Chapter 55: 55-Dare to be shameless (2)
Knock knock knock!
Princess Sheana shamelessly banged on Nytherael’s door. She went at it again and again.
When she received no response after a long time, she gave up. She leaned close to the door and whispered in a voice so low that not even she could hear, "I have treated everyone to a meal, and they’ve decided to clock in for the evening. I offered to take them out, but they refused, so I’ll just treat myself with the rest of the shards," she said and tiptoed out of there.
She was afraid that Nytherael would wake up and stop her from going out to spend the rest of the gold solely on herself.
In her defence, if Nytherael truly wanted to spoil everyone. Then, he would have gone ahead and treated them himself and not handed all the shards to her. Growing up restrained, without any allowance or any freedom to do what you wanted, She was determined to selfishly pursue her own happiness.
She stepped out of the Inn with a carefree energy. She met up with Liodnir as she had earlier planned.
"Are you ready, my lady?" Liodnir Asked, It was determined to put his best foot forward For his sponsor So us to build High likeness for him. With how rich he figured, Sheana was, His odds would be better to stick with her than go back to their Arena to hunt.
This takes that were high, but the salary for a Hunter had gone down with how bad the economy had become.
He was barely making ends meet, with the Arena’s owner sucking dry every bit of shards that come in for him in the name of expenses, maintenance, and the opportunity he’s opened for him.
"Yes, I’m ready. I’m ready to see this town... Not just this town, I think I’m ready to see the whole world."
She smiled, feeling completely overjoyed at the adventure that awaited her.
However, before she could take a single step. A figure up here in front of her and blocked her path.
"Who dares?" Boys to scold the person who blocked her way, Only for her to bite back on her words when she spotted the icy dragonness standing there.
The dragonness wore the coldest icy glare known to Beast folk. Sheana blinked innocently and found herself backing away.
She slowly hid behind Liodnir and squeezed her eyes shut. "Why is she everywhere?" She groaned. Her fingers naturally tucked the bag of gold shards deeper in her pocket.
"Where are you going?"
Sheana peeked from behind Liodnir, not daring to show her entire frame to the cold beast. She put on a weak smile, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes or light up her face.
"I’m having fun with my prized hunter. I don’t remember needing your permission for that," she said.
"Mmh," Aenyra nodded. Without further interrogation, she turned around and left.
"Huh?" Sheana came out from behind Liodnir, staring at Aenyra’s back in confusion. She was sure Aenyra would stop her or at least lecture her. But the ice queen did neither and simply left. "Where is she going?"
"Maybe she also has the same idea as you and wants to explore the town," Liodnir answered, trying to be useful.
"Exploring. Aenyra doesn’t have that kind of habit," Sheana was sure something wasn’t right. "Aenyra, wait up," she shouted and ran forward.
Liodnir kept up with her. She was his ticket out of the life of suffering. He was hellbent on shamelessly sticking to her until she took him in.
"I said wait up. You know that me and running isn’t a good combination," Sheana scolded at Aenyra’s back.
However, Aenyra kept walking steadily. Her every step was measured, and soft, barely leaving a print behind at the spot where she stepped.
Princess Sheana caught up easily, unlike before when she ran, her beastly abilities weren’t sealed, so she caught up without breaking a sweat.
"Didn’t you hear me, or are you of the habit of tuning my voice out?"
Aenyra kept moving in silence. Her eyes fixated forward as though she was under a spell.
"Hey, I’m talking to you," Sheana grabbed her arm to stop her. "Aargh!" Aenyra cried out and recoiled away from her.
Princess Sheana froze. She glanced at her palm and at Aenyra’s hand feeling guilty. ’I didn’t use any force,’ she thought.
"What are you doing?" Aenyra asked dizzily as though waking up from slumber. Her eyes were heavy, and her entire body ached. She let out a yawn and wiped her eyes.
"What’s wrong with your hand?"
"My ha...hand?" Aenyra yawned again.
Sheana ignored her confusion and rolled up her sleeve. To her horror, the soft golden skin and obsidian scales upon Aenyra’s hand were blue and cracks had formed on her skin, golden blood slowly dripping out of the crack.
"What happened to you?" She asked, her voice shaken with the horrifying sight of the wound.
Aenyra looked down and remembered using the hourglass. The dark artefact had rules, and their was a price to pay from the user every time it was used. She understood that the wound was a result of her messing around with time.
"It must be from using the hourglass," she whispered.
"That devilish device," Sheana shivered, recalling the black energy coming out of the hourglass.
She had gotten so caught up on the gold shards and the idea of enjoying her newfound freedom that she forgot about the incident of rewinding time.
"How do we fix this? How do we fox you," she asked, circling to the other side and holding Aenyra in her arms.
As though she had been waiting to be held, Aenyra slowly closed her eyes, leaned her head on Sheana’s head. "Blow this," she pressed a whistle in Sheana’s hand before passing out.
"Oh, oh, oh..." Sheana reacted quickly and held her, keeping her from falling. She made sure not to touch her wounded arm. "Okay, this is bad. So bad..." she cried.
"Would you like for me to help you hold her?" Liodnir offered to unburden her by taking Aenyra into his arms.
The possessive side of Sheana woke up, she stared down Liodnir and uttered strong. "Don’t. Even. Think. Of. Touching. Her."
"I just want to help," Liodnir raised his hands in the air to show that he wasn’t going to touch Aenyra without permission.
Relieved by Liodnir’s submission, Princess Sheana glanced down at the whistle. "Well, let’s just hope whatever comes from this doesn’t bite my head off," she said, pressed the whistle to her lips and blew on it with every strength she could muster.
The whistle made no sound at all. Sheana frowned.
~
At the pool, Sseraphis was still playing in the water when he heard a sharp whistle sound cut through his ears. "Aenyra?" He panicked.
Quickly, he put on his robes carelessly and teleported out of the bathing house. A few breaths later, he appeared next to Aenyra and Sheana.
"What have you done to her?" He questioned Sheana as he stared down at his unconscious sister-in-law. When he caught sight of her wound, malice shot up in his eyes. "I’m going to kill you!" He growled.
Sheana swallowed. Her body freezing up.
