A Familiar Void

Chapter 36

The princess' room was quiet, no sound could be heard from outside and if any were to peek inside they would understand the silence.

The moon shined through the windows of the room, illuminating it alongside the magical torches and Lumafly lanterns. It gave the room a nice mix of pale white and soft orange.

The two inhabitants of the room, Agnes de Milan and Princess Henrietta de Tristain herself, were both still at where they were.

Agnes was standing by the door with the princess herself in her sight. This meant that she was ready to react to anything that might step into the room, or would pose a threat towards the princess. Or at least, that's how she should be. Instead, the princess' bodyguard was instead leaning against the wall with her arms crossed as she glared a hole into the ground. A frown on her face.

Sitting by her desk, the moon light shining through the window as if to bring attention to the, rather important, letter that lied on top of the desk. She wasn't even reading the letter, instead she was just looking at it.

Minutes passed as the silence continued to stretch longer and longer, the only sound was the occasional crackle of the flames and the slight 'clinking' of the Lumaflies inside their lanterns.

Eventually, Agnes broke the silence with a heavy sigh.

Henrietta blinked, before she turned away from the letter on her desk. Looking at her bodyguard, she saw that her finger was tapping violently against her arm as her frown had grown into a snarl instead.

"Is something th-?" Henrietta started to ask, her voice wavering slightly. Quickly she coughed and cleared her throat before saying it again "Is something the matter Agnes?"

She didn't answer at first, instead she was still glaring at the ground while her snarl was on her face. Then a few moments later, she let out another sigh. One hand went to her head and scratched her blonde hair in frustration.

Turning her head towards the princess, Agnes answered "I was just thinking about... what had happened."

Henrietta's mouth pulled into a straight line "Are you still thinking about the mission?"

Agnes merely nodded, the snarl gave way into a more conflicted look. "I made a mistake," she muttered, just loud enough for her to hear "I thought that they'd be safe in the castle, I didn't think it could chase us that fast..."

The princess herself keep a neutral one, although that didn't stop her hands from clenching and grouping up the fabric of her dress "We all made mistakes Agnes, you don't have to feel guilty alone."

Agnes eyes snapped towards hers "But you trusted me to protect your friend, and to make sure that the mission was successful. And what did I do? Leave her alone, and nearly left her to die at the hands of that monster!" Agnes' snarl returned "I just... I didn't think it would be there waiting for her."

"Neither did I."

Henrietta turned away from her bodyguard, she looked out of the window that her desk sat by. Her eyes focused on the two moons, both the green and the red moons were exceptionally bright lately.

"I sent that letter towards the pope, knowing that it would take at least a week for it to arrive." She informed Agnes "I expected it to reach him, and at that point Louise would already be far away from Tristain on her mission."