Artemis' POV

   Now that my plans of becoming the Crown Princess as soon as possible are over, I have mo clue what to do with myself. It's been two days since then and all I've done is sit in my room and attend Court.

     Which was hell because all anyone did was snicker and pretend like I didn't have super hearing  like the right of the Faeries in that room.

    My brother tried to comfort me in his own way, lounging around my room and telling me about all the people he's been with since Ove been gone. But since Sex has never really appealed to me, I just threw him out so that he and Percy could go have fun together like they usually do.

    Now Annabelle is going through my closet as I sit on my bed, head in hands as I try to vent to her.

    "I don't get it Anna. Before I left, me going down south to get knowledge was the most important thing. They were pushing for me to take the Crown. And now that I'm back it's like everything has shifted except the people. It's strange, Anna and I'm not getting good energy from everyone here." I tell her, standing off of my bed as I walk from wall to wall, trying to figure out why I've had this twist in my stomach since I've been home.

    I hear my maid cease moving in the closet and it makes me pause with curiosity as I enter the over sized room for clothes I don't wear. Anna is staring at the dressed in front of her with her bottom lip trapped in her mouth.

    "I knew it." I say and she jumps, whirling around in surprise at my closeness, obviously not having paid attention.

     "Knew what, Princess?" She tries to ask me, wiping her hands nervously on her skirts and I narrow my eyes at her.

     "There's something going on in this castle that no one wants to tell me about. There's something thats happened since I've been away, and I need to know what. Anna, what the hell has everyone so jumpy?" I ask her, my frustration growing as I notice more and more people avoiding questions and unable to look me in the eye.

     Anna stares at me before she turns around and begins to fluff the skirts in front of her as if to busy her hands away from me. "Princess if there was something that I could tell you, I would. But there's nothing that I can, there's nothing any of us can tell you because everything is fine." She says and I frown.

     Because I remember this. The way we used to talk when someone we didn't like was around and we had to keep up the pretense of not being friends.

     It means that there's something going on that she can't tell me. Something bad. And something that I need to figure out.

     "You would think, that the castle had a baby sitter while I was gone." I tell her, looking at her, hoping that I'm wrong and my castle talk is just out of practice.

     "Oh we do. It's just hard to remember who it is sometimes." She tells me before she picks up an old skirt that has a tear in it from me playing around with some knights when I was supposed to be attending classes with Percy. She looks me in my eyes for a split second before she looks away and clears her throat, wiping her hands on her bodice again. "Be careful. Home isn't the same as you remember."

    Before I can answer, Anna leaves me in the rooms by myself and I groan in frustration, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. If I could, I would corner myself Maid and make her tell me everything, but form the way she's talking, that could very well only put her in danger.

    Suddenly restless, I decide to leave so that I can go find someone, and I chose to find my Knights that I remember, the ones that I grew up with but haven't seen around the week that I've been home.

    I thought they would have returned to me by now, but they haven't, and the more I begin to price together, the more worried I am. I pull on some heeled boots along with my fancy trousers and blouse, putting back my hair with a diamond comb before leaving the room. When I step out into the hall, locking my door, I see My Aunt Lucile out, her hand on the arm of my Maid as she says something to Anna.

    "Is everything alright, Auntie?" I ask as I approach the two, and Anna turns towards me with wide panicked eyes before my aunt turned towards me and let's go of the smaller woman.

     "Everything is fine, Artemis, just making sure she gets you to wear the dresses my sister and I instructed." She tells me, her blue eyes blazing as she stares at me, the power almost making me look away, but I don't even if it almost hurts to hold her gaze.

     "I appreciate the sentiment, however, Annabelle is in my care and she answers to me and I'm quite thankful for what she's given me since it is what I asked for. She's on her way to fix a dress for me now, and I would appreciate it if you didn't hold her up unnecessarily." I tell my Aunt, trying to keep my cool like Jasper does and my Aunt steps closer to me, her blue eyes almost swirling black, but when I blink, they're back to their normal hue making me think I imagined it.
     
     "Of course, Princess. But remember, you're not under the Crown, yet." She tells me and I frown but she walks away, her blue dress flowing as she walks down the hallways and turns the corner.

     I take a deep breath and turn towards Anna who looks shaken up. "You okay?" I ask her softly and she just nods.

     "Can I take this to my room and lay down for a bit?" She asks me and I nod, and she thanks me before walking a little ways down a hall and turning towards the servants part of the castle. I turn back behind me to where my Aunt wen before I shake off this creepy feeling and head toward the back courtyard.

    I walk through the open floor to ceiling doors and walk down the walkway to my left where I see my favorite Knights and Warriors standing around as some spar and practice. A few time to see me and now but I shop them away.

    "At last! I was wondering where you all went. Why aren't you protecting my perfect hair and long legs anymore?" I ask them, bringing up a joke from when we were younger and they laugh before coming over to me.

    "Princess, such a burden to see such a face again." Carl tells me with a grin and I snort before punching his shoulder and he roles his eyes before pulling me into a tight hug. Carl is an older guard that help teach me all I need to know about fighting when I was younger and refuse to have the airy assholes protect me at school.

    "Ahh, I missed that smart mouth of yours." I tell him as I turn towards the twins, Marco and Marcus. The boys have always treated me like one fo them and they swear up and down that I'm their puny little sister and I'm no where near a princess. I like that.

    "Look who isn't so puny anymore." Marco tells me, his hazel eyes crinkled in the corners, his one year above me doing nothing to make me feel better about the difference in height.

    "Shes still ugly, though." Marcus says and I show them my middle finger which makes the two of them laugh.

    "Why aren't you guys guarding me anymore? I was looking for you. Don't tell me you don't want me to be your assignment anymore." I tell them, pushing some strands of hair out my my fair and Carl frowns.

    "We weren't chosen. We thought you got tired of us while you were away." He says with a shrug.

    "No one asked me so I assumed it would just be you all again. Don't worry, I'll have you in front of my rooms soon enough." I tell them and they smirk encore pulling me in for a group hug that has me gagging against the smell of stinky sweaty boy. Just as I go to push them away, the wind shifts and instead, I smell something, something different.

    The air tastes like Sunflowers and Earth, the scent sending a shiver down my spine and I roughly push the boys away and I turn in circles, Levi looking at me strangely as he comes form sparring with another guard.

    "Princess?" He asks, red hair gleaming in the light and I feel a few tears spark my eyes as I pant, drinking in the smell.

    "It's them." I mutter, turning to figure out which direction it's coming from.

    "Who?" Marco asks me just as notice the path to the castle gardens and I begin to walk towards them with excitement and anxiety racking through me at the thought of finally meeting them.

     "My Knot."

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Yayyy theyre about to meet! I'm very proud of this chapter. What do you think is going to happen next. No promises but I think I can get six chapters out and two new books up tonight.

Thoughts?

Comments?

QOTD: do you like pretzels?