AN: A new chapty's up, fellas! Finally, huh? Okay, don't forget to review!
PRINCESS THEODORA
(CASSIE'S POV)
I am so flabbergasted, I mean literally. Here's what happened:
"Faith, we gotta run." He answered back and this seriously did startle me.
"What? Where?" I got alarmed.
"Richland woods, the hidden world of Makabah tribe." He told me. The second he finished that, an SUV came and stopped in front of us. He opened the door and waited for me to come. The driver was a man whom I had no idea of.
"Come, let's go." He said.
"No. I cannot go to Richland. You know mom would totally flip out if she knows that I'm going to the tribe." I said and took some steps back.
"Do you trust me?" he held out his hand. "I swear it's not just about our tribe but the shape shifters and vampires too. You need to come. You are the…"
"Okay, 1) don't say that word. I know that. 2) Why do we need to run?"
"I'll tell you. Come in." I climbed into the car and sat on the seat next to him. He stayed quiet for some minutes and then, finally gave up because I was staring at him for an answer.
"Okay, start it." Louis told the driver. This guy was about 25, I mean just the same age as Wayne and he had brown hair. His eyes were, I guess, somewhat between brown and green. "Your dad is coming, again."
"I NEED TO GO BACK, RIGHT NOW! PULL BACK THE CAR!" I yelled and tried to open the door.
"Oh stop it! Quit acting like I just kidnapped you." He said and shook me.
"But…what if he…"
"All of them are on patrols and by now, Wayne would've told everyone about you going to Richland. We need to keep you safe, any single way."
I totally feel like a dorky princess, I really do.
"You know what?" I was in half words to say what I felt.
"You feel like a dorky princess?" he asked me.
"How do you know?" I snapped.
"Just guessed it. I thought a few more words like geeky, idiotic, dumb…anything."
"Um…tell me more about this? Why can't you guys let me die? I mean why are you putting up so much of security?" I asked.
"Okay, let's just say your grandmom wants you safe and she just came to know that you exist. Your dad never told her and since he became a vampire, they both haven't met and your grand M even sent an army to kill him but she knows that if your dad has a possession of you and the locket both, he's undefeatable."
"Okay, what my possession and which locket?" I asked.
"Well, let's just say that you ain't powerful without that locket. If you are 100% right now, with that you'll be 500% of yourself. You could even use other three elements."
"Dude, what?" I asked.
"She'll tell you in detail. Her name is Clarisse but everyone bows to her as HRH Queen Clarisse. You won't need to and three rules of being what you are.
1) Princesses don't use slang words.
2) Princesses don't bow to anyone.
3) And just don't act as if you are freaked out.
That is it."
"Are you kidding me, Louis? I AM freaked out! Okay, wait. How long do I have to stay?" I asked calming myself a bit.
"I think, might be she would keep you with her."
"I won't stay! I wanna get out of the car. Let me get out, Louis! Hey, stop this car right now. I, what-do-they-say, yeah, order you to stop." I shouted.
"Faith, don't make me do this to you."
"Do what to me? Let me get out!" I screamed. Within a second, he took out a small locket from his pocket and stared at it. I didn't get how but I dozed off in some seconds.
This is what happened with me. Atleast, what I remember and then all I knew is that I woke up in a living room of a mansion (to add- close to a palace). I totally flipped out at first but then I saw Louis, sitting near a pillar with this lady in a gown dress. I walked towards them.
OMG! She looks not more than 40. Okay, she might not be my grandmother. Her hair was exactly like my dad's- brown. Her eyes, just like mine when I am annoyed- purple and god, she was pretty and looked like someone royal.
"Well, Clarisse, I don't think she would take it that nicely. I mean she was hyperventilating when I told her that you might have her." He said. She is my grandmother.
"I did not hyperventilate." I snapped.
"Hmm…young girl, you need to learn." She said in a royal voice.
"Louis, I want to get out of here, right now!" I complained.
"I think I need to see my granddaughter, alone." She ordered him. He bowed and left. Then the strangest thing happened…
She hugged me. I tried my best to let lose. God, she is a grandmother after all. She's supposed to be all soft hearted.
"Look, your highness, I know you and my dad don't get along that much and even I don't get along with him…"
"Not your highness, grandma or whatever words you kids use these days."
"Okay, whatever. I know you want to keep me safe but…I needa go back. The Rez and everyone there, needs me." I had a lump in my throat. She made me sit and offered me a plate and said all too sweetly: "Cupcakes?"
"No, thanks…"
Your highness, there is a beast on the main gateway. It is in the shape of a large silver wolf." A guard kind of a person came in.
"Shit! Shit! That's Brady. Tell them not to even touch him." I shouted at the same moment. I ran off from the room blindly to find my way out but I finally did, stumbling down the staircase, the grand staircase and the large metal gateway and totally out on the grass. I did reach a place where many people were gathered. I pushed past them and went between. Brady, in his wolf form, was stuck between about 50 soldiers.
"Princess, you shouldn't have come here." Some woman said.
"Guys, just let me through. He won't hurt anyone." I said and I ran past. But I was late; some of them had already started using their gifts on him and made him unconscious. I didn't know where it came from but I just, without touching anyone, pushed them all away from him. The one, who had come to tell my grandmom about my beast boyfriend, came up.
"Princess, I think you should go. We will handle him." He came near where I had kneeled beside Brady.
"DO NOT TOUCH HIM." My eyes were totally wide and I knew the purple color had started coming instead of the cool blue one and that was why this general freaked out a bit and he got away.
"There's nothing to watch here. Go away." I heard Louis' voice. Brady moved atleast his head did. I knew I had started crying, almost.
"You freaked me out." I said, bending over his head. "You need to phase back."
"I'll help him out, you go inside." Louis said and helped me up. "Rhys, take her inside."
The same general, now I noticed, came back. He had green eyes like Louis and he was totally like those Royal-pet generals as you see in shows like Reign or movies like Chronicles of Narnia 2 or 3.
"Rhys, you guys shouldn't have hurt him. He never meant any harm." I said. I won't say that they would have let him come like anything but they should've shown a bit of…okay, whatever. It's right to freak out like that.
"None of us knew that he was your pet, your highness." He answered all too sympathetically.
"He is not my pet! He is my boyfriend!" I snapped.
"What?!" he asked me. "I mean, pardon me, your majesty?"
"Urgh! Would you stop calling me that? He is a shape shifter." I shouted.
"Um…they do not exist, your highness."
"They do and as a matter of fact, you just saw that." I said and sat on the couch and folded my arms over my chest like a three year old.
"Ah Theodora! Where have you been?" my grandmother came out of another room.
"Theo-what?" I questioned and looked back.
"I'm talking to you, my little princess." She said.
Great, another new name. Sometimes I feel so lucky. People don't even get a passport for one name and I would get it easily for three. Note the sarcasm in that.
"Oh c'mon! Not another new name. I have been named Cassidy, Faith and now this? Where's Louis?" I asked her. I know where this Theodora came from. Totally from Theodore and even if that is something.
"Princess Faith, Theodora is your real birth name." she told me.
"Can I just go and see Brady? I mean the shape shifter?" I asked her.
"Um…well…" Rhys muttered.
"Why not? Go." She asked Rhys to lead me and I followed him. He took me to a room in the basement floor or whatever they call it. It wasn't anything like some dark basement but just a lobby under the main ground floor. I noticed the whole palace in these few seconds. The living room had been so beautiful and the couch set was purple. There were a lot of decorations and chandeliers over there. The carpet was really pretty and I could notice that even though the walls were white, there wasn't a speck of dirt on them. He pointed to a door at the far end of the corridor and I ran to open it. Meanwhile, I had really started crying. I swear if any of them have even hurt him an inch I would kill them. I mean not exactly because more than Brady, they would've been scared but that's just a figure of speech. Brady was sitting on the bed, Louis at his side eating wrap kind of something. Brady was in a black pair of trousers and no shirt as I knew.
"I'll get going." Louis said and walked past me. I just stood at the door, trying to control my tears and folded my arms over my chest. Brady's chest was in bandages and so was his right hand. There were scratches near his eyes and on his cheeks and chest. He pointed to the scratches near his eyes with his right hand that was in bandage. I walked over to sit next to him. None of us really said anything. I just looked into his brown peat bog eyes. If anyone knows what a peat bog is. I think I have explained it to you guys earlier but if you don't remember then it is used in Celtic countries to test if you're guilty of a crime. The accused goes over into the brown lake kind of a thing and if you drown, you are guilty, if not, you are not but it usually happens that you are and deep down, you just can't move. That is exactly what I felt. I couldn't move. He pointed to his cheeks and gave me a weren't-they-supposed-to-listen-to-the-princess look. I touched the right scratch.
"Ow, that hurt." He said and I giggled. I touched the left one. He smirked.
"I thought I might lose you again. So, I just came after you." He said brushing away my hair from the left ear. I don't remember when my rubber band had fallen off but now I could notice that because my hair was all lose.
"I know and I'm sorry. I should've called you." I said.
"Don't worry. We are together now, ain't we?" he asked me. I nodded. In the next second, I realized that his lips were brushing against mine. He kissed me desperately as if he needed me to breath.
"Theodora?" this was Clarisse's voice. Both of us pulled apart, embarrassed.
"Theo-what?" Brady asked looking at me.
"Ah, the shape shifter." My grandmom said.
"Yeah, he's Brady." I told her.
"Who's Theodora?" he asked me.
"Could you call me Cassie?" I told her. To Brady, I said: "Who else is here?" He couldn't help giggling a bit over the name until I smacked the back of his head. Clarisse took a seat in front of us. I noticed her gown this time. It was the coffee color and god; you had to take a look at her figure. Someone do explain me how can she by my grandmother. She looked even less than 40 in the dress as what I could say and this wasn't a figure of speech. The jewelry was way too spectacular. Brady looked confused and squeezed my hand for an explanation on who she was.
"She's my grandmother, Her Royal Highness Dowager Queen Clarisse." I answered.
"She's your grandmother? Yeah, and I am Michael Freaking Jackson." He answered.
"I understand that but you know, she just is. Grandma, this…is Brady." Why had I gone all so cheery at his introduction?
"I know, I know. You did actually, what-do-you-kids-call-it, yes, flip out when Rhys came to tell us that he is here in his wolf form. I suppose you are a successor of the tribe of the Spiritual Warriors?" she asked in a royal voice. Was she making fun of our slang American language?
"Exactly, your majesty, and you see, I have actually…" he was in halfway to say something.
"Imprinted on my granddaughter, I see that." She answered.
"How do you know that?" I asked her.
"Princess, do I need to tell you that the tribes had been friends but later, when half of us started fading away, they forgot our existence." She didn't mean it as an insult but just a fact. "And as a matter of fact, I can read some feelings in a person's heart and his for you are as strong as I read and heard, your feeling of fear when they told you that he was here was confusing for me at first but now I know why. He wasn't your pet and your feeling of fear was way too much to hold. It seriously caused me a headache and that is why I am trying to make you feel at home."
"So, what's the whole deal with the locket?" I asked her.
"I need to tell you since the really start, do I not?"
"You totally do." Brady said in between to make sure that we knew he was there.
"You're still watchable, young man." She said. She can joke.
"So, it started with your father, me and his father- your grandfather I mean. We both knew that our child will be powerful but the only problem was that he used to take things a tad negatively."
"Exactly." Brady said.
"His father told him about the unjust behavior of the vampires on different tribes and later, that developed into his hatred for them. He came to know how powerful he might be once there was someone he had as a successor, who could help him do what he wanted. He was powerful enough himself but then he used a young girl to have a successor which was your sister, Amelia's mother. He was so annoyed on Amelia's birth because she was the guardian of wind that he killed her mother and then, your mother fell for him. Then, you we got your news. But before your birth, your mother came to know about your father's intentions and she asked me for help. I thought, till now, that she and you were killed but Wayne told me that you weren't and even Diana was alive. All your father wants from you are your gifts but the tribe needs them more, not because they want to use you as a weapon but you could only help to keep the tribe alive."
"How…how can I?" I asked.
"I do not exactly know but it's the prophecy. Here, Louis was talking about this locket." She took something off her neck. The chain was white gold and the pendant was a round and somewhat flat stone. It was surrounded by a boundary that left the sides free and was shaped like a heart. It was really pretty at first sight.
Oh my god! That's not just a stone. I could see three colors down the layer of red and blue that made it look purple.
"What makes it so special?" I questioned.
"Brady, what do you see in this?" she asked him.
"Um…it's an amethyst, I guess, your highness." He answered.
"Now, you tell me, Cassie?"
"It's not a normal stone. The first layer is red, second-blue, and third-green and last is invisible or white as you might consider it."
"Pitch perfect. This belongs to you. Your grandfather left it for you when his father killed him because of this." She said and hung it round my neck. "It will help you."
"Help me how? I mean Louis told me that I could be 500% of myself with this but I don't feel any difference." I said. Brady put his hand on his mouth trying his best not to laugh. Clarisse smiled.
"You will know it. One thing I can clue you about it that you project yourself strongly and it will boost that." She said.
I didn't get a word she said.
I mean really… what does she mean?
"Okay, tell me more about the tribe?" I replied to change the topic.
"Well, my dear, you see this whole area belongs to Makabah tribe and humans have no idea of its existence. They just spin stories about you at times and get it published. This palace you are in was rebuilt in 1232 AD. We all work like normal humans do but earn more than them. It is because of our specialization in whatever we do and gain large profits and this cycle turns all of this to come to our society. The taxes make us wealthier and about the people, hmm…" she stopped and stood up to look out of the window. "Everyone has their own talent, like you project yourself, Louis makes you feel lighter, Wayne is a healer and so is Amelia, I read emotions and your father, he could persuade anyone, not too easily, although. But you four are special amongst us. You are from the royal bloodlines that give you the control of the Elements." She stopped and saw me yawning. "We could talk about it over breakfast, tomorrow."
"No, wait. It's not that I'm tired. I could hear to it." I added quickly.
"You are not, but he is. We should let him sleep." She said and pointed to Brady who had dozed off by now. She went out and I got up. I took one last look at him and okay, that just made me take a peck at his forehead.
"Cassie?" she called from outside.
"Coming grandma." I answered. It's weird calling her that. I followed her, to I don't know where, but I just did. She led me to a door, next to a few doors on the right side of the corridor on the same floor.
"This is your room. Sybilla decorated it." She said and pushed open the door. She walked in and switched on the lights.
OH
MY
GOD!
That is just a princess' room. I mean it was so large that I could always play fetch with Marley here. There were three doors and the walls were painted coffee- peachish. The bed was way larger than mine back home. Not that my room was small but I mean this is huge. The bed, as I could see, seemed way too soft and the bed spread was shiny purple and the back of the bed was the same. The dressing area was way too equipped. I bet if Hayley would ever be here, she would go mad seeing that. The TV wasn't a TV, it was a plasma screen. The curtains were made to contrast the walls and were choco-nut brown.
"Seems like you like it?" she asked me.
"Yeah, it's beautiful." I answered.
"Go and change into your night clothes, PJ's, I guess, is what you call them?"
"Yeah." I answered. I walked in the third door and took out a blue tank top and pink hot pants. I had gone tired by now. When I came out, she was there and had a coffee mug in her hand.
"I thought you'd need it." She gave it to me as I climbed onto the bed and she sat by my side. It was hot chocolate but not too hot to drink.
"Thanks." I answered.
"Hmm…what do normal grandmothers do when their granddaughters refuse to sleep? I think they tell them some stories about princes and princesses, don't they?"
"Yeah, but here's the deal- it's for kids under the age of 8. My Maternal grandma used to do it when we used to visit them." I answered.
"I see. So, why don't we make this story a bit more teenager-ish?"
"What's it about?" I asked sipping at my hot chocolate.
"Well, about Clarisse and Dominick." She answered.
"You and gramps?" I asked her.
"Well, that you'd know when you hear it." She answered. She is my grandmother after all. Well, anyway, I didn't hear a word she said because I was way too sleepy and I felt the lights out after a few minutes of her speaking.
AN: OMG! What's happening here? So, three reviews till the next update!
