The Tests.

The morning sun glorified the Princess's features with its radiance. In the palace of the Dragon and the Gardenia, the inhabitants were woken up by the sound of birds singing, servants going about the place to ensure the royals would not need anything as they awoke.

However, it wasn't so for the palace of the Princess. There were no birds, no servants, just the sun and Veda who busied herself to help the Princess pack her things for her journey.

Her eyes moved from the bag she was stuffing with fruits and rested on the face of the Princess. The Firstborn Royal had promised to leave at first light, however, she was here, on her bed sleeping soundly, naked, without a care in the world whether the Priestess' village burnt to the ground or not. Veda chuckled.

She walked to stand beside the edge of the bed where Aelia was lying on her stomach. The sheets of the bed only covered from her waist below, however, still exposing the contours and ridges of her pale, silky legs. Her hair was everywhere, Veda estimated it would take a while to comb it back to its place.

She leaned down, the distance between their faces was barely five inches, she removed some strands of hair from Aelia's face before gently tapping on her cheek.

"Wake up" she singsang.

Aelia turned over in her bed.

"You told the King, the Marquis and the Ministers that you would leave at first light today. Your Highness, it's way past that time"

A groan was her response.

"I have prepared a bath for you, please, come wash up" Veda excused herself from the room.

Aelia rose from her bed with a yawn, the sheets of the bed falling to the ground at her feet, she disregarded them, before joining Veda.

Back at the shrine.

Eliza was busy preparing everything necessary for the test that morning. Though the Hexie sword had done its job to recognize and bring the Priestess to the Capital, a test was still required to know just how deep her inherent powers were before The Supreme would fill her up with divine magic the next day during The Summoning.

Phaedra had just woken up, there were servants running around the place, some were attending to the needs of Eliza, while some were busy cleaning the shrine and others had just finished attending to Phaedra.

She walked out wearing normal clothes. Only after she had summoned The Supreme would her attire change to the white robes of the Priestess.

She saw Eliza gently placing on the table the last and most important item of the test. On the table was a weird looking orb, from where Phaedra stood, the orb looked hollow and dark, it was like a container of souls, of dark souls. And with such attention she paid to it, she suddenly felt a chill in the air around her.

"Do not stare too hard" Eliza's voice rang through the air. "That's the Orb of Truth. It can tell if someone possesses the magic of The Supreme and that is the only use we have of it. My mother told me it could be used for other things but it really is a dangerous artifact. She advised I keep my distance"

Phaedra nodded her head "it feels eerie"

Eliza smiled "you can feel it?"

"Yes, it felt as if it was peering into my soul, the darkest part of my heart, taunting me at every turn. It was condescending" she still could not look away from the orb. How interesting was an object, how alive was the inanimate artifact.

"Well, I guess we do not need it to shine at you. You could feel it's magic, for me that's enough" Eliza chuckled.

"If only the Kingdom was anything like you"

"If everybody in the Kingdom had a mindset like mine, there wouldn't be a controversy over the choice of The Supreme" Eliza said.

"You do not feel like the rest of the people do?" Phaedra avoided taking her name.

"No, she isn't as bad as people assume. These assumptions only surfaced when the Hexie sword turned against her"

"You sound like you know her as a person and not just as the Princess"

"Well, I do" Eliza said "We all grew up together playing around the palace. Though she was older, she always looked after me"

Phaedra tutted "you're only on her side because you know her"

"There aren't any sides. Her highness had always known she wouldn't be chosen as the Priestess, she expected everything to turn out this way"

Phaedra's face contorted "why did she think that way? How did she know?"

Eliza kept eye contact for a short while "There are several rules you have to follow in dealing with the royals"

"Number one is: stay away from the Phoenix palace." Eliza ignored Phaedra's confused expression

"Number two is: stay away from the Princess and her handmaiden"

"Number three is: do not get curious or in any way interested in the affairs of the Princess and her handmaiden"

"These are the three simple rules you need to follow. The Marquis knows of this as he was one of the people who made the rules and the King approved of it because he was also part of the people who made them. The Queen follows these rules and it is expected of you to do the same"

"What is so special about the Princess and her handmaiden?" Phaedra asked.

"Rule number three: do not get curious or in any way interested in the affairs of the Princess and her handmaiden" Eliza replied.

She looked around "The Monarch should be here any minute, I have to make sure everything is in place" she bowed then walked away from Phaedra.

The horses and the men of twenty that were to accompany the Princess on her journey were already set and waiting for her. They had been so since the break of dawn but they could never voice their annoyance towards her delay. Nobody wished to die. So they could only wait patiently. Even though their patience was already stretched thin.

It felt like spring for them when they saw the Princess casually walking towards them in company of her maidservant who was holding her travel bag.

The Princess had refused any forms of carriage, seeking only to ride on a horse with the cavalry and so a white horse was presented for her.

"I think you should inform your cousin before you leave" Veda suggested in an octave only Aelia could hear.

"He is in the shrine, I do not see the need" Aelia refused bluntly.

"You're only avoiding going to the shrine"

"Why would I do that?" Aelia asked as she set her things on her horse ignoring the reverence of the men.

"Though you had seen this coming, I know a part of you, even a small part of you wanted otherwise" Veda said boldly.

"What sort of rubbish are you spouting Veda?" Aelia raised her voice.