I re-wrote some of this chapter and added way more so I hope it's better now!

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Rushing back to her chambers, Helenia thought about her mission. If she could only run away with the sword, where the king could never find her, but that was impossible when his toughest soldier would be on her heels every second. And where would she go? The forest was too dangerous for her to survive by herself. The dread of her realisation flooded her and most of the hope faded away. But some remained. The everlasting modicum of hope that was sure to be her gateway to her end.

Over the past year, the king had secretly invaded towns around Aestelle, but never its main rival- Cordinia. Aestelle was too weak for an invasion that big. The King was able to put up a good front. As long as Cordinia thought that Aestelle had power, everything would remain calm. The second that they get a whiff of the life people truly live on the streets of a once flourishing city, a swift war would leave Aestelle in ruins. He fooled the crowd by persuading them that it was for their benefit and that Aestelle would rise and together they would rule. Only a fool would believe that and Helenia was no fool. The King had a plan and that sword would give him the ability to carry it out. He was not content with his situation. No King would be. So why would such a large number of people believe that, especially the lords that knew him as personally as they could?

Cordinia was powerful. She had heard of rumours that they were planning to overtake Aestelle and return it to what it once was, a prosperous country ruled by several lords with equal power or to leave in as a crumbled city wiped from history- a ghost town, but she had always dismissed those thoughts. Since the king was asking her to retrieve the most powerful sword, she wondered, maybe they weren't rumours. For whatever reason, Cordinia was right at Aestelle's heels and the King would do anything to stop them. He was a lord himself, the high power of district Aleinwich. His successful campaign masked his hunger for power and when he was proclaimed the newest high lord, he stole all of the power he could get his hands on and built an empire from a base of fear between the lords. Still throughout his rise to power, the town was blindsided to believe he had a good nature. His mind was incredibly sharp, he could sense betrayal before it was carried out. It's what Helenia feared the most.

The king had a wife. Their joint rule had prospered the kingdom, those were the golden days, when his hunger was laid to rest and he became almost happy. Not one person other than the king knew for certain what had happened, but there were stories of how the King got drunk one night, and took his anger out on the Queen. All of the kingdom knew one thing, whatever happened made his wife leave to her parents in Cordinia. Their marriage was always frowned upon in Cordinia, but their King and Queen came to terms with it hoping that it would lead to their daughter taking over Aestelle. Her family was furious when she fled back, all that power just seeped from their fingers. They could be wanting to start a war so the Queen could carry out what her parents planned or King Lasane could be going to Cordinia in hope to restore his family or finish what he started that one drunken night.

*

Closing her bedroom door felt like she just peeled a layer of confidence off and Helenia toppled onto her bed. She should have done a bit of training at least to learn the basics before being sent on the most important quest the king could give her, but her limbs wouldn't cooperate. She was exhausted from the council meetings and the constant running around the castle halls. Even though this quest was risky and might put her in a bad position, Helenia was glad that for once, things would change.

Her wooden door creaked as Moyra, her servant, made her way up to Helenia's bed.

"Cicaro, get washed first. The king ordered you to go to his formal dinner." She whispered. Darling. Helenia stared at Moyra in disbelief.

"To what? Since when do I get invited to his Royal Highness's dinner parties?" The king's adviser questioned, slightly shocked.

"Since your meeting today, come on love. Your gown is tailored and will be sent up in ten minutes so move those skinny legs of yours!" Moyra explained. A gown. Helenia had never worn anything other than leather training pants, a tight shirt and a cape. With a mixture of excitement and disgust, she tiptoed across the ice cold floor to her spacious royal bathroom. Closing her door, she began to strip. For the first time since the day she was named the king's royal adviser and moved into this chamber, she examined her body in the hidden mirror, gasping at the sight of herself. It had been two full years since she last laid her eyes upon her figure. Not to her surprise, she had changed. Her curves had now filled out and her features had sharpened; her eyes and cheekbones piercing. If she had more confidence, she would make a hell of a persuading commander. Her piercing stare would be able to break even the mightiest of souls. Her wavy, raw-umbered coloured hair reached down to her waist. Her long legs showing faint signs of muscle as well as her stomach. She could easily be described as attractive, gorgeous even. This image in front of her looked nothing like the girl she saw two years ago, weak, hollow and malnourished. Her pendant still sat cool on her chest. Her stone was fire agate, an impermeable shield of protection. It was a stone of courage, confidence, creativity, ambition and assists on making decisions. Helenia never did anything without it, it was the most precious thing she owned. It was the only thing similar to her old self. Helenia's green-golden eyes shimmered with delight as she stepped into her porcelain bathtub, letting her body soak in the warm water. The water washed away her worries and thoughts as she lay there for a good thirty minutes.

Moyra banged on the door, signaling Helenia to get out.

"I'm coming Moyra, sorry I got a bit distracted." She shouted, while getting out of the bath and grabbing her towel.

*

"Wow." Helenia stood in front of her mirror examining her dress. It was utterly unimaginable. The corset dug into her ribs but she tried to ignore the pain and instead focus on the details of the dress itself. Layers and layers of different shades of red fabrics attached to beautifully crafted lace. It was magical. Her hair was half pinned up with the rest curled brushing her back. Gold glitter adorned her hair; they were the same colour as the sequins that decorated the lace hugging her skin. Her pendant still close to her chest, hidden, but still there.

"Cicaro, it was made to match the colour of your stone." Moyra exclaimed, looking pleased at the creation in front of her. She looked at Helenia like a proud mother sending her daughter on her first important date. "The General will be here in ten minutes to escort you to the dinner, it is important that you stay together, under the king's orders." She explained.

"No, not Aidan! He does not speak at all, I cannot read him. And it makes him dangerous and unpredictable. Moyra, you know I can't exactly do that if he doesn't make a sound!" Helenia groaned, disappointed. Aidan Rennowfield was a closed book as much as she was an open one; their personalities completely opposite. His well built form stalked around the halls always calculating. Not much was known about him except that he was the youngest general in Faerline and one of the most skilled. If he was unconditionally loyal to the King, Helenia couldn't trust him one bit, no matter how much she needed him.

"Maybe it's for the best. Whatever your quest is, it must be important, so don't anger the king before it." Moyra lectured, fluffing up Helenia's curls. She despised looking all dolled up, it made her look less dangerous and more like a toy the King could show off. Her hair was best tied up ready for action and she would have wanted nothing more than to rip the corset off her body. But a bit of her couldn't help enjoying how mystical she looked. Even if it was only for a night, for a cause she wanted to tear apart.

"Understandable. Thank you Moyra, what would I do without you?!" She exclaimed bending down to hug her helpful servant. A loud bang on the door interrupted their sweet moment and Moyra rushed to open it. Instead of following her, Helenia stood still her heart rate increasing steadily. He was intimidating, and she couldn't fathom him discovering how intimidated she was. She took a quick moment to close her eyes and breathe. She batted down her dress and narrowed her eyes which made her look cunning. The air grew still as Moyra approached the door. Helenia felt like running the other way and locking herself up into her bedroom. She didn't want to admit it, but she was afraid of spending a night with company, she was so used to being alone. Butterflies erupted in her stomach but she swallowed them; she had no choice. If she refused to show up, she'd probably end up dead. King's orders.

"Aah General Aidan, right on time. You look very handsome dear." She said, giving him a wink and making him slightly embarrassed. Helenia could she the faint blush on his cheeks and she couldn't help but chuckle. Maybe he wasn't as intimidating as she first thought. The butterflies didn't go away, always there, a steady flutter.

"We have to go." Aidan stated pressing the small of her back with his hand and urging her forward. Her legs refused to cooperate. Aidan nearly had to push her out of the room. Taking a step out of it, she put her palace front on and gathered all of the strength that she could, from both herself and her stone.

*

"So, since we are going to have to spend a lot of time together, it would be daft for us not to get to know each other." Helenia provoked him, trying to crack his thick shell of determined general. They kept walking in silence, his hand still on her back, face forward, expression blank and with her golden-green eyes studying him. He didn't look comfortable after years of roaming around the same halls. No-one was truly calm in this castle. She tried to focus on him to forget how uncomfortable she felt herself.

"What would you like to know?" Aidan turned to face her, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Congratulations on being the king's general, it is a very respected rank; how old are you?" Helenia gave him a flirtatious smile, slightly agitated at his very conservative demeanor. She spent hours charming up to guards for special access to the library and its restricted areas, but she never learnt how to make friends.

"Nineteen." He simply said.

"Wow so accomplished at such an early age, you must have a lot of pressure on you." She became even more vivacious as they neared the grand hall.

"Pressure is not for everyone, neither is power." He stopped to look at her, directly staring into her eyes as a challenge. Helenia realised that he was trying to communicate something to her, she wasn't worthy of being chosen.

"Being the king's most trusted adviser at the age of seventeen is something quite extraordinary, I can handle it and the pressure." Helenia snapped back to Aidan. She didn't feel like being criticized by a man she just met.

"Do you expect me to congratulate you? Because you sure are such a valuable asset to this Kingdom." Aidan remarked, his eyebrows raised. He signed to the guards to open the monstrous doors to the hall.

"Not at all." Helenia whispered, looking at Aidan with narrow eyes and gritted teeth as they entered the beautifully decorated grand room. He was right, she wasn't valuable. The king had no remorse in throwing her life away, but why Aidan's, the toughest general, a complete asshole?

*

Scanning her surroundings, Helenia gasped so only she could hear. Even though she had spent her whole life within the castle walls, not once did she trek inside of the castle's grandest room. The roof was made out of glass which let the moonlight graze the surfaces of this hall. Crystal lamps were strategically placed around the hall, so they illuminated every spot. To her left was a platform holding two beautiful gold thrones, embellished with ornamental designs- the king's and the missing queen's. Helenia wondered why he never destroyed it, after all she broke his heart. She also wondered why he never married anyone else. It had been two years and there were many neighbouring districts were he could search for a bride. King Lasane either wanted to get her back or was too busy planning to destroy her to find a replacement. A shiver ran down Helenia's spine. Aidan beside her, was not surprised, she guessed that he had been here a thousand times before and wondered why was she never allowed. As they made their way to a glass table in the middle of the hall, reserved just for them, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the king.