As she pulled me by the arm I struggled to keep up with the now energetic girl. Her giggles echoed in my ears and her fluttering white hair covered my vision.

I had never met anyone, child or not, so eager to make friends. Thinking about it now, if she really was a princess then should be a good friend to have, no doubt.

I forcefully stopped myself from moving.

Her body jerked and she turned toward me. “What's wrong?”

I shook my head, “How can we be friends if you haven't even given me your name?”

Her eyes lit up and she grabbed my arm again, then turned back to where she was taking me, “It’s Selina. Selina Stellar.”

“Okay, Selina, Where are you taking me?” I asked, going along with her arm pulling, for now.

“I already told you. We’re going on an adventure.”

Following her words, we stepped out of the hallway and a brilliant atrium entered my view. The architectural design in the castle surprised me bit after bit so far, but this seemed to take the cake.

The roof was made entirely of glass. It provided the area with a bright ray of sunlight that seemed almost unnatural, but beautiful nonetheless. I could see at least seven stories high, and on each of the open balconies, multiple maids and butlers were on each floor, attending to their castle duties.

There had to be over three-hundred doors in this place alone, and I began to worry how long we would spend on the little adventure of hers.

“Are you sure you don’t have a place in mind? One that you would put above all else?” I asked, trying to get the eccentric princess to focus on one destination.

She let go of my hand, crossed her arms, and sealed her eyes shut. She looked as if she was thinking really hard.

I had almost let a laugh slip out at her silly expression but controlled myself.

Finally, she opened her eyes and her silver irises lit up once more. “How you ever had a joloce?”

“What's a joloce?”

She didn’t answer my question, instead, she began running left, “Follow me!”

Well, at least she knows where we’re going now.

She ran for a while down the enormous bottom floor, then eventually opened one of the doors and went in.

I followed her to the door, but going in, I didn’t see her. Instead of the white-haired princess, I saw many rows of polished wooden cabinets, all housing golden pots, pans, and other cooking appliances.

Further in the back, I saw chefs absorbed in cooking a variety of dishes. Their utensils clashed together as they cooked, making the room sing with the sound. Clouds of kitchen smoke covered them and they didn't seem to notice me.

“Pshhh. Over here.” Selina whispered from my right. She was ducked under a row of cabinets as if she was trying to hide. “Get down.”

Doing as she said, I crouched and made my way over to her, “What are you doing?”

‘What does it look like? I'm trying not to get caught.”

“Why would you be worried about that? Aren’t you royalty?”

Her face turned beet and she looked down, “Well…you see…this isn't my first time sneaking into one of the kitchens. I'm sort of…not allowed in anymore.”

Great. Not just a princess, but a rebellious one. I thought letting out a sigh.

“It’s okay if you would rather go somewhere else,” she continued.

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

She looked up, surprised. “Wait. You still want to go?”

“It wouldn't be an adventure without a little danger, Selina.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Zephyrus Elway's P.O.V

“Well, that happened faster than I thought it would,” I said, looking at Verla.

She was looking in the direction Fal and Princess Selina had run off. Her attitude about the whole situation told me she had expected this. Verla usually stood firm on her words when it involved the little one, but seeing her falter today was almost out of character.

“I can’t really blame her.” She said, “I watch over Her Highness almost 24/7, and barely ever see her act like a child. It’s only natural that she’s desperate to make friends.”

“Well, she's a princess. Due to her birth, duties will fall upon her, and she must be prepared for those duties, whether she likes it or not.”

“I know that, Zephyrus, but still.” She turned her gaze from the ground and up at me, “Do you think your nephew, Falyn, and Her Highness will get along?”

Her voice almost seemed desperate. And as much as I wanted to say yes, I couldn't. “I can't make any promises. Even I don’t know what he’ll decide.”

Her eyes flickered to the hall and back to me. “I should go check on them,”

She began to move forward, but I grabbed her arm, stopping her.

She whipped her head toward me, vexed. “What is it?”

“I'm sure the princess would not agree with this. They just left, at least give them some more time to get to know one another before you go interrupting things.”

She snatched her hand away, “Have you forgotten? Watching Princess Selina is my job, Zephyrus.”

I guess I have no other choice.

I wrapped my arm around Verla’s shoulders and lightly forced her to walk with me down the other hallway. “I know that, but you should at least accompany me to the throne room first, then you can go check on them.”

Her face turned red as she squiggled around in my grasp, “Let go!... You brute… let go now..!” After a little more of her desperate attempts of getting out and inappropriate insults she finally said, “Fine, Zephyrus…. I agree.”

When I let go, she moved a couple of steps to the side, making a large space between us. She began straightening out her uniform as she strode awkwardly.

“... I told you never to do that again,” She said, looking to the side and avoiding my gaze.

“Well, I had to or you wouldn’t listen. Is it really so bad to accompany your fellow knight?”

“I would be happy to accompany anyone but you right now.”

I held my hand to my heart, faining, “Ouch, Verla, that hurt,”

As we continued walking, she eventually let go of her attitude and we began catching up. Chatting as we walked through the massive castle, our voices along with our footsteps echoed and bounced off the hard floors, quickly making it to the roof.

Every time I took this route I always noticed how quiet and empty the path to the throne room was. No maids or butlers in sight. It was always inside the throne room that was full of bustling nobles with questions and suggestions for the royal family.

I had always hated those types of meetings. Thinking back on it, all I could remember doing at the last one was making fun of the noble's hairdo's along with Apollo. And although it was childish for grown men to be doing such things, their sense of style was odd, and couldn't go unhumbled.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but ask Verla, “Do you know where Apollo’s been?”

I hadn't seen my old friend in a while. The last time I saw him, he mentioned he was going to hermit away in the training room. I tried my hardest to dissuade him though. The almighty oldest prince of the Stellar Family wouldn't look so good as a withered sage. That would scare all the ladies away, and being his personal guard, that wasn't good for me.

She put a finger to her lip, “I do, actually. It completely slipped my mind and I forgot to tell you. I was informed he was training Prince Hanz and would be late to your meeting.”

I cocked back a brow, surprised. “Training Prince Hanz? That's a shock.”

So no hermit. Thank the Gods

“Prince Hanz hasn’t awakened his mana core yet so it’s merely physical training.” She mentioned, as we turned left into the last hallway, which housed the throne room doors.

“I figured as much. He’s around Lady Selina and my nephew's age isn’t he?”

“Yes.” She stopped, “Speaking of Princess Selina, I believe I’ve escorted you far enough.” She turned to walk back to the East Wing but stopped, looking at me over her shoulder. “There is one more thing I should tell you before your meeting, though.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Do you remember that wyvern egg that you gave to the king?”

I nodded. “What are you getting at?”

"Well, it hatched and chose someone.”

I smiled.

Verla already knew what I was going to ask, and answered right away. “The beast chose Prince Hanz.”

As she turned to walk away, her words echoed through the vicinity.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t shocked. I was expecting It to choose Apollo or even the King himself. But Hanz?

Is that why Apollo is training him? So he can bare the bonding process when it's time?

I continued walking to the throne room doors and eventually made it. I could hear the voices of nobles speaking loud and politically even through the thick door.

I didn't enter right away, though. Instead, I tuned them out and let my thoughts run wild.

I now knew two children with the potential to become figures of major change in the future.

Hanz no doubt, being a prince, and was now chosen by a mythical beast was capable of great things given time. Then there’s Falyn, already awakened and bonded to some type of mythical beast.

My thoughts veered further back to the past, which was no doubt going to be the topic of this meeting.

How would the kings handle this? And how would all these new factors play into it?

There was no doubt this continent was changing and the world with it.

I pressed my hand against the cold throne room door and pushed. The door opened quietly, but that didn't stop everyone in the room from looking my way.

The eyes of some of the highest individuals in the capital locked with mine. I didn't spare enough time to look at all the people in the room to see if I knew any of them. My gaze simply shifted to a man sitting on the throne.

He gave me a warm smile as if his own son had just come home, “Ah, Zephyrus, come in.”