Episode 3 - Forever

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We're guarding the palace in shifts. Kai and Nya have first round at the front gate while Lloyd guards the mask. Zane is in charge of patrolling the halls. Lily, Cole, Zane and I are to rotate with them in an hour. If I had it my way, I'd be taking a nap right now, but Lily insists I stay alert in case of emergency. Plus, "wouldn't want to ruin your beautiful hair and makeup, would you?" She's really adamant about that. It's quite odd and extremely annoying.

About thirty minutes before the hour is up, there is knock at our door. Lily opens it up to reveal Nya.

"Hey, Tash, would you mind going up a half hour early?" she says, walking over and flopping next to me on the couch.

"Yea, sure. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. My cramps are just really getting to me and I'd like to lay down."

I grimace. "Of course. I can take your next shift too if they're still bothering you."

"I'll take some ibuprofen and hopefully it'll be better by then. Thank you loads!" She gives me a peck on the cheek and I grab my bow.

I pass Zane, Jay and Cole in the food hall on my way to the roof. They're goofing around, teasing Cole about not eating cake.

"Where are you off to?" Zane asks.

"Nya asked me if I could finish her shift," I say.

"Oh," he says. Then his eyes widen. "Oh! Good luck, Tash."

Cole smacks Zane on the head. I quirk my eyebrow at the both of them.

"He means, just keep your eyes peeled," says Jay quickly. "Like this banana."

"Right. Thanks."

I leave the three of them whispering amongst themselves. That was really weird, but I don't question it.  Kai is waiting for me on the roof, scanning the palace grounds below.

"Hey," I say in greeting.

"Tasha," he says, turning towards me. He seems nervous. His eyes search mine frantically, and a bead of sweat rolls down the side of his forehead.

"Are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine. Just glad you're here."

"Okay?"

I turn away from him and walk to the other end of the roof. It is a very clear night. There are no stars because of the light pollution from the city, but the moon makes up for it. It shines so big and bright, like a white lightbulb in the sky. It almost reminds me of that night on Chen's roof. However, whereas the tiny stars were scattered like my heart, the new moon is as full as my soul. I've come so far since then. We all have.

"Tasha?"

I turn and look at Kai, he's close to me again; barely a foot away.

I smile at him. "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"You already are."

His chuckle is shaky. "Right."

I sling my bow over my shoulder and reach for his hand. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Yeah, of course everything's okay." Kai squeezes my hand and offers me a reassuring smile. "But there's something I want to talk to you about."

He's really starting to make me anxious. Everyone has been acting so weird tonight. First Lily, insisting I do myself up all nice for the Royal Family. Normally she wouldn't care about stuff like that. Then, Nya gave me a kiss on the cheek. That's not exactly unusual, but she seemed extremely exited about something when she said bye. Then Zane wished me good luck. "Good luck" with what? Cole smacking him after was even more weird. Then Jay was way more giggly than usual when making his banana joke. Not to mention, they were all whispering when I left. Something is definitely going on, and I wanna know what.

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