"Rhea is missing!" Luna burst into the room, searching every corner. Her hand lifted the curtain, afraid Rhea might be hiding from her. "Rhea?"
All her friends entered Rhea's room, searching every possible place where she could be—inside the closet, under the now-empty bed, and in the rooms surrounding Rhea's.
Luna walked toward the two people still conscious in front of the room. They were still lying down, clutching their stabbed stomachs. One of Rhea's hands was pulling the collar of one of the two.
"Where is my sister?!" she demanded, asking for an explanation from the two before her. Luna had no time to waste. If she had to knock on every room in this palace, she would—so long as she found her little sister. "You don't want to tell me where Rhea is?!"
They only groaned in pain, as if refusing to let Luna know where her sister was. Luna turned to see Elric approaching her. He pulled Luna's arm into the room. Elric knew everyone here was at their breaking point. Thalia and Mia also sat weakly in Rhea's room—the one she had stayed in before vanishing.
****
"Does Rhea like to draw?" Finn had turned his throne room into a battlefield. On the dais, Finn sat on his throne, accompanying Rhea, who was drawing with black ink at the table and chair he had placed beside him.
"Yes, usually with Papa and Mama," Rhea said, still engrossed in her drawing, while a hundred guards stood in the room ready to block anyone Luna might bring with her. Rhea dropped her quill pen near the edge of the ink pot before turning to John, who sat beside her. "Uncle John, why are there so many guards here with swords? Are they training in this place?"
"Umm..." John didn't know how to respond to Rhea. He couldn't possibly tell her they were all here to kill Luna and her other siblings.
"Waiting for Luna to draw. They just want to relax here a little after working all day," Tom chimed in after overhearing the conversation.
The problem was—there was no relaxing while holding swords. They were all on high alert, ready for enemy arrival, not relaxing and waiting for lunch.
"Uncle Finn, where's Eleanor? Can Rhea go to the garden today?" the little girl asked Finn, who smiled in response. Finn did treat Rhea very kindly. Sadly, today Rhea had to go home because Luna had arrived.
Luna and her friend might soon enter the throne room.
"Rhea, didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to go home?" Finn's hand gently stroked her hair, giving her a sense of security that made Rhea smile and nod. "Today, your sister is coming to pick you up."
"Luna?" Finn nodded.
"How about we call your sister from here? She might not know where you are right now." Rhea hesitated at first, but Finn's smile seemed to reassure her that she would be fine. "It's okay. Call your sister from here, as loud as you can."
"Luna!" Rhea shouted, a little shy as she occasionally glanced at the grown men standing around her, worried she was doing something wrong. "Luna!"
****
"That's Rhea's voice!" Cal said, prompting everyone to rush out of the room and head toward the main hallway. They left the empty room behind and walked slowly toward the center of the palace.
"Luna!" The voice was getting clearer. Luna was sure her little sister was near the throne room—a highly restricted area not everyone was allowed to enter.
Before stepping in, Luna turned to her friends. Without saying a word, everyone seemed to understand whether they should enter or not. Once Luna got a nod from everyone, Cal kicked the door open. His footprint left a clear mark on the three-meter-high door.
As soon as the door opened, Luna and her friends raised their weapons, ready to strike anyone who got in their way.
"Luna?!" The voice came again. Luna saw her sister sitting in a chair next to Finn's throne. "Did you come to pick me up?"
The problem was—between Luna and her sister stood about a hundred royal guards from Mierre-Park in their blue uniforms. And let's not forget the swords each of them held. Damn it. Luna hadn't planned for this.
"Drop your weapons!" said the man standing at the front. This time, Luna had no choice. The only way out was negotiation—if she wanted to leave with Rhea safely.
Luna threw her knife to the floor, letting everyone know she had surrendered and was ready to negotiate. Her two younger siblings and three other friends followed, showing signs of surrender by throwing down their weapons.
"Welcome back, Luna!" Finn's greeting held no charm for her. Luna calmly walked into the throne room until she was stopped mid-step by guards pointing swords at her. "We all knew a very important guest would be arriving at Mierre-Park Palace. That's why I wanted to greet you properly here, in my throne room."
"Thank you for your warm welcome, King Finn. Now I'd like to take Rhea home." Luna spotted one of the people she most wanted to kill—Tom. He was standing behind Rhea. And then there was John, beside her little sister, who smiled sweetly, unaware she was in the middle of monsters.
"Let's have tea first. You should've had tea with me last night. Why didn't you say you were visiting?" Luna's eyes widened at Finn's reference to her sneaking into the palace last night. So they had known since then that she was here for Rhea.
"Rhea, tell us what you and Luna talked about last night." Tom gently stroked Rhea's hair. That man needed to be warned—he had no right to touch others without permission. Rhea had her family. Tom was not allowed to touch her.
"Just talked about horses, and going home to the camp," said Rhea, still smiling. She thought they were all good people—but no, Rhea. Luna knew how cruel they could be to their enemies.
Their most cunning trick was to treat enemies like a cat playing with a mouse. Not to eat it, but to toy with it until it died on its own.
"Do you want to go home now?" Tom asked again.
"May I, Uncle?" Rhea replied.
The girl gathered the sheets she had used to make some drawings, rolled them up neatly so she could carry them with ease.
"Do you need help? I can walk you to your sister." But Rhea shook her head. She stepped down from her chair and turned to the three men who had stood behind her.
"Thank you for giving me milk every day, Your Highness." Luna let Rhea walk toward her, crossing the red carpet that ran through the large hall. Her steps were small, just like her tiny frame.
Luna had thought Finn would be difficult to negotiate with—but apparently, he already knew Luna had come for her youngest sister. Luna's chest warmed.
She wanted to hug Rhea as soon as possible before they both headed back to camp. They'd spend lots of time horseback riding, just like Rhea had mentioned yesterday when they met.
"Luna, what is Tom doing now?" Thalia's question made Luna instantly shift her focus toward Tom. The man was holding his knife, playing with it in his hand, making Luna uneasy.
When he found his mark, Tom threw the knife hard, straight at the girl, calmly walking toward her. In that moment, Luna snapped. She went wild, fighting to break free from the trap made up of a hundred palace guards.
Luna's hand reached out for Rhea, but her sister was still too far. All she could do was struggle desperately within the swarm of guards.
"Rhea! Sit down!" Rhea didn't understand why Luna was yelling. All her friends were hysterical, trying to save Rhea from the flying knife.
Until...