The Destined Protector (The Chronicles of Mistar - Book 1)

Two · · · Mell (.2)

Mell chose her green silk dress that was the color of palm fronds. Her dark pine green sleeves were made from velvet that went to her wrists and crawled along her hand to her middle finger at a point. She wore the leather band around her forehead, the tiara for the princess of Casta, which was decorated in orange and green beads and the feathers of Casta's native bird, mokodo. Mell put on her sandals, made of aca vines that were twisted into a secure rope. The rope of her sandal curled around her leg to come halfway up to her thigh where her silk dress stopped short in front. The back of her dress fell into a triangle that landed on the floor behind her ankles if she didn't pull it up.

Mell could see the prisoner from outside his locked room. Ophryn sat in a chair made out of aca wood, his hands bound behind his back and his ankles tied to the legs of the chair. His skin was gray-teal with a tint of yellow which made him look sick, though Mell could see in his face that he was perfectly healthy. Mell couldn't see his eyes from the way he was sitting, but she could see his hair. Ophryn's hair was black and curly and sticking up at odd angles. It was shaved just above his ears and the tips were dyed a blue-gray to match a few patches of his skin color. His clothes were shaggy, torn, and covered in green paint to match the surroundings in Casta. A few spots of paint were lime green to match the palm fronds and the aca wood leaves.
Right before Fin opened the door for her, a warm hand rested on her shoulder. It was her mother. The queen smiled, but her mother's lip twitched signaling that she was nervous for her daughter.

"It will be alright," Mell whispered.

Meg nodded and pulled her hand away to let Mell walk into the room. The two guards that followed her from her room bowed to her as she passed and so did Fin. Stepping into the room, Mell was blinded by the light above her. She didn't pull away though. She was a princess. She couldn't show her weak side to an enemy, even if it was to a blinding light.

"Princess," Ophryn sneered, putting his chin up.

Oh, Mell thought, he has freckles. Mell was surprised that they were so dark. His freckles almost looked like freckles of a Castan.

Before Mell said anything, she looked at his eyes. They were dark pine green. This surprised Mell too. They were the same color as Casta's pine forests with a hint of gray.

Mell turned away before the tension became too weird.

"So," she started to say, "how old are you?"

"Excuse me?" he asked.

Mell eyed him but didn't say anything.

"I wasn't thinking you'd ask that question first," he scoffed. "I thought you would ask something like, 'Why are you here?' or 'Who are you?'"

"First of all," said Mell, "'Why are you here?' was my second question, and secondly, I know who you are."

"You do now? I bet your fancy soldier told you. Who am I then?" he asked. "Ophryn Tenet. The son of General Tollin, the captain of Pent's army and the crown's biggest loyalist," she answered.

Ophryn nodded at her answer. "By the crown, you mean Pent's crown."

"Yes," she said and started to pace back and forth because it was too hard for her to stand still. Her feet were aching at it felt good to move.

"And your Mell Byrin," he said. "The princess and heir to the throne of Casta. Parents: King Pon and Queen Meg of Casta that formally control the land on Pezda. You stay hidden away and some of Casta's citizens don't even know if you're real. I know that's who you are."
But
Mell kept a straight face and her posture the same. She couldn't let his words show weakness.

"My question," Mell ordered through gritted teeth as she tried not to show Ophryn her blushed up face.

"What was it again?" he asked with a snicker.