Oaken (The Underground Series Book 1)
Page 34
When they entered Arbor Castle, Autumn and Luke were approached by a castle worker who informed them that they were to have dinner with Olympus that night. They said goodbye to Avery and Crystal and went up to their braches to change out of their Warrior gear and become presentable for dinner with their grandfather.
“Wonder what he wants to talk to us about,” Autumn said to Luke as they traveled down the spiral staircase towards Olympus’s living quarters.
“He probably just wants to congratulate us on saving Rose Valley from your ex-boyfriend and his stupid evil followers.”
Autumn glared at him. She hated when he referred to Victor Vaun as her “ex-boyfriend.” It brought back too many unpleasant memories.
When they approached the doors to Olympus’s living quarters, the burly guards standing watch smiled at them and opened the double oak doors to allow them entry.
“Ah, children. You look more and more mature each time I see you. Must be your upcoming birthday.” Olympus flashed them his white smile surrounded by a flaming red beard. His hazel eyes, a mirror image of the twins’ own, twinkled brightly.
“Have a seat,” he said, waving his hand at the two vacant chairs situated around the grand dinner table.
A waiter approached the table and Olympus ordered the dragon for the three of them. Autumn did like dragon, but she didn’t quite enjoy being ordered for. She never told Olympus this, though. They exchanged light small talk until the food arrived, talking about the Warriors, the most recent attack, and the increased Atrum and Shadow attacks on all the magical creatures.
“Now, for the serious talk,” Olympus said after the waiter had left them with steaming plates of dragon meat and mounds of fluffy whipped potatoes. Autumn and Luke glanced up from their food, listening intently. “When royal elves turn 18, a number of things come about. I won’t list them off now so as not to overwhelm you. You’ll learn everything in time. Tonight I wanted to address one particular change. Now, you may or may not know that on a royal elf’s 18th birthday, it is generally announced that they will be the next elf ruler.” Autumn and Luke’s mouths dropped open and Olympus chuckled. “I suppose you did not know then. This is usually done with the oldest of the royal children.”
Autumn glanced at Luke. Technically he was older by a couple minutes.
“However,” Olympus continued, “because the two of you are twins, I see you as equal in age. You’ve lived the same amount of days and are equally wise.” The twins listened to him with wide eyes. Autumn had to admit that she’d never given much thought to the matter of the next elf ruler. Judging by the look on Luke’s face, she wasn’t the only one.
“I refuse to choose between my grandchildren so I am giving you the job of deciding who will be the next ruler. It will be your decision. You have until your 18th birthday to decide.”
At these words Autumn and Luke exchanged a quick glance.
“Perhaps I should first ask if both of you are interested in becoming the next ruler,” Olympus said.
Autumn frowned at the table, thinking. Did she want to be a queen? It would be a huge responsibility. But then she thought of how many people she could help. How many lives she could change. Helping people had always been a passion of Autumn’s—a dream.
Of course she wanted to be the next ruler, to have the power to make a real difference in the Underground. Then she had a thought. “If we were to become the next elf ruler, would we still be Warriors?”
Olympus considered this. “It wouldn’t be advisable because of the dangers Warriors face, but I would say that it’s up to you. If either of you want to continue being a Warrior in addition to ruling the elf world, then that’s your choice.”
Autumn and Luke were silent.
“So?” Olympus said. Autumn and Luke both nodded and then exchanged another glance. “Both of you?” Olympus asked. They nodded again. “Well, then, you will have to come to the decision together.”
“But don’t the men usually get the first pick?” Luke muttered.
Autumn shot him a glare. “Why should the man get to choose first? The woman is just as capable of ruling the elves, if not more so.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “I highly doubt that. Like the woman could actually stand up to another magical creature ruler, since the woman feels the need to make everyone in the Underground happy.”
“That is not true!” Autumn protested. “The woman can stand up to other rulers just fine. Besides, it’s not like the man knows what is best for the elves or has any sense of compassion for anyone other than himself.”
“The man has compassion, but he also knows that you can’t please everyone.”
“The woman never said that she had to please everyone.”
“Well the woman sure acts like it.”
“You are so stubborn!” Autumn shouted, standing up.
Luke stood as well. “You just can’t admit that I would be a better ruler than you. People like me more.”
“Ha! If you’re talking about all of the girls you make out with then, yeah, I’m sure they do.”
Luke turned slightly red. “You just want to use your power to help everyone and make them all happy. Well, that’s impossible. You would go crazy trying to be the ruler because there will always be someone who’s unhappy.”
“You just want the power of being on top. And you probably think you can command all of the girls in Arbor Falls to bow down at your feet!”
Luke opened his mouth to reply when Olympus cleared his throat, silencing both of them.
“I think it would be best if you two slept on this,” he said calmly. “I will send a castle worker up to your branches with some tea to calm you down. Perhaps you would do well to look at things from a different perspective.”
Autumn and Luke left Olympus’s dining quarters and traveled angrily up to their branches in silence. Luke entered his branch and Autumn traveled the short distance up to her own, slamming the door behind her. This was so typical of Luke, thinking he should be the next ruler just because he was the man. Well, if anything, Autumn thought that should count against him.
She plopped heavily down in her armchair by the fire, which had been lit by a castle worker sometime while she was away. Not long after she’d entered her branch, there was a knock on the door. Autumn hoped it was Luke, having come to beg for her forgiveness, but instead she found a castle worker with the tray of tea and cookies that Olympus told them he would send.
Thanking the worker, Autumn returned to her armchair, sipping her tea slowly. She was pleasantly overcome with a sense of calm serenity. Olympus must have asked them to put some sort of draught or something in the tea to calm them down.
As Autumn finished off the rest of her tea, she began to feel extremely drowsy. She moseyed into her bedroom and fell sleepily onto the bed, not even bothering to crawl under the covers.
A ray of sunlight falling across Autumn’s face awakened her. It was Sunday morning and she had nowhere that she needed to be. She stretched and rubbed her eyes and then stopped suddenly. Something was wrong. Different. She looked down at her hands. But these weren’t her hands. They were way too large, way too rough—like a man’s.
Autumn hurriedly got up from her bed, knowing something was definitely not right because she was much taller than she had been last night. When she came to stand before her full-length mirror she let out a loud, bellowing scream. The sound that escaped her mouth was not high pitched like it should have been, but was instead a deep baritone.
She screamed because, looking back at her in the mirror with the same shade of hazel eyes as her own…was Luke.
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