Blood and Betrayal

-03-

"Peter!"

"Peter, if you can hear us, please come out!"

Anthrea paced back and forth anxiously. "Oh, where could he be!"

Her father shook his head, sighing. "This really isn't like Peter to suddenly disappear."

Anthrea suddenly turned on her father, eyes blazing. "What do you mean, 'disappear'? Clearly-"

"Anthrea. Please." Her mother put a hand on her shoulder. "Just calm down. I'm sure we'll find him eventually. And... we're not certain if he was... kidnapped or so."

"But-"

Leila appeared at Anthrea's side, face grim and exhausted. "No luck- a few hours into the search, all the debris and grime seemed to magically clean itself up."

Anthrea wrung her hands hopelessly. "Oh, what do we do?"

Leila frowned. "What was that?"

Anthrea spun around. "Peter?" She asked hopefully.

"No, it sounds like... a lot of people are shouting." She glanced towards the plaza. "Like, over there."

Anthrea's father sighed. "I guess we'll have to go over there and look for ourselves."

--

The huntress turned around, checking every corner of the dark field.

"What are you looking for?"

She whirled, brandishing a hidden dagger.

The speaker raised his hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. But you looked rather concerned."

The young woman frowned. "Who... are you?"

The man stepped back. "You wouldn't, by any chance, be looking for a boy, would you?"

Her eyes widened. "What... what do you know about him?"

"He looked... out of place. Possibly around ten, and quite round, particularly around the middle."

"But... when was the last time you saw him?"

"That would be roughly seven hours ago."

"Seven hours!"

"Do you want me to help?"

The huntress turned around, walking away. "I don't even know you- why should I trust you?"

The man clasped his hands together. "How rude of me! My name is Rehano."

She paused. "That's quite an unusual name."

He tilted his head, eyes glinting. "You still haven't told me yours."

The young woman smiled as she turned around. "It's Leila. Leila Dabbids."

--

The crowd whispered in hushed tones as Westin Charan made his way towards the front.

Anthrea watched from the side. His royal highness Ian Lelano certainly looked the part of being a prince. But Anthrea knew better than to overestimate (or underestimate) people by how they looked.

"Prince Ian!" Her father hurried to greet the prince. "What brings you to Quibeo? How is your father- is he alright?"

His highness grinned. "Oh, my father is fine. I take it you heard about our... ah, current situation?" The expression was too fake, too artificial. Possibly even forced. 

The Master's smile faded. "Yes. In fact, I have." He turned around. "Anthrea, dear, might you go tell your mother about the prince's arrival?"

Anthrea snorted. More like 'Anthrea can you please not stick your nose into our business and please just go away?'.

She stalked off towards her family's home, boots not making a sound against the stone floor.

Anthrea kicked the door open.

"Hmm, somebody looks grumpy." Leila swung her feet off the table as soon as Anthrea walked over the threshold.

"The prince came."

Leila bolted up. "What?"

Anthrea rolled her eyes. "Are you deaf? His. Royal. Highness. Is. Here. In . The. Plaza. Right now."

Leila covered her mouth. "Why?"

Anthrea plopped onto the couch. "Dunno. Seems important, though. But what I don't understand is how come such a 'noble' person came to our stupid little place." She kicked the ground.

Leila shook her head. "But-"

Anthrea shot up. "I got it! Oh, Leila, think about it- we've been hearing news of revolts and such for the past few weeks, and suddenly the prince shows up? That can't be a coincidence. And remember about my father? He used to be a lord in the king's court- and not just any random court member- the Lord of the South, he was.

Why would the prince come here and specifically search for Westin Charan- to solve something about the king's problem- if it hadn't anything to do with these smaller issues erupting all around Neramme?"

Leila nodded slowly. "Sometimes I wonder how your brain works... but you're right, obviously. The problem is, what does His Highness want with us? I understand why the king would want to talk to your father, but what does he specifically need from us?"

Anthrea huffed out a breath. "I guess we're about to find out."

Leila frowned. "What do you-"

She glanced out the window, where the prince and her father seemed to be arguing. 

Leila huffed. "Sometimes I really wonder how your brain works."

WORD COUNT: 800 

A/N: Sorry for the wait! The main reason was I actually had no content to post (apologies) but I hope this works!! The next chapter will drop very, VERY soon (I PROMISE!!!).