The uncontrollable power lurking beneath Princess Alethia's skin can either be the savior of the Four Kingdoms or its destruction.
Princess Alethia was raised on three principles: (1) Mercy is for the weak, (2) Emotions are an unwanted distraction...
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"Let's get back before Ren decides to leave us behind." Sephirah turned back, walking hastily through the forest. The crunching leaves and buzzing insects filled the silence. She could feel Aydin's probing eyes on the side of her face.
"Where's the 'get away from me, you womanizing prick'?" Aydin mimicked her voice, shifting his to an annoyingly high octave. Sephirah shot him a glare but remained silent. Her heart seemed to falter for a moment as guilt rushed through her like a waterfall. She still hadn't told him about the letter her mother had sent her before the battle began.
The harsh, venomous words she had forced herself to read and swallow down haunted her mind. As much as she had wanted to tell Aydin, she couldn't. Sephirah resolved to burn the letter the next time she was alone. It would destroy the road to recovery Aydin was on, and she refused to allow it to happen. He was finally doing better. She couldn't take that away from him too.
However, the words of a Witan never lied. And what they had revealed to her mother changed the fate of everything.
Sephirah's face drained of color as an icy sensation traveled down her spine. Her tongue burned with the desire to spill out the contents of the letter, but her mother had ordered her not to, and an order from the Empress was something she could not defy. Friend or not.
"What's wrong?" Aydin pressed, laying his hand on her shoulder. The warmth of it burned through her jumpsuit, soaking into her skin and heating the bone-chilling feeling in her body.
"Nothing." Sephirah forced a smile and jerked her chin to where Ren and Alethia stood. A heated argument appeared to be occurring from the tell-tale sound of Ren's deep disapproving voice. "I'm just wondering what's going on up there."
Aydin removed his hand, a scowl warping his features. Sephirah brushed away the tension and guilt inside of her and pushed against his arm playfully. "Be careful, Aydin. You're starting to look like him now too."
She chuckled at her joke, and Aydin threw her an offended look. Ren noticed their approach from afar and turned away, shutting down the conversation with Alethia, who was glaring at him. As Sephirah got closer, she winced at the girl's intense eyes.
If looks could kill, Ren would be a dead man right now.
"Took you long enough," Ren scolded, trudging down the hill in the direction of the desert. Stars shone down on them as the group started after him. The moon was reaching high into the navy blue sky as the temperature began to drop.
Sephirah looked upward, catching Nova as she drifted between the thick clouds, her figure disappearing for a couple of seconds.
"So, what were you guys talking about?" Sephirah inquired. She hated traveling in silence. When she left the Nix Kingdom with Blaise and Kyra, they filled their time with their hilarious training stories and embarrassing moments. Laughter and playful banter had made the journey seem shorter and more eventful. That was the way she preferred things.
