Page 19 of A Royal’s Soul (Soul Match #3)

Persephone Flores

“It stinks in here,” Katrina said, and I looked up from the orange peel I had been absentmindedly toying with, surprised by her presence on the bus.

“I don’t smell anything,” I told her, subtly smelling the air.

Her scowl deepened. “I thought you were part shifter and vampire?” she asked me incredulously. “Do you really not smell how you’ve stunk out this whole space with your horniness, or are you being purposefully oblivious?”

I felt heat rush to my face, and I opened my mouth to speak in anger but found no coherent words. What was wrong with this girl? I thought maybe we could be friends. But no. No. I was sure we would not be. She was nasty and mean and—how did she know about my heritage? I mean, sure, she could have guest at shifter—one yellow eye kind of gives it away but—vampire? No one had ever guessed that.

“How do you know that?” I asked her.

“Because I have a nose. And you’ve clearly been sat here just stinking out the place for some time,” she replied and walked over to the side of the space with the fridges and sink and slid open a window, letting in a gust of cold wind.

“No, how do you know I’m part vampire?” I clarified. She paused momentarily before turning to me.

“Everyone knows,” she said.

“No they don’t,” I countered.

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she crossed her arms but made no move to answer me. We silently stared at each other until a shiver from the cold ran through me, and I stood up, walking past her in the tight space and slid the window she had opened shut.

“Answer me,” I demanded as I turned back to her.

She bristled at the demand. “You don’t have authority over me,” she replied.

“I’m pretty sure I do,” I told her, and it felt like I was puffing out my chest. I felt gross at the words that had just left my mouth. But it was true. My soul match was her Marchioness, her Princess, and would one day be her Queen. I might never hold any title, but Selene would always hold me higher than a servant.

“You’re nothing more than a glorified blood slave,” she said angrily.

“Really? You seemed to think a glorified blood slave held enough power to sway the Princess yesterday, but now you don’t think I have any authority,” I replied back, just as angrily, remembering how upset she had made me the previous day.

“Is that it then?” she asked, glaring at me. And before I could ask what she meant, she continued, “You’ve no interest in helping the common folk. You want to lord it over us too? A traitor!” I felt the accusation like a slap.

“I—I—I don’t lord it over anyone!” I protested. “Why are you being like this? I’ve done nothing to you and you’ve been nothing but rude, mean, and cryptic.”

“You’re the one making demands!” she countered.

“And you keep making claims about me,” I raised my voice and remembered what she had said to me—something like I didn’t even know myself. What was that even meant to mean? “You said I don’t even know myself, and now you know my heritage and claim everyone knows—but they don’t know. Tell me what you think you know about me,” I continued to demand.

“I know that they’re all wrong about you,” she seethed angrily and turned to walk away.

“What does that mean?” I asked and followed her down the narrow corridor of the bus as she tried to leave, reaching out to grab her arm and stop her from exiting.

“Let me go, witch,” she spat.

“Or what?” I asked frustrated. “Just answer me for once,” I pleaded. Her scowl relaxed fractionally, before she pulled her arm from grasp and left the bus.

“I don’t want to be your friend,” I called after her and immediately felt so immature and embarrassed.

“We could never be friends,” she answered, without turning back to me. Some other servants and one of Selene’s royal guards saw the awkward interaction, and I cringe from the embarrassment, turning away from the open door of the bus and quickly returning to the table and orange peel to hide.

I had just sat down when there was a slight knocking, and I looked up from the table and from my contemplation of every interaction I had had with Katrina. A guard—the new one—was stood at the opening to the space at the back of the bus. There wasn’t a door, just a curtain pulled to the side.

“Hey,” he said softly and looked nervous. “I don’t know if it’s okay to speak with you, like this,” he said. “I kind of overheard you just now, with that servant, and wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He looked away awkwardly.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I groaned loudly and hid my face on my arms on top of the table. “How many people saw me make a fool of myself?” I asked into the table.

I heard his laughter. “I think some of the servants, but I’m the only guard stationed here just now. The rest are with Rylan, packing and getting a before-mission brief,” he explained.

“Why aren’t you with the others?” I asked, lifting my head. He looked more embarrassed than I felt.

“I’m new,” he said.

“Yeah, I know. But still, shouldn’t you be there for the, uh, before-mission brief?” I asked.

“I want to be,” he confessed. “But there’s always meant to be a minimum of one guard near you—closer now since the Academy and what you did,” he shrugged awkwardly again, and I grimaced at the reminder of my new ability. “Anyway, guess I’m the least important cog in the machine. I’ll get given the gist of things later.”

“What’s your name?” I asked and felt sorry that he had to stand around in the cold because of me.

“Theo,” he replied.

“It’s nice to meet you, Theo. You can stay in here, if you like. It’s cold outside and if you’re meant to be guarding me anyway, might as well stay someplace that’s not freezing.”

“That would be inappropriate,” he said, adding, “Sorry,” with a small smile. “So, what happened, with that servant girl? She do something to upset you?” he asked.

“She doesn’t like me,” I told him and hid my face in my arms again and groaned. “I must sound so childish. Everything I say sounds so immature,” I complained.

He laughed, a kind of gruff laugh that I didn’t expect from him. He was young, with a soft face and his voice wasn’t rough, but his laughter was oddly… manly.

“And now you’re laughing.” I huffed.

“Sorry, sorry, Ma’am,” he apologised. “It’s not immature. Do you want to talk about it? Why does she not like you?” he asked.

“She thinks she knows me, and keeps being all cryptic and weird and really nasty actually, and she won’t tell me what she means by anything she says. And… and I miss my friends and the Academy. It’s only been a few days, but I feel so out of place here,” I lifted my head and explained, and wondered why I was spilling all these feelings to Theo—a guard I had only really just met. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m telling you all this,” I apologised for dumping all my feelings onto him.

“Sometimes it easier to talk to someone you don’t know that well. It can help to get someone else’s opinion. If you want my opinion, I’d share it,” he offered. I nodded in the affirmative. “If I was you, I would avoid this girl. She sounds like trouble. Some people—they want to work for nobility or royalty for all the wrong reasons.”

“I’m neither of those things,” I said. “Nobility or royalty,” I added when his head tilted in confusion.

“No, but you are in a way. I’ve never been asked to guard someone that wasn’t. And we’ve all taken,” he paused and looked up as he thought of his words, “various oaths, for reasons I’m sure you’re aware of, to protect you,” he smiled, looking pleased with himself.

At the mention of oaths, I knew he must know about the soul match and had taken a blood oath to keep it secret. My stomach twisted uncomfortably. I hated the idea that anyone would ever take such an oath, for any reason, and certainly not for my benefit.

“So yeah, you’re different. You’re not quite a servant or common man—woman—but not quite nobility. And I think that makes you vulnerable in a way… to the type of people that I think that girl is,” he explained.

“What type of person do you think she is?” I asked.

“She’s the type of person that wants to live through you, in some kind of way. Guarantee if you were to get close to her and she thought she knew anything personal about you, she’d be gossiping with all her friends and family. People like her are the reason rumours get started in the first place. They make stuff up, live in their imaginations half the time, thinking just because they work for you, they know you. You can’t have known her more than a few days and she’s already causing drama and treating you disrespectfully in front of others.”

“You’re right. I should stay away from her. That’ll be easy enough—we’ll be leaving Ardens in a few days anyway,” I replied. He looked almost sheepish.

“What?” I asked.

“I think that servant girl is part of the staff that’ll be traveling with the Princess for her tour of Ardens. I saw her throw a bag into the bus storage compartment before she came on board,” he told me.

I groaned and threw my head back.

“Great. How am I meant to stay away from her when we’re living on a bus?” I complained, hanging my head. I felt so defeated.

Theo coughed and I looked to him.

“I am a member of the Princess’s Royal Guard. I’m sure myself and the others can keep her away, if that’s what you want.”

“I think… yeah. But could you do it, in a not obvious way?” I asked.

“I’m not sure how that would be possible,” he said and frowned a little in thought. “But I’d give it a try. And when I see the captain next, I’ll tell him what we spoke about—and that you would like the girl to leave you alone.”

“Captain?” I asked. “You mean Rylan?” He nodded.

“That’s the one. We’re not on first names basis. Not sure we ever will be, but he’s my captain—the guy in charge. Head of her Royal Highness’s personal guard,” he told me.

I laughed. “Rylan is nice. I’m sure you’ll be on first name basis soon,” I told him. He nodded and turned his body towards the door of the bus before turning back to me.

“The Princess is approaching with others. I need to step back now,” he informed me and ran from the bus without waiting for a goodbye. It was a little funny to watch him run—it wasn’t so fast that I couldn’t follow, the way Selene moved sometimes—and he had an odd bounce to his movement.

“Adamantia and Sasha,” I said as they entered the bus together and I stood from my seat.

“Selene tells us you have been exploring the bus,” Adamantia spoke as she approached me.

“Yes,” I said and looked around. “I don’t know how long we’ll be living here.” I felt a little awkward. I didn’t really know the two women, but from the way Selene behaved I knew they were important people to her, and I wanted them to like me. Even if Adamantia made a terrible first impression.

“When you return, the coldest days will be over and warmth returning to the land,” Sasha informed me. “I’m going to clear some ground so you can start a garden. I’m quite excited by the idea. It will be a joint Petra and Flores project. My magic to clear the topsoil of rocks—that make the ground here not conducive to gardening or farming—and your magic to help grow a flourishing garden that would otherwise struggle.”

I smiled. “I would like a garden,” I told her and accepted the hug she offered. But I wasn’t truly pleased. If Selene wanted me to have a garden—because it was obvious that it had been Selene’s idea—then that meant she truly wanted us to stay in Ardens, and I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted. But a new garden of my own would be nice. Maybe I could grow an orange tree—it would take a lot of maintenance but I could make it work.

“Petra and Flores have a long history of working together in the north,” Adamantia told me.

“They do?” I asked, curiously.

“Oh yes,” Sasha said excitedly. “Of course our role was mainly in the mines, but the land here has always been difficult to farm. More suited to grazing herds than growing crops. Petra and Flores were the backbone that built the north.”

“Is Petra a big House?” I asked. Sasha looked momentarily embarrassed.

“No, no, at one time, a long time ago we were. But not anymore. We formally joined Ardens some years ago, after the death of my younger brother, my father had no other heirs.”

“House Petra still exists today, in the North-east reaches of Ardens,” Adamantia said.

“Yet we fall under Ardens jurisdiction. We send no representatives with voting rights to the Royal Conference,” Sasha interrupted. “We are House in name alone, only the coven still stands,” she clarified.

“Who is the head of the coven?” I asked.

“My great aunt Nina,” Sasha replied. “A terribly old witch.” She laughed. “I don’t know how she is still going—as old as stone now.”

I smiled. Sasha may have been mocking her coven leader and aunts age, but the way she smiled at the mention of Nina was so bright and warm it was contagious.

“I don’t know any other Flores witches,” I admitted. “Truthfully, I haven’t had much experience with other witches. Before attending Sanguis and making friends there, the only other witch I sort of know is the enchanter back home.”

I felt a sadness. A sadness at not knowing my own. Ana had a coven to rely on, to call in times of need—willing to help a complete stranger at her request. Heidi would one day be her coven leader. The only other Flores witch I knew of was the enchanter from Sanguis town. And she was practicing enchantment magic now—a form of magic that all witches could theoretically learn, but you had to cut ties with your coven if you wanted to join the Enchanters Guild. As far as I knew, it was all very secretive. Even the enchanter back home wouldn’t say much. I didn’t even know his original coven.

“I don’t know if there is even a Flores coven. Everyone is always so surprised to meet me,” I said a little more pitifully than I liked to sound.

“Flores have always been in high demand for being so low in number. They have never had a land of their own. Nomadic by nature. But they were once in greater numbers. No one really knows what happened. They simply never returned one winter, a bit before your time. I have only very early memories of Flores witches in Petra,” Sasha replied.

“The rumours were preposterous. I remember Father sending out search parties to find as many Flores witches as possible, and they manged to scrounge up a measly group. None were easy to find. None were happy to return and help the land like they had done so willingly for as long as anyone could remember. They also had no idea where their fellow Flores witches had gone to. It was as though they had simply disappeared.” Adamantia scowled with her retelling.

“An entire coven doesn’t just disappear,” I said.

“No,” Adamantia agreed. “But Flores have done a good job. Occasionally one turns up—usually not practicing any magic or having joined the enchanters guild.”

“Flores were, and are, so well loved. By all. There isn’t a single people—now or in the history of the land, long before the House system that we have today was established—that wasn’t helped by Flores. Free of charge. And often in their most dire moments. When they near enough vanished, when it became clear that they would not answer calls for help, and they did not want to be found,” Sasha paused and shrugged sadly, “a universal consensus was drawn—to honour their clear desire to be left alone.”

“Yes. Potentially the only thing the Royal Conference ever unanimously agreed upon,” Adamantia agreed.

“It was the only unanimous vote in the history of the Royal Conference,” Selene said as she walked towards us. At some point, Sasha had sat down at the table while speaking and Adamantia had remained stood, almost like a guard at the entrance to the space.

“The vote was the year before my birth. A query put forth by Ardens—whether the Flores coven should be forced out of hiding and made to perform their duty for the land. There was of course some discussion, but over the course of nine days, a unanimous vote was reached. That Flores had given freely—to each House— and asked nothing in return. But they were asking for something then, with their actions. To not be sought after. They had no enemies and they had friends in high places of all the Houses,” Selene told me.

“I don’t get it. Where did they all go?” I asked.

“We don’t know. And either those we come across won’t talk, or they, like you, do not know themselves,” Sasha replied.

“So, everyone was just… okay, with not knowing?” I asked.

That didn’t make any sense to me. I had only now learned about this mysterious disappearance, and I wanted to know the reason behind it so badly I felt ill.

“No,” Adamantia answered. “There was a promise of sorts made.”

“What promise?” I asked.

“Flores’ coven leader, returned after the Royal Conference and thanked the House leaders for their decision. She promised that Flores would one day return, but not in her lifetime,” Sasha answered me.

“And everyone was just…fine with this?” I asked.

“You did not grow in a coven, Percy,” Sasha said. “Each coven has their ways. Traditions, rituals, beliefs, that they follow.”

Her response made no sense whatsoever, and my frustration must have been obvious as Selene stepped past Adamantia and slid into the seat beside me, her thigh pressed against mine. The heat of her bleeding into me. I loved how warm she was in the cold.

“If you desire answers, I will find you them,” Selene dipped her head to speak in the lowest of whispers. A promise.

I noticed the way Adamantia scowled and looked away, as if disapproving. I wasn’t sure what she disapproved of exactly.

“Who was the leader of Flores ?” I asked, and decided to release my frustration and lean into Selene.

Sasha smiled. “Your name seems to be awfully popular amongst Flores witches.” She laughed.

“Her name was Persephone?” I asked.

Sasha nodded.