""Commander, forgive me. I did not mean to frighten you."" The man was saying and Neriah’s heart was still racing. She was trying her possible best to calm it down but even her legs were trembling. Her hands that held the iron bar refused to let go.
I should just go back up. I really should just go back. Neriah thought in her head. But then, I am here already. I already came this far. And if I go back, I will only be giving Barak a reason to say I told you so. I will only be giving him a chance to mock me. I cannot allow that. I will definitely show him.
With those words of determination in her head, Neriah held her breath and finally released the iron bars. With even deeper breaths, she steadied her legs and took a step. The first was shaky, but she balanced herself and took the next step and in seconds, she was standing next to the knight.
She was going to show him she was not some sessile oyster who he could force to stay in one place. Neither was she a child that he would hinder her movements. And also... She wanted to show him that she could do what commander Regina could do. She really wanted to show him.
"" Lead the way to the orcs."" She ordered. The young knight seemed rather perplexed by her order. Well, the real Regina wouldn’t have needed anyone to lead the way. But apart from his perplexed face, he did not seem suspicious of anything. He did as he was told... He led the way.
All she was there to see was the orcs. Every other beast was not her business. The orc was. So she followed diligently behind the knight, she could now see that there were more knights situated in diverse places within the dungeon.
"" His Highness had said you would come by later in the evening. We were not expecting you so ear—"" The young man paused as a sudden wind blew inside the place, shaking the flames vehemently. Turning some off but they ignited almost instantaneously.
And then came the growls... those growls that she had heard while coming down. Those sounds that had suddenly seized as soon as she landed in the place. They were starting to come up again.
Furthermore, beneath the growls, she could suddenly hear it... "Elven blood." It was low, so low that it was almost non-existent. It was just a hiss in the air, but she could hear it. "Royal Elven blood." It was eerie, it was dark, and the language was not tragish. It was Avelian. "Neriah... We see you." It was calling for her. It knew her.
"We want you." It—They wanted her.
...
Aria paced up and down the room where Regina was still sleeping. She panicked and bit her fingers over and over again. Something about this just didn’t feel right. The fact that she did not go with Neriah was very disturbing to her. She just could not keep her mind at ease. What was she to do? Her heart kept going back to her mistress. She could not explain the restlessness she felt. It was more than the time when her mistress had snuck out of the palace to meet the Tragonian prince on that fateful night.
And look at all the mess that followed that night. It led to her mistress losing her chastity, led to a series of lies that backfired, led to a not to perfect marriage and many more problems.
Yet the worry she was feeling now beat what she felt that day. The last time did not end well. Who was to say this one would end well. She was going to see real beasts this time!
Now that Aria was thinking about it even more, she felt like she was the crazy one to have let her mistress go. "I should have tried harder to stop her." Aria said to herself.
"Hmm," Aria’s head and body made an instant 180 degrees turn at the sound. Her purple eyes dilated with silent questions that her lips opened to say but the words just wouldn’t form at her throat.
It was supposed to last. It was supposed to last at least two hours! So why? Why was the commander’s eyes opening and her head lifting?! It had not even been a total fifteen minutes since the princess had left, so why was the commander waking up!
How was she supposed to explain this situation! What words was she to say to explain? Her head was searching for multiple lies to give but her head wasn’t as skilled as her mistress’s when it came to lies.
They had not planned for the sudden waking of Regina, they had really not planned that far. Neriah was supposed to be back before anyone even realized she was gone and way before the time Regina was to wake up, so there had been no need to plan for this kind of situation. Aria was realizing how stupid that was.
"M_My Lady." Aria stuttered as red-golden eyes rested upon her. At first she saw confusion upon the commander’s face. Then, next she saw realization, Aria watched as that realization switched to irritation, then anger, and lastly, her brows furrowed with worry and concern on the commander’s face.
"Where did she go?" Was all Regina asked and Aria could tell the commander needed nothing but the truth at that point.
...
Barak and his brother Raknar were in a meeting with a foreign delegation from a human kingdom when a knight walked up to him and informed him that his wife’s personal maid was seeking an audience with him. And it was urgent.
As soon as the door opened and Aria was allowed to step into the room where the meeting was taking place, he saw the look on her face, his hand that held a scroll tightened and his heart almost stopped.
He needed no one to tell him what had happened. He could just tell... She had done it again. His stubborn little fool had disobeyed him and gone in search of the orcs.
The little fool.