Chapter 287

287 Slumber Party

With the help of Honour’s mother(who wouldn’t let Crysta do all the shopping by herself), the three girls got extra sleeping bags and were able to shop for ‘appropriate’ snacks and treats for their slumber party.

The enthusiasm radiating from the three girls brought a smile to the woman’s face, compared to the doom and gloom that had graced their house ever since they told their daughter that she was a goddess.

Honour had done her best to put the topic to rest and hadn’t brought it up again. Fortunately for her, no one seemed to be bringing it up again.

They all acted normal around her. It was fun... with a tinge of sadness to it for those who knew what the girls were trying to keep away from their minds.

It wasn’t going to be long before she’d have to address the issue and come to terms with it, but for the time she had left, she could at least have fun with her friends.

Shaking her head, the woman banished the thoughts from her mind and got back to shopping to help Madeline get comfortable.

Lina rushed through the supermarket getting everything she thought would be necessary only to have most of them turned down by Honour’s mother.

As it had turned out, Crysta had brought a completely wrong menu. Tequila and all the other versions of alcohol she was trying to get were simply unacceptable.

Turns out, she didn’t have to do that much with Honour and Lina around. The two girls let loose and went wild once they were inside the shopping mall, “Come on girls. Are you trying to give the girl a stomachache?” the woman tried.

.....

“She’s supposed to enjoy herself. It’s a slumber party and honestly, I haven’t had one myself in quite some time,” Lina complained, watching yet another box of snacks get shelved by the overly cautious woman, “I could cover part of the expenses or all of them if that’s the problem.”

“No, Lina. I don’t think the king would like it if his money was suddenly being drained by his teenage daughter out for a slumber party he doesn’t even know about. I hope you know what you’re doing,” the woman rubbed her temples, taking out the extra box of chocolates the girls had just added to the shopping cart.

“Oh, come on. He doesn’t let me do a lot as is. This is completely within the guidelines he’s set for me,” Lina giggled, her face beaming at the sight of gummy bears.

“I want to believe you, but...” the woman looked at the shopping cart with a worried expression. Even with her filtering the cart, they had somehow managed to fill it up, “The number of chips alone is enough to feed an orphanage of starving children.” she chuckled, taking out yet another thing the girls really didn’t need.

'

“At this rate, we are going to buy food that will be done before anyone has gone to sleep,” Crysta pitched in, holding up a bottle of champagne for the woman to verify.

Honour’s mother looked at the brand and lit up, “Oh, that’s a nice one.”

“I know right,” Crysta mirrored her enthusiasm, the faint glimmer of hope shining through her eyes.

“No. Quite sneaky of you,” the woman cut her off before she could even think of putting it in the cart. Laughing at the disappointed girl walking away from her, “Is there anything else you would like to place in here?”

Honour finally walked back to the cart and went through the things they had placed in it, “None that I can think of.”

“I think that concludes the shopping part of the slumber party. Honestly, shopping is much more fun when you’re not the adult in the group,” the woman whined.

“Well, maybe tomorrow you could bring her to buy clothes,” Lina mentioned while they got the cashier to go through everything. The woman looked back at the pleading royal, “At least, let me handle that one, please.”

Sighing, “You’re one persistent royal. I’ll give you that.”

.............

Madeline took some time to get used to what was happening around her. The storm of enthusiastic girls prepared the sleeping bags in the living room.

On the table, the food had been arranged in an enticing manner that had the girl salivating. She was almost tempted to start without them.

When Honour’s mother had made sure they didn’t need her anymore, she warned them to keep the noise reasonable so the neighbours would be bothered and let them have their fun. Or at least, she got out of their way and watched them for about an hour from the top of the stairs.

“How is she doing?” Honour’s grandmother asked the eavesdropping woman.

“Oh, Mother, you scared me. The girl’s doing alright. Lina and Selene are doing their best to make her feel comfortable. We have nothing to worry about... for now,” the woman said to her mother, turning back to the four girls having fun in the living room.

“That’s good to hear. Now would you stop listening in and leave them to themselves?” the old woman chuckled, “It sure would be nice to be young again.”

“I’ll watch them a little bit longer. Honour has never had this many friends over,” tears welled up in the woman’s eyes as she watched her daughter never lose her smile.

.................

The girls spent the night doing everything and nothing at all. Music, series, games and food were the large variety of activities they had to choose from and it was Madeline they made pick each activity. Finally passing out at midnight.

Honour was the last one to fall asleep, having witnessed her friends at their craziest without the influence of alcohol. ‘I wonder what they would do if they were drunk,’ she chuckled to herself before letting her eyes wander to the girl sleeping beside Lina.

When Madeline had finally warmed up to them, they’d started noticing her true nature. She had eyes that flashed between amber and silver although they had chosen not to ask her for fear of ruining the fun.

She was incredibly honest and almost incapable of lying. She loved to eat and could barely hold back that it was funny. It was soon apparent that her cheeks were not in the right shape because of her time in the woods. Honour was sure this detail was hard to notice. The girl didn’t show signs of any malnourishment, after all.

Honour envisioned a girl with a round face and full cheeks that made her look even younger than she was. Her hair flowed down slightly below her shoulders and was wavy in nature.

She was also one of the first people Honour had ever met that were so true to themselves. There wasn’t an ounce of deceit or pretence behind everything she said or did... much like the royal that was sleeping right next to her.

Lina had taken a shine to the girl almost immediately and the girl had responded in kind. The two of them were far too familiar with each other for people that had only just met. ‘Even after everything you went yourself through mentally, you still managed to pull through unscathed,’ Honour stared at the sleeping royal tempted to brush the hair on her forehead.

Her eyes further scanned the room to Crysta, the oddball that wouldn’t give up on fixing her friendship with Lina.

Trying to figure out what went through her head when she ignored Lina all that time was nearly impossible. However, Lina wasn’t letting her in as easily as Honour would have.

After all, the two of them did have an odd relationship even before Lina had regained her confidence, “The two of you were always meant to be best friends,” Honour whispered to herself.

“I guess...” Lina’s voice tore through the silence, “You might be right about that.” Honour was stunned to see one of them still awake. The royal turned away so Honour couldn’t see her face.

“I know you’re awake, Lina,” Honour tried, but the girl wouldn’t reply, “Crysta won’t hold on forever, you know. I know what she did to you. But eventually, she will get the feeling you don’t even want her in your life anymore.

I’m not speaking for her, but I know I wouldn’t stay around if I got the idea that someone wanted nothing to do with me... especially after showing her my weak side.” After a moment of silence, “Good night, all of you.”

An hour after the girl had already fallen asleep, Lina let out a deep sigh, pulling her covers tighter around herself, “Don’t you think I know that, Honour?”

................

The next day was announced by a yelling mother who seemed more than happy to rip the younglings out of their cosy sleeping bags, “Get up, get up. Alpha Jackson already announced today’s drill. You’re all late and no, of course, I’m not talking about you, Madeline dear. I’m speaking to the rest of these freeloaders.”

“Mum, you choose the worst methods of waking children,” Honour yawned, covering her mouth with one hand and unconsciously pulling her covers back up with the other.

“Well, you better be grateful I didn’t choose water to wake you,” the woman chuckled. This joke drained the rest of the sleep from the three girls. Madeline, on the other hand...

Remained sound asleep like a rock.

Lina was astounded by the girl’s sleep, “She’s in for a world of pain when... if she starts attending the drills.”

“Aren’t the drills optional?” Honour asked her.

“Well, they are meant to be optional, but after what happened in the reserve, the king is thinking of making the compulsory,” Crysta responded, stretching her muscles to wake herself up, “Honour, can I use your shower?”

“Sure, but wouldn’t it be better if you used it after...”

“Just show me where it is,” the girl cut her off.

“Sure,” Honour got to giving directions and stopped questioning the delta.

............

Madeline got up that day with no one beside her. Her voice was raspy from exertion the night before and she cringed at the craziness that had happened the day before. Looking about her, “Someone finally decided to wake up,” Honour’s mother approached her, holding a cup of tea.

“Thank you,” the girl thanked her, taking the cup from her.

“Don’t mention it. We’re family... or at least that’s what my mother has told me,” the woman responded. Madeline found her presence so calming that she was nearly convinced she cast a spell with her sweet voice.

Lina and Honour had similar charms to them, but the woman before her just seemed to know the right things to say all the time.

The girl found that she nearly spilt her entire story the day before just because of how safe she felt when she spoke with her.

“What do you mean by us being family?” the girl asked her, curiosity shining in her eyes.

The woman chuckled at her enthusiasm, “Well, I will explain it all to you when we go shopping later today.”

“Huh, what do you mean? Am I going to be living here?” Madeline asked, now shocked to hear.

“Of course you are. Where else did you expect to live?” the woman asked her, going back into the kitchen where she returned with a plate full of various confectionaries and placed them on the table.

The girl took a seat on one of the sofas while the woman went about fixing the disorganised living room.

“I don’t want to cause you any trouble,” Madeline replied, “I can already tell Honour wants to sleep in her own bed again.”

“Honour is more intuitive than you might think and the kindest person you’ll ever meet. Well, Lina rivals her when it comes to that, but I will assure you that she likes this arrangement better than anything else,” the woman said.

“I could tell she didn’t like the idea of me taking her bedroom. I don’t want to be a bother,” Madeline replied, miraculously skipping over everything the woman had just said.

“And we wouldn’t want to send out a girl with no place to live. Not to mention a relative of ours,” the amber-eyed woman took hold of her hands, maintaining eye contact, “Honour can tell you will be here for a while, so a more permanent arrangement would put her at ease.”

“Are you...”

“Stop worrying already. I’ve already told you we are more than happy to have you stay with us,” the woman replied, taking note of how the girl’s eyes flashed grey every once in a while. It was the furthest thing from normal. “When someone thinks it’s normal for people to move about with glowing eyes, they meet one that flickers between colours.”

The girl hid her face at the comment. Honour’s mother rushed, “No, you don’t have to do that. Don’t cover them. They’re beautiful.”

“They are also dangerous,” the girl cried from under her palms.