I nervously paced around in the library, biting my cheek while waiting for my friends. What do I even tell them? How do I find out if they know anything without sounding crazy? I started growing grey hairs from this thinking.
There was a slight knock on the door. "My lady, your friends have arrived." Stella said on the other side of the door.
My heart raced. "Thank you. You can let them in." Stella opened the door and my friends walked in. "Stella, please tell my parents we will eat with them soon."
Stella nodded her head. "I will, my lady." She closes the door on her way out.
We stood in silence for a bit. It's kinda hard to test them without saying you magically traveled back to the past and you know how things will turn out in the future without exactly saying that. "Good morning Max and Cara! How did you sleep?"
Cara did a brief stretch. "That shouldn't be a question, we are sleeping on a mattress from the rich." Cara's response makes me feel relieved she didn't change.
"I had a weird dream." Max said with a little yawn.
After hearing those words, my mouth formed into an enormous smile! My chance to test them! "Speaking of weird dreams I did too! You wouldn't believe the craziness even if I told you."
"Pft. Max, you were right." Cara said while holding in her laugh.
I felt offended and I don't know what for. "Right about what?" I said in a sassy tone.
Max laughed a little. "That you didn't know how to start today's conversation."
My jaw dropped. "Wait! Does that mean you know?!" Cara and Max nodded their heads in unison. "So you remember everything that happened yesterday?" Cara and Max nod their heads in unison, but faster.
"Before you ask any more questions, we cannot make ourselves any clearer." Max said, stopping me from asking anything else.
"If that's the case, we should make a game plan!" I excitedly say.
"A game plan? For what?" Max raised one of his eyebrows.
"Since we know what's going to happen in the future! We can make a plan on what we can do." I said proudly.
Max sat down on a nearby chair. "That's simple. Don't go near Tyrian."
I tilted my head at what he said. "What?! I want to save him from death! I can't sit back knowing what's going to happen to him." I sighed. Has Max lost his mind?! Why would I avoid him and not help him? We sat in silence for a while. "I don't know about you but I'm going to work my hardest and I will protect Tyrian and everyone else." I said in a serious tone.
Max sighed a little. "Well, there's nothing I can do about it since you already decided."
I felt an arm on my shoulder. "Zola, I need you to make a promise to us." Cara said in a serious tone which gave me the chills. "We don't know if we will get this chance again, so the second Tyrian betrays you or us. Promise that you will leave him for good." My heart felt like it was being stabbed after hearing that, and Cara never sounded so serious.
"I know this promise is going to be hard since you love him so much, but we can't afford to lose you, okay?" Cara said while hugging me.
I hugged her back. "Yeah, I know. I promise."
"Good, now that we got that seriousness out of the way." Cara pulled away from the hug, then excitedly started jumping up and down. "This time around I can learn to fight so I can protect you!" I raised a brow at what Cara said. Cara giggled at my reaction. "You will be too busy protecting and helping everyone else that you will forget about yourself but not meeeee! Your awesome friend!" Cara pointed to herself and said proudly.
I chuckled at her because she is a wild card; I look towards Max. "Are you going to do anything differently?"
Max took a minute to respond. "I probably mess with some herbs or something."
Cara got in his face. "So you're going to be our herbal doctor?"
Max shoved Cara's face. "Get away from my face."
"Ow! What the heck, what's that for?" Cara held her face as if she was super fragile.
"Your ugly face was in my space."
Cara's eyes look like there was a fire in them. "Ugly? Who are you calling ugly? You're the ugly one!"
"If that's the case, why were you single before? Huh?" Max said with a cunning smile.
"I wanted to be single! What about you? You were single too!" Cara said while crossing her arms.
What Max said got me thinking. "Wait, Max, according to what you said, does that mean I have a beautiful face since I was going to get married?" I said with a little happy dance.
"No. You just got lucky, you're ugly too." Max responded quickly.
I froze at what he said. He is truly a jerk. "This is exactly why you're single!"
Cara clapped her hands. "Yess! Give him a piece of your anger."
I rolled my hands into a fist and acted angrily. I couldn't help but laugh at how the mood was. It felt nice to be around them like this. "Oh! Before I forget. I plan to visit the Emperor today." The room fell silent for a while.
"I hate to be that guy, but how can you visit him when people don't know we exist?" Max said in a confused tone.
"Well, soon people will know of us and we won't be in hiding anymore." I spoke in a mature tone. "As far as getting into the palace...I didn't tell you this because I thought I would never use it. After they adopted me, his majesty gave me a Royal stamp and card."
Max and Cara both looked at me like they were lost. "Uh, what does that do?" Cara asked.
"I'm getting there. Before the Emperor's bloodbath 18th birthday the Royal family had stamps and cards given out to certain nobles, those items granted them special access and with that power, some nobles flaunted that to others, it was a whole thing. The card allows a person to arrive at the palace without requesting an audience. The stamp would get letters and gifts to the Royal family promptly as if it was really important ."
"I wonder how that regards safety." Max asks, with curiosity.
"They handed it out to nobles they saw as trustworthy. If they had any suspicions, they would take it away or have them watched. As much as the royal family was slowly harming their Empire they made sure they were safe."
Cara looked at me proudly. "Wow! You did your homework."
I nodded. "Well, I had to learn about the world we are in! Thanks to this place." I glanced around the library. If it wasn't for my amazing parents giving me the entire library even though they didn't have to, I wouldn't be able to have the knowledge I know today. I'm grateful for that. I clear my throat. "Those items will make sure I'm safe and it keeps my identity safe until the public knows." Max and Cara had nothing against what I said. They agreed with their heads in a serious face.
"Also, think of it like a VIP pass." After I said that they seem to understand better.
"Well, since we have this understood time to eat breakfast and inform my parents." I sat up and smiled. Max and Cara got up as well. Cara went for the door. "Awesome! I'm starving!" I lightly chuckled at her.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "I know you feel guilty, but you did nothing wrong." Max released his hand from my shoulder and continued to walk without looking back. I stopped in my tracks and started biting my cheek. I started getting deep in my thoughts.
Cara popped her head from the other side of the door. "Hey, you coming?" I quickly snapped out of my trance, nodded my head, and caught up with them to go eat some delicious food.