Chapter VI: Belated Birthday

S E L A D O N A G E
T W E N T Y

Piercing blue eyes scanned the darkness, Seladon smirked as she counted the stars which filled up the night sky which was slowly lightening in colour, she slowly and quietly slid out of bed and threw her arms above her head, stretching meekly.

The old, outdated alarm clock which sat at her bedside table read '03:00 am' 9 years ago she was engaged to Markus the prince of Lotia, the second Elven kingdom.

"Let's do this," Seladon peeled her clothing off of her body and replaced them with black leggings, a beige top, and a black hooded coat, "Even if I'm caught sneaking out surely I won't be recognized in this."

Squatting down and reaching under her bed Seladon pulled out her bow and quiver of arrows, holding onto them as if they were her pride and joy.

Quite frankly, archery was the only thing that sparked joy in her recently.

Seladon tied the laces of her black combat boots, they were perfect for fighting in and perfect for running in.

The princess flipped her hood, covering her head and face before she quietly snuck out of the castle, carefully and quietly avoiding getting caught by patrolling guards or worse, her father.
Her breath hitched, and she could see her breath in small white particles as she breathed due to the cold weather, her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth in an attempt to hide her visible breath as she approached a guard.

The guards of Osa weren't normal elves, they were elves who had been selected to guard the barrier and royal family with their life, they had been training since they were able to walk and if they were ever to fail their duties as a guard they would be shunned by the royal family and Elven community.

What happens after that?

Death. By their own hand or by the royal family's hand.

Seladon moved carefully and tactically, wanting nothing more than to escape without being caught.
The princess smirked as she successfully bypassed the guard and slipped through the barrier, laughing quietly as she ran away from the castle.

Escaping was easy for her, after all, she had been sneaking through the barrier for 16 years, ever since she was four years old.

"Heyo!" Seladon called out, her voice followed by a splashing sound, her eyes lit up with glee once the appearance of a familiar blonde merman filled her sight, "Long time no see huh Alton?" She gave her friend a cheeky smile.

"I saw you yesterday..." The merman submerged half of his body out of the water and leaned his arms against the dirt and muddy earth which surrounded his pond, he returned the cheeky smile Seladon had given him, "You keep sneaking out to see me, what's the occasion this time? You miss me?"

Seladon rolled her eyes and sat down on a dry patch of grass, "Not just you, I miss the others too as a matter of fact they will be joining us in a few minutes."

"Wait you didn't forget what today was didn't you?" Seladon gasped and crossed her arms lightly over her chest.

Alton's eyes widened, his hands twitching, feeling a pang of jealousy upon hearing the princess didn't want to just see him but Kenichi and Tenebris too.

He never liked those two, Kenichi was too up in his own ego, his head so big you could use it as a boat and he could feel that Tenebris was always up to something, he didn't trust them around Seladon at all.

Alton dived into the water, confusing Seladon but her confusion didn't last too long as the merman had surfaced from the water, using his tail to flick a large amount of water toward her direction, "No, I didn't forget, Happy Birthday Princess."

The girl's shriek hit the eardrums of two passersby who made their appearance known, "That's a present she'll remember forever alright, too bad mine is even better." Seladon and Alton's attention was diverted to two men, one had black fluffy wings and the other had golden, entrancing eyes one eye covered by an eyepatch.

"Hey Kenichi and Tenebris!" Seladon smiled at the two before throwing a pebble in their direction, "You're late...!"

Alton's eyes bore into the two males, his gaze was full of malice, he was envious at the very thought of them talking to Seladon.
His malice wasn't dismissed, The shapeshifter and Demon were all too familiar with the merman's hatred for them.

But it amused them.

After all, what was he going to do to them? He's stuck in a lake.

"Here," Kenichi strode toward Seladon, removing his fancy black jacket from his shoulders and placing it on hers, "you look cold, Happy Birthday Kiska."

The princess smiled, her cheeks gaining a small amount of colour at the gesture, "Thanks, but you were just wearing this jacket, it's probably old and worn out." She raised her eyebrows and taunted the shapeshifter.

An irk mark appeared on Kenichi's forehead, "Are you saying that my jacket is too good for you? It's not old! and you should be thankful I'm giving it to someone like you." He huffed and Seladon laughed, she really liked getting under his skin, she found it amusing how one man's pride can be tarnished so quickly.

"It's a great gift, thank you, Kenichi."

"Damn right it's great, and I know I'm irresistible so I gave you something that smells like me so you won't have to bore yourself with missing me every day."

Seladon rolled her eyes and gave a breathless laugh before turning her attention to her other friend who was watching the whole situation with his arms crossed against his chest and his teeth clenched.

"And how have you been Tenebris?"

The demon pushed his way passed Kenichi with a scoff and sat himself beside Seladon, "I got you this." He gently opened up her hand and placed a gorgeous obsidian bracelet in her hand, it was warm to the touch and glistened in the moonlight.

"Woah... are you sure? This is.."

"Are you calling me poor?!"

Seladon's eyes widened and she shook her head rapidly, "No no! It's lovely thank you Tenebris but are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm fucking sure," The demon rolled his eyes, "I've told you everything here is mine, it's my turf remember? So I can have whatever I want and give whatever the fuck I want away."

Seladon slowly put her index finger against Tenebris's mouth, shushing him, "You'd think after nine years your profanity would die down..." She rolled her eyes with a small smile, there was a time she was terrified of the demon because of his species.

Demons and elves were naturally born enemies, polar opposites so of course they'd be bound to dislike each other but the two put their differences aside and became friends instead.

Alton and Kenichi stared at the elf and the demon, both had malice in their eyes, the three men knew that they were all after one objective and they weren't going to let anyone get in the way of it.

They all wanted Seladon.

And Seladon was oblivious to it all.

A/N sorry for the lack of updates, its been a while, not just for this book but all my others, I've been going through a lot, and I finally have time and motivation to write again :)