Moonveil Academy: Trapped With The Five Kings

Chapter 4: Welcome Home

Elara:

For several long seconds, neither of us spoke.

I simply stared.

His eyes... they were the deepest shade of blue I had ever seen. Not the bright blue of a summer sky or the pale blue of the ocean near the shore, but something darker, calmer... like an endless sea beneath moonlight. They were beautiful, impossibly so, yet there was something hidden behind them. A heaviness. A loneliness that somehow matched the ache buried inside my own chest.

To my surprise, he seemed just as frozen. His gaze remained fixed on me with an expression that almost resembled... disbelief. Not curiosity or suspicion, but disbelief. It was as though he had expected to find someone else when he opened the door.

Only after several silent heartbeats did I finally notice something else.

His hair. They were silver. Not dyed, not gray with age, but naturally silver. The moonlight caught the long strands, making them shimmer almost like flowing liquid metal. I couldn’t stop staring.

Ever since I was little, I’d been teased because of the strange silver streaks woven through my otherwise black hair. Mom used to laugh whenever I asked why my hair looked different.

"Because the moon kissed you before you were born," she’d say while brushing it.

Dad would always roll his eyes before adding, "Don’t listen to your mother. You are just special."

Felix would ruffle my hair and grin. "She’s right. You are our weird little moonlight."

None of us had ever met another person with naturally silver hair.

Until now.

His fair skin only made the color stand out more, while every feature of his face seemed sculpted with impossible precision. Sharp jawline. Straight nose. Long lashes framing those haunting blue eyes. It honestly felt unfair... almost illegal... for someone to look that breathtaking.

He couldn’t have been much older than twenty-five. Certainly younger than every masked men surrounding us.

He was the first to recover. A faint clearing of his throat broke the silence before he inclined his head ever so slightly.

"My name is Lorien Moonveil." His voice was calm. Elegant. The kind of voice people instinctively listened to. Then he looked directly into my eyes again. "It’s my pleasure to finally meet you, Princess Argentis."

A deep frown settled on my face. "What?"

Confusion must have been written all over my expression because he immediately continued. "I understand you must be confused. Everything that has happened tonight... everything you have heard... it doesn’t make sense yet." His tone remained gentle. "But your questions will be answered soon."

He paused briefly before lowering his gaze. "And... I apologize."

The words caught me completely off guard. I blinked. He wasn’t looking at me anymore. His eyes had shifted toward the armored figures standing several meters behind him.

"The warriors acted under orders. I offer my apology on their behalf."

Warriors.

So that’s what they were called. Not soldiers. Not mercenaries. But warriors.

My eyes instinctively drifted past him and only then did I realize just how completely surrounded I was. Lorien stood so tall that his broad frame almost entirely blocked the SUV doorway, but through the narrow gap above his left shoulder I caught glimpses of the clearing outside.

There were at least a dozen armored warriors. Every single one wearing the same white masks. Every single one armed. And every single one watching the vehicle. Watching... me.

The tiny spark of hope I’d felt earlier quietly died.mThere was no escaping. Not here, at least not now.

I slowly looked back at him. My throat felt painfully dry as I finally spoke. I was surprised by how steady my own voice sounded despite the storm raging inside me.

"...Why am I here?"

Those blue eyes softened and the expression looked strangely genuine. "You are approximately five hundred kilometers away from Florida."

My breath caught. "What?"

"You are currently on Starfall Island."

"I... I don’t know where that is."

"You wouldn’t." He answered so naturally that it almost sounded obvious.

My mind struggled to keep up. Five hundred kilometers? Starfall Island? I had lived in Florida my entire life and I loved geography. I had always scored well in school. Yet I’d never once heard of any island called Starfall.

How long had I been unconscious? Hours? A day? Long enough for someone to transport me across hundreds of kilometers without me waking even once?

Questions piled upon questions until my head felt ready to split apart.

Lorien seemed to notice. "You’ll receive every answer you seek. Our Vice Headmistress, Katherine Noctis, will explain everything." His eyes lingered on me for another moment before he continued quietly, "For now... there is only one thing I can tell you."

His expression became almost unreadable. "You are finally back where you belong."

My brows knitted together and I immediately spat the words out. "I don’t belong here. You have mistaken me for someone else."

He shook his head just once. "No. You are the lost Moon Princess..." He stopped himself, and for a brief moment uncertainty flickered across his face. Then he corrected himself. "No. The Crown Princess of Starfall." His voice carried absolute certainty. "The last surviving heir of House Argentis."

He held my stunned gaze. "And after twenty years... you have finally returned home."

A faint breeze lifted strands of his silver hair. He inclined his head once more. "Welcome home, Princess."

Nothing.mNone of it made sense. Princess? Crown Princess? Starfall? House Argentis? Every word sounded like something lifted from a fantasy novel. It was ridiculous and impossible.

I opened my mouth. "I think you have-" A sharp beep interrupted me.

Lorien glanced down at the elegant watch wrapped around his wrist and something resembling urgency crossed his face.

"I have to leave." He took one step back before pausing. His eyes met mine one final time. And when he spoke again, his voice dropped so low that only I could hear it. "...Don’t think about running."

My heart skipped.

Then he turned away without another word. I watched him walk away from the SUV, and only then did I notice the massive helicopter waiting beyond the line of warriors. Its blades were already beginning to spin.

Wind rushed across the clearing as Lorien climbed aboard without looking back. The roaring grew louder. Leaves scattered into the air. My hair whipped wildly around my face.

Within moments, the helicopter lifted into the night sky.

I sat frozen inside the SUV, staring after it until the blinking lights disappeared into the darkness. The ringing in my ears remained long after the sound had faded.

"Your Highness."

I flinched. Turning around, I found one of the armored warriors standing beside the open door. This one was a woman. Even hidden behind the white mask, her voice was unmistakably feminine. Unlike the others, she bowed her head slightly.

"Please come with me. The Vice Headmistress is waiting."

I didn’t answer. What was there left to say? My family was gone. I’d been dragged to some island that supposedly didn’t exist. A stranger had just declared me a princess. Nothing felt real anymore. Slowly, I climbed out of the SUV.mThe cool night air hit my face immediately. And then... I saw it.

My breath caught.

A castle.

No... calling it a castle felt inadequate. It was enormous. Countless towers stretched toward the moonlit sky. Elegant bridges connected towering wings of the structure, while enormous stained-glass windows reflected the silver glow of the full moon. Ancient stone walls extended farther than my eyes could follow, disappearing into forests and mountains beyond. It looked less like a building and more like an entire kingdom carved from marble and moonlight.

It couldn’t be real.

It looked exactly like something from the fantasy novels Felix used to tease me for reading.

The female warrior started walking.

I hesitated only a second before following.,I wasn’t given much choice anyway as two more masked warriors silently fell into step behind me. Escorting me, or guarding me. Probably both.

The gravel path crunched softly beneath my shoes as we approached the enormous entrance.

Then, something white darted from the corner of my vision. A tiny blur leaped out of the still-open SUV, landed gracefully on the ground, and disappeared into the darkness between the nearby trees before anyone seemed to notice.

I stopped walking for half a heartbeat.

My heart leaped.

Was that what I think it was?