Celina's POV
My eyelids felt heavy. My throat was dry. My left shoulder was screaming in pain. I did not feel like moving at all, despite the whole experience screaming at me that I was alive.
"This is ridiculous! You cannot keep an exiled, human princess here!" I heard a voice shout.
"And where exactly do you expect an injured, young woman to go?" someone responded. That voice sounded familiar, and then my memories came running back to me. The ball. The Baron. The Banishment. Fenn. Mira.
"Mira?" I called out, more hopeful than anything.
"Princess Celina!" Mira called out, and quickly came over and grasped my right hand in hers. I forced my eyes open only to be filled with tears at seeing a familiar face.
"Sh, sh, Princess Celina, just rest. You need it," Mira told me, and for some reason my conscience fades away again.
Eventually I woke up again. This time, there wasn't any pain or any heaviness, and I was convinced I was dead. I had opened my eyes, leaving a small, simple room. It only had a wooden bed that I was lying on, and a wooden table and 2 chairs, right under a window that revealed the forest.
"You're awake now. How do you feel?" a voice asked out. I turned towards it, and there was a man by the door. The man had the same physique of a well seasoned knight with his well-defined muscles. His blonde hair flowed down his back, and it seemed to shimmer with the sunlight, and his emerald eyes seemed to glow. While his high cheekbones only added to his handsome face, his most notable feature was his pointy ears. I was so busy staring at him that I didn't respond. He walked over and waved his hand right in front of my face.
"Hello?" he said again. I shook my head.
"I am so sorry, I am just so confused," I responded.
"What's your name?" he asked the one question I did not feel like answering.
"Leave her alone. Why are you already harassing her?" another man asked, walking into the room. This man was very similar to the first, with his physique and blonde hair.
"I am just checking if she had any other issues that we have to be concerned about."
"She just woke up, you should have called Mira instead."
"Mira? Is she here? Is she okay?" I jumped in. That second guy chuckled, "See, she wants Mira. I'll go get her."
The first guy just rolled his eyes and before telling me, "Let me know if you are feeling different. We have healed you on that shoulder wound and any of the bruises you received, but if there's anything we missed, let us know." I nodded my head.
"Thank you for your help," I said to him. I was sure that I would have died if they had helped either, but I didn't want to admit that to him in case he wanted some payment that I didn't have. And with that reminder, I looked around the room to see if any of my belongings were around. I couldn't find them with the quick glance, but I didn't have much of a time to look, because Mira quickly burst into the room.
"Princess Celina!" she shouted as she enveloped me in a hug. I quickly hugged her back. We didn't let go for minutes.
"How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?" she asked, never letting me go.
"Nothing hurts, but my heart."
"I know." After a while, we broke our hug.
"I don't know what I am going to do now, Mira."
"And whatever you decide to do, I am with you."
I looked her straight in the eye.
"If you are here, then who will help Snow White?"
"She said she got it handled." I was shocked.
"What do you mean she said she got it handled?"
"Listen, she is a very talented young woman, just like you. Do you not have faith in your sister that she will handle it? I left her, because I believed her, and she believed in herself. Will you?"
Tears started to form again. Mira was right. Snow White was always more talented in politics. Although my concern was more along the lines of the Queen. At this point, I was more grateful that the Queen showed her more favorability than me. "So, now what do I do? And besides that, where am I, Mira?"
Mira swallowed before responding.
"You are at my family's house."
"Your family?"
"Yes, but it's a long story. But are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?" As Mira asked, my stomach growled in response. Mira chuckled before, dragging me into what looks like their kitchen. She sat me down at the large table in the kitchen, but my new concern was the bunch of men that were also in the room and were staring at me.
"Hello, thank you for all your help," I said, hoping to break the silence. One guy huffed, not hiding his annoyance. I looked down at my lap, only to hear a loud clunk followed by angry cursing.
"Mira, you nasty little creature! We were doing perfectly fine after you had left, and now you're back with another one of your stupid obsessions!" shouted that same man that was huffing before. He was holding his forehead, hiding the giant red bump that was forming underneath. Mira turned around, her face displaying an annoyance that I had not seen since she got Snow White and I sneaking out and getting caught.
"I brought her here, because she was hurt, and we had to help her. Now treat her with respect or leave. And I will make you leave if necessary!"
"Pretty bold, coming from someone who left out of her own free will first!"
"That's enough. We should be happy that Mira came back home, and that she trusted us with the banished princess," said the first man I saw when I woke up. At his words, Mira and the grumpy guy stopped, but you could still feel the tension in the air.
"Now, Princess Celina, can I call you just Celina?" he asked me.
"Yes, I have always felt a little uncomfortable with the titles. And I don't think I have that title anymore with my banishment," I quickly answered.
"Thank you, Celina. Now, our home is open to you, however, we do have to discuss what we are going to do in the future. We cannot keep you here indefinitely, but you are currently staying here for a temporary length due to Mira's request."
"Why are you having that conversation with her? I thought we were in the middle of discussing this," Mira jumped in.
"Mira, this is also an important conversation to have with the girl that is making all the decisions. Not you." My eyes widened at his response to her.
"Sir, I don't plan on overstaying my welcome here, but what, respectfully, you shouldn't do, is sass my Mira. I respect her opinions, and she will be giving me hers. And I will make decisions based on it, respectfully," I told him.
The second guy I met, laughed, "dang, she probably listens to Mira better than any of us here."
"I don't need that right now, Dopey."
"Dopey? Who names their kid Dopey?" I muttered under my breath, only to be met with laughter throughout the kitchen. I looked around in surprise.
"Dopey is not his real name. It's just a nickname that we had given him back when he was a kid, and it has stuck," The first guy said.
"You don't need to call me Dopey. Please don't call me that. My name is actually Kalon, Celina," Dopey/Kalon said.
"No, call his monkey butt, Dopey. Or call him monkey butt," Mira interjected.
"I'm about to throw some hands," Kalon said.
"I'll join," said that grumpy guy from before.
"You can call him, ugly butt, princess. We call him Grumpy, but I think ugly butt matches more," Mira informed me.
"Thats it!" Grumpy shouted, as he dived over the table towards Mira. Mira dodged quickly, making Grumpy fall on the fall, but that didn't seem to stop him. He quickly got up only to try and grab Mira. Mira quickly grabbed the closest thing to her, which happened to be another guy. I always felt that Mira was strong, especially how she would pull on my ear when I got caught sneaking food into my room late at night. But I didn't expect her to fully grab a man that was clearly larger than her and throw him at another. And what I didn't expect completely, was the other guys getting involved as well, and next thing you know it, the whole kitchen was filled with food flying all over the place and occasionally the couple of guys. The only one that wasn't flying was the first guy I met, and he had his head in his hands, rubbing his face and eventually his temple.
"This was not how I imagined our family reunion to happen."