On Her Knees

new developments

POV: Camille

This place is so odd.

Not only is this place odd but everyone living in it is and it's making everyone else act weirdly.

My father seems more on edge, Sera seems a lot quieter and so is Alexander, Alexander has been distancing himself from me and much less flirty with others, and Alruna has been hiding a lot from me. The only person that is even remotely the same as before is Phal.

"Has she really been so odd these past few days?" Phal asks as he walks beside me.

"Yeah," I blandly reply. "She's been sneaking around and telling me less and less about what she's doing. Not to mention she always seems somewhat on edge here, like something's going to jump out from a shadow and attack her."

"She can't be that tense," Phal scoffs.

"Oh really? I stood behind her a gently coughed to get her attention and she almost slammed a plate against the side of my head," I tell him.

That was a scary encounter with Runa.

She's usually calm and collected to varying degrees but these past few days she's been jumping at the slightest thing. Her eyes always dart around and I've had to start making sure that I approach her from the side or in front so that she doesn't get spooked and accidentally throw something at my head.

"Why is she so worked up?"

"Dunno. But she's being secretive and hasn't been working out with Sera since we got here," I tell him.

"Speaking of Sera," Phal smirks. "He's been acting quite skittish, especially around the little maid."

"Don't call Runa that. It's weird and gross and makes my skin crawl in a really bad way," I tell him, rubbing down the goosebumps on my arms as I shiver at his words. "She'll also smack you if she finds out you refer to her like that."

He just shrugs off my words as we finally get outside of the winding halls of this palace, getting out into the open courtyard that has been covered in wood chips to cushion the falls of everyone training.

I spot Sera and Alexander sparring, my eyes searching Runa since this is a kind of thing I think she would like. She enjoyed training with Sera every day, even of it did exhaust her and make her get sunburn quite regularly. Her shoulders are still peeling a little from all the red burns.

To my dismay, she isn’t anywhere to be seen. Phal hugs me to his side to comfort me as he sees the disappointment on my face, rubbing my arm as he drags me forward, interrupting Sera and Alexander.

They politely walk off to the side of the training area, resting their swords against a nearby stand as they start talking to Phal. I'm too upset that Runa isn't here to talk to them.

I listen in a little bit as I keep an eye out for her, thdir conversation suddenly catching all my attention as Phal asks a very interesting question.

"So, how close are you two?" He asks with a smirk, definitely teasing them but they don't take it as a joke.

"What did she tell you?" Sera snaps, Alexander gripping his arm to hold him back from grabbing Phal.

Me and Phal share a curious look before turning back to the two of them. Now that Phal's brought it up, these two do seem oddly close when I look closer at how they stand together.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve? Who's this 'she' you're referring to?" He smiles, leaning in towards Sera who looks like he's about to snap and punch him, only being held back by my presence and Alexander's soft grip on his arm. He's usually calm so it's odd to see his face getting red with anger.