Kingdom Dawning

Chapter Thirteen

I tried to walk back to the throne room, but when Zydan saw me in the halls, he stopped me in my tracks.

 "Where do you think you're going? And why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his back against the wall. 

 "The coronation? I need to get back in there," I said with a puzzled tone.

 "The other maids will get him for now if he needs anything. You have to get ready for the ball," I guess I was so focused on the coronation that I had forgotten there was even a ball at all. The worst part was I barely knew how to dance. Zydan began to escort me to my room so I could get ready when I got an idea: If I would be able to get out of this ball, I could find Quillian and get him out while everyone was preoccupied. 

 "Do I really need to go to this thing? I mean the other maids aren't going so why do I?" Zydan put his arm around my shoulders.

 "What? Are you too afraid I will out dance you on the dance floor? You need to go because Arksel wants you there. He is not the most..." He tilted his head back and forth as he thought. His long braided hair swung behind his back gently "flexible person when you go against his wishes; it puts him in a bad mood," I looked up at him and forced a smile. 

 "Is Arksel ever in a good mood?" I said, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my skirt. Zydan let out a low, breathy chuckle. 

 "He is like a crabby depressed old man most of the time, but there are spare moments that he shows who he used to be," Zydan explained. How did he use to be? So Arksel wasn't always so sharp and unpleasant. We approached my room, and I paused.
"What happened to him? I mean what changed him..." I asked 

 "His father, In my opinion, the old king is better dead than alive. He was a wicked king, but only Arksel truly knew the extent of his cruelty," Zydan pushed my door open and said his goodbyes before leaving. "Oh and I asked Aleta to help you get ready since I am guessing by the way you normally do your hair... You'll need help" I opened my mouth to protest, but when I glanced in my room there, there she was. Aleta sat on the chair in the corner upside down as she watched a small flicker of flame dance across her fingertips. She wore what all the other soldiers wore to the coronation. Aleta wore a thick black vest that had a cluster of all her badges on the bottom right section. A dark grey undershirt with the crest of the kingdom on both shoulders, thick black belt where some held a gun or sword, but Aleta's was bare since she was her own weapons. Her fire no doubt could do more damage than any of their weaponry. The one thing that set her apart from the rest was her boot; they ran up her legs and hugged her thighs tightly. Shiny black boots that had silver studs running down them. 

She noticed me enter the room, and she flipped off the chair and onto her feet, a bit dramatic but effective way to get out of a chair. Her bright red hair was messy but beautiful; I guess that was one way you could explain Aleta in general.

"You going to keep staring at me?" she put her hands on her hips. I snapped back to reality and walked into my room, shutting the door behind me. I didn't want to be near her. She burned down my colony, and she attacked Majiey, which caused Leillan to get stabbed. I could only assume that wasn't her first times attacking the innocent and definitely won't be her last. She walked over to the big darkly painted wardrobe and pulled out a dress that was wrapped up in a cloth. 

"The faster we get you ready, the faster I can go, and your room depresses me," She talked in a very bored and irritated tone, I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as she slid the dress out of the cover. It felt like hours of Aleta poking me with random object on my face and tugging at my hair before she deemed me worthy of putting the dress on me.