Chapter 122: 122-Extra mile
"No, please don’t go. Don’t leave me here by myself," Princess Sheana cried out, chasing desperately after princess Aenyra through the crowd. "I promise I’ll behave. I won’t cause trouble... I will behave... I don’t need much..." Her cries hit deaf ears as the dragoness kept walking away.
She ran after with all the strength she had yet it wasn’t enough the faster she made chase, the faster Aenyra disappeared into the crowd.
Princess Sheana stopped, gasped for breath. Her eyes darting in every direction and she twirled around, searching for Aenyra.
Every face in sigh wasn’t hers. She kept searching until her teary eyes hurt but the dragoness was no where to be seen. She was gone, left her behind.
Alone and in despair, princess Sheana dropped to the ground, lifted her head to glance at the blue skies and screamed her lungs out. "Aaaahh!"
Her heart ached. The ground was rough on her knees but the pain of being abandoned numbed the physical discomfort. She could only cry.
The beasts around her kept marching to their destinations, no one stopped to check on her or ask what was wrong. No one cared.
How could she expect strangers on the road to care for her? When the one whose heart was bound to hers couldn’t care about her or her love.
Princess Sheana found her cries getting louder and louder. She called out to the dragoness and continued begging.
"You are the only beautiful part of this horrible world... Please... I can’t live on without you..." She sounded desperate and pitiful, not like a princess at all.
The phoenix she used to be, the one who had her defenses raised and hid behind flirtatious ways and shamelessness couldn’t catch the broken hearted version of her that was falling apart in the middle of the crowd. And she barely registered the lives around her. All she knew is that they weren’t Aenyra and that was enough to prick her heart with a thousand needles.
She buried her face in her hand. Her cries became muffled and her hands grew wet from her falling tears. She looked a mess.
"Please... Have pity on me and just come back... You don’t have to love me... I can love you for both of us," she begged.
It was the first time that she had begged that strongly for something. She had a feeling that if she was denied a chance with Aenyra, she would never ask for anything ever again.
Burying her emotions, she got up and weakly stumbled aimlessly. "Aenyra!" She kept calling, her fingers crossed that from the middle of the crowd, she would respond.
Maybe not out of love but of pity for her crying mess. She bet her plan on the hope that deep down, Aenyra wasn’t entirely heartless and would feel for her.
"Aenyra!" She called, stumbling and falling flat to the ground. Lifting her head, her teary eyes spotted the back of the dragoness in the distance.
Princess Sheana found hope, however much her throat hurt from crying too much, she swallowed and prepared to let out to the loudest scream to stop Aenyra on her tracks. She opened her mouth and let out as loud as she could.
"Aenyra!"
She yanked away, her movements kicking the quilt off her body. Princess Sheana looked around her in confusion.
Her wet lashes made it hard to get a clear view. After a few breaths, she remembered that she was in the Zhen family guest room. Her heart calmed down.
"Aenyra," she called out softly, her throat still sore.
On the other side of the courtyard, Aenyra barely grabbed a drink at the party before she hurried out. She nearly tripped on the hems of her brown gown while running out.
Taking Madam Zhen’s advice, she wanted to meet Princess Sheana and finally have that talk she’d been asking her for. Sheana deserved answers and better treatment than she had given so far.
On the way, she stopped. Remembering that the princess probably had nothing to eat since arriving at her home, she changed direction and ran towards the kitchen.
She held the edges of her gown and ran as fast as she could. Her gown bounced as she moved. The servants she passed on the way bowed in greeting but she could barely register their presence.
They were left in whispers.
"Have you ever seen princess Aenyra run?"
"I didn’t know she could run. She always carries herself with utmost propriety."
"It’s so unlike her to be rushed. I wonder why she’s running around so frantically?"
They dared to question her strange behavior but they didn’t linger for long. With the strict rules of the house, they might lose their jobs for gossiping about a lady of the house.
Princess Aenyra couldn’t think about her status. Her aunt’s words rang in her ears and it pricked her heart. She never wanted to be the reason that Sheana or any other beast feels hurt or broken. She had to fix things, and figure out how they were going to move forward now that they were bound.
When she arrived at the kitchen doors, she stopped to catch her breath. She leaned on one of the pillars and gasped greedily for breath. That had to be the first time she used external effort to move. In a hurry, she had forgotten about her internal strength and her powers.
Aenyra shook her head. "How foolish of me."
Just then, the doors of the kitchen pushed open. Aenyra looked up, hoping to see the familiar friendly face of nanny Fai, to her surprise, the one who stepped out was the last person she wanted to meet.
In a bright white gown that outshined everything in sight, her mother, Nadelyra Zhen, walked out of the kitchen. Looking out of place in her fancy gown. The resemblance was immediate, like an older Aenyra, only more mature and stronger.
In her hand was a wood platter holding up a bowl of the Zhen family’s famous fire rice porridge.
Aenyra composed herself, stilled her heart until not a beat was out of place, fixed her hair and clasped her right hand to her heart and bowed. "Mother, good evening," she greeted, her voice as still as undisturbed water.
Her mother glanced up and met her gaze. She smiled with warmth and approached, carrying the wooden platter with graceless effort like she was holding a precious crown.
"My child, you’ve been hard to catch since you returned home. Is there a reason for that?"
Aenyra lowered her head. Her eyes unable to meet her mother’s. Even though Madam Zhen understood her, it didn’t mean that Nadelyra would. The two might always see eye to eye but it wasn’t on all things. She didn’t dare let loose her secret.
"Since when do you hide your beautiful eyes from your mother?" She asked.
"I didn’t know I’d find you here. I don’t wish to get in the way, I’ll..."
"Here," her mother interrupted by handing the platter to her. Without asking questions, she reached out and took it, matching her mother’s grace perfectly.
Nadelyra, with her hands free, lifted Aenyra’s chin and let their eyes meet. "I made the porridge myself," she said.
Aenyra’s eyes widen in shock instantly, they nearly popped out of their sockets and ran off. Her mother? In the kitchen cooking? That hadn’t happened since they were children and had fallen I’ll from a plague that nearly wiped out young dragons at the time. Since then, Aenyra could barely recall the last time her mother entered the kitchen.
The aroma of the porridge, the dancing flame over the porridge and the thick golden signature colour of the porridge was proof that she did indeed make it. Only she could pull off that recipe.
"Why? What’s the occasion?"
Nadelyra released her chin and started walking away, Aenyra followed her with her eyes, still confused. "When my daughter comes home with a guest she’s bound to, it’s only right that I welcome her," she let out, her voice wasn’t raised but Aenyra heard every word clearly. "Princess Sheana should find the porridge to her liking. I added a special ingredient that’s good for phoenixes."
Aenyra froze. She knew! Her mother knew!
"This is your home, Aenyie. Don’t be a stranger within these walls," she added before disappearing at the corner.
Aenyra was left there holding the platter and blinking like a fool. The secret she had tried so hard to keep, was known by everyone. The panic that assaulted her since she bound herself to Sheana seemed to have been self-induced since her mother and aunt didn’t react harshly at all.
She couldn’t grasp it. Her mother not only didn’t scold her, but even went the extra mile to prepare a meal for Sheana personally.
Aenyra didn’t remember her doing that for Aeltharion when he got mated to Nytherael and Sseraphis. Her grandmothers had been the ones to pamper her brother and his mates.
A tear trickled down her face. Aenyra didn’t know how long she stood there or what provoked her to start moving or how she walked all the way to the guest room, she was completely lost in her thoughts.
"Aenyra!" She heard a panicked called and snapped out of her daze. She quickly pushed open the door and entered, "I’m here," she answered.
Sheana spotted, the world seemed to stop. Her panic was replaced by relief, she lurched forward and embraced Aenyra with all her might.
Aenyra let her, balancing the platter on one hand without letting even one drop slip out and hugged Sheana back with her other hand.
"I’m here. Why are you crying?"
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