Verena __.t.pendragon

In The Midnight Hour

I couldn't sleep.

The room was perfectly dark, with only a few whispers of moonlight sneaking through the blinds. It was also perfectly quiet, the only sound being Agatha softly snoring from her bed. On top of that I was also perfectly tired. Today had been exhausting, with the schedules, and welcomings, and 'witches', and still I could not sleep.

I huffed in annoyance and threw my covers to the side. Maybe some fresh air would do me well. I walked to the glass doors and pushed apart the thin white curtains, careful not to disturb my roomate. Then I opened the door and closed it silently behind me.

The night was lovely as I stepped barefoot into the marble balcony. I could see the vast blue forest and the school garden. I could also see the School for Evil far in the distance. I wondered how Agatha's friend was doing over there. If she was truly meant to be in Good instead of Evil, I imagined she was miserable. Why would the School Master do something like that? I couldn't imagine it being on purpose. After all, he was the one who had facilitated Good's victories over the past two hundred years. Maybe I'd ask Agatha in the morning.

Suddenly I heard something like stone rubbing against stone. I turned around quickly but saw nothing but an empty balcony. Sighing in relief shaking my head at my own silliness, I saw a small space next to the gargoyle sitting on the railing.

"You won't mind me sitting here for a little while, will you?"

I settled next to it on the railing and leaned back against the wall. I closed my eyes and exhaled out of my lungs the stress of the whole day. Out of nowhere, in the black of my eyelids came the image of a blond boy with shocked eyes and a serious face.

I had left his rose somewhere on my desk because I hadn't had the heart to throw it away. That look had hurt though. You would have thought I had ripped the flower from his grasp. I didn't understand why he'd looked so upset. Like Reena had said, it wasn't as if we were destined to end up together now. It was specifically hurtful considering how close we were when we were little. Whenever there was a celebration in either of our kingdoms or if our parents had to meet for any reason Tedros and I would always find a way to ditch the guards and sneak off somewhere to play. He was my best friend, even better than Reena.

Everything changed though, when his mom left...

"What do you mean he's indisposed?!" My father asked, furious.

Every year, the kings and queens of all the Ever kingdoms met in Camelot to discuss trade and other things. This year, though, they had been hesitant to do so due to Queen Guinevere running away with some knight. Still, the king's representatives had told the kings and queens that this wouldn't stop any business negotiations. So, I had begged my dad to let me come with him this year too. Aside from the fact that I always came, I had been feeling a little sad since Tedros had stopped answering my letters. My mom had told me that he was surely upset because of his mother leaving. I had then decided that I definitely had to go this year, because I knew that if someone could cheer up Tedros, it would be me.

But we had been in Camelot for three days now and there hadn't been an appearance from King Arthur or Tedros whatsoever.

The king's head adviser cleared his throat and answered, "The king has had a very long night. Unfortunately he won't be able to join us for today's meeting."

"That's it? He had a 'long night'?" said the queen of Jaunt Jolie, sounding quite offended. "Where has he been for the last three days?"

"This is ridiculous!" The king of Neverland added. "Who does Arthur think he is, citing us here and then deciding not to show?! As if we had nothing better to do than wait for him."