Chapter 17 Heart to heart

"Check"

I nodded, yet still stared out of the window. Cornelia and Taranee were talking with one another, while Irma and Hay Lin laughed about something before riding off on their mounts to the front of the carriage. It was probably nothing, or I'd be notified. They were probably bored. I couldn't understand how. They weren't the ones forced to sit in the carriage for two days straight. The worst thing was, I had been out-argued the moment I tried to set up the guard schedule. Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin had already prepared one and it was extremely clear they wouldn't be open for discussion. Seeing as I wasn't in the mood to start a fight at the start of our Spring break, I conceded. Not that Elyon and her guards weren't great company, but it was very clear that neither she nor I had had the idea of passing our travel time by playing chess with one another nonstop. That wasn't fair of me, but I could clearly feel Elyon's disappointment when we heard that Caleb and the girls had decided the guard schedule. I hadn't been too thrilled either. Elyon and I never really held a conversation back when she didn't know about Metamoor. And I really wasn't interested in the gossip around school, something which Cornelia clearly kept her up to date about. So Elyon and I didn't have a lot to talk about anyway.

During our first day, Elyon had tried to make some small talk once I ran out of conversation options. She told me about the different countries near Meridian. I thought it to be quite interesting to learn that there were a total of three countries and a large nomad group surrounding Meridian. The country of Felin, which lay south of Meridian was ruled by a Speaker, a representative of its people, chosen through bouts of strength. Their country stood out because they were pushing for a meet of the five leaders. To rekindle old friendships and alliances. They used to have a strong alliance with the nomadic barbaric tribes of the north and were allowed to travel through Meridian before Elyon's grandmother's time. According to Elyon, Phobos had tried for an alliance, but there were no records of the outcome of that attempt. To the west there was Galho, the country that was solely run by Galhots. In the past Galho and Meridian supposedly had a great alliance, leading to the massive Galhot populace of Meridian and the apparent human populace in Galho. Lead by a beloved king and queen, who had regretted the fall of Meridian's royal house. The last country, wedged in between Felin and the barbarians' lands and taking up the eastern border of Meridian, was Threbe. Caleb once saved a daughter of a baron there, which was most likely the only reason their king would come. Relations between Meridian and Threbe had always been strenuous ever since Elyon's ancestor – the first and actual king Phobos – had conquered a part of their lands. It was because Irma switched with a guard and complained about receiving more schoolwork that Elyon had stopped, even apologizing for it. She wasn't keen on picking up the subject once Irma switched back out.

When one of the girls switched out with a guard, we'd talk and gossip. Cornelia switched the most out of the girls. I'd been surprised she had agreed with the guard duty to begin with, but I suspected a very disgruntled Irma to have forced her into it. Especially seeing as Irma would be the one to call Cornelia out. However, when Elyon and I were left alone with the guards, we'd turned to the chess board Elyon had brought along. And it was something she was probably regretting, seeing how she'd done nothing but lose ever since we started playing. She was someone who clearly needed only one victory to finally give up on the game. Unfortunately, I wasn't someone who enjoyed losing. So now it was our sixth game today and I was really bored. Seeing the girls ride along us and guarding the carriage inadvertently caused my conversation with Phobos to replay inside my head, something which had been on a loop ever since I left him at the Tower. I hated that he knew what was going on without me even telling him. Without him even knowing how it happened. And I hated the idea that he was perhaps right. Because right now I wasn't going to prove anything to anyone, sitting cooped up in a carriage while the others discouraged threats before they even became one.

"Will? It's your turn."

I snapped out of my train of thoughts and looked at the chess board. Elyon did exactly what I wanted her to do. I moved a pawn to block the path of her bishop, cancelling the threat. A curse flit her lips and I raised an eyebrow, observing her as she now looked again at the board. She'd pinched her eyebrows together in a deep frown and her deep grey eyes brimmed with concentration. It wasn't the first time this trip that it occurred to me how much she and her brother looked alike. Especially now as she was pondering her move, with her hair falling slightly in front of her face. It was so eerily similar to Phobos that I had to look away.

"Anything on your mind?"

I looked back, seeing that Elyon hadn't bothered to look up from the board. She tapped her fingers on her chin while her eyes took in the only possible play she could still make. I raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you asking?"

"Because-" Elyon said, before moving her bishop to the one place I needed it to go. "You're actually losing for once."

The smirk on her face was incredibly jarring. It was literally the same one Phobos had flashed me the last time I'd seen him. And, just like with him, I felt my brow rise in scepticism. A smirk formed on my lips. At least I could challenge Elyon with this. With Phobos, I never knew what kind of knowledge he had. Here, Elyon was doing exactly what I wanted her to.

"Am I now?" I said, glancing at the board.

Elyon clacked her tongue and I could feel her excitement bubble within me. It was rather contagious.

"Come now. You're down a bishop, a rook, a knight and your queen. You only have some measly pawns sprawled over the board because the other significant pieces are too busy protecting your king. I haven't had this much luck since we started playing and you don't strike me like someone who would lose on purpose."

Elyon stared at me, her eyes squinting as she spoke. I shook my head. She was right. I wouldn't lose on purpose. I replied with a smirk.

"I'm afraid you're celebrating a bit too early," I said. "And you are heavily underestimating the use of the powerless."

I made my move and placed my pawn on the last check of the board, on the same line where Elyon's king was now open. I extended my hand. "I'd like my queen back, thank you," I said.

Elyon's eyes had widened, her mouth open in shock as she took a better look at the board. I took my queen from her side and switched it for the pawn. "Checkmate," I said.

Elyon continued to stare and I was certain she was trying to find a way to prove this wasn't a checkmate. That she could still play. After all, if I hadn't made that move, Elyon would have won. Perhaps she was right. I'd been distracted. If I hadn't been, I would never have let her get this close to a victory.

Her excitement simmered out and a flush of anger and shame followed. I gave her an encouraging smile. She met my gaze and a sigh of defeat followed. She sat back and kept on staring.

"How?"

I still held the pawn I'd used. I stared at it as my finger fiddled with the piece. I shrugged. "Sometimes people forget that even the pieces that seem useless, possess a great power if given the chance." I looked at her again, this time smirking. "I noticed how you favoured the bigger pieces, thus it was easy strategizing against you because you'd ignore the pieces you thought to be nothing but cannon fodder."

I placed the pawn back on the board before gathering my pieces again. "Take it from someone who's been on the side of powerlessness. Cedric targeted the others and ignored Caleb and me. It caused him plenty of defeats."

The smile I wore weathered a tad. In the past it had been enemies who underestimated me. Now it were my friends. And I wasn't even powerless. Not anymore anyway.

"This is about more than just our game, isn't it?"

I looked back at Elyon, who'd disregarded her pawns. It was increasingly clear that she didn't fancy a new game. At least not today. She reached out and placed her hand on mine. I bit my lip. We've been careful not to share too much with them. We didn't want to worry them. Matt had been a great example of how they could react. Then again, Caleb nor Elyon were Matt. They could react differently. But I still wanted to keep them out of it. I didn't want them offering support. Only to avoid some inter-world war or something like it. But still. Maybe Elyon could aid me. I didn't need to tell her everything.

"It's just… After our last mission, the others have been treating me like I am a porcelain doll. And I'm getting sick of it."

Elyon nodded, sitting back. She gave a glance to the guards, who clearly got the gist and immediately started a conversation to stay out of ours. She then nodded again.

"I figured as much when they put you in the carriage with me. But why?"

I shrugged. "I got hurt pretty badly during the mission. It scared them. But they don't seem to be able to see me as anything but frail now."

Elyon raised an eyebrow and looked outside, watching how Cornelia and Irma were probably fighting about something as Caleb came in to separate them. With little luck, because the mudslinging picked up the moment his back was turned – courtesy of Irma of course.

"Not all of them, right? Irma seems normal."

I huffed. I wasn't telling her that I had to break down in front of Irma to get some semblance of trust again. I wasn't feeling particularly interested in doing that again. Besides, after that we went on a hunt for a criminal. I doubted the others would go with me on a criminal hunt to show them I was fine.

"Yeah, well. Only because I talked in on her. After her less than subtle ways of protecting me," I admitted. Saying it made me remember the guilt and fear that simply flowed from Irma when she saw me gasping for air. I balled my fists. I didn't want them to feel like that. Especially not because of me. I had to do something.

"Have you tried doing that with the others?"

I snorted. I looked at Elyon, who clearly seemed to believe what she'd said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you serious?"

It was Elyon's turn to raise her eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Look. I know that Cornelia can be a bit difficult to convince. But I mean, Hay Lin should be easy right? And Taranee? You two are close. She'll listen."

I pursed my lips and looked outside again. I would be lying if I hadn't considered talking to the rest. However, every option I thought over usually ended with them stubbornly protecting me. My words falling on deaf ears. Simply because they wouldn't believe me. But Elyon wouldn't understand why they wouldn't. She hadn't been there.

"Think about it. We'll be arriving tonight anyway."

Elyon took her notes again and started to read them, leaving me with my thoughts. I disliked it that the entire royal line of Meridian thought they needed to advise me on how to manage my friends.

"Storm clouds approaching. What you thinkin' bout?"

I frowned even more and narrowed my eyes at Irma, who had come closer to the carriage. She at least had the courtesy of asking me telepathically.

"Elyon thinks I should tell the others what their protectiveness does to me."

"Aside from being cranky? You'd think they'd already noticed."

I glared at Irma, who grinned broadly.

"You know what I mean. What I told you."

Irma's grin wavered. A pensive look took its place and she pursed her lips, nodding a bit. No Irma. No nodding. I didn't want her to acknowledge it as an option.

"Well, I can see why she would say so. Wouldn't be a bad idea either. But, you don't seem to be someone who enjoys breaking down. Or am I wrong?"

I huffed again. Fuck, she was agreeing. Irma's grin lessened.

"Listen, whatever you decide, I'll support you okay?"

I looked at her. She nodded resolutely at me and I managed a small smile of my own. This caused her to mirror it and she winked. I couldn't argue this. Both Elyon and Irma were correct, how much I disliked it. It was still better than going through with Phobos' idea. Definitely better.

"Well, I guess I could try a little before we arrive. I doubt we have a lot of spare time when we're there," I said with a sigh.

Irma cocked an eyebrow. "Didn't expect you to cave in that easily. But good to see you're on board. Anyone you want to talk to first? I suggest Hay Lin, cause I've been talking in on her for a while now."

I nodded and decided to do that which I've been wanting to do this whole trip.

"Wanna switch places?"

Irma widened her eyes, before a mischievous glimmer sparked in them. She leaned a bit forward.

"How do you plan on doing that? I doubt we could stop the carriage. The others would know immediately what you're doing and probably stop us before I even dismounted."

Now I smiled. Once again, I wasn't certain if it worked what I wanted to do. I'd managed in my room, with smaller objects. But never tried it with myself. Or someone else. But the spell had been easy to understand and my practice had made object switching easy. And this wasn't all too different. I just had to be certain I wouldn't also transport Irma's horse into the carriage. My hands lit up, causing Irma's eyes to widen in surprise. A flash followed and I found myself on her horse, from which I sensed clear distress. Luckily I had a knack with animals and it calmed about as quickly as it had been stressed out. Irma looked about the same, rocking back and forth as if she were still riding the horse. Elyon let out a short squeal, though quickly muffled it when she noticed what I'd done. I winced. I should have warned her. Her glare told me as much. I flashed her an apologetic smile while Irma tried to recollect herself.

"That….That works," Irma said, still blinking owlishly. "You're going to teach me that, you know that right?"

I grinned. "Later."

With that I guided the horse to where I'd seen Hay Lin ride off to. I didn't have to travel long, for she came at me at top speed. The moment she saw me on the horse, she slowed and looked clearly surprised.

"Will! I heard Elyon scream. Is everything alright? What are you doing here?"

I held up my hand in an attempt to slow down her questions. It took a little longer for her to go silent, as her questions were slowly turning into half-hearted attempts to get me back into the carriage.

"Hay Lin. Everything is fine. Elyon was just a tad surprised that I switched places with Irma."

"You did that while riding?" Hay Lin said, her eyes bulging.

I felt the concern coming from her and I really wondered what she thought we'd been doing. Though those questions would be reserved for a later time. Right now I had to make sure she wasn't alerting Cornelia and Taranee.

"It was perfectly safe. Neither Elyon, nor Irma nor I got injured."

Hay Lin's face contorted for a moment and disdain was now mixing with her concern. "You're lying."

I cursed inwardly. I hadn't thought of it. I sincerely hoped that my switching spell was safe. This was the first test with a person. I wasn't completely certain it would be safe in every situation. It had been a little white lie. I held up my hands and clasped them together, praying Hay Lin wasn't going to rat me out.

"I think it is? It was the first time I tried it with people. Nothing bad happened except for Elyon being surprised. I promise!"

Hay Lin still eyed me with suspicion, but she didn't continue. I just hoped she also wasn't telling Cornelia and Taranee what I was doing.

"I just wanted to talk to you," I said quickly, gaining her attention. "Without the others."

Hay Lin perked up. She came closer and leaned a bit forward. There was some kind of excitement oozing from her. Bless her for being like this. Hay Lin really was too good for this, or any other world.

"Oh? What do you want to talk about?" she said smiling. "Is it something the others aren't allowed to hear?"

She needlessly whispered the last part and I had to grin at her clear exuberance. I forced it back down and shook my head. I had to be serious. I couldn't afford having Hay Lin think I was only joking. Especially not now that I knew that Irma had been talking in on her.

"Well, not exactly. I'll talk to the others about it as well, just privately," I said quietly. "And Irma suggested I started with you."

First confusion was clearly written on her face. Slowly I could see the realization dawn on her. Her eyes widened slowly and she sucked in a breath. Perhaps a tad to forceful, seeing how the hair of my horse and mine were gently pulled in her direction. An unsettling feeling of guilt and concern now dawned on me, of which I was once again certain it wasn't mine. Hay Lin swallowed clearly, shifting her focus from me on the road ahead.

"What about?"

I raised an eyebrow at the clearly sad attempt at hiding her thoughts. Her voice was a tad higher than usual and right now she was just completely avoiding my gaze.

"About what happened on Arkhanta," I said. As soon as I said it, my own guilt bubbled up as well. It mingled well with Hay Lin's.

Hay Lin looked shortly at me. There it was. The same pity I'd seen in their eyes ever since I woke up. Frustration was now clawing its way through the guilt and I clammed it up. It wasn't Hay Lin's fault. It had been my own mistake. I miscalculated. This was the consequence.

"I know it had been a real scare. I can't even begin to imagine how you must have felt when you saw me unconscious, uncertain if I'd even make it out alive," I began. Tears were already welling up in Hay Lin's eyes and I felt how I mirrored her. My throat felt like it tried to constrict, to stop the words from forming. I swallowed and pushed on. "And I understand why you and the others have been looking out for me ever since. I was incredibly weakened due to the poison and even got a cold because of it. And I appreciated it."

I stopped for a moment. I wondered if Hay Lin would detect a lie. I wasn't lying. Not really. I did feel loved and taken care of. The last time I'd felt like this was way before my parents divorced, when I suffered from a particular nasty flu. And that was a very long time ago. However, there had also been a part of me – the most prominent part to be honest – that was annoyed, belittled and angry at the unnecessary precautions they all took. I decided to keep that out for now. I didn't want to offend Hay Lin. She did it with the purest of intentions.

I watched how Hay Lin wiped a few tears away, but remained silent. She nodded at me to continue. Good to know that telling half-truths worked well.

"However I'm completely healed. I can swim again. I can run short distances without being out of breath. And it's getting better every day. I'm certain that, if you'd asked Cornelia, she would have to admit that my stamina is at least good enough to last a full P.E. class with energy to spare," I sighed and scratched the back of my head. "Your care is slowly becoming more of a harassment. I know you've got good intentions, but I'm fine. I'm not powerless. I'm not five years old. I can take care of myself."

And I have to take care of you four. Not the other way around. I bit my tongue and kept those last thoughts to myself. Knowing Hay Lin, it would only foster more guilt. And I couldn't allow that to happen.

Hay Lin's lips were pressed together, her face contorted in a pained expression. Her horse was getting extremely close to mine and I realized what the expression meant just before she could act upon it. She threw herself to me, taking me into a bear hug and buried her face in my neck. I huffed surprised. Hay Lin held some hidden strength as well.

"Oh Will! I was so scared when you… And you're back and I don't want to lose you again. I just wanted to be there in case something happened. Cornelia and Taranee kept coming up with all these doom scenarios and they got to me. And then Irma came to your defence and… and she told me how you felt about it all and I knew it and still went along with Cornelia and Taranee and now you're telling me and I'm so sorry I'm making you feel like your five!"

Hay Lin wasn't bawling, though it felt as if she was close to do it anyway. I hugged her back, realizing I'd held up my shoulders all this time as they finally relaxed. I held her a bit closer and shushed her. This felt good. There was still an enormous amount of guilt, but I believed it was because she hadn't listened to Irma. It had to be. I gently pried her off me, mostly because the horses were getting angsty. I petted mine, signalling that everything was alright. I then looked back at Hay Lin, who was still sniffing.

"Hay, don't worry. I just wanted to tell you. I get that Cornelia and Taranee might have been a bit…" There were a lot of words I could use here. Still, just like Hay Lin said, it had all been in my best interest. I couldn't fault them for that.

I didn't need to finish my sentence. Hay Lin nodded meekly. She then took a deep breath and sighed loudly, as if a large load was lifted from her shoulders. She flashed me a smile.

"I'm glad you told me. And that you're feeling better. You really scared us, you know? Did you know Irma had been avoiding you cause it scared her to see you like that?"

I pressed my lips together. I hadn't known. And right now I believed I wouldn't have minded staying in the dark about it.

"Cornelia had to talk to her about it. Probably because she and Taranee rarely left your side. I mean, I had to drag them away to get some food and sleep."

I swallowed. I hadn't known that either. Okay, perhaps their concern was grounded. My stomach turned as I thought about it. I made them suffer for too long. Hay Lin seemed oblivious to my inner turmoil. Instead she told me what they'd been doing while I'd been under. I'd known the golems had watched over me, but never knew Taranee and Cornelia were my bodyguards as well. Hay Lin had distracted herself by busying herself with Maqi. The magic that I'd felt in him had apparently shown itself during our time there. Hay Lin had practiced a little with him while the two of them were discovering the lands around the palace.

It was both a good and bad thing I'd gone for Hay Lin first. The bad thing about it was that she was giving me more food for thought. I'd known they were scared of my wellbeing, but the depths were never explained to me. I only felt Irma's emotions about it, which honestly I thought were exaggerated. It was mind shattering to realise it was all reasonable. I now actually felt bad for being irritated while I was still poisoned. Though I still believed my current frustration with their overbearing behaviour was grounded. They could dial it back a bit.

The good thing was that Hay Lin was so caught in her telling me everything that she didn't notice how it affected me. Or maybe she did a bit. Her story went from how I was watched to the several strange and colourful animals she'd seen on Arkhanta. Also Irma's cooking skill had apparently increased as well and I should really ask her for the tuft dessert, whatever that might be. Anyway, it gave me some time to rethink my strategies on approaching Taranee and Cornelia.

"And you know, I can talk to Cornelia and Taranee for you? You know, ask them to hear you out?"

I blinked surprised. I'd missed the previous part of the conversation and wondered where this had come from. Hay Lin stared at me and it became increasingly obvious that she must have noticed me zoning out. I hesitated, stumbling over my words.

"Oh, I. Well."

She flashed me a grin. "Don't worry silly. I'm not gonna tell them why. Just that you might need them to be openminded. I mean, convincing them is definitely going to be a lot more difficult. But when you do, everything will be like before."

I tried to return her grin. I was glad this went over so easily. I really needed to thank Irma for talking in on Hay Lin. Still, I doubted whether or not I wanted to face Taranee and Cornelia. Hay Lin painted a different picture than the one I'd imagined. They hadn't told me. Their protectiveness was normal. Irritating but normal. It however also made it a lot more difficult to talk about. They probably wouldn't believe me if I told them I knew how they felt. And I wasn't feeling up to it to tell them I literally could. Irma knew and she felt guilty the moment she learnt about it. I didn't need to worsen the situation.

Raythor came to us, telling us we'd be arriving soon. We thanked him and I sent out a telepathic message to the others, alerting them about it. With that I decided to put my talks with Cornelia and Taranee on hold. I still had the whole trip back and perhaps I could steal them away for a short while during the meeting. Instead I rode closer to the carriage, avoiding the other side and probably another argument. It was cowardice of me, I knew. I just needed to collect my thoughts and think of an approach for the both of them. Though in the meantime I gave Irma the heads up that I'd at least managed to convince Hay Lin. The satisfied grin told me Irma was incredibly smug about it. It did help that the smirk was quickly replaced by a deep frown and a mumbled curse as Elyon was clearly winning at their game of chess. I wondered how Elyon had even managed to pester Irma into a game. It was at least clear Irma wasn't as good a player as Elyon, seeing as the latter sat rather relaxed and looked amused at the board while Irma pondered over her moves.

For the duration of the ride I remained on the horse. I did join in the conversation between Irma and Elyon, sometimes giving Irma a hint to at least make the games a little more challenging. After Irma lost a third time in little than a half an hour, she gave up, leaning back and crossing her arms, much like Elyon had done some time before.

"Want to try again?" Elyon said, an innocent smile on her face.

Irma's face soured. "No thank you. I think I've played enough."

"Well, if you ever want to practice again, you know where to find me."

Elyon continued to giggle as Irma huffed. I only grinned. It was already pretty impressive Elyon had gotten Irma to play the game, but I truly doubted she would convince her to play it again.

"Before we arrive, can I ask you two something?"

Elyon had just cleared away the chess board and looked awfully serious, compared to her jovial smile just seconds ago. Irma and I shared a glance.

"About?" I said.

"I was wondering whether you could tell me why you're questioning Cedric and Phobos. I doubt they've given you anything useful."

I pursed my lips, but Irma was the one to answer. She huffed a laugh this time and rolled her eyes.

"Oh no, they have been incredibly accommodating. Between being ignored and asked to play silly mind games for probably fake information, I can't say we've been bored," Irma said, her sarcasm evident. "Really, you wonder why Kandrakar wants to put them on trial anyway, when they are so blatantly guilty."

I said nothing. The knowledge that there were books contradicting each other about who should have taken the throne was already something curious. Especially seeing how the book that spoke in favour of Phobos seemed older than the one that spoke in favour of Elyon. And Phobos' vague wording made it seem like there was more to it all than what we wanted to believe.

I felt heat rise to my cheeks as I thought about him. Especially how our last conversation had ended. And what Irma had said. She'd been wrong though. We weren't in kissing range. We definitely weren't.

"It's a good thing your plan worked, huh Will?"

I blinked.

"My what?"

Irma frowned at me. She snapped her fingers a couple of times outside of the window, as if her question hadn't already gained my attention.

"The whole 'make Phobos swear on the Heart of Kandrakar and lure him to Kandrakar' plan? The one where you had Hay Lin manipulate Raythor? To which we ended up only fighting a gigantic snake who had no true idea how to properly control his power?"

The mentioning of that plan instigated another reminder of my conversation with Phobos. How he'd pointed out the flaws with such ease. How he'd been right too. And to him almost explaining why…

"Yeah." I put a lock of hair back behind my ear. "That plan. What's with that plan?"

"Good to know we're still interesting," Irma sneered while placing her hand dramatically against her head.

I rolled my eyes at her and instead looked at Elyon, hoping for some non-sarcastic answers. Elyon shook her head at Irma, before shrugging at me.

"Oh, you know. If he hadn't attacked Kandrakar, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

I hunched my shoulders a bit. "Yeah, well. Good thing he's so arrogant."

I zoned out again as Irma picked up on Phobos' arrogance, regaling every moment we've had with him where his arrogance shone through. When she came to the part where he'd been on Earth and how he'd glamoured, I felt my cheeks heat up again. Now that Irma mentioned it. I hadn't noticed the difference between Phobos and Matt. Not at all. Not even when he kissed Mandy's hand. Had I been so self-absorbed as well? I replayed that entire day in my mind. I recoiled a bit when I remembered I'd kissed him on the cheek that day. Oh my god. Kill me now. I'm so glad no one was around when I did and that – even now as Irma was repeating it all – no one bothered to question me about it. Was I such a bad girlfriend that I didn't notice it when my boyfriend was in fact not my boyfriend? Or had Phobos actually been….. Nice?

"We've arrived."

I snapped out of my thoughts, thanking whoever was listening that the current matters saved me from wherever that train of thoughts was leading me to. Instead we came upon a tower of sorts. It looked alike the Tower of Pisa, except that it was upright and the arches were closed with stained glass. It all depicted several things, like people, monsters and maybe even deities. Stuff I had absolutely no knowledge of. It was a breath-taking sight nonetheless. Irma whistled appreciatively next to me.

The tower already had several carriages in front of it, along with the riding animals the nations had brought. Some looked like large cats with three tails. I first thought there were twelve or more of them. But when I looked really close, I saw that the four beasts were casting illusions, making it look like each of them were split into three. There was one mammoth-like creatures, accompanied by similar rhino creatures like Frost's beloved pet. And there were a number of horses along with carriages. Outside a number of Galhot, humans, cat-like people and Goliaths were standing and talking. They each reached for their weapons when they noticed us, but calmed upon seeing the carriage.

We rode up and Caleb was the first to reach the carriage while I was off tying my horse up. I had a concerned look from Taranee and Cornelia thrown my way, which I tried to wave away with a pleasant smile. I knew they were concerned. I knew why. And now I knew they'd gone even farther than I'd expected to make sure I would recover. I could bare this a little longer.

"May I present, Her Highness, the Queen Elyon Escanor of Meridian, Heart of Metamoor," Caleb said in a more dramatic way than I was used to.

I raised my eyebrow, a glance I clearly shared with the others. Irma at least had the decency not to snort when Elyon finally left the carriage, looking about as regal as she always did. Not a fair observation of mine, as I'd become quite adjusted to Elyon's various regal dresses and make-up. This one, a fairly simple one that still gave her the room to move and – if she were to fly – would keep people from seeing more than they're supposed to, was in my opinion a fairly suitable option for travel and far better than the several royal dresses Lyonak had proposed.

The several people outside the Tower looked at Elyon and all bowed. One of the catlike people stepped forward.

"Welcome Your Highness, to the Meeting of Royals."

[A/N] Damn, that took a long time. Sorry for the long update. Life happened and writing became hard. And I picked up a DnD addiction. Let's hope this will get me going again!
Thank you for all the kind words and reviews while I've been out 3