The prince had already ordered for the barrier spell to be lifted the moment he made his shocking announcement, and we all rushed forward to meet him.
"Your majesty, what do you mean by--" Yasmeen was still saying when a young knight rushed forward.
"Your majesty? The king wishes to see you now." He bowed then left.
Frase stopped, raising his hands in the air to halt anyone from speaking. "I shall meet my father to give my announcement. You all, stay close. And you," his piercing eyes turned to me, then he reached for my hands.
I flinched. " Huh?"
"You're going back to be with the Dha-Sa-Sa." He said.
"Say what now? Hell no!" I protested. "Those people fucking hate me!"
"Well now, they'd be more...cautious of you. It's up to you to make them terrified of you, or disdainful."
I frowned. "What is that even supposed to mean?"
He hesitated for a while, as if he was going to explain, then he stopped. "Just come with me!"
***
As expected, their evil eyes were fixated on me the moment the prince left the room. He had ordered them not to lay a finger on me, but I was beginning to doubt if they would listen.
These cold stares were enough to murder me!
I heaved in a sigh, then went to sit on the bed they'd reserved for me. I figured my fringed styled hair would have been a mess by now, and as I stared down the tip of my gown, I instantly realized I would be needing a new one.
The mummers began again, each of them pointing fingers at me. I only watched.
"Well it's such a shame." A man no more than forty years said, then ended his word in a foreign tone. But surprisingly, I understood him clearly.
I chuckled to his joke. A frown plastered on his face.
"Why did you laugh!" He bellowed.
I swallowed. "What you said," I replied gently, not wanting to offend them after I'd witnessed their fury before. "Where I come from, dragons are more like crocodiles with wings. But you said if crocodiles could fly. It was just funny because--"
"I speak in the old tongue. How can you understand it!" He asked, and they all murmured.
I didn't know what he'd meant at first, but now as I thought about it, I realized that I'd understood his language loud and clear! Even when it wasn't in English.
"I just...understand." I said.
The man walked over to me, eyes staring at me with suspicion. "Who are you?"
I said almost immediately, "I'm Rhiannon Halls, and I'm from Brooklyn! All I want right now is to go back home, please. I hear you have magic--"
"The old tongue is a language that is sacred. Only we Dha-Sa-Sa can fully understand the language after practicing our rituals for three decades." The man explained.
"Three decades? That's... Thirty years!" I exclaimed. "I'm only twenty years old, so I guess that's impossible."
"There is something more about you." The man said, and the rest of them had seemed to grow interested in me now. He came closer and rested a palm on my forehead, even though I had protested.
He gasped. "No! It can't be!"
"What is it, Dha-Sa-Sa?" Asked a man amongst the yellow-robed men.
Then another cried out from behind. "Impossible! Gilme is amongst us as we speak!"
Then another, "Gilme, forgive me!"
Just like that, they all began to scream and yell the name 'Gilme', while all I could do was watch and stare in horror.
I was saved from the horrific scenery when the prince walked in and signaled for me to come.
Gladly, I raced out.
***
"What was going on in there?" Frase asked the moment we were alone.
"I-I dunno. They were all just chanting gibberish!" I explained.
"Well, perhaps they were praying."
"Praying?"
His brows furrowed. "Possibly. But that's not why you're here now." He said, "we are going on our adventure, and it is not going to be a pleasant one. But we've no choice now."
I waited for him to end his statement. "You keep saying we? It makes me wonder what you really mean by that." I frowned.
He moved closer, his eyes staring at me. Lavender scent blessed my nostrils as he stood in front of me. "You're left with no choice. Remain here, and you'll be stuck with these people who now considers you to be a lunatic--"
"--which was your doing--"
He leaned closer again and I had to push my head back to stop our face from brushing. He didn't seem to care. "--to protect you!" He protested. "I said that to protect you." I felt his breath on me as he exhaled a sigh.
He moved a bit further from me, and it was only then I realized I'd not been breathing. I heaved in, then out.
Frase was pacing around now. He stopped, his back facing me. "You landed here, in my kingdom, so you have become my responsibility too."
I said nothing. He turned to face me.
"If you wish to head back home, now is your chance. Coming along with us, you have a better opportunity at getting back home as we would be traveling and meeting powerful beings that could send you back home. If all hopes fail, you have the book. It would be able to send you back home."
I processed his words and realized that he wasn't all wrong. "Well," I sighed, seeing how convincing he'd been. "I guess--"
"We leave by dawn." He said, a little impatient. I frowned.
How rude of him!
"I'll send some maids to you to get you a small room where you can--"
A sharp pain seized my head, causing me to think my brain was on the verge of exploding. A painful moan escaped from my lips and my hands gripped my aching head tight.
A flash image was revealed in my head, 'an arrow'. That was all I could see.
When my eyes flung open, I yelled out. "Frase, duck!" It was all too sudden, but I was a step ahead. With all my might, I jumped forward, knocking Frase out of the way, causing us both to tumble to the ground. I was lying on top of him, and I could see his face contorted into perplexity.
He was staring at me, and I too couldn't bring myself to look away!
The whistling sound of the arrow as it lunged in the air, was abruptly brought to a halt as it met the wooden door.
It took a moment to recover, but we did soon. "Sorry," I said, and immediately jumped up.
He rose up too, adjusting his attire. I looked down, but my gaze lifted up to meet him again.
This time, we both looked away. I wondered why my cheeks were flustering.
"That is, 'your majesty' to you. You do not get to call me by my name." He said at last, and I couldn't believe my eyes. All the warming sensation I'd felt suddenly squeezed into anger.
"I just saved your life, you ingrate!"
"Whatever," he snorted. "How did you even know the arrow was going to hit me?" He asked, now realizing we could still be under a threat. He scanned the whole area, but found nothing.
"Stay close." He ordered, his hands resting on his sword. We noticed the arrow resting on the door had come with a letter.
Frase took out the letter, then his whole face contorted into a frown. Through gritted teeth, he grunted, "FrostLanders!"