My heart thirsts because of you

Chapter 8 : Planning for the journey

Chapter 8:

Shawn’s POV:

(Castle’s garden)

Adam and I promised to meet at the castle’s garden to discuss our mission. As my father had agreed on our mission, I could not help but feel excited about what to come.

“Shawn?” Adam swings his sword at me. Yes, we were supposed to be talking while practicing our sword skills. It was one of our ways to release the stress from the royals’ duties.

“Yes, Adam?” I replied; my sword was dangerously near his neck but Adam immediately blocked my sword. We have gotten better over the years.

“I have asked Krystal to join us on the mission and luckily, she agreed to join us,” Adam said while blocking my sword attack. We practiced for a while before calling it off.

“That’s nice. Now that the team completes, we should start preparing for the journey.” I said while cleaning my sword.

“Yes, that would be great…” Adam trailed off. It seems like something was bothering him. I observed him for a while then asked him,

“Adam, what’s the matter?” I said while putting my sword to my waist.

“I have been thinking, lady Ivy and lady Krystal have never spoken to each other, right? Besides a few polite greetings, I believe both of them haven’t been introduced formally to each other.”

We both fell into silence and before Adam requesting four of us to gather and introduced ourselves to each other formally. After all, we were going on a journey where bond and trust were very much needed.

…

Narrator’s POV:

(Frost mansion)

“Lady, someone is waiting for you in the living room. He said he is a friend of yours.” Mr. White said while knocking on Ivy’s room.

“Yes, tell him to wait please,” Ivy said while tidying up her gown. She had just been reading on her bed when Mr. Winter announced there was a guest. She then hurriedly but still elegantly, walked down the stairs to meet the guest.

“Oh, it’s you.” Ivy smiled from the stairs when she made eye contact with the prince. She sat down on the couch opposite him and looked at him.

“What can I help you with?” Ivy said while looking at Shawn who was observing the Frost mansion. It was his first time inside the Frost mansion after all.

“Ivy, I apologized for the sudden visit. Earlier this morning, I was practicing sword with Adam when he realized that you and both of him and lady Krystal have never been introduced to each other. Therefore, I came here to ask you for your time- “

“Oh, yes, please. I have never really met with them. Are they here?” Ivy said while looking at the window.

“Yes, they are outside. They are afraid they will make you unconformable with their stranger presence hence, they asked to wait outside until you have agreed to meet them.” Shawn said while signaling them to come inside.

“Nonsense. A friend of yours is a friend of mine too.” Ivy said, standing up when Krystal and Adam reached the room they were in, being led by Mr. White.

“Thank you, Sir.” Krystal and Adam said to Mr. White when they reached the room. Mr. White left them and then they fell into silence.

“Hello, my name is Ivy Glacial Frost, nice to meet both of you.” Ivy started the conversation to break down the awkward atmosphere.

“My name is Adam Blaze, nice to meet you, my lady.” Adam bowed at her and then looked at Krystal.

“Hello, my name is Krystal Violet Verglas. Nice to meet you too.” Krystal smiled politely at her, before sitting down.

“As you know, Adam and I have gathered we here to get closer with each other. In addition to that, we will also explain our mission and the routes. Any additional ideas and knowledge are welcomed.” Shawn said while taking out papers and maps from his bags.

After putting it on the table, he then started explaining first. “Our mission is to find the long-lost red ruby jewels. For your information, the red ruby was first used by the first Queen of Olwen and it was confirmed that red ruby has the power to conceal any magic out there. The red ruby sightings have been familiar to our ears. Even though there are many rumors, the one that seems to be most credible came from southeast Asia. We speculated that the red ruby is hidden among other treasures among its gold temples.” Shawn pointed at southeast Asia on the map.

Ivy nodded at his words, she then proceeds to ask him about the location. “Southeast Asia is quite popular with their ancient temples. But if you said specifically it’s located among the gold temples; I think we can measure it down to 3 countries. Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. Those 3 have the most gold temples.”

Adam nodded at her statements. “Good. However, we should also note that we will be facing numerous probably, evil or strange magical creatures out there. We should prepare ourselves.” Adam said while writing his notes down.

“So, we are going to Thailand first? That’s the country with the most temples, right?” Krystal asked Adam. Adam then looked at Shawn who was marking the said places on the map.

“Yes, I guess,” Shawn said after marking. “It should not be a problem whether which countries we go to first. Three of the countries are very close in the terms of distance. Hence, it doesn’t matter which one we go to first.”.

“I believe we should prepare for summer clothing as southeast Asia is known for its humid climate,” Ivy replied while writing down in her notes.

As they were discussing, they have agreed to let Shawn and Adam to buy the tools and weapons they needed in the journey. As they were talking, Krystal has been stealing glances towards but was ignored by the said prince.

She could feel her mood souring down.