Crustel

Chapter 26

   I went back to my seat. Ethan and Kanyal gave me a deadly stare meanwhile Erica smiled awkwardly. "Please, don't tell me that you told..." Erica cut me, "Hehehe...I had to tell. There was a fight between Kanyal and Ethan where I didn't have any choice." I was totally busted. I saw the disbelief in Kanyal's eyes and anger in Ethan's eyes as he knew that I called him Elvira's son earlier. He really hates when people introduce him as Elvira's son. He prefers to be known as Foscor's son. I was stunned for a moment. "Can you explain, Cora?" Kanyal barked. "Calm down. We have a much more vital thing to focus on," Kanyal cut me, "What do you mean with 'WE'? I am going to leave! This is a betrayal, Cora! BETRAYAL!" He was too theatrical. I actually was about to laugh when he screamed in a female tone. To be honest, Erica, Ethan and I wanted to laugh but it was quite a really serious situation.

  Kanyal wasn't joking at all as we were quite near to Aquanya. He got down from the carriage and clapped twice. To my dismay, a bigger carriage was in front of us. "We are heading to Aquanya." He ordered the horsemen. "Kanyal! Prince Kanyal! Don't leave us!" I lunged out. Ethan looked at me and said, "Let him go. This proves that he's a coward." He sighed. Erica was biting her nails. "Oh please!" I screamed. Kanyal came back. "Fine. Just tell him to never interrupt!" Kanyal sighed. "Should we officially name him as Drama King? He's too dramatic!" I whispered to Erica. Erica giggled and unfortunately, Kanyal saw us. "You still think this is a joke?" he was shouting. To be much specific, he was barking. He came back to our carriage. We went so far. We kept silent. I was trying to have peaceful conversations but Kanyal and Ethan were fighting. I asked Ethan to come with me to the secret compartment as Erica tried to calm down Kanyal. 

   When Ethan saw the compartment, his jaw hit the ground. "This looks like ancient Ruadian Library," he gasped. "Wait, ancient Ruadian library? I think Erica mentioned it earlier," I was thinking about Erica's words. All of sudden, Ethan shook me. "Cora, look!" He pointed to an ancient book. It must be at least a thousand years old. I opened it carefully.  The first page was a map. The next page was blank. Then, the page next to the blank page had a map. The pattern repeated till the last page. It was a collection of Ruadian's map's evolution. There were so many maps. Then my eyes met the page with the map of Ardian. It was an island far from Ruadian. There was Ardian's history too. I looked at Ethan's excitement. "This is it! The Hidden World of Magic. ARDIAN!!!" He was elated and was jumping in joy. He grabbed the book from me quickly and studied the map. I was not good at studying maps but Ethan was. "To enter Ardian's Gate, we have to pass through a hidden gate in Aquanya. Aquanya's Coral Festival is the only time we could pass through the gate. If we miss the festival, then we have no choice. We have to pass through so many challenging paths. I can't even describe how dangerous those paths are." He told quickly and seriously. It was not the usual childish Ethan. He spoke like an adult. (I mean he was too serious)

  I pressed Ethan's shoulder. "Elvira?" I whispered. He looked at the ground. "I know that Kanyal's trust in me was broken the moment he knew I am Elvira's son but I am Foscor's son too! Why didn't he think about my dad? I am not evil!" He almost cried. I wanted to cheer him up but decided to not let him conceal his disappointment. "I can understand but has Elvira ever came and met you after the Lanshiren attack? I mean after I went to the human world?" I asked him calmly. He looked as I have found out something that he was hiding from me. "What does your look exactly means?" I raised my voice. "Cora, I know I should have told you earlier but I was left with no choice. Do you remember the day that I found you sneaking into the dungeon?" He asked worriedly. I nodded. He took a deep breath and continued. "Well, I saw Elvira at Gling Castle. I was actually hurrying to the forest to inform Crustelicians about Elvira but when I saw you...ugh...Rest was history," He signalled as he wanted water. I opened the drawer which was beside a bookshelf. It seemed as it was blocking some books. I gave him the water bottle. Ethan was drinking water meanwhile I was staring at the books. The books were written in Ard Language. (Every wizard who wants to discover Ardian has to learn Ard Language. That's how I learnt. I wanted to discover Ardian since I was like five.)

    "Well, what was Elvira doing in Gling Castle?" I asked him as I was looking at the books suspiciously. "So, you're not mad at me?" He asked excitedly. "Of course not! Well, just tell me what happened?" I urged him as I found the books looking uncanny. "I saw Elvira at Gling Castle with your aunt," I cut him off as I took out the books from the shelf. The books were in puzzle shape. "These are ancient Ardian spell books!" I screeched in excitement the moment I read the title of the books. Kanyal and Erica came to the compartment. "You both definitely weren't talking quietly. Cora, you were shouting! You ruined my beauty sleep!" Kanyal was dramatic again. Erica gave him a deadly stare. "Could you  stop being theatrical?" Erica spoke. Again Kanyal was dramatic. "You call me dramatic. Oh, Neptune! They were ruining my beauty sleep and when I question them, they call me dramatic!" He was screaming with his female voice again. I couldn't resist his dramatic shows. "Prince Kanyal, can you please continue your slumber party! WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING!" When I roared, Kanyal just shut his mouth with his hand being too theatrical and ran to the seat. Ethan, Erica and I ended up giggling slowly so that he couldn't listen.