The Aldean Chronicles: Spotlight (Part 2)

The next evening, I say goodbye to my parents.

I'm dressed up in a burgundy turtleneck top and a brown plaid skirt. On my ears are pearl earrings and I'm donning a matching necklace.

"You look so beautiful, sweetie." My mom kisses my cheek. "I'll miss you."

"Me too." My dad gives me a kiss on the forehead. "But I definitely won't miss this place."

"Yeah, no. Definitely won't." My mom agrees and I laugh.

"How about from now, you come back home when you want to visit us?" My dad says with a hard smile. "Although you shouldn't even be visiting us. You should be here for school, and back with us during the holidays." I look away. "You don't have to do this. Come home with us now." He presses. "Your aunt can't stop you. If she does, create the biggest press storm since..."

"Since people found out about me?" I offer.

"It can be bigger." He suggests.

I smile. "I like it here." I'm a little surprised I said that. "I don't know. Back home, I always felt lost. I felt ridiculous, awkward, like I was always doing the wrong thing. I still feel like that here. But it's different now. I feel like this is where I'm meant to be. I have friends, my school, this feels like home." Summer might have been awful, but what kept me going was the thought of school at the start of September.

Hurt flashes across my parents' faces.

"But you two will always be my favourite people. In every world."

My mom's eyes are red. "Come here." They give me one final hug and pull away a minute later. "Call us."

"I will." I watch as they walk into their black car with tinted windows and drive out of the open gate.

I'm careful not to wipe my eyes so I don't smear my makeup.

"Ready?" Lilian appears behind me, watching my parents drive away.

"Yeah." She hands me a tissue and I wipe my nose. "Are you alright?" I ask and fold my arms across my chest.

"I'm not the one getting snot on an expensive designer dress." She glances at my hand.

I take the tissue away from my dress. "This must have been weird for you." I continue.

Her shoulders appear stiffer. "My life is filled with awkward interactions. I'm used to it by now."

I stare at the closed gate. "Never like this."

"We should leave now if we want to make it in time." She walks out the door.

I walk silently into the car behind her.

***

The next month goes by without any hindrances.

That makes everyone scared. Whatever the Ryppers are planning, it's going to be huge.

And it might happen today.

It's the last Saturday of August and the day of the annual Military Commemoration Ceremony.

It marks the end of summer and Aldeans get to enjoy a three-day weekend.

School isn't till next Sunday, the fourth of September. I can't wait to go back and be free from all these functions.

Today, I have to watch some military officials retire and some get promoted. Since it's such a big event, I'm wearing a pretty diamond tiara. It's one of the few functions we're allowed to wear one.

I'm also wearing a blue dress since that's the main color of our military.

Kat is quite anxious to see Jamie after three months. She would have been fine avoiding him till the end of time. But today, Jamie's dad is getting a promotion, so he was invited. I see Jamie before the event starts and congratulate him. "How do you feel?"

He bounces on his feet. "I love these ceremonies. It inspires me to be the best cadet the army has ever seen. And in two years, I'll get to start."

I smile. "I'm so happy for you, you know what you want and you're going after it."

He laughs. "Thanks."

Jamie's mother walks up to us and smiles at me. "Princess Cassandra, so nice to see you." She's beaming with pride. "How are you, how's your family?"

"We're great, thank you for asking. Congratulations, this must be a good day for you."

"It is. The sky is blue, the air is cool against my skin, and my husband is being elevated to fifth most powerful man in the military." She squeals. "I know I'm not supposed to say the ranks like that out loud, but I'm just so happy." She can't stop smiling. "The only thing that will make this day truly glorious is if my son and your cousin stop their game and just get back together already."

"Mum, seriously, we're broken up. Accept it." Jamie says, slightly annoyed.

His mom sighs. "This is ridiculous, Jamison and you know it. Katya is a wonderful girl and you two love each other so much. Princess Cassandra. Don't you agree?"

I try not to stammer. "Um yes, they do love each other. But at the end of the day, it's up to them." I play with my necklace. "The ceremony is about to start. I should get to my seat."

In the first row are my Aunt, Uncle Max, Seb, Lilian, and the four officers retiring today. Going back is the newly promoted officers seating according to rank. Kat, Grey, and I are seated at the back with some politicians.

In sections behind us are more politicians and family members of the officers. My uncle talks about their achievements and their years of service.

"This man has dedicated the last 36 years of his life to serving our great country. We couldn't have asked for a better soldier. The man in question is none other than Head Naval Officer Bekov." We all clap.

My Aunt walks up to give him the final medal of his career and we clap louder.

After all this, it's time for the promotions. "Major General Mctavish will hereby be addressed as Lieutenant General McTavish. He has dedicated twenty-six years of his life to the military and continues to prove himself every day." We all clap. My Aunt pins his medal to his lapel and he salutes her with a very straight face.

The ceremony drags on and officers in the Air Force and Army get promoted.

Soon, the event ends. After taking some pictures, I wander around the field with Kat.

The ceremony is being held in Flodden Field. It means a lot to Aldeans because it was where hundreds of thousands of their soldiers lost their lives in 1758, during the Illyrian war. Aldean kind of won the war, so there's that.

Since the war officially ended, this is where important military functions are held.

"Can this please be over soon?" Grey mutters. "Why do we have to stay back, I've smiled for enough pictures." I didn't notice when he walked up.

Kat smiles at the two of us and leaves to talk with Myles who's attending the event as a Liege.

I remember that we're in public and now is not the time to punch him. I decide to walk away quietly.

Lilian catches my eye fifty meters away. She abandons her conversation with council members for a second to send me a signal.

I take a deep breath and stay at Grey's side. "Yeah." I feel ready to snap his neck. "And this crown is starting to itch." I resist the urge to scratch my head.

"It does that." He isn't wearing anything on his head. It's even rarer for men to wear crowns here.

"Camera." We both put forth dazzling smiles and a few pictures are captured. As soon as the photographer leaves, we're back to our carefully calculated expressions.

"I see you're still pissed at me." He whispers.

"Well, over the last month you've made no attempt to apologize or make up for your behavior." I cough to hide my scowl. "So no, Greyson, I haven't forgiven you."

Someone places a gentle hand on my elbow. I turn back and snap, "what?"

It's Keri. She uses her index finger to tap my elbow three times. I'm so angry with Grey, it takes me a few seconds to realize what that means. It's our distress codes.

I know Grey noticed but his face gives nothing away.

He eventually smiles at Keri. "What do you want us to do?"

Keri smiles as well. "It's time for the official family picture."

I know that isn't for another twenty minutes.

"Of course." Grey nods. "Come on, Cass." He loops his arm in mine and we walk toward the edge of the field where the cars are parked. Keri searches for Kat. "Try not to look so scared."

"When was the last time you or Kat got a distress call?" I whisper back.

Grey smiles at a passing couple. "Not for a few years."

My heart starts beating faster. I suppress memories from the last time I was attacked by Ryppers. So many people died. My head feels heavy and if Grey didn't have his arm in mine, I might have frozen in the middle of the field.

"Don't look so scared," Grey says. "Smile, say hello. Look normal."

I take a deep breath. "Okay."

I offer a Liege and her husband a forced smile and say hello to the State Treasurer. She tries to stop me for a chat, but Grey apologizes and pulls me away.

"We're almost there. Just try not to look so constipated."

I silently curse Aldean for having an annual festival on one of the biggest fields in the Capitol. It's easily five acres.

After a few more minutes of walking. We see Aunt Freya standing with Seb at the utmost edge of the field. Fifty feet from them are the black cars we came in. They're both talking to one of the retired officers and a Liege.

Everyone is smiling and laughing. Seb and my aunt are acting like some of the people in this field aren't leaving it alive.

We finally reach them and Grey kisses Aunt Freya's cheek.

"Where's Katya?" She asks us. A look of fear and panic flashes across her eyes.

"Keri's getting her for the picture," Grey says.

Dent appears with a tablet and a photographer.

"We should excuse you." The Liege with Seb and Aunt Freya says. "Commander Darbyson, why don't we get some snacks?"

The woman laughs. "Please, call me Leah. As of today, I am officially done with Military business."

They turn to leave.

"Wait," I say without thinking. They look at me expectantly.

I glance at Aunt Freya. It's impossible to miss the warning in her eyes.

"You should try the chicken finger sandwiches." I smile. "They're really good."

Officer Darbyson smiles. "We will." She and the Liege walk off to join the other guests.

Before Aunt Freya can reprimand me, Kat strolls up to us with Keri.

Her mother physically relaxes.

Dent clears his throat. "Intelligence thinks the attack will take place in two minutes."

Keri takes her tablet from him. "Some news from The General. Some of the officers caught one of the Insurgents not far from here. They only have two minutes to make him tell us where his colleagues are. But we might not have much luck with him."

I frown and whisper to Kat. "A Rypper?"

"The people who created them." She whispers back. "They need the four elements to create them. Really powerful elementals can control their magic half a mile away. If they can all cooperate, they can send a horde here."

"That is right." Aunt Freya is looking at us. "And this field isn't far from the centre of the Capitol. There are thousands of people in a two-mile radius and we can't search all of them."

"What about the people here?" I look back at the couple who just left us. The woman is chatting animatedly with other guests. "Can't we warn them?"

"We are not creating panic, Cassandra. The guards are securing the premises as we speak. We have how long?" She points at Dent.

"A minute." He responds.

"Till they attack. It won't make a difference. There are thousands of people here. We can't get them all out in time."

"But we can leave?" I scoff.

Aunt Freya rolls her eyes. "I don't have time for this." She snaps her fingers at the photographer. "Let's all gather round. Big smiles." We huddle closer to her. "And you two." She points at Keri and Dent. "Arrange my press conference for this evening. I will be releasing the action plan earlier than expected. We had seven minutes to save the people here. It was never going to work. All that matters now is how we move forward."

I switch places with Kat so she's standing beside her mother.

"Big smiles, please." Aunt Freya chides.

The photographer gets in position and counts down with his fingers.

When we hear the click of his camera, chaos descends.