The Crown's Entrapment

At the Kingdom of Ebodia

"Well, we're finally here," Lord Hebron announced. "This is Southeast Ebodia, just right beside my own territory."

Arriving just outside the border of Southeast Ebodia, Aurelia couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic upon seeing the familiar wilderness currently surrounding them. She had lived here before, after all, no matter how brief her stay had been.

"Are we getting close?" Calypso asked.

"We're not far from it now," Aurelia responded, having decided that avoiding the man was more trouble than it was worth. "It's just up ahead."

"I take it that you'll be taking the lead from here?" Lord Hebron asked her.

Aurelia nodded before she let herself overtake their guide. With the three of them now in familiar territory, she was now able to be the one to take them to her safe house.

With her memories and nostalgia guiding her, Aurelia began leading the group to their destination. The path looked different than the last time she saw it, as well as the general area and surroundings, of course, but that was to be expected from the passage of time. What were once small bushes were now halfway turning into trees; some of the trees themselves had also grown bigger in her absence as they all led to the one place that would hopefully give them clues as to the whereabouts of this missing Princess.

"And here we are," Aurelia declared as she slowed her horse down just right in front of the old house. "This was where I treated and housed Princess Katerina."

Looking at the old home, it was immediately clear to her that the entire place had been abandoned. Of course, that might also turn out false depending on whether or not the princess was still living here, but otherwise, she had a feeling that they would find nothing as soon as they went inside.

"Looks a bit… abandoned, don't you think?" Calypso pointed out as he dismounted from his horse.

"I agree," Lord Hebron agreed, also dismounting off his horse. "It doesn't look like somebody's lived here in a long while."

Aurelia sighed as she did what the men had done and left her horse. Making her way to the door, she had to be the one to try and open the place up. She was the one that knew it, after all.

Standing right in front of the wooden door, Aurelia prepared herself for disappointment as she knocked.

"Hello? Katelina?" she called out as her knuckles collided with the rotten door. "It's me, Aurelia."

Nothing responded to her calls. Knocking just one more time to be sure, she was just about to try and shout when the door opened on its own, an empty and ominous creak echoing against the silence of the forest.

"Well, that can't be good."

Aurelia ignored one of Calypso's usual quips as she stared at the slightly open piece of wood in front of her. The door had been left unlocked, it would seem. Either that or time had really taken its toll on the whole place.

Fully opening the door, Aurelia quickly covered her nose as the cloud of dust that greeted her threatened to make her eyes water. Waving her hand in front of her, the afternoon light shone into the clearly empty house, all signs of life devoid of what was once a thoroughly lived in home.

"It would seem that the house is empty," Lord Hebron pointed out.

"That, indeed," Aurelia nodded. "It would seem that our Princess is in another castle."

"But this isn't a castle?" Calypso jested.

"It's a metaphor," Aurelia tersely explained. "Either way, seeing as this was Princess Katelina's last known location, there might be some clues here left behind that could tell us where exactly she went."

Walking around, the three of them inevitably split up as they all searched the house for some sort of clue that they could use. Looking around, she rummaged through old drawers and cupboards, hoping that her old friend had at least left something that they could use for them to help try and track her down.

"Found anything yet?" Calypso asked.

"Nothing on my end," Lord Hebron called out from another room inside the house. "Lady Aurelia?"

"None so far," she promptly replied, doing her best to hide her growing annoyance at their lack of progress.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, she grumbled to herself as she tried her best to stay calm. The last thing she needed was for her to get upset enough that she might miss a clue or two. Besides, there was bound to be something in this house that she could use to piece together some semblance of an idea as to how to contact the woman… wait…

"That's it…"

With a gasp, Aurelia quickly made her way to a particular spot in the house. From what she could recall, the Princess had wanted to leave some sort of a pet that they could use to communicate with each other. The Princess had insisted that she leave something just in case they would need it. The princess knew a specific spell to put on the raven, making sure that it would be able to trace the two of them for communication purposes.

"Ah, it's still here."

Spotting what she was looking for in the form of an old raven, Aurelia quickly wrote down a message saying that she needed Katelina's help and that she needed to see her in Cordon as soon as possible. After making sure that her message would suffice, she then tied the small parchment onto the raven's foot.

Aurelia let out a small breath as she watched the raven leave. Judging by how old the nest it left was, she'd guess that the old bird had been living in this exact same spot ever since they left.

"We got what we came here for!" Aurelia announced throughout the house, raising her voice so that she'd be heard through the walls. "Let's all go back outside!"

Making her way back outside, her two other companions quickly tried to move to help her onto her horse. Of course, she rebuffed them both, electing to get onto her horse herself before waiting for the other two to do the same.

"You know where she is?" Calypso asked.

"No, but I'm sure she'll get my message," Aurelia cryptically replied. "For now, let's just return home."