Crustel

Chapter 19

  I went near to Emerald. "Hey, congrats!" I said unwillingly. To my surprise, "Thank you, Cora! You haven't talked to me since the day I came back to Crustel..." she kept silent. I was surprised. She thanked me. I was completely shocked. "Is this the Emerald that I knew?" I couldn't control my mouth. When my brain warned me to back off but my mouth lost coordination with my brain. Ugh! To my surprise, "Cora, I am sorry if I was rude before. By the way, your amulet is so eye-catching. Can I have it for a day!" I was stunned. I immediately refused. "No! I mean, this is quite sensitive. uhm...My dad presented me before he died at the war!" I pulled myself together and somehow lied to her. The hidden truth should be hidden to her. If she knows about my amulet's mystery, she would definitely dare to steal it. 

  Her hands were just a few millimetres away from my amulet. I held my amulet tightly and ran far from her. "Cora!" She shouted. I didn't see her. I just ran to my mom and bumped at her. My mom was worried. I immediately asked her, "When is the third fight?" My mom was certainly worried about me. She was startled by my behaviour. Our ancestors are quite mad at you but they told me that....your second test and the third-round fight is combined. This means you need to prepare for the war. You have solid two days for that..." Mom was unbelievable. I almost forgot the fact about my second test and in this calamity, the former king, queen and prince of Taleas are in Corta. "Is Ethan here, mom?" I asked her worriedly but instead of mom, Ethan answered me, "Yes. I am here!" I was elated and ran towards him. Suddenly mom stopped me. "Cora, we have to talk about something important at dinner!" I showed thumbs up and ran towards Ethan. 

   "How are they?" I asked calmly. "They are safe. They stay upstairs. Cora...There is a piece of bad news!" he trembled with his words. I didn't tell him anything. "Uhmmm... Cora, Erica found out about them. She wanted to meet them but I stopped her. I brought her here. She's behind the sorcerer's hut!" he spitted out. Actually, that was not as bad as I thought. It was quite relieving. I went there. I whispered her name. She came out. I ensured that no one was looking at us except Ethan. "Where is my family? You went to Taleas and you just brought them to Crustel??? The leader of the tranquets found that they have escaped! You caused huge trouble, Cora!" Erica exploded. I tried to calm down her but it wasn't successful. I remembered mom telling me that the war was in two days. I could start the practice in the afternoon. So, I wanted to prove my best friend was not evil. "Erica, listen! We are going to meet your parents. Now!" I told her with my soft voice. Ethan stared at me and asked, "What do you mean with WE?" I giggled. "Erica, you and I are going!" Ethan was really not cooperating but he did join us. 

  As usual, we turned into eagles and then ants. The moment we entered the hall of the secret library, we turned into our human forms. I saw Erica's eyes. The blue watery eyes, with new hope and excitement hidden in them. Ethan was gazing at Erica. "Ethan?" I whispered. Ethan was still gazing at Erica. I called out his name quite louder yet he didn't hear me. I was really annoyed. I roared as loud as possible, "ETHAN!!!" Even Erica's family came downstairs wondering what was the sound yet Ethan still was gazing at Erica. Erica's parents saw her. Needless to mention, an emotional scene took place. Ethan didn't stop gazing! I gave a tight slap. He was back to reality. Erica and her family giggled. Ethan sighed. "Isn't Erica quite pretty? She's not a Lanshiren. She's a Taleasean..." I was stunned. For the first time, he was talking something good about her. "Ehem! Young boy, you have some responsibilities. First, you have to take care of Erica's family. After the war...Hopefully when I win (I hope so) we will have to save the Taleas Kingdom too. 

  He nodded excitedly. "Are you planning to be the future king of Taleas?" I snapped at him. He immediately, "No NO! No! I mean I just think she's beautiful." I didn't buy his refusal. "I definitely didn't buy it!" I gave him a deadly stare. Suddenly, Erica came towards me and Ethan was back to his new job, GAZING AT ERICA. It was really irking. I sighed. "Cora, I don't know what could I do for you! I am really blessed to have you as my best friend. You saved my family. Now I am not controlled by the Lanshirens and Tranquets anymore. I am fully on your side!" I smiled as she expressed her thoughts. "I promise you. The day after we win the war, we will be conducting our coronation together. The Queen of Crustel and The Queen of Taleas!" We hugged. "I think not only the future queen of Taleas is here. The future king is here too," I told her. She looked at Ethan and with disgust on her face she replied, "I deserve better!" We laughed. 

  We brought Erica and her family to the forest. I lunged out, "Mom! MOM! We have royal guests!" Thanks to god, Emerald was at the aventurine mine (Erica was the one who prepared the schedule for Emerald). Mom came out from her tent. She hurried. She saw Erica. Of course, she was equally shocked and outraged but when she saw her parents, the rage in her was gone. "King Estaban and Queen Merlina?" She told their names. They nodded. She was excited. "Erica's their daughter?" she asked again. Now I nodded. She couldn't believe the fact. She was super elated. Guess what? Now it was our turn to show the power of Crustel and Taleas! We practised together with General Maven Lorenzo. I was sure that we could win the war. Have I mentioned that Queen Merlina is a mermaid and that's why Erica could turn into a mermaid and her wand's gem was united with a tranquet's gem? So she can turn into a mermaid and tranquet!