seems like forever.

"I see the all mighty princess has finally graced us with her presence." I man in his fourth or fifth century says from atop the stairs. He's also wearing a crown so I must presume he's the king.

"I..." I look away fron Finn, shake my head a little and finally come to my senses. "I beg your pardon mister majesty... sir but I am not a princess nor am I mighty." I frown when I realize I don't know what to call him and I'm embarrassed that I was ogling his son.

"Oh don't be so formal. You can call me king Luka." He winks at me and starts moving down the stairs.

"Daddyyy, why do you always insist on making any female company we have uncomfortable!" A voice whines from behind the king.

"Now now my dear, what did I say about whining? "

"Princesses aren't suppose to whine." She replies like she's done so a few times before.

She runs down the stairs and quickly grabs my arm, dragging me towards the next room.

"Hi I'm princess Lisa and we're going to be besttt friends!" She exclaims.

I look back toward the rest but David is trying to suppress a laugh, the king is shaking his head and Finn just winks at me, turns on his heel and walks lazily towards the library from all the books I can see through the door.

We walk through a bunch of rooms before entering the kitchen and then exiting the back door. Lisa hasn't stopped talking since we started walking. She leads me outside into the gardens. We walk toward a bunch of woman sitting on the grass, drinking tea.

She let's go of my arm and runs to an older, but still beautiful, woman. "Mommy, mommy look... I've found someone to play with!"

"That's wonderful! Who is she?" She tilts her head to the side, examining me.

"This is princess Valery!"

Her mother drops her tea cup. She doesn't seem to notice the tea staining her lovely dress because she's staring at me.

"This is wonderful news! You've finally found Finn. We should throw a ball, invite everyone!" She gets up and hugs me tightly. "We were all so afraid that you wouldn't make it on time, but here you are." She holds my arms while admiring me.

"Uhm, I don't know about the ball... but we're glad we made it on time." I say, taking a slight step back.

"We?" She asks with a frown.

"Oh yes, my friend David is with me."

"David?! As in Tall, handsome, fairy David? Come girls, we're missing everything today while sitting outside!" She grabs my hand and hurries back inside.

I can hear little Lisa complaining about her friend being taken away. I make a mental note to play with her later. We rush through the house... again, until we find David. Because of all of this rushing and meeting new people, I'm starting to panic. We find the woman who hugged him, explaining something to him in a language I can't understand.

"David!" The queen exclaims.

"Queen Aurora! Oh, how wonderful this is." He jumps up from the couch and gives her a tight hug. "I see you've met Valery."

"I have, what a lovely girl she is. Now David, you must come help me with the cooking. We're going to have a feast tonight in honor of Valery finding Finn and you finally returning to us and we must have some of your cakes."

They hurry out of the room so fast it leaves me at a loss. I look around and see the girl staring at me like something she hates. I frown and try to introduce myself.

" Hi I'm - " I hold my hand out for her, but she just stares at it.

" I know who you are. My brother's savior and what not. Look, I don't care who you are or what you're here to do but stay away from David!" If eyes could kill...

"Whoa, what! We're just friends. Where on earth did you get that idea. Aren't I suppose to be with your brother or something?"

"Don't play dumb with me. He told me all about your little adventure and how YOU almost got him killed!"

"Me?! I didn't almost get him killed, the trolls did."

"Like that isn't your fault." She rolls her eyes and walks towards the door. "Oh and about Finn, I wouldn't get to excited. He's got some... how should I put this... lady friends he likes to bring over." She winks at me and laughs while walking away.

I have no idea what just happened, but I'm beginning to wish Dacian came with us. I decide to find my way to back door so I can go walk around in the garden. It seems much calmer than the family I just met.

I must've walked for a couple of hours because it was beginning to get dark. I turn around to go back, but it seems I've wandered from the path.

"Hello my little flower. Are you lost?" I yelp and jump back.

"How did you do that? I didn't even hear you walking! And for the record, I'm not lost... just looking for the path." I try not to look into his eyes, because I would really like to keep my ability to talk.

"Uhu, would you like some help finding it then?" He smirks.

"Uh, sure." We walk for a little in silence with him leading the way.

"You didn't answer my question you know ." I stop to look at him... well his chin.

"What question, my little flower?" He leans back against a tree and puts his hands in his pockets.

"About how you did the quiet walking thing. And why do you keep calling me your little flower?"

"You ask a lot of questions. It's one of my abilities, I can sneak up on people. As for the pet name, it's because you wear the rose the unicorn gave you. Although, I see you aren't anymore so maybe I'll stop."

I think back to my half sister, when she stole my rose by not giving it back, then for blaming me for the whole prophecy thing and then for stealing Davian! I look down at my balled hands. I try to relax them but it’s a challenge.

"Do you know someone named Crystal?" I ask after some more akward silence has passed.

"Of course I do, who doesn't? Especially since she's been trying to court me." He quirks an eyebrow at me. "Why do you ask?"

"She's the person who stole my rose.... and she's my half sister."

He blinks but then starts to laugh. "What's so funny?" I ask.

"Just your family and their stealing habits. First Denali, then Dacian and now Crystal. Wow!" He laughs.

I look at him with disbelief. "What's that suppose to mean?!" I'm beginning to get angry.

"Nothing, nothing. Just that your family has a strange pattern."

"Here I actually thought you're a decent guy. Turns out, you're just like every other guy." I can see the house by now so I take of at a sprint.

I can hear him screaming for me to wait, but I ignore him. I burst into the kitchen to find David and Aurora cooking.

" Where can I sleep tonight? " I ask trying to hold in my tears.

" Second staircase to the right. The last bedroom on the left. What's wrong my dear? Did something happen?"

I quickly wipe the escaped tear from my face, yelling over my shoulder. "No I'm fine. Just need a bath or something."

I run to my bedroom closing the door silently, sinking to the floor. I hold my face in my hands and start crying.