Desmond smiled and let out a scoff.
He stepped away from Alethea and turned back to the ground of women who laid on the large mat.
“You wanted to give me some important information,” he said, wrapping his towel back around his waist.
“Yes, my lord.
It’s about the rebels who have been fighting against our soldiers for the last 10 days.
We were finally able to track them down to their camp site, and soon we will launch an attack that will wipe them out for good.
Once we’re done with that rebel group, other rebel groups will be too afraid to take on our forces,” Alethea reported, still averting her eyes from her lord’s bare body.
“That’s good to hear.
Anything else?” Prince Desmond asked.
“Yes, my lord.
While tracking them down, we came across a few of the rebels who were transporting food items to their camp site.
When we checked what items they had, we realized that they weren’t from our side of the world at all.
The food items they carried we’re from the Luna-side,”
”What?” Desmond asked.
“You heard me right.
This led us to believe that these people might actually be trained soldiers who use the royal gates to move between the two worlds, but that can’t be possible, because only knighted soldiers can move through those gates, and if any were to pass through them, we would be informed immediately.
Besides those gates, there is only one other way between the two worlds, and that’s through the forest of the damned.
I don’t think anyone would dare go in there even if a sword was put to their throats,” Alethea replied.
“That means there is another way through the barrier,” Desmond said in realization.
“Yes, my lord.
But we can’t know for sure until we attack that rebel group tonight.
I asked a few of our soldiers to take the clothes of the food deliverers, and infiltrate the camp so they don’t suspect a thing until we arrive,” Alethea answered.
“Alethea, do any of my brothers know of this?” Desmond asked.
“Well, no… but… I planned to…” Alethea was about to answer when Desmond suddenly interrupted.
“You planned to what?
Inform Rowan?” the tone of his voice suddenly changed.
Alethea remained silent.
She could feel her skin crawl at the sound of his voice, and she could tell immediately that his mood had changed.
Desmond turned around and walked over to Alethea again.
“As your commander and prince, I order you not to release this information to any other soul apart from those who already know.
If you do… you will be sorry,” Desmond said with a stern tone.
Staring down at Alethea.
“Yes, my lord,” Alethea replied.
“You’re dismissed,” Desmond added.
Alethea turned around quickly and as about to march out when the prince said.
“And, Alethea, as you already know, I always get what I want.
That means sooner or later that body you hold so dear will be mine, and there’s nothing you or my brother, Rowan, can do about it.”
Alethea stopped for a moment, tightened her fists, and marched through the curtains.
“Hey, what’s your name?” I asked curiously as the pixie I met earlier lead me through the forest.
We had been walking past trees and through bushes for a few minutes and surprisingly we hadn’t been attacked by any monster, and hadn’t seen any strange creatures around, possibly because of the bright light the pixie emitted from her body.
I suddenly felt safer around her and felt like nothing could harm me at this point.
“We pixies don’t have names you humans can pronounce because we’re never supposed to cross paths with humans.
Although, the last human who crossed paths with a pixie, gave that pixie a special name I can’t recall.
So, feel free to call me whatever you like,” the pixie replied.
“Oh, in that case, I guess I’ll call you…
Lila,” I suggested, raising my dress and hopping over a puddle of water.
“Lila; I like it, it perfectly describes me,” The pixie responded, spinning around mid-air and spreading more glowing dust around.
“I’m glad you like it.
So, you said a human named a pixie before.
Does that mean other humans have ventured into these parts and survived?” I asked.
“Well, yes.
“But, why haven’t there been tales of their survival?
Only tales of people dying here are ever told to children on the outside world.
If there is a way to survive the Forest of the damned, then humans would come explore and learn about the creatures here, there could be a whole new field of knowledge hidden in these woods,” I asked curiously.
“Well, that’s exactly what we’re afraid of.
If humans realize that pixies are the only way to survive the forest, they capture us and trap us in little cages to use as lamps.
For this reason, humans are hated by the pixies and are never supposed to cross paths with them,” Lila replied, her voice sounded less loud and confident than it was before.
I could notice the slight break in her voice while she spoke, and that told me something was wrong.
“But if those humans who ventured in here really did survive, there should have at least been rumours about it,” I said, sounding a little sceptical.
“There should have been, but there weren’t any because the pixies made them promise not to reveal anything to anyone,” Lila replied, her voice went even lower and colder.
Now I was very sure that she wasn’t telling me something.
“Are you perhaps getting angry, Lila?
Your voice is no longer as joyous as when we met,” I said, looking indifferent directions to figure out where could run to.
Lila quickly turned around and said with a bright smile I knew was fake.
“Angry?
No.
Pixies don’t get angry, but we do occasionally get stressed out.
But don’t worry, when you meet the other pixies, you can ask them all the questions you want,” Lila said.
Her voice suddenly sounded very happy again.
As we moved further, I could suddenly see a bright yellow glow coming from behind the bushes.
Lila quickly turned around and her smile grew wider.
“We’re here, Celene.
The tree of life lies beyond those bushes, and all the other pixies await my arrival.
When they see you, they’ll sing songs and dance around you until you fall asleep, and they protect you through the night,” Lila said happily as we moved closer and closer to the bright orange light.
I was a bit suspicious of the creature that floated before me, but I was too distracted by the brightly glowing light that my mind had gone completely stiff.
The sounds made by the thousands of pixies that floated around the tree put me in a trans I couldn’t escape from.
I quietly followed Lila past the buses and my eyes grew even wider as I saw the tree.