# 6

“When can we meet her?” asked Jadis

“I planned on seeing her today, but since you both are here and also need her help, we can go see her tomorrow,”

“That should be okay for the both of you, right?” Alcmene asked.

“yes, it...”,

“Did you even ask me if I wanted to go on this”, Amaris cuts in. She had been sitting there, listening to them decide her future without even asking if she wants to fulfil the prophecy. Amaris breathed heavily as she clenched her first on her laps, she was trying to hide how pissed off she was, at Jadis. How could she plan ongoing through with this without even caring to ask her if she was okay with it?

“for all you know, I might want to return to my normal life, which was just getting better,”

After Amaris said this, it dawned on Jadis that she had not been thinking about how Amaris was feeling about all of this and that Amaris was right. She was planning to train her for a war she just got to know about and wasn’t even sure if she wished to be part of.

“Amaris,”

Jadis says as she clamps hands over Amaris’ hands in her palm, “I’m so sorry that I’ve been insensitive to your feelings and didn’t bother asking you if you want to do this before making plans to train you.

“You are a little kid who just found out that all she was to believe all her life was far from the truth, and here I am, asking you to go to war without even considering how it’s affecting you or if you even want to do it.”

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, but I would like you to give it a thought before you go to bed, I know it might be burdensome for you but there are people who are waiting for you, whose lives and freedom depends on your decision. If by tomorrow morning, you haven’t changed your mind, we will find another way to defeat Namlock,”

After listening to Jadis, she gave in “Okay, I’ll sleep on it”,

“Since that discussion is over, why don’t the both of you go get some rest. I’m sure you are both tired from your long journey.”, Alcmene chirps in.

“yes, you’re right”, Jadis agrees with him.

“Thalia, why don’t you show Amaris to her room, while I have a word with Jadis?”

Thalia took Amaris to her room while Alcmene and Jadis stayed back. After they left, they moved to the study. They sat opposite each other on the couches close to the window.

Alcmene and Jadis grew up together in the palace. While Alcmene was the second prince of Narthdal, Jadis was the daughter of the head maid in the palace. While growing up, Jadis’ mother, the head maid, was the one in charge of taking care of the little princes while the king and queen were on official duties. Jadis was always with her mother during that period, which made her be around Alcmene and his brother, but she never spoke to them because she was shy.

As a young boy, Alcmene was always prim and proper, quiet and was almost to himself. He didn’t really enjoy talking to people or being around them.

People always flocked around him and tried to befriend him because of his status or to get to his brother, and he was sick of it. While everyone was trying to get on his good side, Jadis never tried to talk to him or spared him a glance, even though they were around each other most of the time. It almost looked like she was trying to avoid him. This piqued little Alcmene’s interest and made him curious about the little blonde girl. This continued till when they were teenagers, Alcmene was 16 and Jadis 14, Alcmene, now tired of the awkward silence between them, tried to talk to her, he tried so many times to talk to her but she was always avoiding him until one day, Alcmene saw some maids yelling at her, they were calling her names and accused her of trying to seduce him because they were always together, meanwhile, this was because the prince was always trying to get her to talk to him and get her attention. They called her a slut and were dragging her hair; he became very furious seeing them do this to her; Alcmene was about to intervene when Jadis slapped one girl. He stood there in shock. He never thought she had a single fighting bone in her body, not because she looked weak or anything, but because she was silent and he never thought she could be this feisty.

After Jadis slapped the maid, the other girl pushed her to the wall. She was about to hit her when Alcmene stepped in; he grabbed the girl’s hand in the air and glared at her. He warned the girls never to harass her ever again and told them that she was now under his protection. This was the beginning of their love story. Jadis had been told not to talk or interact with him from the day her mother started being in charge of the princes because they were not of the same background, and she had always thought Alcmene was vulgar and proud because of the way he acted around people but seeing him defend her that day changed her perspective of him. From that day, they became really close, and Alcmene noticed how beautiful she was. He loved how her ocean blue eyes gleamed whenever she smiled, how her beautiful blonde hair shone in the sun and how her smile always seemed to brighten up his day.

He wasn’t only attracted to her exquisite beauty but her feisty nature, how she wouldn’t let anyone belittle her or trample on her because of her status and how she stood up for her fellow maids and how despite her lowly background, she possessed more class than most ladies of noble birth. That shy little girl he once knew was now. But although their backgrounds didn’t stop them from falling in love, it stopped them from being together officially or getting married.

When Alcmene’s brother, the King, got married, Jadis was chosen to be the queen’s lady-in-waiting because of the Queen’s liking to her. From that moment, Jadis was no longer a maid or a servant but was now the lady of the Queen, and now had a more important role than most nobles.

Because of this change in her status, they could now be together. Alcmene planned on asking for his brother’s permission to marry Jadis after he returned from his official assignment to Narthdal. It was during this period that Namlock attacked Narthdal and just when he could sneak back into Narthdal to protect her and his brother’s wife and daughter, they all went missing, he still couldn’t believe that the lady he has been looking for, for the past 17 years, was now sitting right in front of him. After searching for her to no avail, he thought he would never see her again.

Seeing her now, sitting right beside him, felt so surreal and amazing to him. He finally had the love of his life back in his life and he promised himself that he never never let go of her. She still looks as radiant as she did seventeen years ago. She hadn’t aged a bit. The only difference between twenty years old Jadis and current Jadis is her blonde hair, which was cut short and stops right on top of her shoulder and she looked more matured.

Jadis noticed him staring at her

“I just can’t get used to seeing your beautiful face”, he said as he touched her chin and kissed her.” I thought I had lost you"

“you don’t know how much longed for you, to stare into your beautiful eyes, to stroke your soft skin, to be with you”

“Well, I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere. I’m never going to leave your side ever again”

“like I would ever let you leave me again?/!”, they smiled at each other and he kissed her again.

“Do you think she is going to do it”, Alcmene asked as he broke their kiss

“She will. I know that she’s afraid, confused and still shaken about everything that happened today . But I know, she will”

“How are you so sure?”