Chapter 04

The ball is kicking off like wild fire, but I’m so bored. Everyone is chatting amongst each so content and carefree, but I don’t see how they can. We just had a wasp swarm over us, yet every Frey is brushing it off their shoulders and getting on with this stupid event, but I cannot. It happened so quickly, and I believe the guards are keeping an eye on things. I am too; I’m near a window, watching the sky. It just happened so quickly with the time, I need to see what will happen next out there. However, as I’m doing this, I’m starting to get stares of insanity at me, which doesn’t make any sense. How can they do this while I’m protecting them?

 

I protect the Frey from harm, but they expect me to be some princess. I don’t want to be a princess, it’s too cliché for me. It’s the same routine each day, I wake up, I get greeted with dozens of gowns, I go out to say hello to the people, I come home, I get bombarded with questions about how my day was, then for the rest of the day I have ‘duties’ to do with Tinsel. It’s the same thing day in and day out for me and my sister, which is why I decided to change things a little. I broke the rules about who I am, and I decided to go with being a warrior. Father always yells at me for it, but I’ll take my chances.

 

I sigh, noticing that Hugo had left me for a minute. Strange, where is he? He is supposed to be keeping me company, but alas though, he isn’t. I glance around the room, pointing out my Lady In Waiting, holding three drinks on a tray. Minx is always doing things stuff like that, always doing her job as my Lady In Waiting. Hospitality happens to be what she is good at, so it’s no surprise to me when she’s a professional when it comes to caring drinks and stuff like that. At least she understands what I mean by doing what you want; she chose to do this for the rest of her life. I have no idea why though.

 

She comes up to me, handing me a drink, “There you go, Mistress. I thought you looked pashed, so I got you this.”

I nod, taking a sip. It’s my favourite, Rose Nectar. I nod, “Thanks…”

“You’re very welcome! I also got one for Hugo, but it’s seems that he had disappeared somewhere…” She looked around, “I’m sure he’ll be back soon, Mistress.”

I nod, “Let’s see if he comes back alive…”

“What?!”

I laugh, “It was a joke, Minx!” I sigh, “This ball is so boring…”

She sighs, taking her drink off the tray, “If it makes you feel any better, I do not like it either. Plus, your sister, Redia, is beginning to become a pain to me…”

Now this got me interested, “How so?”

“Well, unlike you, she just demands too much than anyone can give her. I’m not her Lady In Waiting, yet she expects me to come to her aid.” She takes a sip from her cup, “What a stupid female…”

“Really? I thought I was worse, considering that I break the rules of the entire kingdom and stuff…”

She shakes her head furiously, “Even though you tend to break the laws here, a least you have a friendly personality and don’t brush people off, Mistress! She doesn’t even have any manners towards us commoners!”

I sigh, “Yeah, but she’s always like that…” I notice a dark figure in the corner of my eye. I glance towards it, “Who’s that?”

“Who’s who, Mistress?” She looks where I’m looking, only chuckling, “Are you seeing things again, Mistress?”

“No! I could’ve sworn that I saw something!”

She walks off, handing me the tray, “Call me if you need anything, Neon!”

 

That figure in the corner is really starting to get on my nerves. It appears to be a Pixie like me; however this Frey seems to hold a darker aura than the other Frey in this room. The Frey wears dark clothing over itself as well, covering everything but the face. A smirk appears across the face, sending shivers down my spine. Who is this guy?

 

The lights dim down, as I’m being dragged towards the centre of the ballroom. I notice that it’s my Father’s hand, strangely enough, dragging me there. My eyes question, but he states that I need to give a speech about how this ‘grand day’ has affected the future of Tinsel. How am I going to do this though? What good has happened to me right now? In fact, what good has happened on this day? None, that’s what.

 

I’m led towards the stair case of the ballroom, someone handing me a microphone. My father pushes towards the crowd, and he announces that this land has its benefits and stuff like that. Once he is finished, he introduces me and steps back, motioning me to talk.

 

I sigh, and I look towards the Frey. Their waiting faces hold pride and something that I can’t get my finger on. I sigh, and begin, “My people of Tinsel, many of you have your theories and say that this place needs more of a good time and less of protecting and warriors. But you don’t see, while you’re having a good time in this lovely season, the warriors and I are protecting you without realising it.” I got confused faces and an annoyed grunt of my name from my Father. However, I’m determined to get this out there, “I understand your confusion, heck I’m confused in why I’m talking to you all, but I want to get this across to you. You, as Frey, are aware of the weird things that have been happening. However, instead of hiding, I’m protecting you, I’m a warrior.”

“NEON, ENOUGH.” My Father barks from behind me.

“No, by all means, continue, my niece.” A familiar voice states.

I turn towards the voice, seeing the dark figure approach me. He takes off his long cloak, revealing who his is. My eyes widen as the man laughs. I gulp, “Zemcarla…”

 

My uncle, Zemcarla, the ruler of the West, is right before us.