The Flame- RETURN OF THE DRAGON HEIR (Book 2)

43. The lost Princess

Adrian's POV

I followed Rose behind, demanding her for answers. It felt like she wanted me, but yet something was stopping her. I wanted an explanation from her. I followed her through the woods wondering where the hell she was going. The way she was tracing her path without any hesitation, it felt like she was very well-versed with the path. Why was she going deep inside the woods, at this point of time? It was dark already.

"Rose?", I called her, for what felt like the hundredth time. It was in a blink of an eye that she disappeared. Just a second back she was right in front of me, and now she was nowhere.

I searched for her around, puzzled about what just happened.

I walked aimlessly through the thick woods. Searching for her for what felt like long minutes. It was a sudden bright light at a distance that caught my attention. A light that was caused by fire, something was burning. Thick smoke was rising up in the air. I didn't waste another second thinking about it and sprinted directly towards the source. I reached right at the moment when last I saw Greg disappearing into a portal along with Rose. Who laid unconscious in his arms.

"Where are you taking her?", I demanded, running towards the portal before it closed. But it was too late, as I saw it rapidly close down before my eyes, last revealing a dark smirk on Greg's face.

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I did not waste any more time raising an alarm. I tapped my phone and informed the palace. The guards will be starting their search for the Guardian Princess soon. I traced my path back to the school and immediately set to inform Headmistress and Rose's friends about what just happened.

"I knew that something was odd about him. The way he gained Rose's trust in such a short time-span made me suspect him. Rose doesn't trust anyone so soon, but he gained it without any effort", Kat rambled on. She was looking anxious and was walking up and down the Headmistress office where we all were present now.

"She wasn't herself from quite some time. The rude Rose...Do you think it was his work?. Was he manipulating Rose?", Allen threw the question at anyone who could answer him.

"She is not someone who could get used up easily", Kat defended Rose.

"I did not mean that...", Allen tried to explain, but was cut short by the Headmistress.

"What do you mean by saying that 'She wasn't herself'?" She asked him softly.

"From past few days", he started "She has been acting strange. There was a time when she did something she shouldn't do, and then she didn't even remember about it the next day. Do you understand what I am referring to Headmistress?", he asked her, anxiously. I thought he was referring to the day when Rose stole one of those Wishing Cups from the secret vaults, that one incident quite stayed with us as we learned that Rose didn't remember a thing about it the next day. It was quite shocking to us.

"Yes, I do, Please go ahead", she encouraged him to continue.

"After that, we went on for our mini-vacation", he said, with a sigh. "It was after the accident that happened with Adrian, that Rose started spending much time with Greg. She started distancing herself from us and interacted very less even with Catherine. She spent the whole day, except for the class timings with him. After Adrian came back, we thought she would be fine. We thought she would come back to being the old Rose, but she never did come back. When we approached her willingly, she acted rudely and started becoming very dislikable", he finished, letting out a huge breath.

"I saw her lights", I started out slowly. I knew that I could get into trouble for letting this out, but I had to now. It was the only way of saving my Rose. The headmistress wasn't shocked, she was just flabbergasted. The royals were never allowed to talk about the special power we had to anyone. It was a secret we maintained and cherished it in being a secret. There have been many rumors of the existence of aura vision magic, but they surfaced only as rumors as no one could find its essence at all.

"It's true then?", she asked, with her eyes twinkling, I could say that she was excited and wanted to ask more about it, but was refraining herself from doing so. Because she knew that I had limits of letting it out too. My friends were all standing with a big question mark on their face, clueless about what I was even talking about.

"I saw darkness around her, a darkness that was never present before", I started again, in deep thoughts, trying hard to describe what I saw there that day when I came back, and the days that passed by. Every time I saw her, her aura reflected more and more darkness. I did not understand what it implicated, I still don't know. But one thing I know is that whatever it was it wasn't good.

"I don't know what it means", I said answering her puzzled expression. "I know for once, that it is not her usual colors", I finished, not being able to put it in anymore clearer words.

"We need to find Greg and Rose immediately", she announced in an urgent tone.

"I have informed the palace. The guards will be arriving anytime soon", I informed the Headmistress.

"How can we help?", Merlin asked desperately.

"I would advise you, Miss, to just keep this news confidential for some time now. A student going missing for the second time in just two months would swirl quite some chaos. I hope you understand", she told all of us. I understood how it would be for her. Three students being kidnapped under her own administration in her own school? Things wouldn't go quite easy for her definitely.

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