The Royal Within

Chapter 12

"We got the piece of hair!" Luke said triumphantly.

"Luke.. What you said back there-" I said cautiously.

He sighed. "Yeah. That fairy was..interesting. I'm glad we fooled her."

"Fooled?" I squeaked. I felt like my heart was being crushed under the weight of his words.

"Yeah. I'm not the best actor, but I somehow convinced her that I loved you." He chuckled. "Maybe I should be an actor."

Maybe. Cause you fooled me.

"Yeah.. Have fun with that." I attempted to laugh, but it sounded like a hoarse cough.

"You ok?" Luke asked,

I nodded, and we walked back to where everyone else was in silence.

I could tell Luke was wanting to break the silence the entire time, but I just didn't feel like talking. So much has been going on, and I just needed a break.

We got back, and everyone was awake. Sophia flung herself into Luke's arms. "Where were you?" She yelled as she hugged him.

Scarlet and Kim walked over to me. "Where were you two?!" Scarlet asked when she got to me. Kim raised an eyebrow at me, and I looked to the ground.

"Uh we heard someone cry out for help... And then we tried to help them. It was a fairy, and we got a strand of her hair!" I skipped over some parts, but that was the gist of it.

"That's great.. But why is your face so red? Are you ok?" Kim pried.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just.. I need to tell you guys something." I told them both that I was the person with the guardian. At first, they were both upset that I didn't tell them sooner, but I apologized, and eventually they forgave me.

When Kim walked away to talk to Adam, I leaned closer to Scarlet. "He said he loved me.."

"WHAT!?!" She yelled. Everybody stared at her. She shrinked under the gaze of everyone, and didn't look at anyone.

"He said what?" Scarlet asked. I have never had a boyfriend, let alone a guy saying he even likes me.

"The fairy pressured him into saying it. He didn't mean it, but still. He said he loved me." I know I sounded really girly at the moment, but put yourself in my shoes.

She nodded. "Well that was not the story I was expecting.. I was wondering why if he told you that he loved you, why did he run over to Sophia?"

I looked over to Luke and Sophia. She was still asking him if he was ok, and he must have felt someone looking at him because he looked at us.

"He's looking at you." Scarlet taunted.

"No he is looking at both of us." I reassured her.

"Uh huh" She said while rolling her eyes.

"So you don't seem too shocked about everything." I said while nudging her.

"Well, Warren and I talked, and he calmed me down." She tried to speak evenly, but I heard her voice falter.

"Nooo" I gasped.

She looked at me. "What?"

"You like him!" I accused. "Oh my gosh!"

Red crept up her neck, and she looked around to see who heard. "Uh no... And keep your voice down."

"Oooooo-kkkkkk" I sang.

She slapped my arm. "He is really nice and funny. If only he stopped staring at Sophia like she is the only girl in the world." She huffed.

"Girl talk?" A voice asked behind us. I jumped, and Scarlet shrieked. I saw the dark hair, and knew who it was.

"Yeah. Thanks for scaring Scarlet. Mighty kind of you Jack." I said, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah no problem." He gave Scarlet a cute smile, which she refused to notice. "Glad you appreciate my humor."

"If you call that humor, I would suggest not trying to be a comedian." She snapped at him.

"I already am, shorty." She glared when he called her shorty.

"Well I'm going to go talk to Liuke real quick." I raised an eyebrow at Scarlet as I left.

"See ya Ruthy." Jack said while laughing.

"Ruthy? I think not." I gave them one last smile, and walked over to Luke and Sophia.

Sophia glared at me while I walked over. "What do you want?" She asked casually, but her eyes burned with anger.

"We should probably get going. We need to gather some more water and food, and then figure out where to go first."

Luke nodded, and pushed Sophia off of him. "Let's go."

Like we planned, we walked to the waterfall. We gathered water in the bottles Luna gave us, and carried the food in the bags she gave us as well. We had berries to edible plants to cooked animals in our bags.

At the waterfall, I spotted Luna, and crept away to talk to her.

Where do we go?

'You have the fairy hair, so the land of fairies is unnecessary. You can go to the vampires, werewolves, mermaids, or the king himself."

Uh.. Which one would you say is the friendliest of them all?

'Well they all have their pro's and con's. Vampires will imprison you all, and drain your blood before you can say help. The werewolves will eat you before you even see them. The only way to survive them is if they feel like turning you into one of them, which rarely happens. The mermaids are like the boy you encountered. They will drown you with their voice. Good luck talking to them. Alas, the king. Nobody knows what he looks like, or what he is. His father ruled this world for a long time, but once he was murdered, our current king snapped. He never let anyone see him, or know anything about him. People say it is because he is afraid that someone will murder him as well. Some say it is because he is plotting revenge, and he wants it to be unexpected.'

...Those are all awful options.

'I never said they were good.'

Well... What do you think we can pull off?

'Honestly?'

Yeah.

'None.'

Great.

'But I would avoid doing the king first. That is a death wish.'

How about the vampires? Maybe they will listen..

'As they drain you of your blood, sure.'

Well do you have any other options?!

'You don't have to leave.'

Yeah. I do. I miss my home, my life, my parents...

'Well you better get started.'

I know.

'Because this will be challenging. The closest place is actually where the vampire's council is. We can try to catch a lone one.'

Yeah. We can do this.

Luna just stared up at me and didn't respond. To be honest, I was terrified of this world...and the things in it. But I need to be strong. I need to get home.

"Hey where are we heading?" Luke came over and asked as Luna darted away.

I heard Luna tell me where to go. Follow the sunset. I pointed towards the setting sun. "That way."

He nodded and everyone started walking.

"How do we Ruth is leading us the right way?" Sophia groaned.

I turned around and gave her my best serious/annoyed face that I could. "Because I have the guardian."