"There are twelve Celestial Knights serving the king at his round table."

♣

Chapter Forty-Six ♣ We Meet Again

Valeriana remembered telling the king that she should be able to find her way around but, alas, what grave mistake it was. She underestimated the whole thing and got lost on her way to find the restroom. With the previously beautiful, silky, sky-blue dress now drenched in water that she spewed directly from her mouth, Valeriana felt uncomfortable to have her clothes sticking to her skin.

She tugged on the wet portion of the dress' skirts and grimaced. "Agh. Genius, Valeriana. Genius!" She threw her arms in the air. "Now, I'm lost. Why does this place have to be so freaking big?"

It was poor judgment on her part. She should've taken up the king's offer to have someone accompany her, but the girl was so embarrassed that she wanted to have some time to herself and recover.

She just had to cough up water in front of the table.

Letting her eyes get a gist of her surroundings, she found herself in a long and seemingly endless corridor with limitless options of twists and turns. The wall on her right side had large and arched windows in which the moonlight beamed through. The floor was the color of jade, made entirely out of polished marble. Although the interior of the palace was a sight to behold, her attention was once again captured by the sight of its exterior.

Why was it that the meadow of flowers right outside the palace seemed to bring her odd, nostalgic feelings? She eyed the field of bright flowers. Unconsciously, she moved towards the window and placed her hand on the glass which felt cold. It was strangely comforting.

She saw a figure move from the corner of her eye. Valeriana instinctively followed the source and she saw a figure, draped in an elegant cloak of white silk trimmed with gold at the ends standing amongst the flowers. A wind blew and the cloth fluttered around the mysterious person, framing the figure of his legs from waist down. He held his hood in place, afraid that the wind would blow it off.

There was something familiar about him . . .

Curious, Valeriana looked around for a way outside. She walked, glancing about in search for a door but failed. She turned her attention to the windows again and got an idea. Eagerly walking towards the window closest to her, she unbolted and opened it wide before slipping through the narrow passage it managed to provide.

Once her feet landed on solid ground, she hiked up the skirts of her dress and started approach the lonely figure. She had a feeling she knew who it was, but it seemed unlikely and this could be another person for all she cared. Besides, judging from the clothes he was wearing, he must not be just anyone.

As she neared, the sound of her feet crushing the blades of grass gave her away. The mysterious figure turned in alarm at her presence and his feet shifted very lightly in attempt to flee, but when he saw it was Valeriana, he stilled.

The girl squinted in order to make out the face of the man before her under the darkness offered by his cloak.

"Kyrell?" She gasped.

He looked equally taken aback. "Valeriana?"

"Oh my gosh!" She jumped excitedly. "I never thought I'd see you here!"

"I . . . are you the guest King Laedin said was coming?" he asked.

"I'm not just the only guest, though," she told him, standing beside him. "What are you doing here by the way? Do you live here? Are you secretly the prince or something?" She jokingly nudged him with her elbow.

"Uh . . . no . . ."

"Then why are you here?"

"I am the prince's royal valet. And since he is sick, he asked me to pick flowers for him." He looked at her. "You look stunning today. But why are you drenched in water?"

She glanced down at her wet dress and shrugged. "I embarrassed myself in front of the king and Lord Gavin by choking on water and spilling it to my lap."

"Really?" He said, chuckling.

"I know," she told him gravely. "I wanted to go to the restroom but I got lost on the way."

"Well, would you like me to take you?" he offered her.

"Sure, why not. I don't have any clothes to change into, though," she replied.

"Let me take care of that." He extended out his right hand, making flawless gestures in the air.

Valeriana raised a brow, curious about his actions. No sooner than a second later, she heard something gurgling. The girl looked down at her drenched clothes only to see the water being sucked off of it. It floated along the direction Kyrell was waving to.

"Wow," she whispered, watching him work.

Once Kyrell managed to completely take the water away, he flicked his wrist towards the direction of the flowers and it sprayed, raining droplets among the plants. Valeriana couldn't help but feel awed.

"You're awesome, Kyrell! Thank you very much!" She smoothed down the wrinkles that appeared from the wet spot before and cursed when her efforts were in vain. "Anyway, this is better than walking around wet."

"I'm sorry for disappearing so suddenly after the duel. I had to leave," he told her. "I heard you won, though. Congratulations."

"I didn't even realize that you were gone. I was too caught up in the battle."

"Well, I can't blame you. A warrior's focus must always be on the fight." Kyrell looked ahead of him and sighed.

"How are you doing, though?" she queried.

"Well, I . . ."

"And those clothes . . . do you always wear a cloak?"

"I have to."

"Are you a part of the Court or something? Even Lord Aeron takes off his cloak when he's outside."

"No . . . I . . ."

"Then, why?"

"Uh . . ."

"Alright!" Valeriana held her hands up and patted the boy at the back good-naturedly. "I'm sorry for being a prying bit-no, I shouldn't say that . . ." She trailed off. "Anyway, it's not my place to know. If you don't want to tell me, then it's alright. It's not like it's any of my business."

"I'm sorry, Valeriana," Kyrell muttered apologetically. "I hope you're not upset."

"Why would I be upset?" The girl bent over and stared at a flower closely. "Everyone has their own reasons. We all have our secrets we want to keep."

They didn't speak for a few moments. Valeriana continued to observe the flower, her fingertips tracing its velvety petals. The color of the flower was unique. It was purple around the center, gradually fading in white as it reached the round tips of its petals. It was undoubtedly captivating unlike any other flowers Valeriana had seen. Its leaves and stem weren't green. In fact, looking closely, it was gold.

"You just reminded me of something, Valeriana," Kyrell said as he bent down beside her as well. "That flower you're looking at . . ."

"It's beautiful," she muttered. "I wonder what it's called."

"Valeriana," Kyrell said.

Hearing her name called, she looked at the boy beside her. "Huh?"

"Valeriana," he repeated. "The flower you're looking at is called Valeriana."

Her eyes widened from his statement. "Really? Then it has the same name as me! Or maybe it's the other way around. But, whatever, it's the same anyway."

"This flower is my favorite of all." Kyrell told her. "My mother took special care for these flowers. She liked them the most. Aside from being beautiful, they're strong. They can stand through the heat of summer and the cold of winter. They bloom best during spring."

"It's lovely, and smells as good as it looks," she said, sniffing.

"I think your name fits you very well." Kyrell reached towards the flower and plucked it off, handing it to Valeriana. "Here, take this."

The girl took the flower in her hands happily. "It's mine? Really? Thank you." She twirled it between her thumb and forefinger.

"The name Valeriana means to be strong and have hope."

"Thank you for this but won't the king be angry? I mean, picking flowers like this in his back garden without his permission is kinda . . . I don't know. Illegal."

"Don't worry. I can assure you that you won't get in trouble." Kyrell smiled at her. "Taking one of these hundreds of thousands of flowers will hardly make a difference."

"But . . . I gotta put this somewhere," she said. "I don't want it to lose its petals or anything."

"Try it here." He took the flower and placed it on her ear. "Now, you look even prettier."

"You're a genius, Kyrell! Why haven't I thought of that?" she said, laughing.

He joined her in her laughter and shook his head. Valeriana examined him for a moment, noticing the gleam of uneasiness and worry in his eyes. For some reason, Valeriana couldn't help but feel the same way he was feeling currently. She looked at the direction he was looking and saw a waning moon across the skies.

"I'm hoping that I can have the answer to my problem." He mumbled. "Hoping it'll be over soon so I can go back to my old life."

"You mean . . . you didn't always wear a cloak?"

He said, chuckling. "No . . . well, I guess that's a part of it. Being hidden in this cloak means that I'm restrained from freely showing myself."

"What's wrong with your appearance?" she inquired. "You look adorable, to tell you honestly!"

"I don't want you to end up hating me, Valeriana," Kyrell suddenly stated. "Ever since I became like this . . ."

Valeriana questioningly eyed his slouched form and followed his actions shortly. "What do you mean?"

"You're a human, so you don't realize." Sadness flashed within those black-flecked golden depths. "If I tell you, I fear you'll end up like them, too."

"End up like who? Kyrell, what exactly are you talking about?"

"You'll realize sooner or later. Maybe you'll become like them too. It's been a while since someone laid their eyes on me and thought that I wasn't a monster."

"A monster? That's ridiculous! I swear you're cute, you must've many girls liking you!"

"Please, not now. I'm trying to be serious," he openly pouted, making the girl laugh.

"Yup. Very adorable," she said, giggling. "You remind me of Jareth when he was way younger! Now, he's so not adorable anymore. I wish he stayed a baby." She sighed.

"Valeriana!" he complained.

"Alright. Alright." She held her hands up. "I'm serious. I can't help but feel like you're going to tell me something really dramatic, and a few moments from now, I'll have my jaw dropping," she muttered.

He looked at her with scrutinizing eyes. She mirrored his gaze with a sincere one and nodded. Ever so slightly, Kyrell smiled.

"Do you know that having black hair and eyes indicate that you're a demon?"

"What?" She scrunched her brow. "Oh yeah, I do remember reading that in one of the books about demons."

"Well," he started. "Valemnians have something in their blood that prevents them from having black hair and eyes. It's the order of things. Unless they become a demon . . ."

"That's weird," she said. "They all have sorts of hair and eye color but why black?"

"Before, having black hair used to be normal . . . until demons came." He started. "In order to distinguish demons from Valemnians, the gods turned those who possessed dark hearts into having black hair and eyes, and those who remained normal got the color which represented them the most."

"Really?"

"Red hair symbolizes passion, wildness, ferocity, and such, for example," he paused with a smile. "So it means that if you have red hair, your ancestor had that kind of personality."

"Wow. But what does that have to do with you?"

"You have seen what I look like before."

"Yeah, you have highlights right?"

"They aren't highlights, they are streaks. A taint to my soul." He growled.

"What?" She blinked. "You mean you didn't dye it? I thought-" She was cut off when a voice harshly cut through the air.

"Miss Valeriana!" Edeltraud yelled.

They both turned and saw the man heading towards them, face creased angrily. He didn't look pleased and glared at Kyrell beside Valeriana, who instinctively turned away and turned his back on the man.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Valeriana." Edeltraud made his way to the young woman and guided her almost forcefully away from Kyrell. "The king is looking for you, he is worried."

He led her a few steps away from Kyrell before he himself walked towards him and said something in a very hushed tone.

"She didn't see?"

Kyrell tried to hide his reluctance as he shook his head.

"If she did, you know what will happen." Edeltraud warned him before he walked away and tried to guide the woman away as polite as possible.