Such a good, comfortable sleep! When was the last time she slept this well?
Ellyn could hear brisk footsteps outside her small room and from the look on the slow hourglass [the 8-hour one], it seemed like she might have... about 20 minutes left to get out of her warm bed.
Staring at the ceiling, Ellyn realised an odd, but agreeable sensation. A feeling she had not felt before, but kept reading, hearing and even dreaming about.
20 minutes or not, the girl jumped to her feet instantly.
She should calm down. This may not be what she thinks it is.
Her suddenly waking up and feeling mana was like a nice dream.
A dream!
Ellyn grabbed a cup of water on the nightstand and drank it. She`s never tasted water in her dreams before…
No. This was a reality.
It was like… waking up with an additional arm she`s always dreamed of having. Ellyn simply wanted to look at it from every angle, first thing in the morning. Alright. To begin, she did a simple closed circuit mana channelling to figure out how much mana reserves she has, using the method taught at school.
She did it! The breakthrough! Not at 31, but barely 18-year-old!
“Ellyn, sweetheart, don`t run down the stairs. You`ll hurt yourself.”
“Mom! A breakthrough! I`ve made a breakthrough,” Ellyn cried out in excitement and hugged Meron.
“That`s great, Ellyn! Go tell your dad. He`s in the kitchen.”
She didn`t have to. Giliam heard just fine the first time.
This was the morning of March 18th, 1218.
Selea Frowe has been her best friend for as long as she could remember, even before becoming her classmate. The start of their friendship must have been connected to the two of them being neighbours. Meeting outside their small family houses to walk to school together was a tradition by now.
“I did it! I did it!”
“What?” Selea asked, not even suggesting her to break the powerful hug.
“A breakthrough! I can feel my mana!”
Her best friend hugged her back for a long time. They`ve been trying for 8 years.
“Did anything happen after I left your side yesterday?”
“Hmm… I tried a lot.”
“And there was nothing else?”
She knew her too well to not notice there was more. Ellyn wanted to keep this from Selea, but since she`s already asked…
“I lost consciousness for… maybe half an hour.”
The look on Selea`s face changed instantly.
“But it is good to collapse every now and then,” Ellyn tried defending asking to be left alone a day ago.
“No. No, it is anything but good! Falling flat on your face, ending up with a scar or losing teeth is not even among the worst that could happen. What if there was a stone or something similar and you smashed your head on it? You could have bitten your tongue off! What if someone kidnapped you? What if you didn`t wake up? No. I`m not leaving you alone, Ellyn. That is not happening again!”
…
“Nice hair ribbon. It suits you,” her best friend finally spoke again, minute later.
“Thank you, Selea. For all of it- helping me, getting worried about me and... for liking my accessory too.”
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“That`s what friends do. Besides, I also have my plans with you. Now that you`ve made a breakthrough, it is only a matter of time before you join the army. When that happens, we will be together, you and I, like always.”
“I like that plan,” Ellyn replied with a bright smile, already imagining the two of them in uniforms, marching side by side inside a battalion formation.
Selea was not an army enthusiast, but it was still a preferred career choice for someone born with mana core.
“Ellyn Arte and Selea Frowe?” a female level 4 squad captain stood in their path and asked, 9 uniformed comrades behind her, 3 armoured aura users with spears, shields and short swords among them.
Several people on the street slowed down or outright stopped for a while to look at why the soldiers were trying to identify two harmlessly looking girls in public like this. The squad did not seem about to engage them in battle, so the civilians distanced themselves only moderately.
“Yes,” Selea replied and immediately started looking for her papers, which prompted the startled Ellyn to do the same.
“You will be coming with us,” the woman said after returning their documents, the squad surrounding them all the while.
“I`m sorry, but is it possible to inform our families and school?”
“Miss Frowe, your school has been notified and your families will be told before long.”
Well, if that was the case, then this might not be as serious as Ellyn feared, hopefully.
Surrounded by 9 soldiers, they followed the squad captain`s lead. She wouldn`t tell them more, had they asked. Not even if the woman knew. It was quite possible that they simply got a sketch of the two of them and were told when and where to find Selea and Ellyn.
They were being led in the direction of the royal palace, which was a huge, heavily guarded areal with many beautiful and massive buildings, gardens, private forests, stables, lake and whatnots. The first possibility that came to her mind was that they may have witnessed something relating to a crime and time was of the essence, so the investigator had sent a squad to fetch them to the Crime Investigation Department`s headquarter in the vicinity of the royal palace.
No. They did not enter the CID headquarter, but passed through few of the gates of the royal palace itself instead. She`d prefer it to not be the case, now being nervous to the point of reminding a startled deer.
The squad that had brought them in did not move inside, but another one took over. These were the royal palace guards. All of them females. Ellyn held Selea`s hand in hers, both of them scared stiff, but forcing their resisting bodies to move forward.
“Ellyn Arte and Selea Frowe, Your Royal Highness,” the squad captain announced and gestured for the two to move to where a substantial group of women was standing on a pathway, surrounded by well-maintained grass, observing them.
That was… Master Niriel has been standing next to a divinely beautiful being. They`ve never seen the beauty even on a portrait, but there could be no mistake. A high noblewoman, a part of the royalty, nicknamed “divine”. The most popular person in Salona Kingdom. It was Princess Lunor Aspion.
The small amount of mana Ellyn had, has been acting erratically ever since noticing her and she knew immediately. It was pushing her, screaming of need to get close and of the agony of not being united with the divine princess. Her mana has been forcing Ellyn to move closer, to touch the princess, to smell her, feel her, kiss her and do more. It shouldn`t act this way. It was not normal.
“Your Royal Highness”, Selea curtsied and then looked at Ellyn, eyes suggesting her friend to do the same.
She did, although it was only a failed attempt, her mind not working properly for some time now.
“Miss Arte, Miss Frowe, would you like to accompany me on my walk?” she asked with the most pleasant voice Ellyn has ever heard.
They nodded stiffly and even said a “yes” as loudly as currently possible. Replying "no" was not an option. The princess wanted to walk and talk.
“Miss Arte, you`ve met Master Niriel a day ago. I`ve been told of your recklessness which led to that situation.”
“I`m going to be effective with our time here, because the weather is nice for this time of year and we should be enjoying this walk, while you look scared, not knowing my intentions in calling you here, instead.”
“You are no longer students. You don`t live with your families anymore and you don`t leave my sight unless I order you to do so. That is all for this part. Girna, please, take their bags and leave it with the guards. I don`t want my guests to hold them the entire time.”
“Your Royal Highness… I… I am not discussing what you ordered in any way, but… could you, please, tell us more?” Selea asked, obviously concerned about getting stuck at the royal palace for… how long, exactly?
“You will be told more when you need to know more, Miss Frowe, not a second sooner.”
They walked in group on the wide pathway leading through one of the gardens and the princess was telling them about what flowers, trees, bushes were where and informing them of when and how they blossom, what is the colour of the petals, shape of the leaves and flowers, how to take care of them and all, Ellyn was as interested in about as Selea was in the army. Still, she loved to be with her, see her, hear her.
She even knew the long history of each individual plant. Princess Lunor seemed to know surprisingly lot about the royal gardens, considering the known fact that she`s only married Prince Ulweld Aspion a day after becoming 18-year-old, which was… 2 days ago. Ellyn has heard that the divine princess was a genius, but… wasn`t this something she shouldn`t know? Instead, she was acting as if it has been her garden for many years, showing care about every single plant and mentioning her plans for making everything in the garden thrive more.
“Now that we`ve spent this much pleasant time together, you will be calling me Lunor, when in private."
"Follow Cathe until my return, girls. I have meetings to attend to and you are going to be introduced to your mentor and see your guest rooms.”
“This is Cathe Miral, my right-hand woman."
"We will meet at 30 minutes past 16. That is all,” she said and her group split up, most of the women following her, "only" around 5 staying with the daughter of Countess Miral.
When Ellyn woke up today, this was far from how she imagined her day would go.