Chapter 23
Raven’s POV
My heart pounded loudly against my eardrums and my stomach was twisted into so many knots that I thought it would never go back to normal.
Butterflies fluttered inside my core as he looked down at me, his smirk slowly but surely turned into a frown as he eased me down, unraveling my legs from his waist.
He took two steps back away from me and placed his hand over his mouth while he paced back and forth on the floor. His face slowly starting to show panic that I didn’t know the Prince was capable of.
“W-what?” I sputtered out, still in shock.
His eyes found mine but this time.. this time they looked dark like a storm that had began to brew.
“I.. that was a mistake.” He muttered out. His movements stilled as he looked up at me but all I could feel was my excitement and happiness fall straight to the floor.
“I see.” I nodded, trying to keep calm as I turned to leave. I felt his hand slip around my waist and pull me to him but I pushed away from him and the panic in his eyes grew.
“No I didn’t mean it in that way Raven, I-,”
“In what way did you mean it then? You kissed him me and then have the audacity to say it was a mistake.”
“Listen to me, I don’t regret the kiss. Gods I don’t regret any bit of what just happened, but-,”
“Raven?” A voice from the hallway caught my attention and I turned to meet Cassius’ weary gaze. His arms were crossed over his chest as he looked between the Prince and I.
“ Queen Fara wants to speak with you in her room.” He said but his eyes remained on the Prince.
“Okay distancing is key, four feet apart at all times.” He stepped into the room and pushed himself between us, making the Prince glare at him.
“What the hell was going on here huh?” He seemed to notice the thick tension that hung silently in the air.
A humorless chuckle left me as I shrugged.
“Nothing of importance.”
With that, I turned and walked out of the room and down the marble floored hallway. The silence of this castle gave me the peace that I needed as I traveled down the wide staircase and towards the room Queen Fara had picked when we settled in.
I tried to leave the kiss in the back of my head, since it had been a mistake anyways.
I had thought it was magical, I felt like I could touch the stars above with just that one kiss and yet he didn’t feel the same apparently.
How could he say something like that?
I shook my head and stepped down the stairs towards the second room on the right, Queen Fara’s room.
The doors were already opened, as I figured since she had requested to see me.
“Ah, hello there beautiful.” She spoke through the doors. She was sitting against a red chair infront of the fireplace.
“You needed to speak with me?” I questioned and she smiled up at me.
“Yes, I needed to ask you some very important things concerning your people.”
My eyebrows furrowed together as I enters her room, she motioned for me to close the doors and I did so hesitantly.
“My people?”
She nodded slowly, allowing her eyes to drift back to the fire.
“Yes darling, your people. The people of this community need someone to guide them and-,”
“Absolutely not. You can ask Cassius. I will not be responsible for an entire kingdom of people, along with the fact that the kingdom is in shambles.” I grit out and she stands at my words.
“Cassius doesn’t have what it takes to run a kingdom such as Zanatra.” She said simply and I couldn’t help but scoff.
“He has everything needed to run Zanatra, the patience of father, the heart of mother, the-,”
“Not the blood. This land was thrives from BlueBloods and only them. If someone else tried to rule, the land would go against them, the crops wouldn’t grow, the currents would grow angry-,”
“Do you expect me to believe that? It’s land Queen Fara, not a person.”
Her eyes grew hard at my words and her face coiled in such a way that I never knew was possible for her.
“The elements that run through you are not people, and yet they control you not the other way around. If they have that type of power what makes you think the land that BlueBloods were created on doesn’t?”
I tried to come up with an excuse but couldn’t find a single one, she was right. The elements that ran through my veins had a kind of their own and a single person could never control them, it was the other way around. We were the vessel for a them.
“How about I show you instead?” She spoke and I looked up to see her genuine expression had returned. She glided across the room and pushed the doors open.
“I’m a visual learner myself.” She smiled over her shoulder to me as I followed behind her.
Without knowing exactly what the hell we were about to do, I felt my stomach flip like it had earlier.
We stepped out and I instantly noticed the crowd hiding in the shadows.
“Rumor has it, the daughter of Adonis and Della has arrived. Looks like you’re the talk of the town.” She murmured as we walked down the stoned street, people covered in dirt leaked a look at me from the corners of the shadows.
My eyes wandered around to each face I could see but the corners of the broken buildings blocked most of them, leaving me wondering.
“The shore is up ahead, right through these trees.” She picked you the bottom of her dress as we stepped through the soil and through the thick density that the trees provided.
The sound of the waves crashing against the shore was louder now, like a rustling or millions of whispers against the winds.
The deep blue water came into view as we broke through the tree line and onto the soft sand that made my feet slide with each step.
The dark blue waves were ferocious against the shore and rocks that sat in its way.
“Come here dear.” Queen Fara stepped into the water, barely deep enough to cover her ankles.
I did as she asked and stepped forward towards the water, with a gentle hand, she guided me into the water and when my foot entered the blue coolness, the waves immediately calmed down to a slow paced wash up.
A light blue shimmer cascaded over the top layer of the water and up to my foot.
“The elements call to you. They respond to you and you only, Cassius could never have the type of bond you have with these lands so asking for him to take charge is lethal to anyone and everyone here.”
I leaned down and placed my hand in the water, the light blue shimmer shooting up from the water and underneath my skin, making me jerk my hand out.
In that moment, I felt coolness rush through my veins as the blue shimmer moved over my body.
“What the hell is happening?”
My eyes widen while Queen Fara chuckles beside me and splashes a bit of water at me.
“It’s saying hello.” Her genuine smile was wide as she looked down at the gentle waves and I could see that she didn’t seem to fear it at all.
I eased back down and hesitantly stuck my hand back into the water, I tried my best to welcome the tingles, which soon had turned into swift coolness that courses through me.
I smiled at the feeling, maybe she was right.
Then, my smile slowly fades.
I can’t rule an entire kingdom, I hardly know what to do. Let alone how to rebuild a city that’s crumbled to pieces and the people that are terrified to even come out from the shadows.
“The rumors are true...” A voice says from the tree line.
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Sending love to each one of you ❤️