THE ASHES OF LIGHT ✔

Chapter Three: Maythus

After alerting the guards, Maythus returned to his room and sat on the edge of his bed in a confused daze. What had just happened?

One moment Maythus was standing up, getting ready to grab a snack, and the next moment a stranger had appeared in his room. His reflexes immediately jumped in as he caught her, carefully lifting the girl back to her feet.

She was definitely pretty—the girl had long blonde hair and light-colored eyes. That wasn't Maythus's most significant concern, though. He was concerned about how she had gotten into the palace—more specifically, his bedroom—and who she was. Gallomia was so small that everyone knew everyone, but Maythus was sure he had never met her before.

The door to Maythus's room swung open as his twin sister stepped in.

"Who was that?" Maddi asked, her eyes burning with curiosity.

"I have no idea," Maythus chuckled, still in disbelief, "she just appeared in my room out of nowhere. Someone must have used an energy port on her, because she seemed clueless as to where she was."

An energy port was a type of technology designed by channelers that used the energy in the light to transport someone anywhere they wanted. It was possible to transport someone else using an energy port, but it was highly complicated and would require a vast knowledge of how the technology worked. Even so, people rarely used it because of its nasty side effects—a terrible headache and an overwhelming feeling of nausea.

"Let's go find out," Maddi's eyes glimmered with interest as the two raced out of Maythus's room, jogging down the hall until they came to a stop in front of the throne room.

"No going in," Moira, the palace guard, informed them. "The queen is busy."

"Who was she?" Maythus asked.

"Valencia Walker," Moira answered.

"Wait, Walker as in... Ashton Walker?" Maddi piped up, confusion evident on her face.

Moira shrugged, "I don't know, but she certainly looks like him."

That much was clear—thinking back to what little Maythus had seen of Valencia, it was apparent that she and Ashton shared a few facial features.

Maythus felt a sense of dread weigh down on his shoulders. That poor girl had gone her whole life without knowing about Light Manipulation and Gallomia, and suddenly she appeared here, only for Ashton to be gone. Maythus was thankful he wasn't king yet although he was next in line for the throne, because he would have no idea how to proceed with this.

"Wait, look in her head," Maddi spoke up as they walked away from Moira and the throne room. "See if she's one of us."

Maythus stared at his sister in disbelief, "You know I can't do that! Not only would that be breaking the law, but it's also an invasion of privacy. Besides, we're too far for my telepathy to be very effective anyway."

Maddi clucked her tongue in disappointment, "What's the point of being a telepath if you're never going to use your ability?"

"You're one to talk!" he jokingly pushed her. "You're a princess. There's no reason for you to shift into anything else."

Unlike Maythus and Klara, Maddi took after their mother and was a shifter. That allowed her to change her physical appearance into whatever she wanted—so long as what she shifted into was alive.

Maddi's face darkened, "Just because I'm a princess doesn't mean I get everything I want."

"Well, you certainly don't have a bad life," Maythus commented. "We're lucky that the worst thing that's happened to us is Mom and Dad dying."