Stormy slowly scooped up a spoonful of hot green soup and hesitantly lifted it up to her mouth.
She blew at it continuously for a minute or two until she was sure it was okay enough for her to drink before she quickly slurped it all down her throat in just a matter of seconds.
Suddenly, she began to feel the familiar bitter taste of the soup rolling down her tongue, and immediately shut her eyes, her jaws clenched as she forced to keep herself from squeezing her face or hissing in displeasure.
Slowly, she rubbed her tongue up along the edges of her mouth, licking her lips as if relishing the taste of the soup, then scooped another spoon, repeating her earlier actions over and over again until she finally managed to finish everything in the bowl.
Feeling quite relieved that the torment was finally over, Stormy leaned back against the chair, dropping the spoon into the bowl. Then, she grabbed a napkin and began to wipe her mouth with it, silently cussing out at Ella, her personal maid for making her go though such a horrible ordeal.
For the past couple of days, the green soup had been the only thing she's kept serving her after she had strangely woken up in the first prince's room with quite a severe and throbbing headache and with absolutely no recollections whatsoever of what had happened to her or how she had managed to get into his chambers.
All thanks to the worrywart Ella, each and every single morning, while everyone else gets to have a fancy meal for breakfast, she gets to be served this horrible green soup, same as in the afternoon as well as the evening too.
In fact, if it were not for the fact that she was her favourite maid and the closest thing she has to a friend in the palace and the entire kingdom, she would have said she hated her but then who will she be kidding?
She loves Ella dearly and although most at times she could be really annoying and overprotective, there was never a time she regretted having her as her personal maid.
"I see you are already done with your healing soup, princess Zelda," said the king, interrupting Stormy's thoughts and causing her to look his way. "I'm guessing you really like it so much," he added, offering her a smile.
Stormy nodded, forcing a smile in return. "Yes, your highness, I do love it so much. In fact, I've never tasted anything as good as it in my entire life so I would surely love to continue taking it until I fully get well..."
Seriously Stormy? Are you in any way going nuts? You really want to keep on drinking this poison of a concoction for all eternity? Are you sure you're okay?
"Well, that's actually great to know," king Maximus asserted with a smile, cutting through her thoughts once again. "I'm glad you're enjoying your stay here," he revealed.
"Me too," Stormy mumbled through clenched teeth.
Indeed she was having quite an awesome and amazing time in Nightingvale however, for quite some time now, something had been bothering her mind.
Ever since she had arrived there, there's always been an air of mystery surrounding the place and each and every day it seems to just get more and more intense.
She's kept having this spooky and strange feeling since the very first moment she had stepped foot on that soil and after waking up in the prince's chambers not knowing what had happened to her or how she had even gotten there in the first place, her worries and fears just seemed to have increased.
What was more, nobody wanted to tell her the truth about what had actually happened to her that very day.
Each time she tries to bring the issue up, everyone just tries to change the topic or worse act uninterested or ignorant, even Ella whom she considered her friend.
She had tried several times to get her to talk about what had happened to her that day at the palace gate yet failed each and every single time.
Even though she refused to give up and kept pestering her, Ella still refused to talk.
As a matter of fact, the only thing she had managed to tell her after all her constant bugging was that she had been too excited to meet the prince and in the process had lost her balance and fell, hitting her head, a story she believed to be too far-fetched.
Although she was still finding it difficult to recollect all what had happened that day, she clearly remembered having a small argument with Reina and being angry at her for insulting and disrespecting her and she remembered being knocked down to the floor by something or someone while she had turned her back and was walking away from her but after that, she still can't remember anything else.
Whenever she tries to force her mind to remember, she just ends up with severe and accute headaches.
It was as if something was blocking her from getting her memories back and finding the truth.
She has heard quite a lot of stories about people using witchcraft and sorcery to put others under forgetful spells in order to keep them from remembering things that they don't want them to remember from Amy and the mere thought of it being what was happening to her sends cold shivers down her spine every single time.
No matter what, she wouldn't want any one messing around with her head using magic.
In fact, it would definitely freak her out if she were to actually find out oneday that someone had been in her head the entire time controlling her thoughts and her memories.
"So, princess Zelda, why don't you tell us more about your kingdom...?"
"Huh?" Stormy exclaimed. She looked at the king, quite terrified.
"Go on, tell us about the Avalon kingdom. I'm sure everyone here would love to know more about it."
"Ah, is that so?" Stormy let's out a nevous chuckle. She looked across the table at everyone, cringing when she noticed the hateful looks they were offering her.
Jeez! This people don't look like they are interested in hearing stories about some stupid kingdom. They look like they want to watch her burn on a stake and then laugh it off.
"Princess, Zelda! Don't keep us waiting," said the king, sounding a bit impatient.
Stormy's brows creased. She stared at him skeptically, her head tilted to the side.
Why does he seem to be overly interested in Avalon? What is he up to?
"Erm, actually I..."
"Sorry to disturb your meal, your majesty but it's time for the princess to take her daily rest."
Stormy smiled hearing the familiar voice. She looked up, giving Ella a wink.
Seriously what would she have done without her?
"Is this true, princess Zelda?"
"Uh, yes-yes my king. I'm actually having another headache right now and I think it will be best for me to go get some rest," Stormy lied.
There was total silence. She stared over at the king, expectantly.
"Well, if that's the case then I guess you should definitely go and get that rest..."
"Alright, your highness," Stormy assured getting up to her feet.
"but don't forget to come find me and tell me all about Avalon when you are finally up."
"Okay, my king," replied Stormy with a huge smile plastered all over her face. She gave a polite bow then left with Ella, deep down feeling thankful to her for coming to her rescue.
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"Thank you!" Stormy cheerfully said immediately they were away from the others and out of earshot.
For someone who was just a maid, she is quite bold to have come to her aid like that.
Back at home, even the cabinet members don't speak to the king unless they were given the permission to so for her to just barge in like that and speak directly to the king meant she was brave or just straight up over-confident and stupid.
"I'm glad you helped me escape from that awkward situation back there," Stormy revealed. She was full of gratitude and it showed even on her face.
"You don't need to thank me, princess," said Ella nonchalantly. Her voice sounded a little bit off and Stormy was quick to notice it.
She stopped, a quizzical expression on her face. "Are you in any way mad at me?" she asked. "Is it because of what went on in there?" Stormy sounded worried and genuinely bothered and that made Ella feel bad. She immediately stopped and turned to face her.
"No-o! No, princess. I'm not mad at you because of that. I only did what I had to do and besides you actually do look like you needed a rest, I just helped you voice it out."
"Fine...! So if you are not mad at me because you had to save my ass once again, then why are you being stiff and all moody with me? What then did I do to deserve this kind of attitude from you? Tell me, why are you giving me the cold treatment?" Stormy pouted her lips, her arms folded across her chest as she stared towards her maid, waiting and expecting a response from her.
"Trust me, my princess, I am not trying to give you a cold treatment..."
"So what are you doing?" Stormy asked, indirectly cutting her off.
Ella sighed. She knew at this point that her mistress wasn't going to give up. "I'm not trying to be cold towards you, princess. I'm simply just looking out for you."
Stormy lifted her brows. She had lots of questions bubbling through her head at this moment and it was evident in her eyes and her expression. "What do you mean by you were simply just looking out for me? Am I in any kind of danger?"
Ella smiled wryly. "I won't necessarily say you're in any kind of danger seeing that you're the future queen of this kingdom and the now favourite of the king, but you do need to be careful how you approach certain people in the palace. It's not everyone who is in support of your being here and trust me they will do absolutely everything possible in their power to get rid of you. For now, you are safe because you are being protected by the king, however that won't last. He only wants a grandchild and if he doesn't get that from you soon enough, then my dear, you are going to end up like the rest. Yes, a time will come when you wouldn't have the backing of the king anymore and with how the prince has been avoiding you, I'm pretty sure that time will be soon." Ella finally ended her speech, letting out the breath she had been holding inside. She looked towards Stormy, shaking her head and rolling her eyes when she noticed how confused she looked.
"What was all that?" Stormy demanded when she finally got her voice back.
The entire time Ella was speaking, she had been staring at her completely tongue-tied.
In fact, she left her speechless because it was the first time she was actually talking to her that freely and comfortably without acting like she was committing a grave offense or saying something she was not supposed to say.
"That, my princess is an advice," Ella humbly remarked . "Now, let's get going before the king comes out and sees us still here. I'm not sure you would want to spend the entire afternoon giving him an oral tour of your kingdom."
"Trust me, Ella, I don't..." Stormy sighed. She bent forward and grabbed the hem of her dress then resumed her walking. She hurried her steps and walked past Ella who grinned and immediately followed after her.
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In the forest, at Tyrion's favourite hangout spot, sat two of Tyrion's closest and most trusted gaurds; Luke and Stefan.
After the strange encounter that night, his curiosity to know more about the wolf and what her mission was with Stormy had led Tyrion to keep a watch out for her in the woods day and night but when his father sent for him, he had no choice but to hand over the job to them before he went back to the palace to meet him and for the past couple of days, that is where they have both been, stationed and on the lookout.
"Do you think the princess has a hand in the prince's sudden and unusual thirst for blood?" asked Stefan, the youngest of the two.
Luke stared at him, lost and confused. "What do you mean?" he quizzed.
"I'm saying don't you think it's suspicious? That prince Tyrion suddenly lost control of his urges right after the princess's arrival? I mean it's barely even evening time but he has had like what-a thousand deers already and he still doesn't seem to be satisfied. Isn't that strange to you?"
Luke frowned. "Now why would that be strange to me, Stefan? Look, what I know is that the prince has gone quite too long without blood. As a vampire, he needs to take in as much blood as can sustain him and I'm even surprised he has managed to come this far without taking it. I sincerely don't think anything is out of the ordinary with his new cravings though. I'm sure he is just extremely hungry from starving himself for this long and nothing more."
"Hmm!" sighed Stefan, still full of doubts.
Throughout his lifetime as a vampire, he could swear he has seen quite an amount of strange cravings but never had he for once seen one as complicated and mind boggling as the prince's own.
In fact, he believed none of them had even come close to what he was witnessing with the prince and because of that he wasn't the least bit convinced by Luke's words at all.
Somehow he still felt like the princess was to be blamed because the prince has been okay until she finally showed up.
He was convinced she had actually done something to him and whatever it was he was going to find out soon.