Chapter 18 Faetal
I couldn't get my head around the fact that Kook and Nightingale have been lying all this time, but it also explains why they've been acting very strange lately, I wanted to know more about this, so I spoke to Nightingale about it, I asked her to tell me about what's been going on since they got together and what it's like being in a relationship with Kook, pretty much everything.
"So what's the fully story?" I asked. "Has there been any problems?"
"How long have you got? First there was my dad, he was a bit over protective and he got the wrong idea when he saw me and Kook kissing, that's how he got those wounds."
"You mean your dad hit him?"
"Yeah, then there was my sister, she's a bit like my dad, except she's a bit over jealous, so she was trying to lose us our jobs, that's why she left the castle so early."
"So it's not been that easy for you guys? What about Kook, what's it like to date him?"
"He's amazing, he's the best boyfriend any girl would want, he's the best that I've ever had, and I've dated one or two guys."
"How did you two get together?"
"It was so romantic, Kook left me a letter in my nest, it said "Meet me at the top of the lookout tower at midnight, yours sincerely your secret admirer" I didn't know that it was him at first because he had his cloak hood up, but when I found him out and he told me how he felt do you know what he said to me?"
"No what?"
"He said, "While I was waiting for you I was matching up every star with a reason why i like you. I ran out of stars."
"Aw, that's so romantic."
"I know."
"I didn't know that he could be that romantic, he doesn't seem like that kind of guy."
"You know what Faetal, I'm actually quite glad that you know about our relationship, because i finally have someone to talk to it about."
I could see how happy Nightingale and Kook were together, but I had a terrible feeling that the king was going to find out soon enough, and I didn't want that to happen to them, I know how much they love their jobs, would they even stay together if they get the sack, I didn't want to think about it at the moment so I did the best I could to get it out of my mind.
The months started to fly by and it was soon coming up to Spring, I've successfully managed to not tell anyone about Nightingale and Kookaburra's relationship but it was sure that someone was going to figure them out.
One sunny but chilly morning, someone had reported that there was a large creature not that far from the castle in the woods, so five of us were sent to look for this mysterious creature, there was me, Vane, Ballista, Kookaburra and Nightingale, it was most likely to be a bear, if it was, we'd have to be careful, we weren't going to be killing the bear or whatever it was, unless it attempted to attack.
"Okay, let's split up." said Ballista. "Faetal, Vane you go that way, and Kook and Nightingale, you go that way, I'll look over here."
Me and Vane got our weapons prepared and ventured to the left side of the woods, it was very quiet, Vane was starting to panic as we didn't even know what we were looking for, mind you i was also a bit worried, I've never come across a bear before if that's even what it is, it might not be, it might just be a deer or something.
"Are you alright Vane?" I asked.
"Yeah, just a bit nervous."
"Just relax, it'll probably turn out to be nothing at all."
I could talk, telling him to relax, I was just as nervous as him. We ventured further into the woods, there was still no sign of this creature we were about to turn back when we heard a rustling coming from our right, we got our weapons ready but it just turned out to be Ballista.
"Any luck?" I asked.
"No, nothing."
"It was most probably a false alarm."
"Yeah, have either of you seen Kook and Nightingale, I can't seem to find them."
"No, I can't say that we have."
We'd now stopped searching for this creature and were now looking for Nightingale and Kookaburra, after 10 minutes of searching and calling for them we found them, they were stood under a large oak tree talking.
"I love you Nightingale." I heard Kook say.
"I know that you do, you tell me every day." Nightingale replied.
Turning around I went to tell Vane and Ballista that I'd found them, they're only talking, it couldn't hurt anyone.
"I've found them." I said.
"Where are they?" Ballista asked.
"They're just behind those bushes, under the oak tree...hang on...where's my dagger? I had it a minute ago." Taking my attention away from the situation, I started looking around me for my dagger.
"Do you need any help looking?" Ballista asked.
"No, it's fine. I've found it." I replied standing back up.
"Whoa, hey guys, you've got to see this." Vane called.
"What is it?"
"Just come and look."
He was crouching by one of the bushes, I looked at Ballista in confusion before walking over to see what was so fascinating, when I could see vane's face clearly he had a look of shock on his face, I looked over to my right and Ballista had exactly the same expression, now completely confused I looked over the bush to see what was so shocking...oh no...Nightingale and Kook were now kissing.
"Oh my God." said Ballista. "Do they not remember the rules?
"Yeah, obviously they remember the rules but think about how they must feel, they're in love and they don't want anyone to know about this, so don't go ruining this for them." I explained.
"You knew all about this didn't you?"
"Yeah."
"For how long? A day? A week?
"A few months."
"Months!"
"I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone."
"I haven't, I'm going back to the castle to tell the king."
Ballista stood up and went running back towards the castle.
"Ballista wait!" I shouted running after her.
I was chasing Ballista for around five minutes, when I got close enough to her, I grabbed her by the arm and held her back, she was starting to struggle under my grip so to ensure she really didn't get away again, I wrapped the arm I had free around her waist, securing her tightly, she tried to push me away but I wasn't letting go, attempting to wrestle herself free she soon grew weak and eventually stopped struggling.
"Okay, okay, you win, now let me go." she said.
"Not until you promise not to tell the king about what you saw."
"Alright, I promise that I won't tell the king. What about the others?"
"No, you can't tell them either. I promised Nightingale and Kook, so you're going to have to promise too."
"Alright, I promise."
I loosened my grip and we both stood upright.
"Sorry about that, I just couldn't let you go and tell the king like that, not after I promised Nightingale and Kook."
"It's alright."
I was glad that I Ballista wasn't angry with me, we were talking for around two minutes when I stopped to think, there was something not right.
"Did you see where Vane went?" I asked.
"No, he's probably gone back to the castle."
"Yeah, that's where we were going to go anyway...wait...back to the castle...the castle! The others! The secret!"
We ran back to the castle as fast as we could, we raced through the gates, through the courtyard, through the main doors and into the main hall where we saw Vane speaking to the others.
"Vane no! Don't tell them! It's supposed to be a secret!" I shouted running over along with Ballista.
"What secret?" Asked Madeva.
"Oh...erm...nothing."
"What do you mean nothing? You've told us that there's a secret, we all want to know now."
"B-but...we can't tell you. A secret's a secret."
"Come on, it can't be that bad. Have you two broken the rules?"
"We haven't but someone else has and they don't want anyone else to know."
"Who?"
"We're not saying."
"Come on, please."
"No."
"Don't be so harsh sister, if they want to keep it a secret then it's best if it stays that way." said Knightriss.
"Thanks Knightriss." I replied.
When everyone had calmed down me and Ballista pulled Vane to one side.
"You haven't told them?"
"No, I heard what you said back in the woods about how you've promised not to tell anyone, well I've decided that I'm going to keep quiet too."
"Aw thanks Vane. When Nightingale and Kook get back I'll have to tell them that you two now know."
When Nightingale and Kook finally got back, I took them to one side to tell them about what happened back in the woods.
"Where did you guys go, we were looking for you for ages." Nightingale asked.
"Well, the thing is...Ballista and Vane now know about your relationship." I explained.
"But you promised not to tell anyone."
"I didn't tell them, they found out for themselves, they saw you two kissing in the woods. But I've spoken to them and they've both promised not to tell anyone, so you don't have to worry."
That was close, the secret was nearly revealed twice, once in the woods and again when we got back to the castle, I wish that Nightingale and Kook had hadn't trusted me with the secret, I'm not that good with keeping secrets, I guess that the best thing for me to do is to forget about it and try my best to get it out of my mind.