Rivia: Alnair Palace, Main Foyer

• Naailah •

"You cannot go in right now!" A guard from the main entrance warned sternly.

"We have to see Her Highness!"

At the mention of her, Naailah was alarmed. She seldom had visitors coming to Alnair Palace, demanding for her audience. Being raised in her temple, she hardly had any friends and neither was she close with her siblings. Curious, she walked close to the main entrance door and decided to have a look at the sudden commotion.

"What's the matter?" she asked quietly.

"Your Highness!" the guards bowed in unison, surprised to see her.

Her eyes looked ahead and saw a maidservant holding onto a lady by her arm. At first glance, Naailah immediately recognised her. She quickly pushed past the guards and went ahead to the lady beside the maidservant. Frantic, she called out to her, "Elianna, it's you."

"Your Highness," Elianna said weakly, attempting to bow but her movement was halted by Naailah once again.

"Please call me Naailah," she reminded while helping the maidservant to bring Elianna into the palace. "Let's go to my quarters."

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• Elianna •

The moment she was guided through the entrance into Alnair Palace, the pleasant earthy fragrance of the desert was quickly replaced by the faint aroma of jasmine and musky scent of prayer incense. From her memory, she remembered how wondrous Alnair looked like. The domed ceilings were inlaid with silver and semi-precious stones while the white marbled floor gleamed. Hand-painted blue stained glass windows donned the walls along hallways, bathing the place in soft blue light at dusk. Although Alnair lacked the extravagant glitters of large chandeliers that hung from the ceilings, there was something about the simplicity and tranquillity of this place that upheld the regal of the palace.

She sighed quietly, knowing that she would never be able to witness the astounding beauty of the world through the permanent darkness.

"Naailah," Elianna called out to her as they continued to walk.

"Yes?" Naailah acknowledged in her reserved tone.

"Why did you ask me to come to you?"

"It's the Goddess' wish."

"Oh," Elianna acknowledged in return. She couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed at the cognizance that Naailah was simply fulfilling a divine order.

Then, she felt a squeeze on her arm, before Naailah murmured shyly, "I had also wished to make a friend." 

"Is that so?" Elianna let out a funny chuckle.

"You're definitely making fun of me," Naailah squeaked.

"I'm not," she continued to laugh. "Thank you, Naailah."

"Don't mention it. We have arrived in my quarters."

The door creaked open and as she was guided a few steps in, she immediately noticed the stronger scent of jasmine that surrounded the idyllic air of Naailah's quarters. Without her sight, her other senses were heightened in compensation. Somewhere at the far end of the quarters, she heard the soft characteristic chimes from the wind bells. Feeling comforted by the quietude of the place, her body had also released itself from the tensed state while her empty stomach protested demandingly.

"I'll bring you some food, Lady Elianna," Kiran said. "Please give me a moment."

She felt the heat creep up the length of her neck at the embarrassment. She muttered bashfully, "I'm sorry to trouble you, Kiran."

"No trouble at all," Kiran chuckled, before removing her hand from her arm and she heard Kiran stepping away with her paced footsteps.

"Elianna," Naailah sounded from beside. "Before I speak, do you have anything you would like to say?"

"I actually do," Elianna said, her voice grew quieter. She hesitated a little but eventually spoke frankly, "I am from Thethia and of Thethian royal bloodline."

For a moment, there was no reply on the other end. Elianna's heart pounded loudly as the anxiousness within her chest grew.

"That's all?" Naailah laughed in returned. Her laughter was rather light-hearted and it had a tinkling quality that was close to the sonorous sounds of bells. For someone who is quiet and collected, Elianna definitely hadn't expected such a child-like laughter from her.

"But you do know about the feud—"

"That's fine, Elianna," she cut her halfway, before explaining, "I fulfil the request of Her Divinity. The feud between the Kingdoms would be the least of my concern."

"I can't possibly stay within the Royal Grounds," Elianna mentioned.

"You can stay in Alnair, under my protection," Naailah said.

In all honesty, her safety would be ensured if she was to stay in Alnair. Yet, her heart was refusing at the offer. Shaking her head slightly, she said softly, "I would like to stay away from the Royal Grounds."

"I expected that," Naailah sighed, there was a slight dejection in her tone. "I had a place prepared for you outside the Royal Grounds and I'll send people to escort us when daylight arrives, but on one condition."

"What is it?"

"You allow Kiran and Jana to be there to take care of you."

"Would they want to?" Elianna asked, wary. "They are royal maidservants."

"You can ask them later," Naailah replied. "Should they oppose it, I do have others in mind."

At this moment, the door clicked and was pushed opened once again. Elianna sensed a sudden force rushing towards her but she made no attempts of dodge because she recognised the crying voice that was accompanying the rushed footsteps, "Lady Elianna!"

"Jana!" Kiran reprimanded from behind, but it was too late because Jana had crashed into Elianna and she stumbled and fell back onto Naailah's bed. A pair of arms circled her tightly around her waist while the hugger sobbed pitifully against her chest.

"We meet again, Jana," Elianna let out a peal of laughter.

"Alright, get off Lady Elianna," Kiran sounded angry and Elianna felt another pair of hands trying to pull the circled arms off her. Elianna laughed even harder when Jana whined, "Don't pull on me so forcefully!"

As Kiran and Jana continued to struggle with Elianna in between them, Naailah was definitely amused, "I didn't know the two would be so attached to you."

"Your H-Highness!" Jana panicked, finally realising that the Second Princess was around.

"I told you to mind your manners!" Kiran scolded one last time while tugging on Jana's shoulder and forcing her to get off Elianna and stand by the bed as they bowed politely towards the Princess.

"Don't mind the formalities," Naailah pulled on Elianna's hand and settled her near the tray of food that Kiran had brought in a moment ago. Carefully, Naailah placed a spoon in her hand and guided her hand across the tray, stopping every now and then to explain to her the dish presented in front of her. Then, the three of them stepped aside respectfully for her to eat. She hadn't realised that even having a meal would be difficult without her sight. At this moment, she had come to understand that there were so many things that she had definitely taken for granted up till this point.

"Um, Kiran? Jana?" Elianna called out.

"We're here, Lady Elianna," Kiran acknowledged it immediately.

"I am moving out of Alnair tomorrow, but Naailah said that I would need people to be with me—"

"I volunteer myself!" Jana exclaimed.

"I would be glad if you would take me with you too," Kiran responded.

"Really?" Elianna was struck by their immediate response. "Both of you would have to leave the Royal Grounds."

"We are more than happy to be around you."," Kiran explained. 

"Let us be of help to you!" Jana added. 

"You both—" Elianna choked on her words as tears fell from the corner of her eyes. Her chest swelled with so much warmth from within that nothing could explain how much relief and happiness she felt.

"Please take care of us!" Jana and Kiran said in unison.

"Please take care of me," she laughed heartily through her tears.

━━━━━━━━━━

Iftia: Lyx Palace, Knight's Holdings

• Thunder •

Thunder sat by the window, peering out into the endless bed of white. The hollowness that had grown in his chest was immediately replaced with a wave of warmth and familiarity. Jumping out of his stupor, he grabbed his dagger from the bed and rushed out of his chamber.

"Thunder, where are you going?" Ilias was the first to notice him in the common area.

"Ilias, I need to go," Thunder said in a rush, packing in some stuff in a piece of random shoulder baggage hastily.

"W-Wait," Alec tried to stop him. "You aren't fully recovered yet! Where are you going?"

"Don't stop me!" Thunder hissed, swinging his arm off Alec's hold. "I need to go to her!"

"Her? You mean Elianna?" Ilias gasped.

"Yes," Thunder replied. "I felt her through the bond and I can't stay any longer. I have to go."

"She's alive?" Tristan must've heard the commotion and left his room. Thunder looked towards him and nodded slightly before Tristan bunched onto the material of his tunic in front of his chest and mumbled repeatedly, "Thank goodness..."

"Thunder, will you bring her back?" Kaylon asked carefully.

"I don't know," Thunder lowered his head slightly. "I'll let Eli decide."

"If that's the case, please do take care of her," Ilias said solemnly. "Do let her know that we miss her dearly and would stay by our promise to her."

"Till we meet again," Thunder said while looking at everyone.

"Be safe, Thunder."

"Always will," he grinned.

Turning around, Thunder followed the brimming warmth in his chest as he leapt into his panther form and left Lyx in a hurry. 

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a/n: in case you're wondering, the bond between elianna and thunder is very different from her and rowan's. thunder can only sense the life and magic energy of elianna and nothing else. i won't elaborate too much, you'll understand as the story progresses.