Love Athena

Chapter Four

I imagine Alexander with JK's vibe sometimes. Enjoy.

.//.

He knocked on the door of her house at 6: 57 am the next morning. 

She had been up for hours. Well, she hadn't slept. 

Staying awake to analyze last night's events and coming up with plausible reasons and conclusions proved futile. She had no idea who the perpetrator could be and what they wanted from her that they could not have gotten from her deceased master. 

However, she was certain of one thing. Her presence in the kingdom and her possible relationship with the royal family threatened the kingdom's safety.

She opened the door and stepped out locking it behind her. When the prince saw the cold expression on her face, his smile fell. He looked around; there was no one within fifty yards.

"C-Camila, is there a p-problem?" he whispered, his voice quivering with...fear?  

She looked at him and tried to read his expression. He looked scared of...maybe...

Losing her.

She looked away and replied in her signature monotone voice, "None, Your Highness."

When he didn't reply, her heart dropped.

She didn't need to look at him. She could feel his overwhelming sadness in her chest. She wanted to jump into his arms and console him but couldn't. That would be a sign of relinquishing control, and control was her greatest strength now that her knowledge failed her.

As they walked to the archives, she felt the air thicker with each step. Her steps slowed involuntarily as if the pull was forcing her closer to him. She heard him pick up speed behind her to catch up perhaps. She tried to speed up but that was impossible. 

As he got to her side, her legs overcame the spell cast on them and began to move normally. He walked beside her with just an inch between their fingers. The sadness in her heart cleared. 

They walked in comfortable silence for another twenty minutes before the thirty-foot-tall ancient black gates of the second-largest collection of knowledge in the world came into view. She placed her hands on the gate and it opened. The biometric scan on the gate scanned from the retina to DNA. No one except the king, queen, Freda, and herself had access. Even Freda's was limited, she could only go into the first of the four compartments of the archives. 

She turned to her left in time to see the prince's jaw drop. 

It was beautiful.

The cobbled path they walked on had stone animal sculptures on each side every few feet. The grounds boasted a vast exotic collection of flora and fauna, some of which were extinct in the outside world. As they walked, some of the birds flew around the prince's head and he laughed, spinning in circles.

"How is this even possible? I have seen at least five animals that are supposed to be extinct," he said, grinning at the birds as they flew away.

"Within these walls, everything is allowed to grow," she replied, watching him.

"Even love?" he asked, still looking upwards. Her heart skipped a beat. She frowned.

What was it with her organs malfunctioning whenever he was around? 

She continued to walk without replying. When they got to the buildings, the prince stopped and stared at the three massive castle-like structures in a triangle joined to each other by drawbridges. 

When the actual doors opened after another scan and they stepped in, he whispered, "How did I not know this was here?"

From floor to ceiling, there were books, scrolls, journals, and everything in between. What made it special was the fact that some of these works were moving around themselves, organizing and updating old information, and recording new ones. That meant Freda was around. The person in question came into view after they rounded the corner.