Red Moon Princess

CHAPTER 8: Helios

After the half awkward dinner, Maria and Ashton walked out of the room, leaving the adults to have their 'mature' conversation as she would like to call.

"What was that?" Maria questioned. walking next to the slightly shorter boy on the shining hallways of the palace. Crystal chandeliers hang above them, giving the orange coloured walls more beauty.

"Be specific." Ashton replied. Although he knew what she'd ask. That subject was a rather sensitive topic for everyone, especially his father.

"Aiden. What did he mean by saying Helios killed someone before?"

"I was denied to know about that." he stated, looking before him and not her. Maria frowned at his answer. She knew he was hiding something, and she was determined to find out what it was.

"Don't lie, i know you know."

"If you're so curious, go ask him. " ashton answered, trying to sound a bit irritated, so she'd drop the topic.

"Alright. I'll go and say Ashton told me that Helios killed a whole village of poor people and that he's a cursed, bloodlusted bird."
Maria shrugged and swirled around towards the direction they came from.
Ashton stopped on his tracks and watched her as she walked away.

"She won't dare," he scoffed, rolling his eyes.
Anxiety started creeping its way to his heart when he noticed she didn't stop and was about to enter the room.

"Hey, come back here," he called out and immediately rushed to her. Maria opened the golden wooden door, and all eyes shifted to her. "Hello, people. I have something to sa-" Ashton quickly caught up to her, wrapping a hand around her mouth and resting a firm grib on her shoulder with the other.

"Goodnight.  She wanted to say goodnight. " he put on a fake smile and closed the door before he was called out. He forcefully pushed her out of the door and took her with him in a nearby hallway. withdrawing his arms. "Are you out of your mind?" He whispered-yelled. annoyance dancing in his features.

Maria crossed her arms with a frown.
"Tell me, or else I'll do worse than this,"  she stated. Ashton felt like setting something on fire because of her stubbornness. And in this moment, he wanted to set her on fire.
"You're so annoyingly stubborn." Ashton hissed, clutching his fists as a fire appeared on them, lightning their faces.

"Ooh, Flamy." Maria's lips curled up into a smirk, raising an eyebrow. She looked down at his hands.  Ashton took in a deep breath, trying to calm down and not scream while pulling his hair. After a good moment of already regretting his upcoming action, he looked at her.

"You wanted to know? Follow me." He mumbled,  walking away, not waiting for her.

"What are we doing here, again?" Maria looked around the white ceiling, and the baby yellow decorated and coloured walls of the room.

"I don't want anyone to carry a secret i whispered in a hallway."  He answered.
"My room is less likely to be heard of" he added.

"So what exactly happened?" She asked, sitting down on one of the seats that splattered in the centre of his room. 

"It happened not so far long ago," ashton said softly, looking away as if replying the scenes he witnessed.

"A famous hunter and traveller called aardvark visited Azar for the first time. He wanted to see the famous fire creatures that Azar bragged about."  Ashton paused, looking down at his lap with a distant look on his face.

"People told him it was forbidden for the civilians, and no one can enter the castle without permission and a company of the royals." He looked up at her.  "They warned him,"

Maria knew where this was going, but she didn't dare speak as if ashton wouldn't carry on telling her what happened.

"He sneaked into the castle, not only to see Helios but to try and ride him," 

"What?" Her bravery could never. All she wanted was to steal a glance at the majestic bird, but that man wanted to ride him? Talk about stupidity.

"He possessed an artifact. something he earned in the years of hunting the creatures that lurked deep in the abandoned forests or wherever far he had gone."  Ashton replied, looking at her.

"It didn't work on Helios because his mind was already owned by my father." He let out a chuckle, as if mocking the man for his foolishness.

"So he tried to forcefully ride him, Helios noticed the hostile behaviour of the stranger and killed him."

"That was incredibly foolish," maria said after a beat of silence,  making him chuckle.

"That was the first thing i said, too."

"So what happened after that?"

"Father learned of that what happened and blamed himself for it. He thought he should've taught Helios better, and he should've known about the man." Ashton sighed, pinching the bridge oh his nose.

"And that is also incredibly foolish," Maria conceded, with a frown. How could the king blame Helios or himself? It's not like they knew or asked for it.

"He hid it from the puplic,  caged Helios for a while, and also trained him roughly. He didn't even ride on him if he wanted to depart from azar." He continued.  Maria furrowed her eyebrows at that statement. It wasn't fair for Helios to get punished for that.

"For how long?"

"Till yesterday."

"Didn't people talk?" Maria narrowed her eyes, already thinking of the rumours that spread across the streets of azar.

"They did. Father didn't deny or confirm it. And when they saw he didn't pay any piece of mind to it, it was thrown to the oblivion." Ashton replied.

"It would be must likely for him to restart it since Helios tried to hurt you too," Ashton added, massaging his temples.  Maria felt slightly guilty for her actions. She wouldn't have done that if she knew, and now Helios might get punished again because of her.

"Helios didn't hurt me, Ashton," Maria spoke, a bit of urgency laced in her tone. "He tried at first, but he didn't." she continued.

"It would have been a disaster, you know. Uncle Delvin is a good friend of my father." Ashton sighed, resting his arms on his thighs.

At that statement, the possibility of what might have really happened crashed on her like a huge wave. It could have been a lot worse than this. She now knew just what she risked by getting in there. Ashton noticed the lack of words on her side and cast her a glance.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He said softly. Maria's eyes shifted across the room, her heart beating loudly in the wall of her chest.

"I'm so stupid." Maria mumbled quietly, a look of disbelief painting her features. Her rainy sky coloured eyes found his fire ones. "Do you think your father would do something?"

"I don't know." He replied,pondering over the question of what action his father would decide to take. Hopefully, nothing too rough. 
"The former incident was of a normal man. It wouldn't have been that much of a trouble comparing it to lunari royalty." He continued.

"I need to speak to him." She stated out of the blue and urgently stood up, reaching for the door.  Ashton shifted from his seat and walked over to her.

"What you're going to do?"

"Helios doesn't deserve this." She felt partially guilty, if not all. Maria felt compelled to reason with eze, helios didn't deserve to get punished for her reckless actions.