Doom and gloom aside, Alex’s parents had accepted the truth of her words and reluctantly agreed to her terms. That reluctance had quickly turned to delight, however, when, with Darrius’s help, Alex had managed to find them a place to stay in the Library that came with an ancient ecosystem as their scientific playground.
Having relocated from Freya just this morning, Alex had left her parents more excited than she’d ever seen them, even after she’d hesitantly informed them that she’d have to limit her visits to keep from drawing attention to their unorthodox location. But distracted by the wonder of the impossible discoveries awaiting them, they hadn’t minded in the slightest. Instead, they’d kissed her absentmindedly on the forehead, wished her good luck for the year and encouraged her to enjoy her ‘adventures’. Alex, for her part, had just rolled her eyes, hugged them, and promised to keep in touch as best she could.
Knowing that her parents were safely tucked away deep in the Library was all Alex had needed to switch her focus onto what came next: returning to the academy—and reuniting with her friends.
She had missed Jordan, Bear and D.C. fiercely over the holidays and couldn’t wait to be back with them again once Akarnae reopened. They’d kept in regular contact via their ComTCD holographic communications devices, but she hadn’t been able to leave the academy grounds to see them in person. They had, however, been able to meet up without her. It was easy enough for the boys, since Jordan always spent his summers with Bear’s family, but Alex had no idea how D.C. had managed to sneak out of the palace, especially given that the boys were unaware of her royal status. As much as Alex kept telling her friend to let the others in on the secret, she knew D.C. was afraid that Jordan and Bear would treat her differently once they learned she was the princess. Alex knew them better than that, but she had yet to convince D.C.
Honestly, between organising a new life for her parents and arranging their long-term, secretive stay in Medora, Alex hadn’t had much of a chance to try and break down D.C.’s arguments. But that was also because what little spare time she’d had over the holidays had been allocated for her to get beaten up, over and over again.
It was sad, but true. For three days each week Alex had endured hours of training with her Combat instructor, Karter, developing her previously non-existent fighting skills. In Karter’s defence, Alex could admit that he’d done wonders with her in the nine short weeks they’d trained together. Their final session had been just yesterday, and while Karter hadn’t shown any last lesson leniency with his fighting—not that she’d expected him to—at the end of their time he’d gruffly conceded that she’d learned enough to join the rest of her classmates in the coming school year. Despite her anxiety, she was actually looking forward to seeing how well she handled the class. And her classmates.
She would know soon enough, since all Akarnae students were due to arrive back at the academy tomorrow, with classes beginning first thing the following morning. All Alex had left to do was make it through tonight—D.C.’s birthday party at the royal palace.
Unfortunately, it seemed like every single invitee wanted to pay their respects to the ruling family, and D.C. was stuck playing the good little hostess until she could escape to Alex’s side, as they’d arranged earlier that evening while getting ready in D.C.’s bedroom.
At least I’m dressed for the part, Alex thought while she waited. The dress she wore was almost as beautiful as the gown Bear’s mother had designed for her as a Kaldoras present the previous year. Unlike that one, which had been a stunning sky-blue colour, the dress D.C. had given her was emerald green and cut on the bias to drape over one shoulder, leaving the other bare. It was made of the highest quality material, flowing softly over her body to compliment her figure. Her dark hair had been piled on top of her head with a few wispy tendrils left out to frame her face, and her smoky makeup accentuated her brown eyes. All in all, her regal look gave her the confidence she needed to wait, and keep waiting, on her own.
With nothing but the company of her thoughts, Alex mulled over everything that had happened that day, from saying goodbye to her parents—and Freya—to activating her personalised Bubbledoor invitation that was pre-programmed to whisk her directly to the palace where D.C. had been waiting with open arms and excited squeals. The last few hours had been filled with Alex’s awed delight at wandering the majestic hallways, along with pampering fit for a princess in preparation for the night’s event. But now, especially given her exhausting weeks filled with packing and Combat training, all Alex wanted to do was walk back up the shiny gold stairs and curl up on the couch in D.C.’s room—a room she was sure measured about the size of a small city.
That, however, wasn’t an option for her just yet.
After what felt like hours, D.C. finally managed to escape the hordes of people demanding her attention to arrive at Alex’s side.
“I’m so sorry!” D.C. said, her vivid blue-green eyes filled with apology. “I didn’t think it would be so difficult to get away.”
“That’s okay,” Alex said. “I’ve just been hanging with my new friend here.” She slung an arm around the statue of a dragon-like creature beside her and added, “His name is Spitfire and he likes long walks on the beach at sunset. I think we’re a match made in heaven, don’t you?”
D.C. shook her head. “You must have been bored out of your mind!”
“Seriously, it’s fine,” Alex laughingly reassured her while untangling herself from the dragon. “I actually kind of enjoyed watching how everyone reacted to seeing you and your parents. They really do adore you, you know.”
D.C. smiled wistfully. “It’s my parents everyone loves. No one has seen me up close for years. This is the first birthday in a long time that I’ve celebrated with an actual party.”
Alex had heard the warm reaction to D.C.’s arrival and she wholeheartedly disagreed that the crowd’s adoration was solely for the king and queen. But she let it go and instead asked, “How are you able to be here so publically now?” She gestured at the room full of guests. “Won’t people realise who you are after this? What if there are other students from the academy here?”
D.C. waved away her concerns. “Don’t worry, Alex. The guest list is highly exclusive. There might be some people from Akarnae here if they’re relatives of the royal council or on-duty Wardens, but they’re all people I’ve grown up around. They know how important it is for me to remain anonymous.”
Accepting her explanation, Alex took a moment to scan the room. Her gaze snagged on a familiar face and she had to do a double-take to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
“Is that…?” Alex’s eyes narrowed and she hissed, “I can’t believe it, that’s Marcus Sparker! What is he doing here?”
D.C. followed Alex’s line of sight. “The Sparkers are an important family,” she said in a hushed voice. “There was no way for us to get out of inviting them without causing more problems than it was worth.”
“You’re not worried that Jordan might have decided to come along with his parents?” Alex asked, sounding a little more aggressive than she’d intended. She really didn’t like the idea that the man who had once held her semi-captive for information was in the same room as her again.