Queen of Endora?

“This is the capital of the former Blood Kingdom?” asked Katy in astonishment. Even from that distance, she could see the city’s magnificence., but what truly amazed her was the absence of snow all around the capital.

“Wait until you get inside. I promise it’s at least ten times more awesome than this.” Said Seth with a smile.

“I’ve heard stories about the Blood Kingdom being a land of criminals, my father even referring to it as the prison of the continent. How could it have changed so much?”

Seth smiled proudly and said: “The new king of Endora is quite amazing. Are you ready to go in?”

Katy turned her eyes from the city back to Seth and nodded in excitement, missing the proud look that briefly flashed past Seth’s eyes when he mentioned the king.

Seth didn’t waste another moment and teleported them both to the northern entrance to the capital. There were no walls built around it since Seth knew walls were quite useless against ascended, so as soon as their feet landed on the solid ground, the city’s preeminence was right there for them to see.

They were in a residential area, with plenty of beautiful white houses slathered all around and people walking in thin summer clothes, even if it was theoretically still winter.

Katy lifted her hand upwards, trying to feel the surrounding air, and she asked in surprise: “Why is it so warm?”

“Because there are fire ascended spreading their energy all around the city. This slowly warms up the air. Come, let’s head further in.”, said Seth, grabbing Katy’s hand and leading her southwards on the paved paths.

Katy looked at the pristine white houses and asked: “Are we in the noble area?”

“There are no real nobles besides the royal family. These are commoner houses.” Replied Seth.

“They look even better than my family’s houses, and my grandfather used to be a viscount…” muttered Katy, moving her eyes to look around more. “Now I know why you like it better here. It’s so pretty, and everyone seems to be living like rich people.”

By now, the various businesses inside the capital had also started slowly getting off the ground. People had ways to buy clothes, food, and other necessities, as well as many vanity and comfort items.

Most of the women they passed by had accessories to compliment their clothes, which by design, Seth knew must have been made by someone from Oath.

It took a while for them to finally leave the residential area, arriving in the commercial one, where different shops and businesses had been built. Katy quickly noticed they were no longer in the residential zone and asked: “Where is your place? Are we in the market? Isn’t your house in the residential area?”

“Just a little further. Let’s look around the shops. You can tell me if there’s something you want.” Said Seth with a chuckle, but Katy shook her head. “No. I want to see your place first.”

“Have some patience. We’ll get there.” Replied Seth, dragging the pouting Katy towards a small shop nearby.

Inside were a young girl and an old woman, the young girl wiping the dust off a bunch of hair ornaments set on display. They were pretty simple in design, but one could tell at a glance that all of them were made by hand.

Seeing a customer, the girl quickly put the cloth she was using to dust off the shells and rushed in front of Seth and Katy. “Miss, mister, anything I might help you with? Does the beautiful miss need an accessory?”

Seth nodded and said: “Yes, I wanted to buy one for her. Do you think you could recommend us something?”

Katy tugged on Seth’s sleeve with a rosy face, but Seth ignored her and looked expectantly at the young girl.

The little girl looked the blushing Katy up and down and said: “I do. Please wait here, customer, and I’ll be right back.”

After Seth nodded, the girl rushed towards the back of the shop, leaving Seth alone with Katy and the old woman.

The old woman looked at Katy and said: “Miss, you must be from Wrath, are you not?”

Katy was startled to be addressed by the old woman and turned towards Seth, whispering: “Is it alright for them to know where I’m from?”

Seth smiled and nodded toward the old woman. “She is indeed from Wrath, but she’s a little shy. Quite a beautiful shop you have here, madam.”

“Oh my, aren’t you a sweetheart?” Exclaimed the old woman, “, but this is all because of the grace of His Majesty.”

Katy looked like she wanted to ask something, but her attempt was stopped by the little girl returning with a small and simple, black and white hairpin.

“Miss, I think this would look best with your beautiful hair. Care to try it?” asked the little girl.

Seth grabbed the pin from the little girl’s hands when he noticed that Katy was hesitating and placed it in her hair before exclaiming: “You really have a good eye, young one. It’s amazing.”

With a red face, Katy moved to touch her pin, and the girl exclaimed with a proud smile: “If the miss is curious, there is a mirror right there.”

“Mirror?” asked Katy, but Seth didn’t explain and just motioned for her to go look as he walked to the old woman to pay for the pin.

Katy walked to the mirror and looked inside, amazed to see her face clearly reflected by it. After caressing her face and arranging her hair, she turned around, Seth by now having returned behind her, and asked: “What is this? It’s also made by ascended?”

“Something like that.” Replied Seth with a mysterious smile.

The two then thanked the shopkeepers and walked out of the shop. On the way south, Katy kept fiddling with her pin, a happy smile plastered on her face.

Seth took her through a few other shops, carefully looking at her face and buying almost anything he noticed caught her fancy.

All in all, the journey through the commercial part of the city took two over three hours, in which Seth drained most of his perception source, altering the way people saw him so that he won’t get recognized.

“How much more will we walk until we reach your place? I don’t need any more gifts.” Complained Katy with a pout, looking at the grand buildings that were appearing in front of her. She somehow got a feeling Seth would want to visit those as well.

“Just a little more. We’re just getting to the best part now.” Said Seth, walking with her toward Asteria Academy.

“That’s what you’ve been saying for the last two hours…” muttered Katy, fixing her eyes on the large gate in front of her. The words “Asteria” were carved high at the top and immediately caught her notice.

“Asteria? What is that?”

“The academy of Endora.” Replied Seth, looking at the grand gate with a smile.

“Academy? Like the one in Oath?” asked Katy, excitement starting to appear on her previously tired face. “Is this where you’re staying? Are you a teacher here as well?”

“No, this is not where I’m staying, but you could say I am indeed a teacher here.” Said Seth, ready to lead her inside.

Sadly, his fun was ruined by an orange-haired beauty landing right before him. She was wearing a thin, long white dress, and her eyes immediately darted to the pink-haired beauty next to Seth.

“I see you picked something extra along the way.” Exclaimed the woman, her eyes scanning Katy up and down.

“Good to see you, Hollie.” Said Seth with a subtle smile, releasing Katy’s hand to take a step forward and kiss Hollie’s lips.

Katy blushed and immediately understood the woman’s identity. Bowing her head, she said softly: “Nice to meet you, miss.”

Hollie nodded and turned towards Seth. “If Maya finds out you’re here and didn’t tell her as soon as you arrived, she’ll probably kick your ass.”

“I wanted to see how the place is doing. Thanks for not telling her yet.” Replied Seth with a wry smile. “By the way. This is Katy, someone from the Wrath Kingdom I met on the way.”

Hollie extended her hand toward Katy and said indifferently, “I’m Hollie. Nice to meet you.”

Katy wondered if Hollie’s indifference was because she didn’t like Seth getting a new girl, but she still moved to shake hands while keeping her questions to herself.

“You better go see Maya soon. There are also many things you need to do and…” Hollie took a small break before saying. “I also need some time with you after.”

Seth sighed and took one more look at the academy before nodding. “Fine. I’m leaving the academy visit for another time. Fly us to Maya.”

Without another word, Hollie’s air energy wrapped around Seth and Katy, lifting them both up and flying them toward the palace grounds.

Katy held onto Seth’s arm tightly, looking at Hollie’s back, and whispered in his ear: “Does she hate me?”

“I don’t hate you.” Replied Hollie, causing Katy to quickly blush fiercely and Seth to chuckle.

“She’s an air ascended. She can hear a whisper from miles away if she wants to. Also, don’t mind her mood. That’s just how she is.”

The journey was set to be awkward for Katy, but luckily for her, it was also short. The three were soon upon the palace garden, landing next to a large table where a couple of women were happily chatting while enjoying some warm tea.

Everyone’s faces froze once their eyes settled on the newcomers. Around the table in the garden were Maya, Aleena, Tiana, and Henrietta, all of Seth’s lovers.

Before anyone could react, Maya jumped from the table, her small cup of tea falling loudly to the ground, and charged into Seth’s arms, pushing him straight to the ground.

Not minding the others, not even Katy, who she barely even noticed, Maya hugged Seth’s neck and kissed him passionately, like her life depended on it.

Seth knew how much she must have missed him, so he didn’t stop her, moving his arms around her waist and kissing them back.

“This Maya, she could leave some for us as well, couldn’t she?” asked Aleena in frustration while supporting her head in the palm of her hand and looking at the kissing couple. More than a minute had already passed, and the two looked like they had no intention of stopping any time soon.

Henrietta nodded and then looked at the shy Katy, who didn’t know what to do by now. Another woman occupied her pillar of support and was surrounded by entirely unfamiliar faces. Unconsciously, she darted a bit closer to Hollie, who she had at least been introduced to.

“Come sit with us. These two will take a while to separate.” Said Henrietta with a kind smile, understanding at a glance Katy’s identity.

Katy nodded and joined the others at the table with timid steps, taking a seat next to Henrietta, who seemed like the kindest of the lot.

“I’m Henrietta, a former princess of the Oath Kingdom and an ascended of four energies, destruction, creation, space, and time.”

“This is Tiana, a former teacher of the Oath Academy and a fire ascended.”

“Aleena, former fallen of the Oath Academy and an earth ascended.”

“You have already met Hollie. She’s also a former Oath’s Academy teacher and an air ascended.”

“Oh, and the hungry one eating Seth up is Maya. The former headteacher of the Oath Academy and current Queen of Endora. She’s also a powerful water ascended.”

Henrietta quickly introduced everyone to make Katy feel less uncomfortable, but she had no idea that her words had traumatized her completely.

Katy moved her head slowly toward the kissing pair and asked hesitantly, her eyes fixed on Maya’s back.

“Queen of Endora?”