Raelia (The Medoran Chronicles #2)
Lynette Noni
One
“Introducing their Royal Majesties, King Aurileous and Queen Osmada Cavelle.”
Alex watched from the corner of the palace’s grand ballroom, catching her first glimpse of D.C.’s parents as they descended the gold-lined staircase.
King Aurileous was tall and intimidating, but even from where Alex stood she could tell he had a kind face with prominent laughter lines. His eyes were warm as he scanned the sea of cheering people and his smile made her feel relaxed despite the overwhelming atmosphere.
Queen Osmada seemed, in a word, lovely. She was beautiful, with her dark auburn hair, and her smile was even more calming than the king’s.
Alex’s attention was diverted when her best friend appeared at the top of the staircase and the room fell silent as everyone gazed upon their princess.
“Presenting Her Royal Highness, Princess Delucia Cavelle.”
The cheers were deafening as D.C. walked gracefully down the staircase to stand beside her parents, her lavender-coloured gown sparkling silver wherever the light touched it.
Both the king and queen reached across to kiss D.C. on the cheek before her father stepped forward to address the crowd.
“Beloved friends, we thank you for joining us in celebration of our daughter’s seventeenth birthday. This is a momentous day for her and we are thrilled to share it with you,” King Aurileous said. “Now please, eat, drink, dance, and be merry as we revel in this special occasion.”
As if the end of his speech was an invisible cue, the orchestra hidden in the balcony above the ballroom immediately began playing an upbeat melody. The guests proceeded to move about and make pleasant conversation, while Alex stood awkwardly on her own as she waited for D.C. to make her way through the crowd.
Glancing around, Alex marvelled at her surroundings. She wondered if she should pinch herself to see if she truly was standing in the royal palace of Medora’s capital city, Tryllin, when just a few short weeks ago she’d had no idea how to sort out her mess of a life. That was because, as far as her parents had known, Alex had spent most of the previous school year at the International Exchange Academy just outside Portland, Oregon. In reality, she’d actually been stranded for eight months in the fantasy world of Medora, attending Akarnae Academy—a school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts.
Alex was supposed to have spent her summer coming up with an excuse to leave Earth—or ‘Freya’ as it was known to the Medorans—so she could return to Akarnae when it reopened in the fall. But when she’d arrived back home for the holidays, her parents had been waiting for her, along with a dizzying assortment of federal agents.
Apparently the International Exchange Academy had finished classes a week earlier than Akarnae, and her parents had returned from their Siberian sabbatical in time to greet her. When Alex hadn’t shown up, they’d contacted the school and discovered that she’d never enrolled as a student there. This news had sent them straight past panic mode and directly into full on hysteria. Their daughter had been missing for the better part of a year and they’d had no idea. Cue the plethora of police, private investigators and federal agents all on the hunt for their lost teenager.
With Alex’s imagination frozen and her flippant story about having joined the circus for a few months falling on deaf ears, she’d been forced to tell her parents the truth and hope they wouldn’t have her committed. It had been touch-and-go for a few minutes, so Alex had decided to prove to them that she wasn’t stark raving mad. After willing a doorway to open in the middle of their living room, she’d dragged her stupefied mother and father through to Medora.
With them wide-eyed and slack-jawed, Alex had guided them straight to Darrius Marselle’s office—her headmaster and friend—knowing he’d be able to ‘speak parent’ better than she could. And he had indeed come through for her, offering a detailed rundown of Alex’s months spent at the academy in a way that her parents had been able to not just understand, but also see the changes in their daughter for themselves. In the few short months Alex had spent at Akarnae, her dedication to classes had made her both mentally and physically stronger, and she’d found good friends who made her happier than she’d ever been before.
Be that as it may, they’d still gone ballistic when Darrius had mentioned Alex’s misadventures with the banished Meyarin prince, Aven Dalmarta.
Alex wasn’t sure what had concerned them most: the fact that an immortal being was determined to use her influence over a sentient library to open a magical doorway to a missing city— and said like that, Alex couldn’t blame them for worrying—or the fact that if his plans succeeded, he intended to carry out a mass extermination plot against the humans of Medora.
At that point in the conversation, Alex found herself wishing Darrius had gone for a ‘less is more’ approach. In fact, she’d gone back to wondering if her parents would find a way to lock her up—this time for her own protection.
To calm her parents it had taken several cups of something Alex could tell by the smell alone wasn’t just tea. When they had relaxed somewhat and Darrius had answered most of their questions—thankfully leaving out the part where Alex had been stabbed and nearly died—they followed Alex home in stunned silence.
Thinking she was doomed to be superglued to their protective sides forevermore, it came as a great surprise when, a few days later, her mother and father informed her that she could go back to the academy for her next year of schooling. Apparently once the shock had worn off—and they’d likely repressed everything regarding Aven—her parents had realised just how valuable the last eight months at Akarnae had been for Alex. Intrepid explorers themselves, it would have been hypocritical of them to keep their own daughter from her chance at a real life fantasy adventure—or so they’d told her.
Whatever their reasoning, Alex had been too thrilled to question their decision. Until they’d informed her that they would also be joining her in Medora for the year.
Her parents.
In Medora.
Apparently her mother and father had become so intrigued by the possibility of the unknown that they’d decided their next great archaeological adventure was to be of the otherworldly kind. As such, they’d spent the entire summer packing their earthly belongings into storage in preparation for spending some quality time in Alex’s new world.