The same loud voice with a thick mustache from the Ceremony shocks me out of the hug, summoning my parents to the mudroom as well, and I just now realize that I never shut the door after Griffin came in.
Does this man seriously get paid for this one line?
Prince Zeo walks up next, but keeping enough etiquette to stand outside of the open door since I didn't invite him in. Well, our houses are granted by the government so really I should be waiting for him to order me around the lot.
"Ms. Moon," he greets me with the same gesture Griffin used when he first arrived, only with much more confidence apparent on the Prince's fair face. "Good morning," he motions towards my family and boyfriend, only his eyes linger on Griffin for a moment since he didn't see him the last time he came, and he probably didn't even notice his presence in the Ceremony since they stopped checking at the letter F.
"Kaia, was it?" The Prince continues, "Were you serious about wanting to come with your sister to the palace?" Damn you spellcasters and your ultra-superior high-resolution hearing. I study his face just in case he's about to make an irritated remark, but of course, he looks as empty as a statue.
Instead, I turn to look at how my family is reacting. Kaia's mouth hangs open not knowing how to reply, Oliver's grey eyes are full of color, yet again dazzled by his celebrity crush, Griffin has gone pale upon seeing the heir to the throne up close, and my parents are tensely waiting for Kaia's response.
"I—"
"Now hold on a minute, Your Highness," my mom interrupts Kaia, "before you suddenly decide to take both my daughters, can't you reevaluate Freya's status? Perhaps the Crystal was malfunctioning on Friday."
"Mrs. Moon," Prince Zeo sighs in agitation, finally showing some sort of emotion, "I will say this for the final time. The Crystal of Esterden does not malfunction. It does not make mistakes. Regardless, it would be impossible to check since it's only allowed out of the palace for Appointment Ceremonies." Once he finishes practically scolding my mother, he turns back to my sister. "Anyways, young Ms. Moon, if your respected mother allows you to, perhaps coming along will be healthy for Freya since you'll be bringing a sense of familiarity with you."
"To the palace?" Kaia stutters, not wanting to pass up the opportunity of a lifetime, and I practically start gleaming since I don't want to pass it up either, both for selfish reasons and because I'm sure she'll enjoy it, being a politics geek and whatnot. "But... wouldn't I be a burden?"
Prince Zeo shakes his head no, "Worry not, we have plenty of space, and you're still a student so we can organize tutoring sessions for you. I'm certain Her Majesty, Queen Zanha, would want our Chief to feel comfortable in her setting to make sure she efficiently responds to the training." Wow, he talks about his own sister so formally.
I remain quiet since I doubt my training will work even if we bring an entire entourage, but I'm not opposing bringing my sister. I look at the way she turns to our mother for any sort of guidance, but she keeps her head down with her jaw clenched. She must've realized that she isn't one to be arguing with the Crown Prince's words.
It's alright, mom. I had to learn that the hard way.
Kaia turns back to me, and I'm struck with how lively her eyes look, a contrast to the way she was faking a good mood for my sake early morning. "But I didn't pack..."
"Can you get it done within half an hour?" At that, the sensible one out of the twins sprints to her room, her exuberance bringing a smile to my face.
"Hey, can't I come too?" Oliver speaks up, not at all trying to be formal with the Prince.
"Now now, Oliver, I'm sure you wouldn't want to burden Her Majesty," my dad laughs nervously, trying to appease my mother's glare.
"He won't be a burden, don't worry Mr. Moon, especially if he chooses to share the suite with his sisters," Prince Zeo shrugs, and at that Oliver's grin reaches his eyes, then also sprinting to his own room, undoubtedly to pack.
"Now, are you prepared, Chief Moon?" Chief Moon. I don't think I'll get used to that anytime soon. He studies my appearance from top to bottom, probably repulsed by how casually I'm dressed in a black crop top and maroon cargo pants. Certainly not as formal as I should've dressed, considering that I'll supposedly meet the Queen, today. Yet, he shows no distaste on his statuesque face.
"Do I have a choice?"
"I'll be waiting in the automobile," he responds instead after a moment of him just studying me, surely tired of my attitude by now, then heads off.
This might be the last chance I get, so I take it to jump into my father's arms for a hug goodbye. "I'll miss you, dad. Take care of mom, she might have a hard time with all of us gone."
"Of course I will, Frey. Good luck baby. I'll see you soon."
"Don't worry Freya, I'll check up on your parents as often as I can, okay?" Griffin puts his hand on my shoulder once I break out of the hug with my father. I can't deny that I adore the sweetheart side of this boy, and I go up to hug him for the third time today. "We'll stay in touch, of course," I respond with a nod and a slight smile. I actually can't be sure of how cell service works in the palace. I really wouldn't be surprised if I'll have to send letters through a hawk, or even worse, I don't even know if I'll be allowed to talk to everyone back home, but I don't mention it, since there's no way out of this situation anyway, so I shouldn't make them feel even worse.
"Bye mom," I turn to the woman, giving her a hug which she returns with three times my strength. After ten seconds of not breaking out of the hug, I feel a wetness on my shoulder, and when I slightly turn my head to see what's going on, I see my mother sobbing.
"I'm sorry, baby," she chokes out while stroking my cheek, "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you."
"You had nothing to do with this," I put on the same fake smile she's been giving me these past two days to make her feel less guilty. I'm not lying, anyways, it's not like she programmed the rock to say that it's me. All she gives me back is a sad smile before going back to staring at the floor, and my dad clutches her hand in his.
"Done!" Kaia announces once she comes back to the living room, followed by Oliver, and rolling a single suitcase behind her; they must've shared.
"Kaia, Oliver, are you guys sure you want to leave as well?" Dad asks them followed by an inconspicuous nod of his head towards mom, wanting them to take into consideration how she feels about all this. The twins glance at each other before Oliver attacks our mom in a hug.
"Mom, you know how cool of an experience this will be for us! It really is once in a lifetime! Think about it, Kaia will be surrounded by a ton of history, and you know that's what she really loves, and maybe I'll even get to train in physical combat like the big guys on the television!" He grins, looks like both my siblings are sensible huh. "And it's not like you'll miss us too much, we're not the ones that'll have to stay so I'm sure we'll come back as often as we can!"
They're not the ones that'll have to stay. Right. I am. I'm the one being thrown into the hands of a fate I never thought possible, a fate I didn't even wrap my head around. Noticing the tense atmosphere after that last part of what he said, Oliver's smile falls, as do his arms and he clears his throat after a second.
"I'll miss you all," Kaia says once she thinks that the mood of the room has calmed down, hugging our parents and even Griffin.
"Goodbye, gentlemen!" Oliver tries to joke once more, giving dad and Griffin a pound hug, and the smile our dad responds with is quite obviously bittersweet. Whether or not he's dismayed, he puts on a brave face for the sake of those around him, a trait that Oliver surely inherited.
"I'll see you all soon, I promise." A promise I'm not so sure I'll be able to able to keep, but I flash the group a smile anyways, and I head out the door followed by my siblings.
"Freya, your luggage!" Griffin calls after me.
Well then, Kaia was right about him being the more reliable pair. I rush back inside all the way to my room to take the large suitcase I packed, and as I head out I hear Griffin's loud chuckle, but I roll my eyes and stick my tongue out at him. His face shifts from poking fun at my idiocy, to showing complete and utter endearment, and it takes all my willpower to tear my eyes away from his sparkly amber ones.
"Bye for real this time," I tell my parents as I walk out the doorway again, and I'm sure that my mom's wistful expression will follow me all the way to the palace.
Oh for Ester's sake, this might be the last time I see them. I may as well.
I leave my suitcase near the automobile and I go back inside to Griffin's arms at first, and ignoring my parents' presence, I plant a smooch on his lips. Very hurried, but I hope it'll show him how strongly I'll miss him.
"I love you," he whispers in my ear once we split for air.
I really do still think I love him, but my stubborn side just won't back down, even though I'll surely regret it in a couple of days. "You make me so happy, Griffin," I whisper back to him. Well, I didn't lie, and his cheerfulness tells me that he doesn't sense anything wrong.
"Chief Moon!" Prince Zeo's loud-ass guard calls me from the street, and I really do have to leave now. All I have time to do is hug both my parents at once, not looking in them in the eye, not wanting to upset myself or them, and I run out to the automobile.
Upon opening the door into the same black automobile from last time, I see that Kaia and Oliver took my seat across from the Prince, and the only place I can comfortably sit would be to sit next to his Royal Thickheadedness. I don't think so. I'm not particularly fond of him, he isn't of me, his guards might think I'm going to hurt him if I sit within close proximity to him, no. I give Oliver a glare telling him to scooch over, and I all but end up sitting on his lap. Prince Zeo watches us with a glint of amusement in his dark hooded eyes, but he makes no effort to turn up the corners of his pink lips.
"Matkustaa Palatsiin," the spellcaster Prince chants before the wheels of the automobile start moving, and the guards outside holding our luggage start flying.
My siblings spend the entirety of the trip thus far staring out the window in awe, even though we still haven't gone down an unfamiliar road. I, on the other hand, alternate between looking up at the auto's ceiling and my lap, only involuntarily looking up as we pass by the north southeastern block, home to the lesser-fortunate spellcasters, and I catch a glimpse of Griffin's mother cleaning her porch, but she doesn't pay attention to us sitting in the auto. So much for not wanting to get emotional over the views that who knows when I'd see again. Prince Zeo made it clear that I'm not being taken hostage, but I can't help but feel like it.
At some point, I end up looking at the Prince himself, who still has not bothered making conversation with his, um, guests. He's dressed in a similar dark color scheme as he was during the Ceremony, but without the slightest hint of color that the dark purple robe had given him. The only color is coming from his purple forehead ribbon, otherwise, almost everything about him is dark. Black hair in a topknot yet again, even though it isn't as neat as last time as there's a single strand of the black silk hanging over the eggplant-colored ribbon. He's dressed in an all-black suit, and I just now notice that his almost-black eyes have puffy milky skin underneath them. Can't tell if they're genetic or because of stress, but I'm going with the former since I can't see why a pampered royal might feel stress.
After thirty minutes or so pass, I witness us entering unfamiliar territory through the corner of my eye. A bridge leading to another island in our archipelago of a kingdom, its glass balustrade reminding me of the bridge into the town square, except this one is much longer and wider. I finally bother looking up, not because of excitement or curiosity, but merely because my neck has started aching after spending the whole ride either looking up or down. Besides, the view of the Pacific is always calming.
Another five minutes go by, and we finally get down from the bridge. This time, we're met with an immense amount of tall trees, the greenery of their leaves strikingly vibrant, and matching that of the lawn. I think I catch a few people tending to the lawn, but the automobile moves too fast for me to decipher whether they're people or statues, as if the machinery is eager to finally arrive at our destination. It appears that the only part of the ground here that isn't green is the road we're traveling on.
As soon as we pass all the trees, I see it. A gigantic structure of slightly worn-out off-white bricks. Six towers surround the main part of the building, and the very top center is roofed as a dome, the roofing a dull purple color. I can't tell how many floors this place is or if it's just the height of the walls, but what I do know is:
We're here.