The Dreams

Sol and Luna are just staring at each other. It's like absorbing each other's features with the feeling of losing the memory of it.

"Luna." Sol repeated as if saying it again might wake him up from a trance. Although it feels like he is already in a spell at the moment.

"Shh. Yes. I am Luna. And I am not supposed to be here so shush." She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the back of the guard house. It is a small alleyway between the walls of the house and the walls of the gate that surrounds the compound. The wall spans at least 15 feet high and the house gives the small path shade from the sun. The location is out of everyone's sight.

"If you are not supposed to be here, then what are we doing?" Sol asked.

Luna looked around. Making sure no one is listening. She fixed her long hair and straightened her blue dress. In a second took a deep breath, raised her head and stood tall.

"I am going out to the town. I will be offered to the Moon Goddess later in the night and this is my last chance to be myself. But..." she leaned closer to Sol and held his hands.

"You are the man in my dreams." Sol hesitantly took his hands away with a look of confusion and disbelief on his face. The princess might be the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, but this should not be possible.

"What?" he stumbled to say that one word. Luna blinked at least three times before realizing the words she had chosen to use to construct her sentence.

She frantically waved her hands in front of his face. Sol noticed her ears go beet red in embarrassment. He thinks it's adorable.

"Oh! I'm sorry. It's not what I meant. I mean, I have seen you in my dreams. I was dreaming in my dream and I saw someone like you and I also heard a voice that sounded like your voice and I thought that it was you." Luna said without a pause.

"So that's what I mean." she stopped. Basically out of breath, and looked at the guy unsurely. She is thinking how someone she suddenly bumped into will believe her when she says she had seen him in her dreams.

"In your dream, what did I do?" Sol said in a very low voice, almost like a whisper. There is a very small chance they had the same dream. But if Luna is saying that she also has seen Sol in hers, then maybe their dreams are connected.

Luna's face lit up. Hey, she didn't expect that he would believe her. But the dreams have been bothering her and she has no one to talk to in their compound. She put on her hood and grabbed Sol's hand.

"Come with me. It will be easier if I show you." She led Sol towards the door of the guard house, trying their best to walk in sneakily although they were not fooling anyone. The staff knew who she was. They are very used to Luna's tricks and wandering. They understand that maybe the princess is just bored out of her mind. But seeing her with a boy is new, so they are keeping an eye on them.

"What's your name, by the way?" Luna asks as they are walking the corridors of their house. It is a huge house, almost like a mansion. The windows are from ceiling to floor with the perfect view of the garden. It is the first time Sol has seen a house as big as this.

"Sol. Sol Asha." he answered without even looking at her. His gaze is scanning the facade of the house.

"You are named after the Sun. Do you know that?" Luna said.

"Yes. The sisters said that the moment I was born was also the same time the rays of the sun rising hit me." He is studying a painting of a cliff with the view of the moon over the sea.

"Your name means the Moon. But you already know that." he said and looked at her. She smiled.

She opened a door that leads to the garden and motioned her head for him to follow her. She is walking carefreely, swaying her hands on her side and stepping big, stepping small.

"Yeah. I was born on a Lunar Eclipse, the same as the one happening later. My father took me the moment I went out and raised me to the eclipsing moon. They said that is also the moment my hair turned silver." They are walking slowly. Taking the turns of the garden in.

They stopped at a wooden door at the base of a tower. Sol thought that it was the same tower he can see from his attic room.

"This is my room. Let's go in before someone sees you." They went in and climbed a circular staircase that leads to a short hallway. There are three doors at the top, two facing each other and one in the middle facing the stairs. Luna stopped at the base of the staircase and waited for Sol to be beside her.

"Here. In my dream, I am standing in front of that door in the middle. No one is around and this hallway and walls are moving." Luna walks slowly, looking at the walls as if checking if they are moving at the moment. Then she walked in front of the middle door and opened it.

"Then my door opened. This is my room. Someone pulled me back in. Then closed the door and slammed on the door. Then he whispered, "Don't drink."

She faces Sol waiting for his reaction. She cannot read his face. It is a mixture of disbelief and scared and maybe he is thinking she has gone crazy. But in reality, Sol's mind is raging. He hopes Luna can't see it. He doesn't want to scare her.

"Are you okay?" Luna asks. "You know what, you don't have to believe me." she brushed off and motioned him to come in.

Maybe it's true. And if it is, then Luna is not safe. Sol's mind cleared up and he charged towards her. She noticed the sudden change of Sol's expression and got a little scared. Sol grabbed her arm and led her inside the room then closed the door. He looked around and when he confirmed no one was inside, he placed Luna on top of her bed. He crouched to meet her eye level, held her shoulders firmly.

"Do not eat anything. Do not drink anything. You cannot taste anything before the inauguration." he said sternly.

Luna is looking for signs that Sol is bluffing but he finds none. The warning is the same as her dream. "Why?" she whispered. Their faces are a few inches apart.

A knock on the door was heard. They can't be seen together in a room. Sol and Luna shuffled throughout the room searching for a place to hide Sol.

Go to the window. There is a small balcony there." Luna pushes Sol to the window of her tower. She closed the door just in time as her servants came in the door.

"It's time for your bath, miss." Luna, standing by the window, smiled and nodded. She followed the servants, and with one last look back to her room, closed the door.

Sol has been holding his breath for a few minutes before he hears the door closing. He didn't even notice he was holding it. He was sitting on the tiny balcony that barely fits his ass, balancing well enough as one wrong move will drop him thirty feet below.

He waited for a few minutes. He needs to find a way to the kitchen. By the looks of it, he only got a few hours to look for the poisoned drink. He got to act fast.

Yes, poison. In his dream, he saw Luna standing in the middle of a room. The surroundings were dark, and a light coming from a hole above the room serves as the only light. He saw Luna saying a prayer with hands closed together in front of her, then she slowly turned around. When she faces him again, she is holding a goblet. Luna drinks from it. After a few seconds, she dropped the goblet and a red liquid flowed from it. Luna dropped beside it, looking at him, reaching her hands to him. Her hand dropped as she closed her eyes as well.

Sol tried to focus on his work but at the same time, look out for any suspicious activity. He even insisted on looking out for the drinks that will be served just so he can monitor anyone that might slip something. But as the light of day slowly disappeared, the bells of the temple rang.

It is time. The inauguration will start after the prayer to Mayari. And everyone is required to be at the garden for the prayer. Sol sees this as an opportunity to look for Luna.

Outside the kitchen, hundreds of people gather at the beautiful garden. With banderitas hanging on the ceiling and lights hanging from the trees and posts, it is such a lovely occasion. At least if it is without the anxiety of what Sol and Luna know might happen.

As Sol slowly makes path towards the temple, the host, Luna's Mother, starts the prayer. Sol needed to crouch down and hide behind tables so no one could see him not praying. Unfortunately, he is not the only one sneaking. He saw a guy fill a small flask of juice from the table drinks. The guys suspiciously tucked the flask in his vest and went away.

"Got you red handed." Sol followed.

The guy went to the temple and in the dark, transferred the drink from the flask into a goblet held by a lady servant covering her face with a veil. After pouring all the contents, the guy ran away and the lady went inside. Sol followed the lady inside the temple.

"Give this to Miss Luna after her prayer. It can be very exhausting." the lady in veil ordered the other servants as she gave the goblet to them.

"But the mistress said no food as it may taint the princess." One of the servants protested.

"It's only water." the lady insisted. The servant hesitantly took the goblet and placed it beside the towels and linens that will be used for the ceremony.

Luna is praying in the middle of the temple. The eclipse has already started.

Sol, staring at her from the far side of the temple, whispered to himself, "Don't drink."