Oh, I heard him all right. I heard him loud and clear when he growled, and I knew and at that instant, I had to step away from the hallway and stop Felix before he flips completely.

It was a good thing I invited Amaranda over for breakfast. I wanted to punch Felix in the nose for doing something so stupid but was appreciative because it bought me time to study the queen and talk a little to her.

Now here I was, eating away at my breakfast. My body still felt bitter, even after healing myself from the loss of my magical energy. I haven't sat on the throne for three months. He didn't ask me why so I didn't pry on what he was doing in that time, because he might just throw that question back at me, and I, for once, did not want to answer that question.

"Well it is the most isolated kingdom as well," I stirred my wine glass, looking into it. "Traditions and royal festivities don't flourish here as much as they do on the east side of Eldeon."

I sensed a small shift from Felix and turned my head towards him.

"So, how do you want this allegiance?" Amaranda asked as she finished her plate.

I glanced back at the Ceadorans, "Well we could talk about the policies right now because we are a little bit different, as you might have noticed," I smirked, "or we could let you be troubled about that later?"

"I'd preferably talk later when I sign the pledge, but you've fascinated me, Queen Shea," she said with a hint of amusement in her voice, "I must know more about your customs and traditions."

I stood up causing everyone else to stand with me, "My servants will take you to your chambers. Get groomed and let your guardians stand down. I promise no one will harm you." I glimpsed over Felix who started to flush.

"In the meantime," I strolled over to Felix and motioned him to come with me, "I shall be in the library waiting for you."

I didn't wait for Felix to gather himself when I went out of the room and leveled my dress. "Those were some nice skills back there, Felix," My steps reverberated through the hallway. "Though I'd advise you not to do that on a queen, a human one in fact."

He scoffed, "It was hardly my fault."

"Was it?"

He didn't reply as I walked into the library.

The essence of old paper waved through the air as I kept wandering through the wonderland. In front of me was the open balcony whose curtains fluttered in the free-flowing breeze. Globes of universes and places were scattered throughout the floor. Some of them glowed with pride while others seemed to contain auras and magic spells. The floor glistened against the daylight casting wonderful patterns and art on the ceiling everytime the sun moved. And then there were the books. All of these books were carefully transported here since some of them were falling apart; treasures worth more than a thousand kingdoms were being lost when each of those pages fell so I spent moons going through each book and each page, seeing what fit where and warded them against ruin and theft.

This is the only place in the castle where I feel alive. These books have battles upon battles written in them and it makes me... somehow... feel content. The pain, the agony, and the feeling of revenge, it all gives me a minute spark of excitement. It gets my blood rushing through my veins as it did all those years ago.

"Why were you drunk in your room?" Felix bluntly asked.

I turned around and almost startled him, "Why were you in my chamber in the first place? So early in the daylight?" I smiled sweetly, "And if I remember correctly I wasn't even dressed properly."

He started to fluster but he still persisted, "I was going to ask you some questions."

I hummed in response then sulked, "You took away my line."

"What line?"

"I will tear you apart limb from limb..." I mocked.

He blushed harder and my grin widened, "You heard all of it? You let me snap?!"

I cocked my head in his response, "You act so bold and strong, but you blush half the time you talk to me."

"Well don't ridicule me then!"

"Oo, no can do." I started to chuckle and ruffled his hair.

He moved my hand away, "Monster!" he yelled as he tried to fix his precious mane.

"Idiot." I murmured back soft enough so that only he could hear it. I won that game.

Queen Amaranda entered my library wearing the most casual piece of clothing I had ever laid my eyes on.

"You've got to tell me where you got that," I said practically drooling at the sight of it. I am all about the comforts. I hated formal attire, absolutely loathed it, but here I was wearing the most casual yet elegant thing in my wardrobe that is presentable. A Blue dress with a deep chest and a long leg cut, made by yours truly, so that I could move freely. And to add an accessory was my crown made of frozen fire.

A laugh escaped from her, "If not for that crown I would have never guessed that you were Shea, the pyromancer."

I shared that same laugh. "I could get some made for you Queen Shea."

"Please just call me Shea."

Amaranda smiled a genuine smile. A smile, which I assume, came after a long time of grieving.

"Very well Shea," She smiled, "Please call me Amaranda."

"Will do. So are you going to yell at me further?" I asked.

She shook her head, "I never fancied him. The only reason I put on that show was that of the guards. I needed their trust so that the whole kingdom could trust me to lead. They don't want a wicked queen." She sighed and looked outside, "I guess I owe you my gratitude for getting my treacherous spouse off the throne."

"Pfft," I snorted, "that's the last thing I need from you."

She looked back at me and chuckled, "Well then I owe you a new wardrobe collection."

"That," my eyes twinkled with delight, "you do."

We shared thoughts and laughs for a while, talking about our royalty problems. She didn't get to go out much because of her husband which is why she is so extremely happy at the moment. I blinked with one thing still not clear, "So what do you truly want from us?"

"Knowledge."

I stilled. Knowledge from my kingdom could lead to a potential downfall. It is the only thing powerful enough to destroy our land.

"Knowledge and friendship." she carefully took my hand in hers and caressed it, "I know knowledge can be a mighty weapon, but I vow to the Fae, I will never betray you. I truly want to be your ally and not through the allegiance, but through my own free will."

I blinked once, twice and saw the glimmer of hope in her eyes. She swore upon the Fae. A promise only royals do and get punished for breaking it. If she truly is speaking the truth then...

"I'd be honored to have you at my side as an ally and a friend." I declared with a tight squeeze to her hand. She smiled and returned the gesture in approval.

"Although I've heard that I may be a bit bothersome," I added a slight humor at the end.

"Do your worst." she taunted.

I laughed wholeheartedly, "Alright but first things first, the contract."

She pouted, "But I want to talk more!"

I bit my tongue from laughing again at her because of her childish behavior, "As royals, we have a duty to the kingdom first, Amaranda."

She murmured, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

"Well that is true but you have been playing all day and I need your approval on this your highness."

"Fine.. at least read me the agreement," she grumbled as she sat down on the chair propping her arm up on the table and resting her chin on her palm.

I sat down beside her and started to read off the rules. When I made this treaty I tried to keep it simple and convenient for the humans to understand. A couple of them were a little out of the ordinary but she understood.

"Fair enough," She relaxed and stretched her back, "I will sign this."

I gave her a quill and a vial of ink and she started to eye them, "you still use these?" she asked.

Confusion arose inside me, "Why?"

She gave me a smile and took out a slender, metallic, object with flat edges on both ends. Suddenly she took off one of the ends revealing a flat pointed golden groove with soft designs as black liquid flowing through it.

"What is that?" I breathed out.

"It's called a pen," she said as she started to sign with it, "It has ink stored in a small container in the top while ink flows down smoothly onto the manuscript." she handed it to me after she was done.

I studied it profoundly. I've never seen the outside world since I became queen because once the agreement was made with the nation we were usually forced out. No one ever offered their friendship to me before and I wanted to know what has changed since the last time I traveled.

"I want to know more.." I looked up to her, "I want to travel to your kingdom."

She beamed with joy and seemed to appear younger. I squinted at her, "How old are you?"

Her smile faltered, "Eighteen.."

My jaw dropped.

An eighteen-year-old human forced to marry a man like that. Gods above... No wonder she wanted him killed.

"He threatened my family," Her voice was almost a whisper, "He tormented his own people and never spent any money on his nation. He- He made me warm h— "

I didn't wait for her to finish that sentence as I pulled her into a tight embrace. She cried freely for the first time feeling comforted in my presence. "Gods.." I breathed. Who knows what horrors she went through. An old man like him forced a young girl to marry him so that he could be crowned king. I kept my arms around her until she fell asleep.

Amaranda woke up with a start and almost knocked me in the nose. She groaned from a headache as she leaned back in her chair rubbing her temples, "What time is it..?" she muttered.

I looked up and studied the ceiling, "About three hours past noon." My servant walked in with a tray of white cups filled with warm tea, "Drink, it will help you with the headache." I said as she hurried away.

"The servants would be talking a lot today." I picked up my cup and walked towards the balcony, "Royal Queen Amaranda of Ceadora, crying like a baby in Queen Shea's embrace as she falls asleep."

She snorted into her tea and chuckled, "Royal servant gossips are the best, no matter which castle you live in."

I only hummed in response as I peered over the railing. Six towers surrounded the balcony as my banners flowed from them. Beneath my gaze was seven mansions build as spectacularly as my castle all of which were surrounded by limestone pathways. They were the homes of the seven noblemen who took part in the council; all of them are hand chosen by me after I took the throne. The pathway gradient into a stone route which then became a stone bridge, hovering over a stream of fresh water where many animals migrated to every year. As the hill descended the trail curved and branched into different sections of the city to make traveling easier. Bridges were scattered around the hill to level out the sections of the city for trading and traveling over water. The city was divided into three parts: the merchants, the farmers, and the middlemen. Houses of the middlemen shined with pride through the city and the roofs of chapels glimmered like stars in daylight. Tall houses cast shadows on the stress where children played.

Down next to the waterfall were houses build with wood and stone in which merchants and traders from far away land lived. There were many ships docked in the seaport signaling heavy market exchange to help my peoples economy. I smiled softly and inspected the far east side of my city where sunlight was present all day. Farmers and their helpers were in their farmlands harvesting for tomorrow's feast for the Summer solstice. The pastures were brightly colored with different shades of green under the sun.

I felt Amaranda glide up next to me, admiring the city. "There.. are really children laughing.."

We stood there in silence, cherishing the scene before us until a guard interrupted us.

"Queen Amaranda," one of the stronger looking guards spoke as they both bowed, "we must leave now. News of chaos and tension in the kingdom is at the rise without your presence."

I glanced at her as she sighed, "My trip did mean to be a little short." She turned and looked at me, "What about the allegiance?"

I picked up the parchment and summoned my fire to let it eat it slowly. After it was done I brushed my hand and noticed it shocked stare.

"You just!" she exclaimed.

"Hold out your hand and think about the scroll," I said, grinning a little.

She did what she was told and sparks flew from her hand immediately. She started panicking and I held her hands.

"Focus! It will sting at first but don't waver your concentration. It will reappear in the same way my fire burned it up."

She nodded and thought hard until those same sparks started to fly from her hand but this time she didn't even blink. Slowly the scroll started to reveal itself as the burnt edges healed themselves into a full scroll. I applauded, "Now if you want it to go away, throw it in any type of fire. It won't get lost I promise."

She made a face at my applauding and clutched the paper, "thank you, Shea."

The tray servant girl came to me looking down at her outfit right after the Queen left, "Anything you need your highness?" she asked.

I gave her my crown. I hated putting that thing on my head. It ruins my complexion. "Put that crown on my bed. Where is Felix?"

"In his room your highness," she replied quickly with a soft whimper.

I gazed down at her, "Ah, you are the new one? Gloria isn't it?" She nodded still looking down.

"Well, no servant has taken that much interest in the shoes that I wear I think?" I joked hoping to see her face. She just stood there.

I leaned myself towards her height and gently lifted her chin.

"Who hurt you." my voice was deadly calm.

She began to tremble and I held her as motherly as possible without flipping, "If you don't tell me that person is going to hurt you again," I said, gently rubbing the bruise on her cheek. She flinched and I bit my tongue, "I don't want you... Or any of my servants going through any type of punishment that will cause them to live in fear because of them. So please tell me."

Her voice whispered but I could hear what she was said. I took her hand and kissed her on the forehead as I walked the both of us towards the kitchen.

I opened the door and saw people flying across the floor, trying to make preparations for tomorrow's feast. My body immediately soaked up all the heat and the fire underneath the pot turning the room cold. Everyone turned to look at me then immediately bowed. "Queen Shea," they all chanted then the head chef spoke, "to what do we you this honor, my lady?"

My eyes stared down on him, "I suppose someone should tell me who hurt Gloria?"

His eyes dulled, "All of you go back to work while the head chef and I talk." Everyone bowed once more and hurried off into their business

I walked out with Gloria as the man trailed behind and waited until the doors were closed.

"She says that you hurt her," a growl escaped my throat, "You better think twice before answering me why."

A smile crept upon his face as his shadow started to grow. Gloria yelp quietly and turned her head burying it in my dress. I pressed a hand against her hair keeping her close to me as I glared at him, "She deserved it. She broke many plates since morning, burned half of the food and I saw her stealing bread from the pantry, " his smile kept growing menacingly as he looked at her, "If she hadn't been such a brat about taking a punishment then I might have just ruined that pretty little face of h-" his scream filled the hallway.

My hand was stretched in front of me. On the ground was my dagger pinned to the floor, dripping with thick heavy blood. The chef was crying and yelling in pain holding his right ear as blood snaked around his arms.

"Pick it up."

He looked at me with bloodshot eyes then glanced down to see the top of his ear sliced off cleanly.

"Pick it up." I snarled loud enough for the entire castle to hear.

He bent down and picked up his flesh with his trembling hands.

"You are not the one who gives out punishments," my voice reeked with disgust, "Begone."

He bowed and ran away to his quarters stifling his screams of pain. I felt the girl trembling underneath my hand and I got on my knees to face her, "What's wrong?" I asked tenderly.

She looked at me and barely moved her lips, "Am I in trouble?"

Her eyes were filled with genuine fear. I shook my head and expressed tenderness, "Would you like to be my personal servant?"

The fear slowly subsided as she nodded quietly. I smiled more and patted the crown in her hand as I gave her a kiss on her cheek, "Go."

She sprinted across the hallway in the opposite way where my chambers were.

I stood up and brushed my dress grabbing my dagger, "And now it's all bloody..." I grumbled and called on my servants to clean the floor as well as my dagger. My hands went down to check the folds of my dress to see that I had two more throwing daggers so I brought them both out for each of my hands as I walked towards Felix's chambers.

There were sounds of paper shuffling coming through his door and judging from the amount of light peeking from the cracks of it, he had shielded his window. Welp there goes my second way of surprising him. I held my daggers firm and eased my breathing. My hands slowly pushed on the door feeling it unlocked. I willed my body to push against the door at top speed. Felix was sitting on his desk for some paperwork and I used this chance to drag my arms around his neck pulling him away from his desk as my back touched the wall pinning him against my chest. He tried to move my hands away but I released my grip just to reveal my blades crossing each other on his neck.

"Jeez easy with those!" He exclaimed and held his hands up in surrender.

I snickered and sniffed the air pinning him tighter against me, "Did you use a new fragrance?"

I didn't even need to look at him to see that his cheeks were heating up. "What? It's not the normal one you usually use." I let him go.

He stumbled forward rubbing the back of his head, "Is it bad?"

I shrugged and sat down on his bed putting the daggers back in the folds of my dress, "Nah.. though the one you kept using was better."

He stared at me for a while then shook his head, "What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he sat down on his desk, "and if you are here for the solstice gift you aren't getting it." his voice came out a little angry.

I looked at him and got up wrapping my arms around him from the behind, "what's wrong elfie?" I purred catching a glimpse of his scarred ears.

"I said nothing!" He yelled and pulled my arms off of him.

I stood there for a minute, worried about his health. I felt anger inside me but my heart ached the most. It did that every time he got mad with me which in turn made me even more frustrated.

I said nothing and turned on my heel to leave when suddenly he grabbed my hand and pulled me back. "Sorry.." was all he said until he let go, not looking at me the entire time.

I smiled and ruffled his hair, "Come on. I'm going to town and I need my guard to protect me."

Felix glared at me for touching his hair then scoffed, "The only one who needs protection is me."

"From men with big swords?"

"From you!"

I laughed at him and stuck my tongue out towards him. He returned the same gesture as I left his room.

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hi 030

I think its a little wordy..? I also need to polish up some stuff like the description etc. But anywhoo *tadaaaaa* a chapter! Give me feeeed baaack, tell me what you think about Shea and Felix? Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe

Blu