The Flori Palace

They stood on the edge of a cliff as the mighty wind whipped across their faces. The view was so spectacular that even Axel did not complain about their height or how close they were to the edge that would, of course, see them to their deaths if they ever slipped. 

Before them, at a great distance, stood the Flori palace. It was nothing like they ever dreamed of. The Flori- the woodland elves were rumoured to live in the trees, hence the name, woodland elves. But before them was a vast waterfall, double the size of the one Evanna jumped down. The palace sat in the middle, balancing on top of it, part of it was on a colossal rock lodged between the water, but half of the palace floated above the air where the water cascaded down.

Not only was the placing of the palace staggering, but the architecture was stunning. The elves were the finest in all their work, from swords to materials and creating such structures. The building was nothing like Evanna's palace or the castles she had been to in the human lands. In front of her, the building had many white trees growing up and merging into the white bricks that formed part of it. Nearer the top were golden domes and towers that had white roots twisting and turning in and out of it.

At the front, where the water fell, appeared to be a vast open window with a smaller white tree growing up the high floor to ceiling window. However, even after squinting, they couldn't see further into the hall or the room behind the tree. There was also a long thin bridge that circled the whole palace; Evanna presumed the sight from the bridge was breathtaking.

She tipped forwards slightly to get a better view and immediately felt someone's hands on her. She tried not to roll her eyes but didn't bother moving them off her as she wanted to see if there was more to the palace. From looking over the edge more, she could see near the bottom where the river continued; there was also a few villages by the side with boats. Evanna could also see houses built into the trees, so part of the rumours was true; some elves lived in the trees. But others lived on stirrup houses planted on the river.

Evanna leaned back and looked to her right to see that Ronan grabbed her by the waist. He dropped his hands with a sheepish smile on his lips, to which she responded with a grateful smile of her own, making him visibly relax. When she looked back to the view, she noted that there was only one way to get to the palace: via the long bridge that connected to it from the side. She bent her knees, so she sat on the heels of her feet and placed her hand on her chin while she began to calculate their next plan of action.

"We need to find out if that bridge is the only way to and from the palace," Cilv said, speaking Evanna's thoughts out loud.

She nodded her head in agreement, then looked up from her position on hearing Axel's voice, "If that's the case, it will be harder to get in unnoticed. We may have to stake out for quite some time. This part needs to be planned thoroughly because once we set off to get that gem, there's no going back."

A long silence ascended them as the group all seemed deep in thought while the sun began to set, and with it, the sky became a roaring fire as the orange hues shone down on the forest and the palace their eyes were set on. It made their view that much more spectacular; the palace's architecture and its placement among the trees gave it a fairy tale quality that Evanna smiled to. This was something she would never have seen if she stayed at her own palace.

Sighing, Evanna turned back around and cast her eyes on the cave; she had been ignoring her senses about it since it didn't appear to be urgent. The view of the palace and the surrounding beauty of the forest and sunset was magnificent. But as she approached the cave, she couldn't get rid of the cold feeling and strong pull she received as her slow steps halted at the entrance. Evanna could almost hear a whisper slither through her mind, but she shook her head.

Evanna..

It whispered, sending goosebumps across her body.

"Raven?" Ronan's voice was uncertain as he took tentative steps towards her.

By now, he had taken note of when Evanna's face became alert and cautious, meaning that she had this eerie gut feeling that something dangerous was nearby. If he hadn't spent much time with her, he would have guessed she was a witch. He didn't know how she had this strange gut feeling or how it worked, but he had not come across anyone with it until now.

Even Cilv, with her uncanny abilities, didn't have it. But in the small amount of time he had spent with Evanna, he knew she couldn't possibly be a witch; she was far too kind and gentle when she wasn't fighting. But it did make him wonder about what she was.

The remaining companions followed suit and stood by Ronan's side; their weapons ready, except Cilv, who continued to look from the cliff at the palace, analysing everything. Evanna took another tentative step forward, this time, her senses almost screamed at her not to go any further, but her mind was clouded with thoughts that it was safe to step into the cave. A cold, velvety voice that smoothed all her doubts; she took another step in a daze.

"Raven?!" Ger whisper-shouted. Evanna didn't answer, so he marched up to her, grabbed her by the arm, and spun her around. When he looked down into her eyes, they looked like a pair of dolls, almost glassy; it was similar to how Axel looked when they were surrounded by the faceless. He knew she could not hear him. So, he shook her violently, causing Ronan almost to protest until he saw Evanna shake her head and look up at Ger with a lost look on her face.

"Stay away from the cave. Don't go in there!" Evanna gasped out, her voice rose in a panic, but she stopped herself from shouting for fear of alerting any of the Flori that may be nearby.

"Is it safe to stay here?" Axel asked no one in particular, but he expected Cilv or Evanna to reply, seeing as Cilv found the place and Evanna had those weird feelings that alerted her to danger.

  "As long as we don't stay in the cave," Evanna reiterated as she stepped out of the way from Ger and plopped down on the ground; she kept her body sideways to the cave. It felt far too spooky for her to have her back to it.

Ger sat next to her, as did Axel and Ronan, who ruffled through their bags for some bread. Cilv looked over at the sound and made a disgusted face, "I'm going to hunt some fish,"

"No, you're not. We need to play it extra safe now," Axel commanded her, to which she scowled at him and stormed off anyway.

"I think that means she will be fine?" Evanna joked lightheartedly, hoping to calm Axel down. It didn't work as he shook his head in disapproval as the red-haired woman disappeared among the trees.

  When Evanna looked back to Ger, she could see concern etched onto his face as he searched her eyes, "What's wrong?" She queried; her innocent and blank expression made Ger even more concerned.

"I should be asking you the same question. What's in the cave?" Ger asked.

"I'm not sure," Evanna mumbled before looking down at her hands, "I heard my name being whispered."

"Faceless? I thought-"

  "No. It's not the faceless," Evanna quickly interrupted, causing him to look at her expectantly for her to reiterate further information on the matter, "they could not affect me in their mind games."

  This caused all three men to look at her with their eyes rounded, making Evanna look back down at her hands before looking directly at Ger. She kept her words slightly longer than usual, "I'm not sure how, but it said 'I' wasn't prone to them, unlike 'other' humans."

Unlike the other two, who looked lost at what the princess was secretly conveying to Ger. He immediately understood and dropped his questioning with a single nod.

"That's weird. You must be very strong-willed to such things," Ronan dismissed any theories quickly.

"Hmmm," Axel placed his hand over his bushy beard around his mouth, "still makes me wonder what is in that cave. It must be locked in there like those creatures."

  "Indeed. So, like those creatures, it must be very dangerous and locked in there for a reason," Evanna exclaimed.

She still felt her body continuously being cold as she sat there, but she tried to ignore it and the feeling of fingertips attempting to slither through her mind. Every few minutes, she would get the sense of a whisper trying to enter her head, but she was quick to block it out. Whatever IT was, seemed to have similar powers to the faceless, but this time, it could affect her. Or so, she thought. Evanna tried a technique in the hopes of ignoring it and not being affected by it. She blocked it out by envisioning a wall being placed around her mind; each brick built up would keep her protected and safe.

It seemed to have done the trick as she could only feel the cold fingertips on the outer edges of her mind, nowhere she could be controlled from. Evanna didn't know what it was, but she feared staying so close to it. Yet, they had no other choice than to remain there; it had a great viewpoint of the palace, and so far, none of the Flori appeared to come near the area.

As night fell, Cilv had already returned and seemed in a good mood after fishing and eating its delicacy at not being cooked. The group were relatively quick to get ready for bed, although they were worried about sleeping on a hill that overlooked the Flori palace and had a cave with an unknown creature in that could, at some point, try to lure them in there. With that thought in mind, everyone, including Cilv, took turns on guard duty.

Cilv took first watch as Evanna rested her head on her hands, lying on her side. She faced the cave, but Ger blocked her view, and he turned around on his side, so they lay facing each other. Although it gave her some comfort, Evanna still had nightmares throughout the night. They weren't anything in particular that made sense; in one of them, she sat at a long dinner table in a gloomy hall, and her companion was a skeleton. She almost laughed, thinking it was funny more than anything, until she saw the food at the table were human parts.

Evanna jolted awake with a silent scream and bumped her head into Ronan's. The pair held their hand on the bumped area and looked at each other with a grimace.

"Your shift, beautiful," He whispered, but then he assessed her in the dark lighting; his eyes had adjusted to the dark after being on his shift. But if he wasn't in such close proximity to her face, he would never have noticed the dark circles under her eyes.

"Have you not been sleeping well?" Ronan whispered; his voice filled with concern.

"I'll be fine," Evanna replied and stood up, causing Ronan to stand up alongside her.

  He placed his hands on her arms and stared intently at her, with a genuine expression on his face. It almost made Evanna blush as she stared into his deep blue-green eyes.

"Go back to sleep. I can take this shift," Ronan said gently.

"I can't let you do that-"

"Who would I be? If not a gentleman? You need to sleep, Evanna," Ronan's sweet voice made her blink up at him; he hardly ever called her by her real name. There was no point in calling her by her alias at this moment in time, there was nobody about, but she knew he done it purposely.

Evanna placed her gloved hand above one of his own and squeezed gently, "Thank you, Ronan. But there is no point. I will not sleep. Please, get some rest. I will get mine when my shift is over," She smiled gently at him.

Evanna was so tired that she could only tense when Ronan brought his face closer to hers, her eyes wide like a doe as he brushed his lips gently onto her cheek while his hand cupped her other with a slight caress. 

"Thank you," He breathed.

He then turned and went to the ground without saying another word, leaving Evanna with bright red cheeks from the action. Unbeknown to the pair was a set of envious eyes that watched the little exchange and immediately became jealous and angry.

Ger wanted to punch Ronan in the face. How could he do that to Evanna? Was this their first encounter? What else did they do when he was asleep? Ger was angry but kept reminding himself that she was not his. However, she was a princess and should not be gallivanting with a womaniser like Ronan!

Evanna was still stunned as she sat down and leaned up against the tree. She knew Ronan was a flirt, but she did not expect him to be so bold as to kiss her on the cheek!

She most certainly couldn't sleep now!