To the Meeting Room

There was a faint knock at her bedroom door as soon as they finished. "Are you alright in there, Princess?" She heard Sholin ask through the heavy door. 

Tomik looked at the door as the fairy talked before turning to Lola with a smirk, "Are you?" he mocked. 

The princess stood up from the bed, ignoring the prince, as she made her way across her smooth, beautiful wooden floor. She walked past her vanity mirror to give herself a quick brush up before finally stopping at her medieval-looking door, held shut by a large, brass sliding lock. "Perfectly fine, Sholin," she reassured him. "Do I have a meeting room, somewhere? Tomik and I have some more business to discuss." She still didn't open the door. Lola was a bit embarrassed to face him; she knew that he knew what actually happened. Though, with prior actions of this vessel she landed in, was it truly an issue? 

There was a brief pause on the other side from her fairy butler before he simply said, "yes, Princess. I'll lead you there right away." 

"Oh, and Sholin, may I request a table with chairs for my room? Perhaps a sofa as well?" Lola requested of him. 

Before the fairy could respond, Tomik had joined the princess on the other side of the door, opening it, and nudging her to the side gently. Sholin immediately turned into a human, staring at the prince with a slight glare. His naked chest was puffed out to appear bigger, and he had a stiff, confrontational stance. 

"That would be nice, princess. I agree with her wholeheartedly, Sholin," Tomik said as he stared into the man's eyes, his voice condescending to the handsome fairy sworn to protect the princess. 

Sholin watched as the prince went ahead of both of them, before turning to the princess that was making her way out of her room, shyly. "You're lucky you lived," he warned her quietly as she joined him. The two began to make their way down a corridor before reaching the stairs that spiraled down to the upper floor of the magnificent Norflora Castle. "Artrio may have chosen your soul knowing there was something different about you." 

They listened as Tomik's footsteps stopped; He had reached the bottom of the stairs and was waiting for them to join him. He was familiar with some areas of the castle, but not all of them. 

Each dragon child is introduced to the castle at least once, but unless one lives there full time, most areas were more than forgettable. Lola was the exception. Being a new soul inside an already 20-year-old woman, put her at a huge disadvantage to the rest of the 20-year-old princes since she was clueless to how the world worked; let alone the layout of the castle she had been apparently living in for the past 2 years. 

"I may be the same princess on the outside, but inside, I'm an entirely new person in a new world. I need to make decisions based on what I believe could be right," she said quietly, careful not to let her voice echo into the ears of her enemy on break. "And there's obviously some truth to the tale I tried to read before, which means I need to find a way to take back my kingdom, no? If I can't fight, then I may as well find other ways." 

His ears perked at her statement, though he didn't respond, as they reached the last curve in the staircase reaching Tomik. Sholin instantly became tense at the sight of the black haired, purple eyed dragon spawn; fairies are supposed to protect dragon children, but only the one that was living in their castle. The rest are considered constant threats. 

Tomik on the other hand paid no attention to the bitter fairy, instead, despite his background and nickname, he was staring at the Princess with nothing but fascination in his eyes. It was as if he held her to the same standards as a goddess. 

As she reached the last step, he offered one of his hands out for her to take, and she lightly placed her slim fingers into his palm before he enclosed his on hers. 

This is a dream, this is a dream, this is a dream! She repeated in her mind. 

"Follow me please," Sholin said almost defeatedly as he watched them act like long lost soulmates. 

It didn't take long to reach the room the fairies considered the 'meeting room.' It was a large room with high vaulted ceilings with cream-colored walls and dark green accents, giving it a more forestry feel. 

Like the formal dining area, there was a long, thick wooden table in the center of the room. It had 12 cushioned chairs that looped around it uniformly. The table had a built in 3D map of the world with Norflora Castle being the center point, and unlike most rooms in the castle, it didn't contain a single window. Instead, a wide, black brick fireplace illuminated the room with a flickering, warm light. It was obvious the room hadn't been used in many years; How war torn was this world? She wondered to herself. 

"There's more privacy in here than my own bedroom," Lola joked as Tomik began to wonder the room, his hands supporting each other behind his back. Sholin stayed with the Princess briefly making sure she was alright, before he once again dismissed himself. 

When the prince heard Sholin leave, the door shutting upon his exit, he turned to face Lola, a now considerable amount of space between them. "Who are you?" He asked her sternly, as he began to walk towards the table, keeping his eyes on her as he awaited her answer. 

"Excuse me?" She asked him, keeping her voice low as she began to match his steady pace making her way to the table as well. "Lola Lovette, Daughter of Artrio, of course." 

He gave her a weak smile and a quick huff of a laugh before diverting his gaze to the floor. He placed his hands onto the back of one of the chairs of the table, leaning on it before looking at her again. "Who are you?" he repeated himself, a hint of annoyance in his tone. "For as long as I can remember, I've been taught to kill you, and the other dragon offspring, and I have never had an issue attempting....." 

The princess stood behind one of the head chairs, slightly leaning onto it as well as she watched him carefully. "Until today?" she finished for him, knowing she wasn't going to be able to keep it a secret from him at all. 

"So, who are you?" He wasn't going to let up. He was smart, and he knew this wasn't the same person as before. Never in his life did he think the moment he had an opportunity to kill her, would he instead hate the idea of it and be unable to fulfill his mission. 

Lola pulled the chair she was leaning on out before plopping down into it. A quick poof of air escaped from the cushion as her butt made impact with it, "Please, have a seat, and I'll tell you."