Leo walked out of Cova's study, playing with his satchel strap. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach, but he brushed it off as he walked through the glistening hallway with an unsettling sigh.
As Leo continued through the hall, he heard something faint, which quickly turned into loud echoing footsteps. Turning around, Leo saw a chubby woman running toward him. She had green eyes and bright lime colored hair tied in twin messy buns. She wore a long maid dress with purple brimmed glasses.
The woman, Nancy Lee hugged Leo while sniffling, obviously upset. "Leo, I messed up!" She yelled, Leo laughed nervously as he patted his friend's head. "What did you do now? Did you break another expensive vase?" He asked, half jokingly, though when his question stood unanswered, he panicked.
Worried, Leo pushed Nancy to her feet and asked in concern, "Did you actually break another vase!?" Sniffling, Nancy shook her head and mumbled, "I wish that's what happened. . ." She then sighed and explained. "No, what happened was that I saw Jabari training, and she looked really hot. She was wearing that tight black shirt that shows off her arms and-"
"Let me guess you were staring. She caught you and tried to wave you over but you got flustered so you ran." Leo interrupted, a tired look on his face. "How did you know?" Asked Nancy, who covered her mouth in surprise. Leo chuckled and replied, "lucky guess."
. . .
Soon Nancy and Leo walked into the training grounds, a large grassy clearing with many weapon stands and targets. It was mostly used by soldiers and the king to train their fighting skills. Right now only a dark skinned catshifter with black dreadlocks decorated with gold hair cuffs and thread was there.
The catshifter's pierced cat ears were tilted back in defense, she wore a dark sleeveless shirt that showed off her muscular arms. She was currently knocking down scarecrow targets, which moved in a specific pattern by a pulley system. Nancy blushed deep red when she saw the catshifter, Jabari Bititi, as she kicked a target that got too close behind her.
Leo seemed to notice this, smiling as he waved to Jabari and said, "hey, Jabari you got a minute?" This made Nancy glance at him in fear, panicking as Jabari looked up and waved while smiling. She then got away from the targets and pulled a lever attached to a pillar, causing the targets to stop moving.
"Hey guys, how are you?" Jabari asked as she ran over. Her eyes glanced at Nancy nervously, probably because she had just run off earlier. "We're good. I had a medical issue earlier but I'm fine now" Leo stated, making them both look at Leo with concern, knowing what a 'medical issue' actually meant.
Stepping closer, Jabari asked, "Are you OK? Do we need to take you to a healer?" But Leo only shook his head at Jabari's question and smiled up at the two, "no, Nancy already took me, so I'm fine." That was a lie, Nancy never took Leo to a healer.
Jabari turned to Nancy with curiosity, "oh? is that why you ran off earlier?" Nancy was caught off guard by this of course, but shyly nodded nonetheless, "that's good, I was concerned, but I figured you had something to do." Jabari laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. Leo giggled to himself as the two women blushed at each other.
A few minutes later, the three sat underneath a large oak tree for shade. They were casually talking to one another, or at least, Jabari and Nancy were, while Leo mostly gazed out. He thought of his conversation with King Lupin, how strange he acted, what he said. . .
"Must you insist on tormenting me?"
A memory suddenly appeared of King Lupin. He smiled gently, but his eyes were filled with tears. His tears seemingly illuminated the king's violet eyes, and yet, just as quickly as the memory appeared, it disappeared.
Leo looked around suddenly, almost as if he'd forgotten where he was. He turned to his friends who appeared unaware that Leo had spaced out. He smiled at the two, admiring their relationship. Yet his smile soon faded as he saw the sun begin to set, so he got up and slowly walked away, not wanting to disturb them. Even so, Nancy noticed it and looked up at him.
"Leo, where are you going?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion. Turning around with a sigh, Leo forced a smile and lied, ". . . I need to find Cova. I'll see you guys at the shop later, promise." Before Nancy or Jabari could say anything, Leo turned around again and walked back inside the castle.
Leo walked into his room, throwing his satchel onto his bed and sighing. He then untied his hair and took off his top, revealing his pink witch markings, which trailed along his back and down his arms. The witch ruffled his hair as he sat on his bed and lazily reached into his satchel, pulling out a teardrop-shaped vial.
The vial was filled halfway with red and pink swirling liquid and had assorted star flower petals inside. There was a pink star flower attached to a dropper, which Leo used to gather about 5 drops of the strange liquid. He quickly drank the drops, hoping to avoid the weird aftertaste.
The taste and smell was sweet, almost like honeysuckle and wild violets, though the texture was off-putting, almost like cough syrup. Leo groaned in pain as he put the vial on his nightstand and lay down on his side. He felt himself drifting to sleep, slowly closing his eyes before a loud and sudden knock woke him up.
In slight annoyance, Leo sluggishly got up and walked over to his room, opening it to see a maid holding a white box. "You're Leo Gale, correct?" The maid asked, keeping a readless expression. "Uh- yeah? That's me" Leo answered, though truth be told, he wanted to lie and say no.
"Court leader Celi wished for you to have this. He said to wear this and your betrothal necklace for tonight." The maid explained, handing Leo the box. The young witch sighed in disgust as he replied, "thank you. Did he mention when I should meet him?" The maid thought for a moment before shaking her head and saying, "I'm afraid not, sorry." Leo nodded and thanked the maid, dismissing her.
Leo swiftly closed the door and sat down the box on his bed before opening it and observing the contents. Inside there was a grey V-neck shirt with silver laces, a pair of slim brown pants with a black and gold belt, and black boots with matching laces. The outfit was nothing pricey. Celi would never waste too much money on Leo, but it was still regal enough for his standards.
'This isn't too bad. He's given me worse.' Leo thought, looking over the outfit. Leo didn't exactly like regal clothing, or any tight clothes that showed off his curves. However, he did have exceptions such as baggy clothes. Realizing he had worn it all day, Leo took off his binding silk and took a deep breath, feeling his chest relax.
After changing, Leo walked over to a vanity desk, grabbing a decorative choker. The choker was made out of black silk with thin blue thread. Small sapphires traced around the silk, leading to a large oval opal brimmed with silver metal that felt cold on Leo's dark skin. Leo stared at the choker with dim eyes.
It was beautiful, but what it symbolized was terrifying. . .
'Let's get this over with. . .'