The Hunted Heart

Chapter 2 Rowan

It’s been two days since I have seen Flo. When I finally got back to the kingdom I had to make up a story for everyone as to why I was gone for so long. I told them I got lost in Enchanted Haven, which is still not a great thing to tell them. It’s way better than telling them I was hanging out with a fairy for half a day. That would make my dad kill me. He already hates me enough, and I seriously don’t want him to hate me any more than he already does. Everyone believed my story, at least I think they did. Tonight I’m sneaking out of the kingdom to go see Flora. I’m not sure if I’ll see her, but I’m gonna try to find her. If I don’t find her I’ll be fine, but I do truly hope to see her. I put the flower that she gave me in a special vase in my window, it’s in a spot where it can get slightly more sunlight than the other flowers. I don’t care too much about the other flowers. I only have them because my mother loved flowers, and gardening in general. But the flower Flora gave me is way more important to me. It truly does remind me of my mother, but it also reminds me of Flo. I can’t believe next week will make it 10 years since I lost my mother. She was one of my best friends. I was only 19 when I lost her.

I walk into my closet, and try to find something to wear today. It’s impossible to find something to wear when you have thousands of options to choose from. Not only am I going to wear this when I see Flo tonight, but I’m also gonna be wearing it when our new affiliate kingdom, The Kingdom of Elysia, is going to be introduced to our kingdom, The Kingdom of Veridianth. It’s very exciting to have a new affiliate, but if The Kingdom of Elysia wasn’t coming tonight, I would have plenty more time to see Flora. If they weren’t coming, I could easily make up an excuse to my father. Hopefully our new affiliate won’t be like our kingdom, and will be against hunting fairies. I don’t agree with my kingdom for wanting to hunt fairies, I never have. But I have to do it, or my father would be so disappointed. He wants to continue hunting fairies until the day he dies, because my mother was killed by a fairy. Which is why I was afraid of fairies when I was younger, but when I heard Gideon Silverwing, my mothers killer was murdered, my fear of fairies went away. I started doing tons of research on fairies and began to love them. Speaking of Gideon, Flora has the same last name as him, hopefully that’s just a common last name for fairies. I would rather die than fall in love with the daughter of the fairy who killed my mother.

I finally found the perfect outfit for today. It’s basic, but fancy. A black suit with a white button up as an undershirt. It’s around 10 am, and the affiliate kingdom should be arriving at 2 pm. If I wanted to, I could tell my father that I’m going fairy hunting, and find Flora instead. I have about 3 and a half hours to spare. First I would need to get something to eat, I haven’t eaten yet today, and I’ve been awake since 5 am. The butlers shouldn’t have thrown breakfast out yet considering I haven’t eaten. If they did, they know they’ll be punished.

I walk through the hallways, with wooden floors and dark red rugs to prevent slipping, there are paintings and photos all along the walls. All of the paintings were painted by my mother, and the photos are mainly of the family. We haven’t gotten any professional photos done since my mother died, my father says getting photos taken reminds him too much of my mother. I understand why. My mother had a lot of great qualities. She loved gardening, painting, and she was a photographer. When I was a little boy she would take photoshoots of me all the time. My father never wanted to be involved in the photoshoots, unless it was just him and her. He never truly liked me, he only stayed for my mother. He loved my mother with his entire heart, once she died he started completely hating me. He’s always blamed her death on me and he makes sure to constantly tell me he wishes it was me that died instead of her. Sometimes I wish the same thing. Life would be better if I died instead of her. My father would be happier, and I wouldn’t have to deal with being a prince to a cruel kingdom. My father does care about me slightly, he would most likely be upset if I died, but he definitely cared more about my mother. I don’t blame him. My mother was perfect, she was a literal angel on Earth. She was the sweetest person I knew, she always looked for the good in people. Whether they were clearly terrible people or not, she always gave everyone a chance. She was too good for this world, especially too good for my father. I wish she would’ve ended up with someone better.

My father was good to my mother for the most part, but he definitely could have been better. If she did something slightly wrong, he would yell at her. He never hit her, thankfully, but if he did I would have killed him. Sometimes I blame myself for my mothers death. She asked me to go with her that day, and I said no. If I would have said yes, maybe it would’ve been me instead of her. I have a billion thoughts about her every day of my life, how I wish I could have stopped her. If only I would have faked being ill to stop her from going out that day. It truly is my fathers fault though, he pushed her to go to Sylvanleaf, a fairy village, so she could search for fairies. At that time my father wasn’t interested in hunting fairies, he just wanted proof that they were actually real. So he made my mother go into the village with her camera to take photos of the fairy. She didn’t make it out alive. That cruel fairy, Gideon, killed her. I’m not even sure of the whole story, nobody knows what actually happened. Maybe one day I’ll find out the whole story. These thoughts of my mother could seriously make me go insane.

I got so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even realize Griffin, our butler, made me a plate. Blueberry pancakes with sausage on the side, my mothers favorite. I have eaten it every day of my life since my mother passed away. It’s slightly comforting somehow, it makes me feel like there's still a piece of my mother with me.

I eat my breakfast quickly, and Arden, one of our soldiers, walks into the dining room. Arden has been a soldier for us ever since he was 16 years old. His father was my mothers best friend, and when his parents died my mother convinced my father to allow Arden to live with us. My father was not fond of letting Arden live with us, but my mother made a deal with him and he allowed it. The deal was that Arden had to be a soldier for our kingdom for the rest of his life, and Arden agreed. I don’t think he truly wanted to be a soldier, but he needed somewhere to live so he accepted the offer.

“Hey Ro, can we talk?” He says nervously. I glance at him with a confused look, “Yeah but I don’t have a lot of time so make it quick.”

“Well, me and your father were talking, and he asked me if I would be your bodyguard,” He sighs, “If you don’t want me to, I’ll understand. But you know how disappointed your father would be.” He says. “Arden, I trust you and all but I don’t need a bodyguard. Also since when does my father care about me? Last time I checked he wanted me dead.” I mutter. He gives me a thumbs up then walks away. He didn’t walk in the direction of my fathers office, surprisingly. I expected him to report back to my father immediately but he didn’t.

I told my father I was going for a walk, now I’m headed to Enchanted Haven. I really hope to see Flora. I seriously cannot believe my father actually wanted Arden to be my bodyguard. He’s one of our best soldiers, and definitely our most trusted. I would expect my father to ask one of our weaker soldiers to be my bodyguard, considering he doesn’t necessarily care about me too much. He never has cared about me, and I doubt he ever will. I’m nothing but his deceased wife's son. He may be my father, but he certainly doesn’t act like it, and he never will. Sometimes he pretends he cares about me, but I know he doesn’t.

I’m at Enchanted Haven now, searching for Flora. I haven’t seen her yet, but hopefully I’ll find her. She could be anywhere. This place is huge, and beautiful too. I would move her if I could. Maybe one day. Maybe after I convince humans that fairies aren’t all that bad, if that ever happens. I’m not afraid to speak to the whole world about fairies, but I can almost guarantee you only 10% of people would agree that fairies are okay. I’m no longer afraid of being seen by a fairy, considering Flora told me all fairies are okay with people. I’m just afraid she may be wrong. One wrong fairy could see me and boom I’m dead. Just like my mother.

I’ve searched all of Enchanted Haven for Flora. She’s not anywhere to be seen. I wonder what she’s doing right now. Maybe she’s thinking of me? She may be busy dealing with fairy life. I’ll never be able to understand what it’s like being a fairy, I have no clue what fairies do during the day. I bet it’s much better being a fairy than being a human. Fairies probably have it way better.

I’ve been searching for her for hours. I need to check the time. I look at my wrist “s**t, it’s 1:30” I think to myself. I need to head home immediately, or else I’ll be late for the guests' arrival. My father may be angry when I get back to the kingdom. I told him I was going for a walk, which usually takes me up to an hour and a half. I left the house at 11:30, so I’ve been gone for 2 hours.