Chapter Thirty Seven: The Princess Of Few

The guards, traveling down the street quickly and efficiently, cleared the way of anyone who might haul their progress forward. They were making their way to the castle, that much was clear. Following behind, as close as they could without disrupting the formation, Penny and Ember made their way to the edge of the castle, seeing that the guards had made it to the doors before they were closed off to outsiders. Penny, thinking on what she should do next, decided to try something bold. She had not informed Ember of her plan, only that she should follow.

Penny walked up to the door where two guards stood on either side. " Is there a problem in the castle? " Penny asked one of the guards who, without breaking his gaze over the city, keeping his head straight forward, replied in a commanding tone " Everything is fine within the castle. Please carry on".

Penny however was not going to go away so easily. " I wish to see the King" She requested and the guard again, did not even bother to turn his head slightly in her direction. " The King is not seeing anyone at this current time. " The guard announced.

" I can assure you that the King will see me. I am here on a mission of the utmost importance" Penny lied, though the guard did not bother to turn.

" And that mission would be? " The guard questioned, something Penny had not exactly expected. As this conversation was taking place, a woman approached from behind the two, wearing a dark red cloak, and a hood over her head so that she could not be easily recognized. " Let them in" the woman commanded. The guard almost repeated the same lines to the woman who, before he could respond, removed her hood to reveal a very familiar hair, and very familiar face for Penny. " Aurora? " Penny said in shock as the woman motioned for Penny and Ember to follow her inside. The guards, realizing that it was indeed the Princess, quickly followed her request and opened the doors. Now allowing the three to pass through with ease.

" What are you doing back here? " Aurora asked as they made their way through a gigantic courtyard which was decorated with giant stone statues of past rulers and beautiful gardens that were unlike anything Penny or Ember had ever seen.

" I'm surprised you remember me. It has been some time" Penny smiled as they continued walking through the courtyard. " I am back..because well, I wanted to come back and visit the Kingdom. But if you meant at the castle..we saw a bunch of guards come to the castle in a rush so we thought something might be wrong. So, we wanted to check" Penny explained as Aurora stopped walking and turns to the two girls.

" The guards were called because they were looking for me. I went out, they panicked, it's the same thing every other day" Aurora explained who now turned her attention to Ember. " Hm. A human in the Underworld...that's interesting" Aurora seemed to not be too keen on Ember, who was slightly offended at the Princess's tone. " I'm guessing she is with you. Which means you went back to Earth" Aurora questioned, as Penny stumbled trying to find the proper response. " Yes.." She managed to utter out.

" You told me long ago that you came here, back home, because it is where you wanted to be. But you came back, just to leave" Aurora seemed very harsh with her tone which was making Penny increasingly nervous. She could not say or do the wrong thing without possibly causing a bigger issue down the line. She had to be as cautious and as careful as she possibly could. "I...yes. Well, I had to return. The circumstance called for it at the time, and so that is what I did. Did you miss me or something?" Penny jokes, but seeing no smile across Aurora's face.

" I have one question for you.." Aurora's expression was blank, giving no sign of emotion whatsoever so even Ember could not read her. " Is it true? Are you a half Witch, half night Slasher? " Aurora was calling Penny out immediately who was now beginning to panic within her head. This situation was going downhill pretty fast and She was feeling as though she had lost complete control over the situation.

" Well..I.." Penny's nerves were completely shattered and replaced with confusion as Aurora lightly punched Penny's arm and began laughing hysterically.

" I'm just messing with you" She laughed even more which made Ember and Penny turn to one another in disbelief.

" I am glad you are back" Aurora smiled as she leaned forward to hug Penny in a tight embrace.

" how did you know that I'm- " Before Penny could finish her thought, Aurora answered the question.

" Well you are a Witch..and you are not the only night Slasher I've seen. You are mixed which is interesting to me but..It doesn't really matter right now. If you'd like, I can set you up with some rooms here in the castle " Aurora offered which Penny declined. " We have our own place" Penny explained which made Aurora turn back to Ember. " So wait..are you two..." Aurora's shifted back and forth between the two, eluding to a much closer relationship than just friends. " No..God no we are not" Ember and Penny tried to speak over one another to explain themselves which made Aurora giggle even more.

" Whatever you say. Either way, if you need anything, just let me know. The guards know you are with me now so they shouldn't give you any trouble" Aurora smiled and hugged Penny one last time. " Thank you. But I did have a couple of questions.." Penny was hoping to get some answers from Aurora so that they could finally get some crucial information and Aurora was happy to oblige.

" So. .well first of all, what were you doing out for long enough that the guards were worried? " Penny asked which made Aurora shrug, the smile wiping from her face. " I'm in love with someone. Someone, whom, going by my parents, I shouldn't be in love with but..ya know..shit happens" Aurora confessed, Ember and Penny both were caught off guard by her blunt answer. " So you are hiding that from your parents? " Ember asked which Aurora answered " For now. But they will see my reasons eventually" which left alot more speculation up in the air. Though, this would explain bumping into Kalivare and his rush to get to the city.

" Do you love this guy? " Penny asked, which Aurora had to think on for a moment. " Love is a strong word. But, I do care about him deeply. Enough to risk getting scolded by my parents" She answered.

" Well, if it works out and you get married, I guess you'll be Queen at that point" Ember said, in an almost mocking way, still not approving of Aurora's original tone with her.

" Well, I guess? I don't know about marriage. And besides, I'd only become Queen if my parents died...or if the marriage benefitted the Kingdom. Which I guess in this case, it would. But, I don't really care about that. I just, I think he is cute" Aurora seemed to think of Kalivare in a casual way, which history had deemed to be untrue. So something eventually would have to change between them. " Do you want to be Queen? " Ember asked, continuing her own questioning, which Aurora seemed to still be perfectly fine with. " I have dreams and ambitions. Just like everyone does. And I think I could achieve those without being a Queen. However, if being Queen was benefitting the people then yes. But, with any luck, I won't have to worry about it. My parents don't seem to eager to give up the throne" Aurora laughed. From what they could tell, this Princess seemed to show no major signs of becoming a mad Queen in the future. They knew something would have to change but they could not quite place what it was. Because at this current time, Aurora seemed very level-headed about everything.

" I guess that makes sense. Plus it's a lot of work to be a Queen I'd imagine" Ember crosses her arms, and Aurora seems to agree with this point of view with a head nod. " Yeah. But this Kingdom needs strong leadership. Someone they can trust, has their best interests at heart. And not the needs of other Kingdoms who can't fight their own battles" This struck a nerve with Penny who recognized immediately who Aurora was referring to. But instead of confronting her, Penny decided it would be best to just let it go for now and walk away from the situation. " Well, we had better be getting back home. We have alot to do " Penny excused herself and Ember from the conversation as they made their way out of the garden, Aurora looking back to them, confused by their sudden exit.