THE HIDDEN PRINCESS

CHAPTER 5

::LUCIAN POV::

Today is the day of the tournament, my beta and gamma along with myself have been training for a better part of the morning before we decide to take a break.

"Phew, that was quite the workout. Those other participants won't know what hit them once they come face to face with us!" My beta, Alex exclaims while placing an arm across my shoulder.

This causes me to chuckle a bit at his enthusiasm and confidence before I shrug off his arm.

"Oh please, we all know that victory will go to our prince here. There is no one that can even compare to him." My gamma, Bron states.

I roll my eyes at them both, oh how wrong they were. If they knew of my little sister and how she bested me only a few short weeks ago, they would no doubt laugh at how I was beaten by a girl. But I keep those thoughts to myself and just smile.

As we make our way towards the palace, I see my sisters maid, Greda looking around suspiciously before gesturing to a cloaked figure behind her to follow. I know this maid and how close she is to my sister, so I don't want to jump to conclusions, but the way she's acting and the cloaked figure following her is very alarming. Before my friends notice anything, I quickly make up an excuse and leave before following, Greda from a distance. If there is anything going on, I'd rather handle it myself instead of causing a panic by informing the guards. My wolf, Hermes growls in the back of my mind, keeping alert to any danger.

Once I catch up to, Greda and the cloaked figure who look around the corner, I lean against the wall behind them and clear my throat, causing the both of them to jump in surprise. Gerda walks around the cloaked figure and stands in front of me with her head down.

"Mind telling me the meaning of this, Greda?" I ask with authority, causing the girl to flinch.

"I-I was just t-taking my friend here around, t-they wanted to see w-what it was like since this is their first time in our k-kingdom."

This makes me even more suspicious and I look towards the back of the cloaked figure. They haven't moved a muscle and their back is straight as a board. Raising a brow, I slowly walk towards the figure, much to the dismay of, Gerda who is trying to beg me to stop. I then place my hand on their shoulder and spin them around quickly to face me, causing their hood to fall off before my eyes go wide in shock.

"You..."

::LILLY'S POV::

"Mind telling me the meaning of this, Greda?" I hear my brothers voice and inwardly curse.

"I-I was just t-taking my friend here around, t-they wanted to see w-what it was like since this is their first time in our k-kingdom."

Oh nice, there's no WAY he'll be suspicious now. Goddess, I knew this was a bad idea.

Suddenly, I feel a strong hand on my shoulder and am spun around with such force that the hood of my cloak falls off my head, and when my eyes meet my brothers he looks at me in shock.

"You..." he says and immediately grabs both of my shoulders.

"What are you doing out here, Lilly?!" He hisses.

Even though I'm using illusion magic, he can still tell it's me and I bite my lower lip while casting my eyes down in shame. He's always been able to see through my illusions, whether it be because of our bond or some other reason I can't say for sure. But I've never been able to fool him.

"Do you know what kind of danger you're getting yourself into by being out here?" He asks, but this time there is worry in his voice.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly look up into my brothers worry filled eyes and nod. Causing him to grip my shoulders a bit tighter which makes me wince slightly. Seeing this, he lets go of my shoulders and sighs before raking a hand through his hair.

"Goddess, Lilly. What were you thinking? You need to go back." He says while reaching for my hand, but I pull away and look up at him with determination.

"Lucian, I've practically been a prisoner in my own home my entire life. Please, just this once, let me see our kingdom, our people, with my own eyes." I plead, hoping he'll have sympathy towards me.

"I want this, I know the dangers but I'm tired of seeing everyone else live their lives through a window!"

"You're not like other-"

"I KNOW THAT!" I raise my voice, taking him by surprise before hanging my head.

"I know I'm not like others. I know I hold some sort of devastating power that can be used for evil if people know of me. I know that..." I say in a small voice before looking up at him with tears slowly falling down my cheeks, making him look panicked.

"But please brother, just this once. Let me be like the others, let me see how other people live with my own two eyes, not by some book. Please..."

For a while my brother looks stunned, torn between my pleas and our fathers fury if he finds out about this. Then he sighs with a look of defeat on his face.

"Okay fine, but I'm coming with you. It will look less suspicious that way." He say with finality and I beam up at him before throwing my arms around his neck in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Lucian." I whisper as he returns my hug before letting me go.

He sighs and places the hood of my cloak back onto my head before wrapping my hand around his arm and placing his hand on top of mine.

"Stay by my side at all times." He says and I nod in understanding.

"And, Lilly?" I look up at him and tilt my head slightly, wondering what he's going to say.

"Happy birthday." I smile and he places a soft kiss against my forehead.

"Thank you." I say happily and smile up at him. He returns my smile before leading me out onto the grounds.

While this was going on, a figure stood in the shadows and watched the siblings with a wicked smile.

"Soon, things will finally go my way. So enjoy this while you can, because it's about to come to an end." And with that, the figure slowly fades back into the shadows.