Free The Seal of Oblivion by Holly Dae Page B

stared at the ceiling. She needed something to
do. It was amazing to live in an international city, and yet here she sat bored
out of her mind. And who could blame her? It was raining. Who wanted to go
out…? But maybe it wasn’t raining at Al-Rana Palace.
    “Hey Nightshield,” Laqiya said. “Is
it raining at the palace?”
    “More than
likely. Al-Rana Palace is only like an extension of Earth, not another
world,” Nightshield explained.
    “Oh,” Laqiya said sighing. She was
about to give up on the idea until it occurred to her that even with it
raining, there was still probably more to do at the palace than there was in
Roselyn.
    Laqiya reached over to grab the
phone.
    “What are you doing?”
    “It’s a palace. I figure there’s
more to do there than it is sitting around here,” Laqiya said to her. “You want
to come? If you don’t, we might get lost anyway.”
    Nightshield laughed. “I’m no
better. I haven’t been in the palace in decades. Besides, what’s the fun of
exploring if at some point you don’t have a clue where you are?”

 
    “Laqiya, where are we going?”
Sakura asked as Laqiya led them to the officially dubbed rose ring.
    “Somewhere special,” Laqiya said.
    “This is the park Laqiya. There’s
nothing special about a park. And it’s raining,” Sakura added adjusting her
umbrella.
    “You’ll see Sakura,” Isis said.
    “For once, I’m with Sakura. Can you
hurry up? It’s freezing,” Adria said trying and failing to rub her hands
together and hold up her umbrella.
    Laqiya didn’t answer and made her
way to the edge of the forest that was bordered by rose bushes. She continued
into the forest followed by Isis who winced as the thorns brushed against her
legs. Adria and Sakura remained behind.
    Laqiya stopped to look back at
them. “Hurry up.”
    “I’m sorry. You must have
forgotten,” Sakura began. “A bloody mess awaits those who dare. How did you and
Isis get past?”
    Laqiya grinned. “You’re very
expressive aren’t you?”
    Sakura frowned and then her eyes
widened. “You know what kind of ‘bloody’ I meant!”
    Adria rolled her eyes. “Can we please
go over the different meanings of words later and get a move on? I have to get
home and finish a report.”
    “Believe me. This is much more
interesting than a report. Besides, who wants to do a report in this weather,”
said Laqiya as she continued into the dense part of the forest, coming upon the
briar patch.
    “What are you doing?” Adria asked
finally going behind Isis and dragging Sakura behind her.
    Laqiya went through the briar
patch, the last things she heard being Sakura’s squeak before arriving at Al-Rana
Lake.
    “Laqiya? Are you okay? The briar patch—” Sakura cut herself short as she gazed at the
place, Adria in a similar state next to her.
    “This is Al-Rana Lake,” Laqiya
replied.
    Sakura’s eyes rested on the palace
in the distance though. “Wow. It’s huge.”
    “It’s bigger than the Taj Mahal,”
Adria added.
    “Wait a minute!” Sakura said as she
followed Laqiya across the bridge. “Is it yours?”
    Laqiya cringed. “I don’t want it to
be. But Nightshield insists that it is.”
    Sakura clapped and began to jump up
and down not caring that she was now getting wet and muddying her shoes. “Can
we go in? Please!”
    “Well duh,” Adria said. “At least I
hope Laqiya wouldn’t just drag us here for the sake of it.”
    “I need to figure out how to get in
first,” said Laqiya.
    “The front entrance to the palace
is always open from what Plainshield told me. She’s there anyway. She’ll
probably end up knowing we’re here,” Isis said.
    Laqiya started for the palace, but
stopped, only for a moment, when Sakura said, “We have to walk all the way to
the palace. Isn’t there a faster way?”
    Laqiya decided not to even be part
of this debate. She continued to the palace. Dealing with Sakura was a waste of
time. That girl had to be the most impatient, complaining