When stars betray

Chapter 2: NEW STUDENT

Iris opened her eyes to the glowing rays of sunlight passing through her windows. Knock knock, she hears her door as it opens to Nana walking in. “Breakfast id ready.”, says Nana. Iris gets out of bed all grumpy and walks downstairs where she sees he mother, queen Vaelis and her Father, king Darius, along with some important personae. Iris is the nine-year-old daughter of queen Vaelis Evender, the sole successor of the kingdom of Arcadia. Iris sits and eats her breakfast as the adults discuss and laugh elegantly in the massive dining room.

She makes sure to finish eating fast so she can head to school as she misses her friends and classmates. Later, she dresses up in her school uniform looking clean. She gets into the carriage of a white horse with the help of a guard, her mother joins her. “Study hard sweetheart, u have a bright future ahead of you”, says her mother Vaelis. Iris nods her head while looking out the window of the carriage.

In class, Iris is sitting down looking into her notebook when the teacher opens the door to a big, scary looking man dressed in black. Standing in front of him is a young boy, he has pure white hair, white eyes and has a cold but calm demeanor. He looks up and meets eyes with Iris, Iris feels a wave of anxiety rush through her but she can’t tell why. “This is Laden Valenor, he comes here to our middle school from somewhere confidential. Say hi, class.”, says the teacher. “Hi Laden”, says the class in unison.

Iris snaps back into reality from the eye contact she felt like she couldn’t pull away from as the teacher calls her out to her, “Iris, would you stand up please.” “yeh-y-yes sir!”, stutters Iris trying to pull herself together from the strangeness of Laden’s presence. “Are you okay?”, asks the teacher. “Yes sir, I’m fine.”, responds Iris. “Laden, take the free seat next to the young lady who just stood up, would you.”, says the teacher as laden walks and sits next to Iris. Iris feels really uneasy for some reason but tries to focus through the class.

Fast forward to break time and Iris is sitting with her best friend, mireth as Laden suddenly walks and sits with them. “Hi, I’m Laden.”, says Laden while sitting down. “We know, nice to meet you.” Says Mireth back to Laden back. Again, Iris feels uneasy and anxious for no apparent reason. Laden looks at Iris while smiling slightly and asks, “Can we be friends?” Iris gasps and agrees. They chat for the whole break time and though Iris still feels a strong aura around him, she eases up a bit.

Class is over for the day and Iris gets home exhausted but excited after meeting Laden. “He’s cool.” She thinks to herself while walking passed her mother’s room. “We should teach her already!” “no, she’s not ready.” Iris hears two women conversing in her mother’s room. She doesn’t think much of it and continues walking around the gigantic castle humming to her favorite song.

The following day, there’s a news outbreak from messenger birds that there’s been a breakout from the underground and someone is wondering freely in the above. Civilians are informed to be careful and take necessary measures if needed against the free grounder. Iris is told to stay home for safety but she doesn’t like that idea. She keeps wondering why her mom always goes extra miles just to protect. What is really so special about her and what was her mom talking about with that woman in her room?