Faramund, Guardian of Celeibra's prince Alcaeus, only cares about two things: keeping his prince safe and following the rules. With Alcaeus' rule in jeopardy, a bumbling mage failing at spying seems the least of his problems -- at least until the ma...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Channary despised the gleeful look on Soleil's face as she opened the door.
"I had a feeling we'd meet again," Soleil said with a wink. She bowed and motioned for Channary to enter.
"Of course you did," Channary grumbled, stepping inside. She crossed her arms and glanced back as Soleil locked them inside. "Don't get comfortable. I will take over this operation as soon as it suits me." Soleil's eyes glimmered with mischief as her smile grew. When their gaze met, Channary's locked on the storm inside them. They were knowing, playful, terrifying, and beautiful all at once.
"Good morning to you, too." The voice of Soleil's guardian broke the spell. Channary jerked her head away. She pushed her hair behind her ears, ignoring how her face burned. She made her way to the table they'd talked at the day before. Unlike before, it was now covered in stacks of papers and journals. The Guardian lacked the mask today and was skimming through a newspaper.
"What are you doing?" Channary asked.
"Notes," Menelaus answered. "We had a busy night."
Soleil slapped Channary on the back and said, "And we're about to have another one!" She threw herself into one of the chairs and grabbed a journal from the table's collection.
Channary watched her throw the book open to a specific page. "Busy doing...what?"
"What we do requires having information. The right information," Soleil began. "Which means going to the right places and talking to the right people."
"Like who? I can't imagine many people are willing to spill their secrets to an overthrown princess." She plucked up one of the notebooks and flipped through it. Channary frowned. She couldn't read most of it and what she could made no sense.
Soleil smiled. "Please," she said. "Don't be so full of yourself. I'm not always pretending to be you. I have a whole cast of characters who are much more fun to play."
"You should be grateful. Sol's version is so much more flattering than you really are, don't you think?" Menelaus said. Though his face remained focused downwards, Channary could still see the smirk on his face. She tossed the notebook back down and hugged her arms.
"You don't know me," she muttered, turning away.
Soleil hummed and flipped through pages of her notebook dramatically. "Let's see..." Her pointer finger scanned along the pages. She grinned and tapped a part of the page. "Ah, here we go! Channary Dara Sovanna. Twenty-two years old. Bonded at fourteen to the guardian Leilani, earth elemental from the forest of Nais. Trained to fight by Commander Tanus. Acceptable in swords and bows, but not particularly talented."
Channary opened her mouth to protest, but Soleil kept going. "Accidentally shattered a window during practice at eleven. Had a crush on a servant girl. Got same girl fired." The judgement she shot Channary spoke volumes. A shiver struck the princess' body. Soleil turned back to the journal. "Loves lemon-flavored desserts, has a nervous tick of playing with her hair, prefers cats, hates broccoli, and can't swim." She lowered the journal and smiled. "That's a few highlights. Would you like me to continue?"
