Chapter 2: Midnight, on the balcony
Celeste tiptoed down the hall. Thankfully, Elrin was asleep or he'd be with her, ready to kill Connor for his 'presumptiousness'. But if Connor was dead, he couldn't annoy her anymore...For a moment, Celeste paused outside Elrin's door and waited to see if he heard her. But then it struck her--Elrin slept like the dead. Even if she sang opera outside his room, her twin couldn't hear her.
Reluctantly, Celeste walked down the hallways towards the dining room. What if he doesn't show up? She worried. What if he lies? But those thoughts had been clustered in her mind all day; with a well-practiced sigh she ran down the halls. Her bare feet made no noise at all, despite her haste, and for the millioneth time it struck Celeste just how scary it was in the palace. They say that the former prince Phobos's ghost roams these halls...looking for his revenge on Queen Elyon... She thought nervously.
A figure looked up as Celeste walked onto the balcony. Connor's lips lifted in a smirk. "So. You showed up." He said softly. "Where's Elrin?" He added suddenly.
Celeste pulled her robe closer. "He's sleeping. You made a promise, Connor. Now I'm holding you to your word. Who was my father?" She said intently.
Connor backed away. "Nice nightgown. Is that real silk? Wow." He said casually.
A thought was forming at the back of Celeste's mind. "You don't know who my father is!" She snapped. Her blue eyes went wide. "That's why you wanted Elrin here--he's stop you from telling me!"
Connor moved forward. "Celeste, please. Keep your voice down or--"
"Who's there?" A guard shouted.
Celeste looked back at Connor. "I'm sick and tired of your games." She rasped. She grabbed her boots, which she had left on the balcony earlier, and pulled them on. "Good luck explaining to everyone why I'm gone!"
Connor looked like he wanted to grab her but instead he grabbed a stick and struck a decorative gong. Within moments people began to rush towards the balcony.
Celeste scrambled over the edge and winced as she felt the wood splinters and rose thorns on the decorative trellis cut into her flesh. Somehow, she had always imagined this part would be easier and less painful.
Connor looked over the edge of the balcony. "Celeste! Where are you going?" He called. Worry crossed his face and he looked much younger and more nervous than he ever had.
"To find my father!" Celeste called back. Her feet on the trellis slipped, and she fell backwards onto the ground. Pain shot through her ankle, but anger and misery fueled her and she ran for the stables.
Elyon appeared suddenly. "Where's Celeste? Where's my daughter!" She screamed. Her eyes hit on the broken trellis and the blood on it and she began to scream in a thin, terrified voice.
Celeste's horse appeared, shooting like a rocket out of the stables.
Elrin saw it and a look of panic crossed his face. "Celeste! Come back!" He shouted.
Connor gave a thin whistle; his horse appeared from the stables as well. "It's okay--I'll get her!" He shouted. He slid down the trellis, breaking it entirely, and scrambled onto his horse. Then he was also gone.
Will leaned against Caleb, still screaming both for her son and Celeste. Finally she stopped, weeping still. "They won't come back. Not until they find her father." She said aloud.
Elyon looked down. "Then I'd rather them never return than find him."
