AMETHYST: The rise of Tetra

Chapter 17

    Eyes. They have been commonly described as the windows to one’s soul, a great awakening if you look into the right pair. The connection that the eyes could build was one that was beyond words and feelings, and it was something the two youngsters had felt when the ones of the water Princess reflected into the ones of the fire Prince. Words had faded away and the only thing that remained was a feeling of doomed love, the best kind of love. 

    ‘I’m no one. I’ll be going now’ the shy Princess had responded, averting her eyes that were dangerously hooked into his, turning around to dash out of the regretful situation she had put herself into. Her plan had merely been to check if her maid’s words had been right, instead, she found herself in a situation where her eyes and mind could no longer control themselves, and every bit of love she would ever feel for anyone would remain only in the heart of the caged up Prince of the enemy. 

    ‘Wait!’ the Prince yelled, knowing he had the same effect on her as she did on him. Engrossed by the beautiful young girl in front of him, he held onto the bars of the dungeon, finding a purpose for once in his life. All the stuff he had read in his books had all at once occurred to him, and he found himself intrigued to talk to the woman that merely by looks had been so stunning. ‘You’re the Princess, aren’t you?’ He asked, noticing the similarities between the girl and her mother, amongst other things. A confused Cassandra paused, turning around shyly to face the man of the opposite gender. 

    ‘How do you know?’ She questioned with worry, knowing that now she certainly was in trouble. The chuckle that escaped Leopold had been as attractive as his physique to a woman who couldn’t peel her eyes off the handsome man. 

    ‘Not very subtle with the fancy frock and perfectly pointed shoes’ he responded, pointing out to her what she had missed all along. It had only then occurred to her why all her attempts at making friends had failed, and the cute expression that appeared on her face as she dived into thought was one that till this day the flame remembered vividly as one he loved greatly. ‘What’s your name?’ He asked, trying to loosen the tension between the youth that had no wish to be involved in the feud their parents had initiated. 

    ‘Cassandra. What is yours?’ She countered, moving slightly towards the cell of the boy that she was insanely attracted to. Despite the magnetisation, she had maintained her distance, knowing that at any given time the man could play a trick against her, and strike in a way that would be unfamiliar for the Princess to catch on to. Though as much as she tried to view the man through the lens his parents had, she couldn’t seem to find a reason to hate the man who had only been polite to her so far. 

    ‘My name is Leopold. What are you doing down here?’ He had asked, finally catching on to the curiosity as to why a pretty Princess like her would be roaming around the dark cells at an hour that was way past her bedtime. The entranced young girl looked away, getting herself together as she thought of a logical response to his question, and with the slightest chuckle on her mouth, she responded with the honest truth. 

    ‘My maid told me that my father had captured the son of King Alek, I just wanted to see if it was true’ she unveiled, unconsciously walking closer to the face that kept pulling her towards him. Like her mother she soon noticed the book that lay behind the man, and decided to switch up the conversation to something more interesting. ‘What are you reading?’ she pointed, warming up to the man just a little. Leopold’s attention drifted towards the book he had brought with him, and he picked it up, bringing it back to show the woman that had been his only escape in times of loneliness and punishment. ‘You like poetry?’ She posed, identifying the book and author as one her governess had shown her. He nodded eagerly, and had sat himself on the ground next to the door of his cell, as he began reading a poem to the Princess. Engaged by his voice, she too succumbed to her wishes, positioning herself on the ground in front of him, spending countless hours in front of him, listening to his voice float through her ears like music. 

    Though fantasies had a way of coming to an end sooner or later, and when the woman heard the noise of the guards' heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, she looked at the man in panic, and without bidding the man farewell she was on her feet, dashing into the opposite direction to hide. She had not taken notice of the time, though knew that it was close enough to the time her maid would be returning to her chambers to wake her up, and if she noticed her disappearance, she would not be pleased. With desperation she hid in the darkness, watching the guard go past her before she dashed her way silently to the top of the stairs, rushing past the door where the guard was absent towards the secret passages she would have to take back to her chambers. 

    Upon returning to her room she realised it was too late, and when Rien’s panicked face came into view, she knew she would have a lot to answer for. Thankfully the door of the chambers had remained closed, and so the Princess sped to her maid’s side to keep her silent from exploding. 

    ‘Miss, where have you been? You’re still in yesterdays’ frock!’ Exclaimed Rien, and Cassandra only wondered if spilling the truth would be worth it. The maids were sworn to secrecy, though at some point everyone reached their breaking point, and there was no way Rien wouldn’t reveal the truth to the King and Queen if she had to face it. So Cassandra decided to stick with the lie that was partially the truth. 

    ‘I’m sorry Rien, I only went to the roof to spend the night. The moon was looking far too extravagant last night. Please don’t tell my mother. I’ll bathe right away and change into a fresh gown.’ The maid took a deep breath, accepting the lie she was unaware of, and nodding to the request of her dear friend. 

    ‘The Queen has said you will be having lunch with your uncle today, and has sent a gown for you to wear down this evening. Would you like me to get the water running while you undress?’ Questioned Rien politely, returning to her duties as Cassandra only nodded.

    As Rien walked past her, the concept of love had struck the mind of the Princess, who till that moment had the eyes of the Prince of fire embedded into her vision, and she began pondering the dangerous thought of being with someone she was forbidden to be with. 

    ‘Have you ever been in love, Rien?’ Asked the curious Princess, to her maid who had in fact been having secret affairs with a commoner of the kingdom. Still the maid struggled, and wondered if exposing the truth was worth the risk. 

    ‘I have not, Miss. Why do you ask?’ Posed Rien, leading the naked woman to the tub where the water had been ready for her bath. An excited and gleaming Cassandea got in, only creating a plan to sneak back into the cells to pay the magnetising man a visit once again, and in the meantime wondered if he felt the same electric energy that she had. 

    ‘I’m only curious, Rien. Tell me, what do you think of the fire people? Surely they can’t all be bad’ she had commented innocently, though she immediately received a gasp and look of judgement from the frail maid who was fearful of the mere mention of them. 

    ‘We must not speak of the fire people, Miss. They are terrible people. They have launched attacks and killed so many of our people’ replied a terrified maid, closing the topic immediately and wiping the smile off Cassandra’s face. It was clearly a sensitive topic, and one she could not discuss with anyone but herself. Nevertheless throughout the duration of her day, her mind had been glued to the striking eyes that had captivated her in an instant, and she could only fear how the scenario would end. 

    Her behaviour had gone unnoticed by many, though Queen Emilda was one of the people that could always read past the expressions of her only daughter, and in a moment of silence she walked with her Princess along the halls of the castle. 

    ‘What’s in your thoughts, Cassandra? You seem distracted today’ she spotted, creating a small amount of panic within the young girl that had absolutely no way of hiding behind a facade in front of her mother. Nevertheless, in her years of being a royal Cassandra had learnt that the best way to avoid a lie was to tell a partial truth, and that is what she decided to stick to. 

    ‘Mother, is it true that you have captured the Prince of fire?’ She asked, ready for the slashback she would receive at the blatant question. Queen Emilda stopped in her tracks, looking away and deciding how to face her daughter, who much like her could identify a lie with ease. 

    ‘Cassandra dear, sometimes in life we are forced to do things we are not content about. The King of fire launched an attack that killed 500 warriors, and we cannot face our kingdom with the truth unless we have something to soothe the pain. As lovely as the kid is, we have no choice-’

    ‘You’ve met the kid?’ Questioned a stunned Princess, not knowing her own mother would be capable of agreeing to something so vile, so wrong. The mere thought that Queen Emilda had interacted with the boy, who was in fact, very lovely, had hurt the princess as much as the Queen had suspected, and it was too late to retract from the original story. 

    ‘Like I said, the kingdom comes first, and as royals we have no choice but to make the harsh decisions that are in the greatest interest of all of us’ responded the diplomatic Queen, facing her daughter and placing a hand to her cheek to terminate the conversation. ‘Now you leave us to deal with that and get ready for bed. Rien will be with you shortly’ spoke Emilda, leaving her child at the door of her chambers and walking away to find her own with a guilt that she could not shake off, knowing her only daughter whom she loved so much was judging her for the occurrences that King Alek had brought upon them.

    As Cassandra returned to her chambers, the words of her mother replayed in her mind, and she highlighted the very moment the Queen herself had pointed out that he was a good kid. It was all the confirmation that the young girl had needed to know, and she had no choice but to take another trip down to the dungeons to explore the man she was so keen on getting to know, and so as Rien stumbled into the room to prepare the Princess for bed, she happily prepared herself for her exit from her chambers another night. It would be another sleepless night, though it would be worth it for sure. 

    Grabbing a book, she decided to head back from the secret passages for another exciting night of something so forbidden. Breaking the rules had never seemed this exciting, and even though the Princess barely bent the rules, it was about to take a turn as the rebel would be breaking a lot more than rules in her upcoming future. 

    Leopold had spent his own time in his cell envisioning the beauty that not long ago was in front of his eyes, and wondered if she would return to see him again. Though the mere look in her eyes before she left had been perhaps an indicator that their story was pending, and much was yet to come for the young pair. 

    The book he had brought had been long forgotten as he thought of the eyes that were burned into his memory forever, and at the entrance of the shy girl in just her nightgown and her robe, he knew that it would soon turn into a nightly occurrence, and for once he regretted not being on enemy territory. 

    Of course the thoughts of them being natural born enemies had crossed their minds, though not once had they thought of acknowledging it, as they were after all, just kids in love with no intention of being involved in their parents drama whatsoever.  

    ‘You came back’ he whispered at her entrance, and the smiling Princess returned to the seat on the ground where she first took in his voice for a whole night. 

    ‘You read me poetry all night, I thought I would return the favour’ she mentioned shyly, averting her eyes as she opened her book, pulling out a paragraph of her own to read. For him her voice had been as alluring as his had been to her, and it was in that moment that both had decided that breaking the rules and going against the natural order of their kingdoms had been the best thing they could do. They were mere kids, unaware of the challenges that lay ahead, though that was the beauty of being a kid in love, you were allowed to be reckless and explore the boundaries that one day will cost you more. 

    Love, marriage, and hatred were concepts that they were too young to understand, and so they enjoyed the feeling of being kids as Cassandra read poetry all night, until the poor boy had fallen asleep on the ground, and in his state the Princess was only capable of running a hand through his hair before running away to her chambers in embarrassment. Her night gown would be dirty and stained, of course, though it was a matter for the maids to deal with, and they knew better than to question the Princess. 

    To the pair the outside world had blurred away, the issues between the kingdoms were non-existent as they remained in their bubble of ignorance and nonchalance. They carried on with their nightly visits of reading poetry to each other, sharing their deepest darkest secrets, though from the point of view of the clueless parents, things had begun taking a turn as the execution of the boy was being planned right in front of the young girl who wished not to have overheard the conversation between her father and mother in their chambers. 

    ‘I don’t see much of a choice anymore, Emilda. Alek’s armies have only been slashing our own, he has the numbers and the power that we do not. The only way to stop this feud is if we hand over the boy’s head!’ exclaimed the King of water, holding Cassandra back in her position as she continued to listen from the corner of the office doors. 

    ‘You can’t execute him, Voltor, he’s just a boy! He knows nothing of what his father has done, this has nothing to do with him-’

    ‘Well then what else am I supposed to do, Emilda? Our numbers are dropping and our people expect results. If I can’t take the ruthless actions then no one else will and this war will keep going forever’ explained the King, justifying absolutely nothing in the eyes of the innocent Princess.

    ‘What good is that going to do? It’s only going to make his thirst for vengeance stronger. You’d much rather blackmail the king for his release’ argued Emilda, having taken a soft spot for the boy she had only briefly met. 

    ‘And trust his word? Even if I make a deal and return his son, what makes you think Alek will stick to his word? That cunning bastard won’t stop until my head is on a spike, and I won’t let that happen!’ Spat the angry King, having had the last word. It had taken Cassandra less than a second to speed out of there into her chambers, knowing that she could not, would not, let her new love interest die at the hands of her own father. She had to think of something, and fast. 

    Luckily she knew her father would not execute his plans for Leopold’s death till the morning, and it gave her just enough time to get through the plan she wished for. 

    Waiting for everyone to fall asleep around her, the petite figure escaped the comfort of her room in the dead of night, though unlike any other day she travelled to her father’s chambers first, to retrieve the keys that would open the doors to his office, where in a locked cabinet he stored the spare pair of keys that opened any door in his kingdom. Tip-toeing around her parent’s snoring figures, she arrived at the bedside table of her father, and with a speeding heart and holding her breath, she opened the drawer as slowly as she could. It seemed like hours she had spent in the room, when actually it was just minutes, though finally she managed to silently sneak out the key that she grabbed ecstatically before rushing out of the room to head to the office. The office had been protected by guards, of course, though when most of their royal guards slept on duty, it was no wonder that they could not battle the fire people with ease on the battlefield. 

    Sneaking into the office room, she made her way around to grab the keys that would actually help her get the man she was infatuated with out of the castle to safety, and with the set in hand, she darted off to follow through with her usual steps of meeting the Prince of fire.

    He had been waiting for her, of course, though when she hadn’t made an appearance at her usual  time, he knew something was wrong. Deception was only an initial feeling, though he knew how strongly they had felt for each other, and he knew that it was not normal for her to bail on him. His hands remained on the railings of the cell as he wondered how to get out to look for her, the only thing he knew was that for once he would go to lengths to protect someone he had actually come to care about.

    When her striking figure appeared in his line of sight, a sigh of relief escaped his lips. Though it was short lived when the panic on her face had become evident, and a frown of confusion took over. 

    ‘Cassandra, what’s wrong? What are you doing?’ He questioned, watching her fiddle with keys in her hand in front of his cell. 

    ‘You need to leave, now’ she ordered, spotting the key she needed and inserting it through the lock that clicked almost instantly to open the door. 

    ‘What do you mean? Cassandra what’s going on?’ As the door opened, and the pair faced each other without barriers for the first time, the Princess allowed herself a moment to embrace the man into a hug, one that he returned within seconds as he stroked her hair in an attempt to calm her down from whatever fit she was having. 

    ‘My father, he’s planning to execute you to send your father a message. You need to leave now. I know a secret passage from my chambers that can lead you out of the castle, take it and get out of here back to your lands. Say you escaped, and that you used something you found in your cell to pry the lock open’ she explained, stepping back with panic evident in her eyes. 

    ‘What about you? I can’t just leave you here!’ He exclaimed, ignoring the issue completely. His concern had been appreciated though there was no way the Princess would let the Prince of fire be in danger because she refused to do anything much like her mother. 

    ‘Leopold, they’re going to kill you tomorrow. I’ll be fine, they won’t know a thing, I promise. Just trust me, let’s go. I need to get you out of here’ she stated, grabbing onto his hand before leading him outside towards her chambers as she normally would return herself. They barely made it back to her chambers before she turned around to show her love interest the exit from her life. ‘Take the passage down to the very end, and take the last right before the dead end, it will lead you right outside the walls of my castle, from there you’ll be able to return to your lands safely’ she responded, tearing pooling up in her eyes. 

    ‘Will I ever see you again?’ He asked, upset at the events himself, desperate to hand onto her. 

    ‘You will, I promise. One day we’re going to find each other again.’