Chapter five
Amelia
Things have been going well between Alaric and I ever since that day. He treated me well and made sure he never did anything to make me angry.
I don't know what it was that I liked about Alaric, but I just liked him. He made me feel special and fuzzy inside.
We hadn't kissed again since that day, but I was fine with it, as long as Alaric was by my side. At that point, I didn't know if Alaric actually had feelings for me yet. I was just waiting for him to say something.
I came down from my room and to get the food that I wanted to take to Alaric, as usual. We had had bread for breakfast, so it wouldn't be hard to sneak it out.
I went into the kitchen and the maids were there, already running around to startakinv lunch. I stood at the door and cleared my throat.
"Oh, my lady. What brings you here?" The head of the maids asked me.
"Well, I need some extra bread, I'm still hungry." I said, keeping a straight face.
"Oh, yes." She said and hurriedly went to get the bread.
She wrapped the bread up in a cloth and hand d it to me.
"Thank you." I said and turned on my heels.
I wanted to go straight put the door after collecting the bread, but my parents suddenly came out of nowhere.
"Amelia, where are you going?" My mother asked, and I stopped in my tracks and winced.
"Well…" I started, scratching the back of my head, trying to think of an excuse. "... I'm ony way to… see Lord Elrod." The idea immediately came to my head and I blurted it out.
They hadn't let me go to see Lord Elrod in a while and I knew that was the only place she would let me go to without asking too many questions.
Lord Elrod was the man that raised my mother. He wasn't her biological father, but he found her when she was just a baby and took her in and raised her. He is a kind old man, and I liked going to see him. His house was a bit far from ours, but I could easily walk there and back.
"Really?" My mother asked, her eyes shinning at the mention of Lord Elrod.
"Send him my greetings, will you? And why don't you take a carriage, to make your journey easier." She asked.
"I'm fine, mother. I can walk there on my own." I said and she nodded.
I nodded back, but just as I was about to bid them goodbye, my father stopped me and I sighed.
"Wait, Amelia. I had to give him something, I was thinking of going there myself this evening, but since you're already going there, how about you help me give it to him."
Right at that moment, if there was a way to kill my father, I would have. That meant that I would actually have to go to Lord Elrod's house before I go to Alaric.
My body sagged a little as I waited for him to bring whatever it was that he wanted to. I tried not to show how reluctant I was as my mother was still standing there watching me.
My father came back down after what felt like forever and gave me what it was that he wanted to. It was covered with a cloth and I could feel that it was made of glass, but I didn't know what it was.
"Make sure you don't drop it." He said, warningly.
"Yes, father." I said and bid them farewell as I opened the door to go out.
Just as I was about to step my foot outside, because of how much of a hurry I was in, I stumbled but was able to catch myself before I fell.
I am anything but what I am supposed to be; graceful.
I heard my mother scream from inside and when I turned back, I saw that the both of them were frozen with shock, staring at me.
"Are you okay?" My mother asked, her hands covering herouth but my father's gaze was fixed on the thing he had given me.
"I'm fine, thank you." I smiled widely at her and turned to my father. "I won't drop it don't worry." I said to him and left the house.
Once I was put of sight of them, I started running. Running was a very unladylike thing to do, but I didn't care, I just wanted to get to Alaric as fast as I could, but I was really careful about the thing in my hand. I didn't want my father to scold me.
A journey that would normally take me up to fourty minutes took me about fifteen of it. I arrived at his house and told the butler I was here to see Lord Elrod, so he had me sit in the drawing room before going to inform him of my arrival.
My leg vibrated as I waited impatiently for Lord Elrod to come down from his room. Finally, I saw him approaching me and I stood up.
"Hello, Lord Elrod." I addresses him
"Wow, Amelia. You've grown up so big compared to the last time I saw you. To what do I owe this rare visit? Sit." He sat on the chair across from me, while his butler stood beside him.
Lord Elrod was quite strong for a man his age, because he was already in his forties when he found myother and raised her.
"I told them that I wanted to come see you, so my father asked me to give this to you on my way." I handed the thing in my hand to him watched him.
I had expected him to open it up because I wanted to know what was inside, but he just handed it straight to his butler who took it away. I scowled inwardly, feeling disappointed.
"Would you like to have anything, tea, biscuits maybe? So we can catch up." He offered, about to call someone when I stopped him.
"I'm sorry, Lord Elrod I'm going to have to decline, because I have somewhere to be, but I promise that I'll come visit again." I said, getting up from the chair.
"Oh, really. Then it's alright then." He said. "Send my best wishes to your parents and I'll be expecting you."
"I will. Farewell, Lord Elrod." I said and the butler showed me out of the house.
Once my foot touched the ground outside the estate, I started running back. I didn't stop running until I I got close to the clearing. I stopped and composed myself so that it wouldn't show that I had been running.
I got to the shack and knocked at the door, waiting for Alaric to answer it, buy after a while, there was no answer. I knocked again thinking that he could be sleeping, but still no answer.
I frowned and decided to just go in even though I expected the door to be locked from inside, but it wasn't. I watched the door with a confused look on my face as it opened.
I entered inside, expecting to see Alaric, but he wasn't there and that was surprising. Alaric was always there whenever I came. He never went anywhere without informing me first.
Even when we would go for a walk or a swim in the waterfall, he would wait till I arrived so that we could go together. Even though it was strange, I sat down in the shack, waiting for Alaric to come, but he never came.
I became impatient and wandered into the forest to look for him. I went to all the places that I felt like he would go to and he wasn't there, I went to some of the places we had visited, but he still wasn't there.
That was when I started to get scared.
What if he had been taken?
What if the people who attacked him the last time had come back for him?
I was really worried but then I started to think that there were not signs of struggle in thebshavk or anywhere else. It was as if he has just disappeared into thin air.
I sat at the waterfall all day, occasionally pacing and frantically searching around till it was almost night time, but there was still no sign of Alaric. That was when I came to a conclusion.
Alaric was gone.
Even though I had come to that conclusion, I still didn't want to believe it, so I walked back to the shack, thinking maybe he had returned straight to the shack from wherever he went to, but when I got there, he wasn't there.
I stood in the middle of the shack, the tears beginning to roll down my face. I was hurt, really hurt. My heart ached in my chest as I physically felt the pain. The bread that I had brought for him fell from my hand and rolled to a corner of the shack.
I placed my hand on my chest and fell to the floor, my legs becoming weak.
Alaric had left me all alone.
But did I really expect him to stay with me forever? I never even knew anything about him apart from his name. I felt so stupid because I had trusted Alaric with my whole heart. I felt used.
That was why he kissed me that day. To lead me on so I could continue taking care of him till he was ready to leave.
I cried like I had never sroed before, my sobs echoing in the small space of the shack. I wrapped my hands around myself, as I suddenly felt cold and left alone.
Being in the shack was suffocating, so I went outside. I looked up to see that it had started raining already. It was too late for me to wait at the shack, because my parents would send a search party to look for me, so I decided to walk in the rain.
The water that flowed down from my head covered the tears the flowed from my eyes.
Never in my life am I going to let anyone use me this way again.
Chapter six Amelia It had been about a month since Alaric left. When I returned back to my parent's estate drenched in the rain, they had taken me inside asking me what the problem was, but I didn't give any reply as I was still frozen with shock. My parents tried all they could to get me to tell them what the problem was, but I didn't. I just stood up and went to my bedchamber, locking the door behind me. I didn't come out of my bedchamber at all at first and my father almost had the door pulled down. I didn't eat anything, neither did I drink any water. I would just spend my whole day crying. My mother would come to my door almost every two hours to ask if I needed anything, but I never gave her an answer. The only thing I did was to wake up, cry, sleep again, cry some more, and then sleep again. But after a week, I would only come out to take food and then return back to my room without speaking to anybody. My parents were really becoming worried, so after sometime, I decid
Chapter seven Amelia Few days had passed since my parents informed me of the decree passed by the dragon king. It was finally the day that we were supposed to go to the palace. My mother had been crying since early that morning. She was inconsolable. Even my father had gotten upset be aise of how much she was crying. He had told her that I was just going for a competition and not to die. After my parents had told me of the decree, I wasn't in the least bit interested, but the decree wasn't one that we could disobey, because galoure to do so could result to the killing of the entire family. I for one was excited to go. I felt it was a chance for me to explore life outside my town and also to meet and learn more about the dragon shifters. My parents also wanted me to go because they felt that it would be good for me to make acquintances. They weren't bothering me to win the competition and I also wasn't really in yeresyed in it. They just wanted me to go there and return home safe
Chapter eight Amelia We all stood facing the stairs, waiting for the person that was meant to address us. Those that knew each other started talking amongst themselves and others were making new friends. Nobody approached me and I wasn't even interested in making new friends, so I just stood there looking around. But I would consider doing that if the person was a dragon shifter. I heard footsteps walking and then I saw a lady accompanied by two others, stand at the top of the stairs. It seems like she was going to be the one to address us. "Hello, noble ladies of the kingdom of Ixtal. My name is Matilda Heinrich, but you can just call me Lady Matilda. I am the the head of all the serving ladies in this palace and I am to be your caretaker." She announced and everybody clapped "Feel free to come to me whenever you have a problem or need anything, okay?" She said and everyone nodded. "Staying in the palace of the king is different from staying in your own houses. Here, you are
Chapter nine Amelia Lady Matilda stood in front of us, with her hands on her hips, her lips pursed and her eyes stern. She looked at Lady Lucia who was on the floor, then at me that was hovering atop her. "I asked a question, so can someone give me an answer!!" She exclaimed. "Lady Matilda, I'm sorry for the ruckus." I started, since Lady Lucia didn't seem to have anything to say. "Lady Lucia here was harrasing this lady and I came over to ask what the problem was, but she chose to resolve yo violence, so I pushed her away after she grabbed my hair." I told her. "And what did this… lady do to provoke Lady Lucia?" She said with a mocking tone and I frowned. I looked at the Lady that was standing behind me. She was scared and shaking, she didn't seem like she wanted to speak, so I decided to speak for her. "Well, she bumped I to Lady Lucia because she was pushed I to her, but Lady Lucia refused to let her explain, instead, they started beating her up." I explained. "So, how did
Chapter ten Amelia I was able to sleep peacefully the next day and was woken up by Constance the next morning, but it wasn't a nice experience. When she got to my space, she just pushed away the curtain that was meant to be for my privacy and stepped in. She tapped me, but I refused to wake up. While I was still at home, I was never woken up early for any reason. I always slept in and woke up whenever I liked, so having to wake up so early was new for me. "My Lady, you have to get up." She whined and I groaned as I turned in my bed. "Please don't make that sound again." She said and my eyes that had refused to open before popped open as I glared at her. "What? Are you going to tell me to stop breathing next?" I asked her as I glared at her from my position. "You know I didn't mean it that way, my Lady. I'm only trying to groom you into being the perfect lady, that's all." She said. I sighed and sat up. "I know, I'm sorry." She was only doing her job, but I was also just being
Chapter eleven Amelia I was looking around the hall frantically, searching and waiting for when someone would come out and say that it was all a joke, but nothing like that happened. Alaric stood before all of us radiating an aura like a true king. He looked ethereal in regalia and one would say that he seemed like a nice king at one glance, but I still wasn't believing what I was seeing with my eyes. I raised my hands up and rubbed them over my eyes, hoping to clear them, so maybe if they were clear I would see that it wasn't really Alaric, but by the time I was done rubbing, he was still standing there. Bianca had already turned to me and was frowning. "Is something wrong, Amelia?" She asked, but I shook my head. "No, nothing. I'm fine." I smiled at her and we both looked forward as Alaric began hie speech. "Noble Ladies of Ixtal. It is my pleasure to welcome you to my palace. I'm sure you all know why you are here. I need to choose a woman that will become the queen of th
CHAPTER 12 AMELIA It's been days since we commenced our lessons, it has been overbearing with a lot of 'Ladylike' rules to follow. It has been difficult to move with a corset dress that tries to suffocate the life out of me and i have to deal with that while keeping my chin up. How do one survive with so "do's and don'ts" all just to be graciously crowned the queen to the dragon king; again, a title I have no interest in having especially when I know that king is the douchebag that made me care for him and left me heart broken with no word. He had been living a lie, he made me let my guard down with him and I knew nothing about him. He played me for a fool and I fell for his trap, never again. We were allowed to take a break from the lessons today but were also advised to seize the moment to practice our crocheting and embroidering skills. May I remind you, I suck terribly in both skills? "Ma'am you need to take your embroidering seriously, no self-respecting lady doesn't know h
CHAPTER 13 ALARIC I stepped out of the bathtub and immediately Boaz, the royal butler handed me my robe, I gave him a slight nod. I put on the rod and walked to the main chamber, my royal apparel had been placed orderly. And all the rest servants stood to help me get dressed. I detest that I am not allowed to even move a finger without someone there to help me bring them down. I veered around and strode towards the window once I was done getting dressed. Boaz walked close to me. Most of the ladies sat down with their handmaid knitting beautiful embroideries, they were daughters of noblemen and kings from all around the realm. So they had been taught to knit ever since they learned to walk. "Do you think there is a particular reason most of them are seated right below the royal chambers' windows?" I asked, staring outside the glass windows, my hands placed on my chins, as I scrutinized, I heard silence and I turned to face Boaz for him to speak. "I am sure that the ladies a