CHAPTER TWELVE

There was so much to fear and think about. Anything could happen at any time and they were not fully prepared. The worries Tyle forest gave them was kill another in a heartbeat but they had nowhere else to go. 

They were banned from Uji. If they tried to go to another village, it would take days. If they got there they will not have a home or food. There was no use trying to do such a thing. Staying in the forest was still their best option. 

And it would always be their best option. 

“I told you I should have gone to look for them?” Robert said angrily furrowing his brows. 

“Even if you go, where will you find them?” Isabella asked angrily. She hadn’t been able to sit down comfortably ever since she hadn’t seen Angela and Miles. “The forest is too big and it is dark.”

Robert shook his head angrily. 

“Are you proposing we just stay here and hope they will show up?!” Robert said hitting the table angrily. 

Isabella turned to Kale and Justin. 

“And you are sure you do not know where they went?” Isabella asked the duo for the seventeenth time.

“All she said was she was going to show us some places. I did not go because I wanted to eat the muffins and Justin was asleep,” Kale answered looking at the tray of hot blueberry cupcakes on the table.

She wanted to eat but when Miles and Angela weren’t around, it discouraged her much. 

“Great the two have to be alone. Only the Lord knows what they are doing now,” Robert mumbled to himself angrily. “I am going out there and nothing is stopping me.” Robert walked into his room. 

Seconds later he came out with his shotgun. He loaded it and headed for the door. 

“I want to come too.” Justin stood up. 

“It is dangerous.” Robert turned to face him. 

“But my brother and Angela are out there. I want to help too,” Justin said as Robert took a deep breath.

He clearly didn’t want Justin to come with him but he had no choice because Justin seemed like the boy that wouldn't let him rest on the case. 

“Fine Justin you can…”

Robert was cut short when the door creaked open. Angela and Miles walked in. Both feeling cold and exhausted. They had mixed feelings. Love, fear, hope, and chills were jumbled up in them. Robert was annoyed at the scene. 

He was getting suspicious about Miles and Angela. Something was going on between them. He was sure he wouldn’t like it. He was going to find out and when he did, he’s going to separate them for good. 

He preferred Justin to Miles. Justin was a calm coded boy but Miles seemed irresponsible and unreliable. 

“Where have you two been?” Robert said in a deep and intimidating tone.

Angela couldn’t bring out words. Her father barely became angry. She didn’t remember the last time he was mad at her but today had broken that record. Miles didn’t like Mr. Bells. He was serious and scary. 

“Angela wanted to show me around and…”

“Show you around!” Robert cut in sharply. Miles didn’t like the treatment. It was not like he was his father. Just because he was living with him didn’t mean he had to treat him horribly. He went out with his daughter a little, nothing more. Moreover, she wasn’t his biological daughter. “Angela…” he said turning to her. “…have you been showing him more than you should have?”

What kind of question is that? It didn’t make any sense to her. Why was her father asking her such a thing?

“I showed him the farm, those rocks that make sounds…echo and the waterfall. That is it.”

“And you spent most of the day doing that?”

Angela was getting irritated with the way her father was acting. He had never been naïve and cruel to her in a long time. Was it wrong to hang out with Miles? She was going on a journey with him and the others anyway. Nothing was going to stop her. 

“Yes, that was all we did. Nothing more.”

“Are you lying to me, young girl?!”

“Darling, cool down they just went out, simple.” Isabella placed her hand on her husband’s tensed shoulders. 

“Watch yourself and you…” he pointed at Miles. “…do not start getting any funny thoughts.”

Robert marched into the rooms with Isabella by his side. Angela slumped on the chair chasing after her breaths that had run away. She didn’t like this side of her father but the upside was she was going to leave very soon, away from the forest but into a new dimension; somewhere she has never seen before. 

“I am sorry about that. It was my fault,” Miles said as Angela shook her head.

“No it was not your fault, it was mine.” Angela gave out a sigh. “I do not know why my father’s acting like that. It is unlike him.”

Kale cleared her throat, wanting to say something. 

“Can we eat the muffins now because I am hungry?”

Kale didn’t wait for a response as she took one and started eating it. Once she starts eating Isabella’s food, she’s entered a whole new world.

“Seriously, what were you two doing?” Justin moved closer to them. 

“I took him on a tour that is it. I do not know why my father’s overreacting, we lost track of time,” Angela said placing her hand on her head. “I need to sleep.

“Me too,” Miles said letting out a loud and long yawn.

“Me three.” Justin adjusted himself on the sofa ready to go on another relaxing sleep.

“Justin, Miles, Kale we have two extra rooms. There should be a way you can share it,” Angela said as Justin sat up. 

“You are saying there is something comfier than this chair?” Justin asked as Angela nodded with a smile on her face. 

“I and Justin can take one of the rooms, Kale will take the other,” Miles suggested as Kale nodded in agreement. 

“Yah, a whole room for me!” Kale said giggling as they went into laughter.

She wanted to take those words back but they had already spilled out. 

*** 

Soon after, each of them was in their separate rooms, in a deep comforting sleep. Kale was so happy. She never believed she would have the chance to lay on something soft. She was used to sleeping on the hard ground and using Justin’s hard stomach as her pillow.

She needed something soft and she got it.  

Justin didn’t waste any time sleeping. As soon as he got on the bed, he instantly fell asleep. He wanted to enjoy everything because who knows? All this might end soon or may even be a dream. 

Miles was happy on his own bed, enjoying the softness. He wished, prayed, and hoped he would have a nice dream about Angela. Maybe there he might be able to get a kiss from her. It might not be real but it was better than nothing. 

Angela was very tired but couldn’t seem to fall asleep. Thoughts were bothering her but one, in particular, was making it hard for her to shut her eyes and fall asleep. She wanted to tell the bandits who she was. 

She didn’t know why she was calling them the bandits. The name came to her as a spark and she was attached to it. She wanted to tell them she was a princess and she had a mission to restore Prestoria. 

Everyone knew Prestoria. Justin was three years when Prestoria was destroyed. The war was gruesome and horrifying. A lot of people had forgotten the glorious kingdom that used to be the top in everything and it was Pintraid’s fault. The king of Pintraid died some years back.

His under-aged daughter was now the one ruling Pintraid and now the kingdom was even worse than ever before. Angela knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she talked to her parents about it. She had to discuss it with them for the sake of a good night’s sleep.

She tried another attempt at sleeping but didn’t get it. Time to go to my parents. She was discouraged at first to meet her parents because she felt her dad would still be a little tensed but she was willing to do anything to get her sleep back. 

She got up from her bed, walking towards their room. She passed by Kale’s room and heard snoring. Who would have known Kale was such a snorer? Is this a good idea? Talking to her mother about it wasn’t going to be hard but her father was where the real problem was.

He won’t like the idea of telling them especially when he hated Miles already. Still, she got there and she knocked on the door quietly so as not to wake the others. A loud yawn was heard inside the room then dragging footsteps.  

The door opened, showing her tired mother. Her mother rubbed her eyes, facing Angela. 

“What is wrong sweetie?” Isabella said in a sleepy tone.

Angela fiddled with her fingers for a few seconds before answering back. 

“I hope it is okay if I ask this question?” Angela said in her usual melodic tone.

“And what is that?” her mother said yawning. 

“It is about Miles and the others.”

“What about them?” her mother said getting awake as she mentioned his name. 

She wondered where she was taking the conversation to. 

“Should we discuss it with father or…”

“Do not worry. Tell me what is in your mind now. I will talk with your father in the morning,” Isabella said eager to hear what her daughter had in mind for her and go back to sleep. 

She cleared her throat in preparation. 

“Can I tell Miles, Justin, and Kale that I am a princess and I want to restore Prestoria?”

Her mother raised a brow at her, thinking about what she said. 

“That is a really...decisive question, sweetie,” her mother said curling her mouth. She always did that when she was thinking about something deeply. “You know what? I and your father will talk about it tomorrow.” Her mother tried to read Angela’s facial expression to get how she was processing the information. “When we have a decision we will tell you what we have in mind, okay?”

“Yes, mother. Thank you.” Angela pecked her mother as Isabella rubbed her head watching Angela walk away before closing her door shut. Such a lovely child. She wished she didn’t have to leave but she didn’t want to be a blockage in her destiny.  

Now Angela had peace of mind. She might be able to get a good night’s sleep after all.

Angela had planned she would wake up herself the next day but it was like the bird could read her thoughts. She was crept out—the next morning—when she heard constant pecking on the window. 

“Not again!” she screamed inside her pillow, getting up.

The bird was magical. It wasn’t even a bird. It was just in the form of a bird. She had read of creatures like the bird in her storybooks. Animals that can change into other animals. What were they called again...Shape-shifters! 

The bird was a shape-shifter. 

She walked to the window side and opened it. The bird was getting braver and braver every day. She smiled at it. 

“I should call you…” She stroked her chin thinking of a name as the bird watched her curiously, looking at her from different angles. “…Gemini!” she exclaimed. The bird chirped happily as it flied into her room. 

“Bad Gemini. Do not go in!”

The bird stayed on one of her desks, pecking the table. Such a woodpecker. She laughed at her joke as the bird flew out of the window. 

It never stayed around for long. It always acted like it was on a schedule. She shook her head and jumped back on her bed, wanting to restart her morning. 

She remembered the question she asked her mother last night and then, she started to feel bothered. 

She needed to know the answer. It was making her very antsy. She wanted to know the answer so she could have peace of mind but if her parents said no, it would be a real heartbreak for her. 

She was not going to take no. If her father said no, she would go against their wishes and tell them. They might have been her guardians but they didn’t have the right to dictate how she lived her life. Angela was going to do what she wanted and nothing was coming between her and her wishes.

Nothing. She was determined to reach her goal at all cost.