Rakia's POV
"Here we are!" Marion chimed, as soon as the carriage pulled up in front of a huge three storey wooden house. I guess she wasn't lying when she said her father was rich.
We followed her into the house, meeting her parents and two other siblings. Marion's plump mother was beyond overjoyed to see Clifford and Richard again. She trapped them each in warm hugs that nearly suffocated them.
I caught Marion and her siblings stealing glances at the boys and whispering. It wasn't long before they climbed upstairs, giggling. Ignoring the jittery girls, I shook hands with her parents and thanked them for accepting to house us for tonight. Marion's mother brushed it off us nothing and invited us to their family dinner. We were asked to wash our hands, after which we settled at the table with me, sandwiched in between Cli
Rakia's POV Two days later "This is a colossal waste of time." I propped myself up on Luca, watching in disgust as Clifford washed Marion's feet at a small nearby creek. "Tell me about it," Richard remarked, bent over and busily cleaning out his horse's hooves. I moved Luca closer to his side then jumped off my horse. "We've barely covered enough ground since we left Hermon and it's all because she keeps insisting that we stop for flimsy stuff like picking berries!" I huffed. "And the part that irritates me the most is that Clifford lets her. He lets her do anything she wants. I mean...." Frustration took my tone a notch higher. "Can't he see that Marion is a distraction?" "Nope. This is what love does to a person. It blinds out all logical sense of reasoning." Richard put Hope's leg down and straightened himself up. "Last night, wh
Clifford's POV "Argh! I'm exhausted!" Richard fell flat on his sleeping bag. "We all are." I sat down on a log close to our small campfire. Six hours of riding was stressful, but it was the only way I could be absolutely sure that we weren't going to be traced or followed. Rakia appeared with more firewood, dumping it in the growing fire. She had been unusually quiet the entire ride, probably trying to figure out what she did to me earlier. Overhearing her tell Richard it had something to do with water made me curious. She could create water snakes, turn warriors into ice statues and apparently heal people to the extent that no scars were left behind. Was there anything she couldn't do? "You can't keep this up, Clifford." Marion plopped down next to me. "It's useless. We have to turn her in."
Rakia's POVThe water rising up to meet me came as a very big surprise, that I also lost the breath I was holding. I really need to learn how to control this thing fast.My eyes took a quick scan of my new environment and finally locked on Marion's drowning form. Her curly long hair covered half of her face, making it difficult to tell if she was still alive. Hopefully she was.Quickly, I swarm in her direction, grabbing on to her flailing arms. Pulling her up, I swarm underneath her and placed her arm round my neck. My right arm secured her round the waist and with my left arm and legs, I pushed us up to the surface.I gasped as air seeped past my nostrils. "Marion?" Her head had fallen slack on my shoulder and it struck fear in my heart. Using my free hand, I led us to the pa
Rakia's POVMy chest was burning, but I couldn't stop running.In that short period of surprise, the creature had put a gap in between us; a gap I needed to fill if Marion was going to stay alive.My boots screeched to a halt when I caught sight of Marion in a tree, holding on for her dear life whilst the creature attack the bottom, trying to bring the plant down."Somebody, please help!" She cried, "Rakiaaa!"Gripping the tree branch in my hand, I raised it and to tossed at the animal. I didn't exactly have a plan after that, but I needed to do something quick because Marion's tree had began to tilt to the side.The stick left my hand, soared through the air and finally smacked the creature right on its b
Clifford's POVOnce I got to the horses, I gave Hero a pat on his head before proceeding to take out a clean shirt from the bag on his side."What's going on between you two?""Huh?" I turned around, finding my obnoxious girlfriend behind me."You and Rakia," she clarified. "What's going on between both of you?""Nothing, Marion." With an eye roll, I turned back to my horse. "You're being paranoid.""Oh so I'm supposed to pretend that I didn't notice how panic-stricken you became when I told you that Rakia was being chased by a tiger-boar?"My hands froze."All of a sudden, you were on red alert," Marion continued. "Screaming
Adrian's POVMy tenth glass of whiskey burned down my throat.Leaning on the terrace, I watched as the rain pelted down the kingdom I was supposed to rule, but had been stripped of it.My vision moved to the magical boundary. Veils of black and green magic, surrounding Hartland and soaring high into the gray clouds. It was impossible to not think about my half sister who still ran free on the otherside of the magical wall. Only the Creator knew what she was up to.Probably plotting to return and take her place on the throne, a tiny voice snarked in my head and my jaw clenched at the thought. If there was a way... just a way to break down that barrier or create a passage through it, I could go behind Father's back, scour all of the Midlands for Araknee and get rid of her once an
Adrian's POVOlga.The woman who helped bring my half sister into this world. The woman who brought news of her existence to us, stepped forward, claiming to be responsible for my father's daily meals. The meals that contained poison."You evil witch!" Mother appeared in front of Olga, planting a dirty slap onto her face. "I knew it! I knew you were up to no good the moment you arrived in this castle!"Olga cradled her burning cheek, tears welling up in her eyes. "Wh-what are you talking about?"Grabbing a fist full of her dark hair, Mother pushed her onto the floor. "You ki
Rakia's POV"Marion?"Silence came as a response.I called louder, "Marion, c'mon, we're waiting for you.""Yeah, we're ready to leave!" Richard added whilst strapping the last bag on Hope's side.When we didn't hear a reply or the sound of boots thumping down the stairs, Clifford scoffed, mumbling something about Marion being a pain in the ass.I sighed, "I'll go get her." Turning on my heel, I moved back into the inn we'd spent the night in. It didn't escape my notice that Clifford chose to share a room with Richard instead of Marion. These past two days, things had gotten worse between them. They wouldn't even look at each other, yet alone talk. Another sigh left my lips as I climbed up the stairs, head