Head down, feet dragging, and a sigh one moment after the other; Fiona couldn't stop herself from thinking about Axel's sudden disappearance.
She hasn't seen him since he left her house, he stopped coming to the academy either. Only Darius and his two brothers usually comes to the academy.
Sometimes, she gets tempted to ask him about Axel, but she usually restrain herself. She'd get mocked at. No one in the academy likes her, so she's fully aware of what would come out of her asking about Axel.
Darius'd surely mock her. Definitely.
"I wonder if he's fine" She muttered, remembering how she'd seen him lament that night. She had never seen him in such vulnerable state. I hope he's doing well. She sighed again.
"Oh look; if it isn't the frog who was kissed by a prince" A sneer came from behind her, and she turned to see Carsel and her two friends, Larisa and Giselle. Hands folded, brows arched, and a frown on their face.
Fiona heaved a breath. She knew they'll come for her. She had been expecting this.
She turned, and was about leaving them on the spot, when they dragged her forcefully.
They grabbed her hair, and yanked it hard, and she winced.
"Bastards" She gritted.
"You're such a slut." Carsel hissed. "How dare you kiss him. How dare you!" She shouted crazily. "He was the one who kissed me; you should ask him, not me. It's making you look stupid" Fiona retorted, and Carsel's friends gasped.
Fiona had never spoken back. Never.
"What did you just say, wench!" Clarissa pushed her, and she fell to the floor, her hand bruising.
"Woah. You must be gaining some confidence lately. If you think you're on top of the world, because Axel kissed you, then you must be very delusional, you nonentity."
Fiona got up from the floor, and wiped the dust from her skirt.
"Funny how you are getting worked up over someone who doesn't even care about your existence. You're the delusional one" She shot back.
"You called him a demon. You told his deepest secret to the whole class, and you still want him to like you? You are an Alpha princess but you can't even think like one. I might be a scholarship student, and a weird one at that, but I'm sensible than you, Carsel." She spat, and Carsel's mouth hung open.
Did...did Fiona just spew all that at her???
Fiona walked as fast as her legs could carry, to the restroom. Immediately she closed the door, she exhaled out loud.
"I did it. I actually did it" She muttered, a sense of pride over clouding her.
Normally, she would have cowered in fear, but she actually stood up for herself this time.
As she came out of the restroom, eyes followed her, but she cared less. She knew the news of what happened between her and Carsel must have spread around the academy, but it was none of her business.
She had spoken back to an Alpha's daughter, but she still doesn't care. Enough is enough.
She took her seat in the far end of the classroom, ignoring all the stares and everyone around her, like they didn't even exist.
*
FROSTVALE PACK
CARSEL'S ROOM
Larisa and Giselle sat on the bed with Carsel, all clad in pyjamas. They all belong to the same pack; they could only attend the school because their fathers' were the Beta and Gamma of Frostvale respectively.
"Are you really not going to say anything? You're planning to this slide?" Larisa asked Carsel who had been quiet ever since what Fiona did in school.
They'd been expecting her to fume, retaliate and make Fiona see the worst immediately, but Carsel only stayed silent; chuckling at intervals.
Carsel scoffed at Larissa's remark, twirling a pencil in her hand. She won't deny the fact that Fiona's outburst actually took her aback.
"You are an Alpha princess, yet you don't think like one" Fiona's words echoed in her ears.
Snap. The pencil broke, and the two friends gulped. Carsel was madly angry.
"That fool" Carsel scoffed. "Her kissing Axel must have given her some balls. Such a stupid bitch" She hissed.
"She's gonna pay badly. Just say the word, Carsel." Giselle grinned like an evil witch, but Carsel only smirked. "It's been a while I had fun. Let's play the mouse"
Giselle and Larisa exchanged glances and smiled.
*
Axel headed for the Queen's chamber as fast as he could. She'd sent for him about thirty minutes ago, but he had been busy with the King's order.
He was about to cross to the eastern wing of the palace, when he saw something move on the roof, and he paused.
What was that?
The other guards were still parading. No one seemed to notice the subtle movement.
Axel creased his brows, as he observed silently, but everywhere was still.
He had definitely seen something move, or was it just an illusion?
After observing for minutes without seeing any other movement, he continued walking; checking the roof at intervals.
Then, as he turned towards the right, he felt breeze whizzed behind him, like something moved past fast, and he stopped again; and turned back as fast as he could, but just like before, there was no one behind him.
But a faint scent lingered behind him— there's an intruder in the palace.
However, if he should raise an alarm, and if turns out that it was nothing; he'd only cause trouble for himself.
He needs to confirm first.
He turned, walking in the direction of the faint scent he could catch.
It was very faint, almost as if it wasn't there at all, but his nose could still pick up something, so he followed his instincts.
Meanwhile,
A masked figure clad in black from head to toe, moved stealthily behind the palace.
So stealth and fluid.
The figure took few steps, and scaled the walls, climbing the roof of the King's Chamber.
He bent on one knee, surveying the environment. The guards in front of the King's Chamber were quite many, but they weren't that many at the back, so he landed with a soft thud at the back.
Quietly, he snuck to the back of the first guard, and wrapped an handkerchief around his neck. Down, he went.
"Who—" Before the other guard could raise an alarm, he threw a spike from where he is, and it net the guard at the nape of the neck, and he also went down.
The remaining guards were in other angles, so he crept quietly and approached the back door.
It wasn't locked, so he entered into the king's chamber.
No one was in the chamber. The King wasn't in.
He scanned the room, and quickly went to the drawer beside the bed.
He was searching for something.
He hissed when he didn't find what he was looking for in the drawer.
He paused when he saw a huge painting oj the wall, and he went to it, surveying it with his hands; instinctively, he slide it, and a red button appeared.
He pressed it, and the wall opened.
A secret chamber.
He looked around, and stepped in. There were a lot of documents there, jeweleries, artifacts.
He resumed his search, and "Voila"
He stopped as soon as he saw a scroll bind with a red rope.
He got it, and was about leaving, when a voice sounded behind him.
"I knew I smelt something fishy" Axel hissed, his eyes blazing at the masked figure.
The figure approached Axel with a sword, and he ducked it. Before Axel could process what was going on, he was spun around, and the masked figure handed the scroll to him, and bolted out immediately.
"What the heck!" Axel's eyes widened and at that moment, the door opened: the King, Elsa and a couple of guards entered the room.
"What the hell is going on here?!"