Chapter Fifteen - Listening Ears
Alright guys! More of you requested the rest of the tests than for me to skip, so we will be seeing four more tests. Yup. Four, cause there are five girls left. If any of you are curious, the ones that remain are Estrella (who I actually plan on giving some personality in either this chapter or the next), Dinah (is that her name? I think it's the name of the one who stole Mina's shoes in Reign, but I may be wrong), Ever, Annalora, and - of course - Mina.
Guest 1 : Now, I won't give away any spoilers - ahem, spoilers ahead - but your idea is brilliant and I'm totally going to use it this chapter - spoilers finished. Thank you!
Guest 2 : cx Hehe, I think that's brilliant! Let's just skip to the wedding, shall we? Just kidding, but I agree, I want them together as soon as they can be!
Pyromaniactic Pineapple : Well, I'm going to hope that I know what happens next. :p Otherwise I'll be stumbling along blindly!
Evx : We will just have to see. I can say one thing though. Annalora is a very sore loser, so if Mina does win, there won't be happiness and rainbows for everyone.
Guest 3 : I wouldn't say she doesn't love him as much. I'd say it's more her awkwardness. As we're all aware, Mina is not the most social person out there. Digging into her history more - and I do actually plan on addressing this at one point - you will find the main social interactions Mina has had are with her brother, and then that experience with Teague, which she promptly forgot. In all honesty, she's just unsure how to handle it, especially because (again, digging into her history which I may or may not address in the story itself this time, although I would like to) her parents do not get along, so she has no idea what romance looks like. She's just awkward Mina, trying to figure out what exactly is expected of her. ;) I promise you, they do love each other equally, but in this particularly case Teague is just louder when voicing these sort of things and also more experienced in what exactly is proper and such. Along with that, I think it's kind of awkward for Mina considering Teague seems to have grown up so much yet at the same time he hasn't, if you know what I mean. She's just trying her best to make sense of it all.
themagicalmarissa : I won't make any promises. cx Sorry! That's one thing I will not spoil, so you guys will be hanging in suspense. Hehe. And thank you! It means a lot for you to say you like them!
Ashka Silver : I'm glad you think Teague is so adorable!
Guest 5 : As I've said, I will make no promises on what happens with Teague and Mina. Whether they end up living happily ever after, or whether Mina gets tossed out of the tower for attempting assassination. c: You'll have to read on and see!
Phew! Anyways, are you guys up for the story now?
Mina's POV
In The Past...
"You know," Teague says, breaking the silence that followed after I told the story about the stars, "you're always telling me that I'm lonely. But how would you know?"
I bite my lip, trying to decide how to best phrase my answer. Father always says I think too much about what I say for a kid my age. But when it comes to tough subjects like this...Well, I just don't see how I can't think it through and make sure the answer is right.
"Because..." I take a deep breathe. "Well, because I am."
He seems very surprised by this answer. "What?"
"I don't have any friends." I add in my head, Besides you, but I don't know if you want yourself to count.
"You don't have anyone?" He persists.
"I have my brother. He's about it. And it's just not the same. Your siblings almost have to love you and spend time with you. Friends? Well, friends make the choice."
"What about your parents?"
He just has to keep finding the most painful topics, doesn't he? I glance back at the sky, anything to avert my gaze from him. "Let's not talk about them."
He takes this as his cue and shuts up about that topic. Or so I think. "I-I'm sorry, Mina. I didn't know that that was painfu-"
"Let's just not talk about it." I repeat, trying my best to keep calm.
"Right." He nods, but he looks a little hurt at my sharpness.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Do you have any friends?"
He gives a slight chuckle. "No, no, you've always been right. I...Well, I don't seem to have any friends."
"I'll be your friend." I say suddenly.
He looks up, eyes wide. "You...You will?"
"Yes." I nod my head, feeling slightly silly at the fact that we need to talk about it likes this, and decide that we are friends. But then again, how would I know what having a friend is like?
In The Present...
The sixth test. I can't help but feel slightly nervous. Maybe because I'm tired? Or maybe just because Annalora has been glaring at me all day, and I can't help but think she's concocting some horrible plan that I will end up hating her for. She's been hanging out with Estrella - the only one of her "friends" left - and I don't like the look she keeps giving me.
"Princess Wilhelmina? You are first." Wilsley bows, gesturing for me to enter the next room.
"Oh, okay." I nod, a little surprised since normally they take volunteers, and step forward. I quickly walk into the next room, but my anxiety fades slightly when I see Teague. "Teague."
I walk over, and he takes my hand. I think he can tell how nervous I am, because he gives it a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, you'll be fine, alright? You told me you trusted me. Now prove that and trust me on this."
"Okay." I nod again. He's right. I'll be fine, I hope. "Now, how about you explain what this test is?"
He gestures to the middle of the room, where a spinning wheel sits. When I see it, my first thought is the disastrous time my mother tried to teach me to spin. I failed miserably, and she was rather upset. Why did they have to pick spinning for this next test.
"You're going to spin on the wheel."
"Teague, I can't spin. At all." I shake my head.
He chuckles. "Oh, I guess I forgot to mention exactly what this is. You don't really need to do much, except use the peddle and spin the wheel. It does everything else with it's magic. The point of it is that it'll judge how strongly you want to be here and win, and will produce string that proves that. The person with the weakest string will - as expected - lose."
I won't lie. I'm really nervous. "Are you positive?"
"Mina, how many times must I ask you if you trust me?"
"I'm sorry, I just...Well, I'm a disaster at spinning, so forgive me if I'm worried at the thought of it."
I step up to the wheel, taking a seat. I end up spinning for five minutes before Teague speaks up. "Alright. Let me see it." He walks over to me, and I admit that my nervous are working up a bit yet again at this. "We should have you spin at this wheel more often."
"Wh-What?" Confusion fills me as I try to peer over his shoulder - which doesn't work since he's taller - at the string he holds.
He turns around, revealing what I've spun. "Why, Mina, you've spun gold."
Annalora's POV
Still In The Present...
Dinah ended up being the unlucky loser of the contest. It's a shame. I was hoping that Wilhelmina would be out. But it won't matter. I'll win sooner or later. And now, I've devised a plan that should help me get closer to winning Teague.
I stand outside the door to her room, listening closely as Wilhelmina speaks up, "You know, you are very stubborn."
"Stubborn in the fact that I refuse to surrender and not admit to my parents that I love you?" There's Teague. My blood boils at him saying that to that stupid siren. He should be saying that to me!
"Yes."
"Well, then I'm glad I'm stubborn."
It's a shame there's no way for me to say she's using her Lure on him and get her disqualified. If I could, I definitely would. But, that card won't work, especially since I already mentioned it before. No, I need a new way, and I have it, now that I've listened and heard.
"And wart-face didn't cause anymore fighting?"
"No, Annalora didn't attack me today. Thankfully."
Wart-face? Did he just refer to me - and my beautiful complexion - as wart-face? I swear, I'm getting angrier and angrier by the minute. That's it. It's time to set the ball in motion. I hurry off, towards Estrella's room. I've told her to expect me. Hopefully the stupid fairy actually heard what I was saying.
"Estrella?" I whisper the word outside her door. "Estrella, let me in! Stupid fairy! Open the stupid doo-"
"You could've just knocked." Estrella mutters, opening the door. Her long, blonde hair hangs in her face, and her white dress moves a little from the beating of her currently invisible wings.
"Never mind that. Have I got news for you."
Oooh, drama drama drama. This might not be very good for Mina, considering Annalora will do anything to make her miserable. Especially because it may make her miserable enough to stop meeting with Teague...But we will just have to see, now won't we?
Are we ready to get five more reviews? If you are, then review if you liked this chapter! You have no idea what it means to me to read your reviews. c;
~ Dagger
