I glance downwards at the cloak Finnegan shoves at me the moment I returned.

"Hey, don't treat me like that." I hiss, glaring at him before handing over the letters.

He quickly scans them for particular information before he asks me to follow him through a dark tunnel.

My fear for the dark surfaces as I stare down the poorly lit tunnel. We move on in silence until the other side which opens into a rock that faces a large body of water.

"Where are we?"

"Where we need to be."

I snort  at his vague words but I cross to the other end of the beach while admiring the waves dancing softly under the moon's silvery glow.

Shortly after this, we reach  a wooden door and after two taps, a muscular man opens up, scanning us briefly before he lets us into a...

Tavern?

"You brought me to a tavern?" I ask, scrunching my nose up at the drunken behaviour going round.  Voices are raised higher than usual and the smell of different kinds of alcoholic drinks mingles with that of body odour.

Completely revolting.

Ignoring me, Finnegan moves in a straight part towards a small bar in the corner.  I however did not follow him, smiling smugly when he does not see me beside him. His eyes locates mine in a second and my  smile wans.

He beckons me over but I stand my ground, instead pulling out an occupied chair.

"What's 'yer name, lassie?" A young woman burps out loud.

I cringe. "Lanna. Why you asking?"

She takes a quick drink from her mug, frizzy blue hair bouncing as she throws her head back and forth.  "I'm the Blue Lady of the Night. I've heard so much about ya. "

"How?"

"Alicia said ya'll come looking for me soon.  I've got something ya need to see."

Someone's shadow casts upon the table. An unfamiliar male with a grin that
turns my stomach in knots.

"Who's the girl, Reya?"

"None 'ya business, Trovan."

Reya?

Muttering some unpleasant words, Trovan sinks into the chair beside me.

"You're Reya?" I ask.

She shrugs. "But everyone knows me as Blue."

"- is everything alright here?" Finnegan appears, sitting beside me.

"Who's 'ya fancy friend, lass?" Trovan asks, regarding Finnegan with keen interest.

"No one special. " Finnegan sends a glare into the side of my head and I reply with a smile.

Reya finishes her drink and stands abruptly, swaying slightly under the influence of alcohol. "Follow me."

I don't know if she's referring to me, Finnegan or Trovan but I trail after her, Finnegan following in close proximity.

Some unfortunate fellow grabbed her wrist as she passed his seat.  He temporarily lost the proper use of that hand because in a blink, she broke his wrist.

I guess the innocent-looking people are the ones you should be more cautious about.

"Who's she?"

I snort. "Ask her yourself, Your-" 

I quickly press my lips shut, annoyed at the bold smirk on Finnegan's face. Scoffing, I looked ahead at  Reya just in time to see her disappear behind a door.

Without thinking, I go after her, getting plunged into darkness.

Finnegan bumps into me, muttering some colourful words.

"Why is it so dark?" He grumbles.

"Stop whining." A lit match illuminates Reya’s face and she lifts it to light a torch that immediately reveals the contents of the room we're in.

It's a small office with a large table and three chairs, one at the head.

"Ya' can make yer' self comfortable." Reya motions at the chairs, walking towards  small locker in the corner.

"No, thanks. I barely know who you are." Finnegan replies.

Reya laughs. "But I know who ya' are, Prince Finnegan."

Finnegan's face  pales  and he looks at me with a strangled expression.  Shrugging, I sink into a chair. "Don't look at me like that, I did not tell her anything."

"Your crest."  Reya nods at his cloak. He murmurs some impolite words, tugging at the crest in an effort to hide it.

Amused, I let out a snort. Finnegan glares at me.

Reya steps away from the locker with a small wooden box and a key. She places it in my hands.

"There, that's the reason why my brother's after your life."

Holy shi-

↭↭↭

Finnegan and I return just as silently as we left the palace. We didn't say anything much to each other because for one, I was still in shock from Reya's revelation back at the tavern.

Reik is her brother and whatever is in this box is the reason why  he seems bent on destroying my life.

"Are you alright?" Finnegan asks once we arrived at my room.

When I remember how he treated me earlier, I frown. "Don't talk to me."

With that, I slip inside my room, forcing the door short with a loud bang.

Inside, Harriet sits up from my bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Where did you go?"

"I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk."

What a smooth liar I am. All the more reasons why I can't be Queen.

Harriet smiles. "You should rest, we have a big day ahead of us."

Of course I know that. But my thoughts are actually far from the Choosing, instead settled on keeping my life away from Reik.

It's more safer here in the Palace, but what if he actually goes after my family in retaliation?

↭↭↭

The next morning, being a Thursday, I woke up with a painful kink in my neck due to my careless sleeping posture.

Harriet has a bright smile aimed at me from my dresser.

Symphony and Danae are setting my clothes in order.

"You missed  the morning brief but Prince Finnegan told us not to bother you. " Danae tells me with an impish smile.

I didn't let them know how much this new information bothered me. I would have a chat with the Prince later about his visible favouritism.

I don't want to give the girls more reasons to hate me.

But do I really care?

Symphony ushers me into the bathroom while Harriet's maid pulls her outside my room.

"You're having an interview with the Queen."

I choke as water from the bathtub sneaks into my nostrils. Spluttering, I lift my head to stare at Symphony.

"Eh?"

She shrugs. "I bet it's concerning the Great Test but that's the most I know."

Great, just great.

I watch on passively as the girls dress me. An ivory silk gown with long sleeves covers most of my body and my hair was done in nice little braids.

After they were done, the girls chased me out, Isaiah escorting me to the dining room. Other girls were occupying their seats when I entered the room, dodging their malicious glares.

My gaze finds Harriet who pats the seat beside her. I accept it with a smile.

"You look lovely this morning." I say, admiring her velvet blue gown.

A mild blush stains her cheeks and I smirk at the way she keeps glancing at the doors.

"Expecting someone?"

She's saved from my teasing by the King and Prince walking in.  We rise to greet them respectfully. Finnegan's efforts to pull my gaze are futile because throughout breakfast,  I stare at my plate.

The Prince announces his outing with Stella this evening. She and I are the remaining girls he hasn't gone on an official outing with yet.

I say "official" because all those sneaking outs with me in the night do not count, right?

The remaining girls were ushered to a large room where the King will be a addressing them, leaving me all alone, with Finnegan.

"Have you opened the box?"

I shake my head. No.

"Show it to me then."

We had barely crossed to the other side of the room when the first set of explosions rocked me on my feet.

♞♞♞

I've been waiting long for this moment. The one that changes everything in here. What do you think caused the explosion?

Reik?  Or a domestic accident?

Anyways, I hope no one gets hurt.

How are you all doing by the way?

Total word count :1359 Words