“Welcome to Valcor Island, milady,” Osman greeted with a wide smile as they finally stepped onto the shore of the Island. Walking ahead, Xenia was still miffed at what she just experienced, her mouth twitching at the admiral as she went ahead of them.
Along the way, she also ignored Darius, who was still scolding and teasing her about her overconfidence.
“My love, wait for us!” Darius called out to her even as she went into the forest. “Do you even know where we’re heading?”
“Eh,” she groaned. “It’s not like I also know where I’ll be heading once I’m inside the Element Forest. So how about you guys just look for me once I got lost?!” she barked out before stubbornly walking into the Valcor Forest.
Not letting himself fall behind, Darius quickly followed her, catching up to her to the point that he had already reached her side.
“Are you still mad?” Darius asked..
“I’m not, alright?” she sighed. “Just please stop teasing me.”
“Hmm, look how deep your frown is, my love,” Darius complained. “I don’t even know what I did wrong…”
Hearing his words, Xenia stopped walking to face him. She then she stretched her lips wide with a deadpan smile as she mumbled, “See? Smiling… Not mad… So stop pestering me and let me be for a while.”
Xenia rolled her eyes upon seeing the suppressed laughter threatening to burst out from the already reddening face of the King. Ugh… She hated how much she looked like a fool in front of him and Osman. Keeping up her pride, she was purposely acting grumpy in order to get some sort of concessions of the two. There was just no way that she would admit defeat.
“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens, Princess,” Osman’s voice pointed out from behind them.
“I understand, Master,” Xenia mumbled out with a pout. From now on, she would call the admiral ‘Master’ to try and discomfort the man.
“Princess, stop calling me that…” Osman begged.
Xenia blinked at him. Ignoring his pleas, she inquired, “So tell me, Master, what’s our next activity for today? I feel so invigorated after rowing the Lucian so hard…”
Seriously, they could’ve at least given her the hint earlier back there. But no… These two let her row some more before giving her a hint. Did they really think that she was no longer human that she would be able to keep that up for even half a day?
“Ah… you’re not listening again, Princess,” the admiral chided. “Temper will put you at risk inside the Element Forest. Close your eyes and meditate. Calm your breathing, and clear out your thoughts.”
Xenia froze at those words, knowing full well that Osman was right. It was one of her core personalities that his father and Ezekiel would often scold her about. Her hot temper and impulsiveness had constantly reared their ugly heads for her to suffer through…
Looking at Darius, her mate only gave her a reassuring smile and a nod. His eyes were begging her to just do what Osman told her, so she let out a long sigh before closing her eyes.
“Count down a few numbers, Princess, and open your eyes once you hear a wolf’s howl,” Osman instructed. “From there, you’ll find yourself alone without anyone to help you… You’ll be left fend for yourself alone in this forest without anything but your clothes.”
He then added, “Find your way up to where you’ll see a windstorm coming out of the north. It should be an immense cloud with lightning flashing across it, and surrounded by a brilliant light that’s hard to miss. It’s also accompanied by an eerie crackling, whizzing, and buzzing noise.”
With her eyes still closed, Xenia took note of every detail that Osman said. Somehow, she just knew that there was more to this again.
Just as she was about to let out a groan, she felt Darius’s warm hands on her shoulders. She was about to open her eyes, but she remembered Osman’s instructions to open her eyes only once she heard a howl. Exercising a bit more patience, she smiled when she felt his lips brush up against hers.
“Don’t worry, my love. We’ll both kill Osman later once we complete your training…” Darius reassured her. “What do you say?”
Xenia chuckled. With a whisper, she smirked, “We’ll kill Osman, then I’ll kill you.”
Darius chuckled at her reply, his voice filled her heart with warmth as he responded, “I’d prefer you killed me with too much love, my Queen… Still, this is where we part for now. See you soon.”
Xenia nodded, and she felt his lips against hers one more time before he finally disappeared. With her eyes still closed, she let out a puff of air as she waited.
“This should be easy,” she consoled herself, recalling her own experiences inside of a forest with Darius. She then inwardly cursed upon recalling how she got herself poisoned by Tatar berries. She should be careful about whatever she would ingest that came from the forest. She would be alone without any help this time, and one mistake might actually get her killed.
A few minutes later, she heard a loud howl. Slowly opening her eyes, Xenia looked around as she took in the tall trees surrounding her from all sides. She had heard about Valcor Island once. It was a small Island owned neither by Cordon nor Valcrez. Being located at the heart of the Miran Ocean, it separated Valcrez and Cordon, acting as a neutral buffer between the two kingdoms.
Having nothing better to do, Xenia began her trek towards what she could only hope was the right way. Osman had mentioned the word north once, so she could only assume that her destination would be at the top of the nearest mountain.
Like she always did, she grabbed a couple of fruits along with anything that she could use as a weapon along the way. Bashing together wood and stone, she made an approximation of a weapon that she could hopefully use to bash some skulls in. She shook her head… thinking about how she would enter the Element Forest with nothing but the clothes off her back.
Making her way through the forest, she frowned when she noticed how the sun had suddenly set.
“What’s going on?” she murmured as she hurried her way to find some shelter. That was when she suddenly heard something, a loud roar, making her stop in her tracks.
‘Seriously?’ Xenia complained with a frown. She knew that sound, and it was a telltale sign of a rampaging bear. Looking at the stick she was holding, she could only hope that her makeshift spear would help her survive. “How come they didn’t even leave me with some kind of blade for me to use?”
Quickly, Xenia ran through her options. There was no way she could fight. Instead, she moved with haste as she quickly climbed the tallest tree she could find, knowing just how near the sound was to her location. From there, she just needed to keep herself hidden till the bear finally passed her.
‘Subdue the enemy without fighting.’ She would often hear that from her father. Still, she chuckled at how silly she was acting right now. She wondered if Osman even expected her to fight this thing bar and kill it. If he did, then it was an honor to disappoint him like this. She wasn’t in the mood to sully her hands against wildlife.
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