It's been four weeks, exactly a month, since Scarlett Solaris took to the throne and has been leading her nation, Goldaria. She and her friends still hurt from the traumatic mental wounds inflicted on them during their captivity weeks prior, but the...
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✰✦✰ Chapter Nineteen ✰✦✰ " Sarinne "
"DON'T TAKE TOO long, alright?" I told Luna and she shook her head, laughing to herself before she dove headfirst into the lake.
She'd claimed she wanted to handpick a few specialties from the Blue Sea herself for when Scar woke up to make sure she stayed cheerful. Apparently there was a potion one of her sisters made to ensure that a person could only feel the emotion of happiness for a whole day. My only worry was that we were doing this behind the Guards' and government's back. Hell, even Scarlett's, considering none of us were supposed to leave the castle unless it was urgent—excusing a few exceptions like government meetings that Scarlett always attended or even Luna's mother's birthday party a while back—since there was still a great concern for what was going on in our country, what with the frequent Shadow Stealer attacks and the fact that all of us were fairly positive that Scarlett's sister, Euphemia—the Shielder—was still alive and well. It meant that staying behind castle walls where we were safer than anywhere else was the best choice, even if Luna protested because of her love for Scarlett. I had to say I admired her but also felt a tang of envy strike my chest every time I thought about it. There was nothing I was especially good at and could offer my best friend, particularly one I'd argued with before she'd left for Tempora Isle and was then ambushed by the same monstrous creatures we were all trying to avoid.
She'd been asleep for two days now and I was beginning to seriously worry in hindsight of Luna having returned uninjured. According to her, after the first Shadow Stealer struck, she had called out for Scarlett but couldn't find her, and then it was too late because she was being dragged to a safety bunker by a Guard. Once everything had quietened down and the walls were no longer crumbling to the ground, she had searched for her again and found her unconscious in the cellar of the building. Guilt strangled me every moment that she wasn't awake and still asleep in the medical wing—I was aching to make amends with her. We'd fought over a man and that disgusted me more than anything else in the world right now. Thankfully, Luna said she'd give me a flower or two so that I could tell Sarinne they were from me.
"Ma'am?"
I jumped in my cross legged position on the grass and slowly turned my head, meeting the grey eyes of a Guard. His name was Chadston. "Sweet Olympia. . ."
He cleared his throat and shifted his weight. "Sorry, ma'am."
"You don't have to call me that, you know?" I got to my feet and wiped my grassy hands off each other.
"Yes, ma'am—uh—I apologise—"
"Just tell me why you're here," I chuckled even though I didn't find it funny that he made me feel old by using the word "ma'am".
"The same pair of Crimson Isle citizens have returned," he told me with a hint of uncertainty. "They've asked for your presence."
At first, the question that arose in my mind was Who are they? But that was eviscerated the second I realised the answer to my own question a second later. Panic clutched my chest, squeezing tightly as nostalgic memories crossed my mind. Run. Just run from them, get to another country. They've found you again, your only hope is escaping once and for all. I swallowed but a rock had been caught in my throat and when I shook my head, it was a jittery sort of move.
