The Eternal Guardians: Book 1: The Missing Heir

Chapter 17

"That was amazing!" Damian exclaimed, as Ashta took her seat at the table, and she smiled at him as he handed her back the jewelry he was hanging onto.

"Thanks,” she said, as she put the little trinkets back on.

"Let the feast and the celebration begin!" announced Gale, and the waiters began serving dishes of food to everyone.

Everyone ate, talked and laughed. They celebrated in happiness that the missing princess had indeed come home. After everyone was finished eating and the waiters picked up the dirty dishes and cleaned the tables, the tables and chairs were moved and music started to play.

The villagers of the kingdom started dancing to the woman playing the violin, and she played beautifully. The woman played an upbeat tempo, and everyone danced in a line-dancing fashion. Even Ashta and Lashanna joined in on the fun and pulled Damian and Xavier out onto the dancing area with them.

After a while, Gale and Liam led Ashta and Lashanna back to the castle with Damian and Xavier. It was time to turn in, and Ashta couldn’t wait to see what the next day would bring. This place was so foreign to her, but she didn’t care. It was like a secret hidden world and it was all hers.

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Grateful to get out of that dress, Ashta put on some cotton shorts and a t-shirt. She decided to go explore the grounds of the castle as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Quietly, Ashta left her room, went down the stairs and she followed the hallway to the back of the castle.

Eventually, Ashta found herself on the back stone porch, and she stepped into the cool grass with her bare feet. Noticeably, there was the same stone structure that she and Yinlin had in their backyard. She stepped onto the rock and noticed the elemental symbols began to glow. A sense of peace washed over her as she let all of her emotions come to the surface.

Fluently, she began to dance as the air gradually built around her. Memories of Yinlin flowed through her mind, along with Roman and Damian's face. Suddenly, Ashta felt a surge of energy flow through her as she began to lift off of the ground. Everything seemed to disappear around her and she closed her eyes.

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Little did she know, Damian was watching her from his window and so was Prince Adam. Unaware of her audience, Ashta danced in the air as the world around her continued to disappear. At that moment, Ashta opened her eyes and found that she was no longer in the castle's backyard. She was in the dream-like garden again.

"Ashta,” said the moon god, as his green eyes appeared before her.

He had a seriousness in his eyes that she had never seen before.

"You are not the only new mixed species, there is another. You must find him and teach him how to be one with the elements,” he said, as he looked at her.

"Who is it?" she asked the glowing eyes.

Gradually, there was a grumble and the glowing eyes blinked at her.

"That is your task. You are the one that can find him."

Ashta thought for a moment.

"So, the other half-breed is a him?" she asked, and then her eyes got wide.

"Someone is coming!" said the moon god, and suddenly the garden disappeared.

All of a sudden, there was a sharp pain in Ashta's side and she fell hard against the rock. She shook her head and looked up. Two guards in black and gold armor were standing on the grass, holding whips. Ashta put her hand to her side and looked down.

The whip they had hit her with had sliced through her shirt and cut a deep wound on her side, and it was bleeding. Angrily, she stood up and looked at the guards. After studying them for a moment, she realized that they were Selvempt guards, and she snarled at them.

Did she hurt Roman's feelings so badly that he had to send his guards after her? she thought in disbelief.

Confidently, Ashta took a fighting stance, and she cracked her neck.

I hope he doesn't like these guys, she thought, as she looked at them. One of them laughed at her and she ran at them.

Quickly, Ashta jumped into the air, and kicked the guard that laughed at her in the face. His head snapped back as she landed on the ground. At that moment, the second guard grabbed her and she scoffed as she brought her heel back and struck him between the legs.

Ashta laughed as he screamed out in pain and let go of her. She couldn't believe that Roman would actually send guards after her. The second guard had fallen to his knees, and Ashta spun around and kneed him in the face.

"Make sure when you get back home, tell your prince that it was fun," Ashta laughed, as she heard footsteps approaching.

Damian and a few other Slayer guards ran into the backyard and seized the two men.

"Well, I guess my message will not be delivered,” she laughed again, as Damian approached her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, as he touched her shoulder, and she grinned breathlessly at him.

"Yeah,” she breathed.

He looked at her for a moment and then sighed a sigh of relief.

"Damn, girl. You have got some moves,” he said, as they watched the guards drag the men away, and Ashta looked at him as she laughed.

"I was trained well,” she said, and Damian nodded.

At that moment, he noticed that Ashta was bleeding, and he pulled her shirt to the side. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure you are alright?" he asked in his deep voice.

Ashta felt goosebumps down her arms and she shivered. She looked down at her torn shirt and then she looked back up at him. She nodded as their eyes locked.

"Come on, let's go fix that up,” he said, as he held out his hand.

Curiously, Ashta held his gaze for a moment, and then she took his hand.

"Alright,” she said, and they made their way back into the castle.

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Quietly, Damian led her to his room, and she was surprised how nice his room was. His bed looked like hers, except the bedding was black and orange, like the color of fire. He had a gaming system, and a large TV attached to the wall.

"Wow!" she said, as she looked around. Damian laughed.

"What?" he asked, and she looked at him.

He was standing at his dresser, and he pulled out a white box. Ashta shook her head and sat on the edge of the bed.

"My room?" he asked, as he looked around the bedroom, and Ashta nodded.

Damian chuckled, and he walked over to her and sat next to her. He opened the box and pulled a gauze out.

"King Gale takes care of us well. He really does,” he said softly.

"Good to hear,” she said happily.

"May I?" he asked, and Ashta nodded.

Seemingly, he pulled her torn shirt out of the way and dabbed her wound. Ashta hissed out in pain as it stung.

"That is a nasty slice,” he said, as he dabbed gently, and then, he pulled a small brown bottle out of the box.

"Yeah, I can tell. Whoo, that stuff stings,” she hissed, as she watched him gently take care of her.

Damian looked up at her with care.

"Do you want me to stop? I am just cleaning it, so it won't get infected,” he said softly, and Ashta shook her head.

"No. I don't want it to get infected either,” she breathed.

Damian chuckled as he continued to dab her wound. Ashta turned her head and looked at the wall.

"So, where is your girlfriend?" she asked, trying to keep her mind off of the sting.

"Excuse me? I don't have a girlfriend,” he said, as he bandaged her up.

"There. All better,” he said, as he closed the box.

Ashta looked down at her freshly dressed wound, and then she looked up at him and smiled.

"Thank you,” she said, as she held his eyes.

"Of course.”

He smiled at her and stood from the bed. She watched him as he took the box back to his dresser.

"So, I was wondering," Ashta asked, as she stood and faced him.

Damian turned to her and looked at her in question.

"I still want to explore the grounds, and I was wondering if you would like to join me?" she asked, and he smiled and nodded.

"I think that it would be wise to have a guard with you, seeing as though what had just happened,” he said in his deep voice, and Ashta smiled at him.

"Not a guard, but my first Slayer friend.”

He looked at her and smiled bashfully. He wasn't used to her kindness.

"I would love to."

Ashta smiled, and they spent the rest of the evening talking and walking around the castle.

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Furiously, Roman ran back to the castle, flew up the stairs to his room, and he slammed his bedroom door. Angrily, he paced back and forth, his face twitching in anger as he shook his head.

This can not be happening. How could my father keep something like this from me? Why would he?

He let his thoughts roll around in his head as his anger began to boil. Suddenly, there was a knock at his door and Roman scowled.

"Yeah?" he snarled.

The door opened and his father stepped inside. Quickly, Roman walked over to the door, and he slammed it again as he took a step closer to Rocco.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he snarled.

Fearfully, Rocco looked at his son for a moment and then he sighed. He knew that this moment would come and now he had no choice but to tell Roman everything that he had been hiding from him for all of these years.

"Because, son. That was the deal your mother and I had made to save your life," explained Rocco, and Roman gritted his teeth as he seethed at his father.

"No, it sounds like you wanted to save your own life and keep me as your personal slave!" snarled Roman.

"Not at all, son, I did the things I did to make you strong and powerful. This doesn't change who you are, unless anyone were to find out what you are and what the queen has done. We did break the rules of the kingdom, all of us. What do you think would happen if anyone found out?" said Rocco, as he glared at his son.

"People seem to be just fine accepting the missing princess,” snarled Roman angrily.

"That will not last long. After her evilness is exposed, people will come around."

At that moment, everything seemed to make sense. He always wondered why his father let the queen treat him like he was her little lapdog, and never let him voice his opinion on decisions that were being made. Or why his father would beat him when he was a child, but now he knows. Roman looked at his father, infuriated.

"There will be no more of that fighting club of yours and you will no longer have control of me,” he snarled, and Rocco looked at him seriously.

"If you do not follow the queen's orders, she will banish you and you will be sent over to the Slayer's kingdom."

Roman crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his father. He really didn't care.

"So, be it!" Roman stated, and Rocco stared at his son in shock.

"You do know they will lock you up and you will never again see the light of day."

Roman shrugged his shoulders. He believed that Ashta didn't want him around and now he found out he was born into a family of lies. It really didn't matter what happened to him. If he were to be locked in a dungeon for the rest of his life, at least he could live peacefully and not see any of them again.

"I will give you some time to think about what could happen to you,” said Rocco cautiously, and he walked out of the room.

Angrily, Roman grabbed a vase from his dresser and smashed it against the wall.

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Damian walked Ashta to her room, and they stopped at her door.

"Thank you for joining me tonight and showing me around,” she said softly, and he smiled at her.

"Anytime,” he whispered.

Politely, Ashta smiled at him as she gently touched his arm. Suddenly, Lashanna's door opened, and they looked shocked as they saw Xavier coming out. He stopped and looked at us sheepishly.

"Oh, this isn't my room!" he mumbled, as he closed the door.

Ashta shook her head, and Damian laughed. Xavier blushed, and quickly went down the hall to his room.

"Guess, Xavier made friends with your human!" Damian said, as he chuckled, and she looked at him.

Why was everyone calling her my human? She didn't understand why.

"She is not my human. She is my friend. I don't own her,” she said, disgruntled, and Damian laughed, as he touched the side of Ashta's face.

"I have to work tomorrow. Would you like to see the rest of the kingdom tomorrow afternoon?" he asked, as he held her eyes.

"Sure,” she said with a smile.

They held each other's eyes for a moment, and then Ashta took a step back from him as she opened her bedroom door. He smiled at her and nodded.

"Well, goodnight,” he said, bowed his head and then walked down the hallway.

"Goodnight,” she whispered after him, and he turned back toward her.

He grinned, and he continued down the hallway. Ashta smiled as she closed the door behind her and crawled into her large comfortable bed. It was not long before she was fast asleep.