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“I don’t want you overexerting yourself,” he said softly as he pulled away. “Also, I brought you something. It’s in your room, and I hope you like it. I’ll leave you be so you can have some quiet time.”
With that, he got out of the pool and was patted down by the servants before he left the bathing hall.
***
Aria walked into her room to find a set of clothes spread out on her bed, and she was taken back by their beauty. The pullover robe was made of black leather, mesh, and lined with black fur at the collar and sleeves. They were adornedwith glistening black iron, cut into kite-shaped insets. Underneath it was a long dress the color of her hair and was embroidered with thread of gold.
She could tell Travus had put a lot of thought into customizing it for her.
Trying it on, she found it a comfortably snug fit, and the pullover was warm. It was lined with soft material on the inside, which brought her a lot of comfort.
She didn’t want to take it off. Looking in the mirror, she gasped as to how regal she looked. Sure, she loved her armor whenever she was on duty as a Fairy Sentinel, but she truly looked like royalty in her new robes. Unlike her clothes from back home, these did not make her look dainty and delicate. They gave her a rough edge, the dark fabrics bringing out the glow in her eyes that made her look intimidating in her femininity.
Aria loved it.
With a twirl in the mirror, she pulled on her warm slippers and made her way outside, loving the way the fitted robes trailed behind her as she walked.
Even the queens of the other nations did not wear the kind of fashion that she did as a mere sentinel.
She felt brand new and chipper, much happier than she had in averylong time. It wasn’t the material gift,but rather the effort that someone had put into giving her something.
If I didn’t have the burden of becoming the Fairy Guardian, I would’ve probably stayed here, she thought to herself as she floated through the castle, making her way to the throne room. She wondered if Travus would like how she looked as much as she did.
When she glided through the doorway toward Travus’s throne, she found him occupied in a conversation with someone, looking down from his royal seat at whoever had requested his presence. She slowed down to quiet her steps as she trained her ears to pick up on the echo of the visitor.
“This is the last on the list,” said the man at the bottom of the steps, and Aria came to stand by Travus’s throne to look at who it was. To her surprise, it was a Human. The same one she’d captured with Arthur. “We lost quite a few men in this endeavor. I hope you’ll reimburse us for the risk and demand their safe return.”
“Of course,” Travus said, looking very pleased. “Bring them up over here.”
Aria’s chest began to feel uncomfortable, and she watched the Human walk up to Travus, getting onto a knee at the second last step to bow, and holding out a satchel to him with both hands.
“What is going on?” she asked Travus, who didn’t reply as he grabbed the satchel and pulled up the flap, letting a ball roll into his large palm.
No, it wasn’t a ball. It was a pearl, and the most magnificent one that Aria had ever seen in her entire life.
“What is that?” she asked suspiciously and turned to the Human. “You! Explain yourself immediately.”
When the Human looked up at her, his eyes furrowed in confusion, taking in her attire with even more puzzlement. “What are you doing here with King Travus?”
“Iam the one asking questions,” she scowled.
Travus looked at her with an unreadable expression. “I promise that I’ll return this to you once my task is complete, Princess” he said as he pocketed the pearl and got up. “I hope you can forgive me for intruding into your kingdom, Mierna. I won’t be needing this for long.”
“Mierna?” the Human scoffed. “But she’s not the Princess of Nexis.”
“The one you saw in Nexis is a decoy,” Travus said.
“No, she wasn’t,” he insisted.
Aria glared the man down menacingly. “Keep out of matters that don’t concern you.”
“I’ve pledged loyalty to the Elven King,” he shot back. “I’d rather he hears it from me, or he’ll have my head if I choose to remain silent on the imposter before me.”
Travus narrowed his eyes to the Human being, his body tensing so much that his chest and shoulders almost doubled in size. “Be careful of the way you address her, young man.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to get the Council stone had therealPrincess Mierna not summoned it for her coronation!” the man declared, shooting up to stand with a stomp. Aria’s body froze in horror as she realized what Travus had managed over the past week. “Your majesty, this woman in front of you isn’t Princess Mierna!”
Aria moved before the man could say a word, intending to throttle him. But Travus had hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her against him, staring at the man demandingly.
