"Your Highness, we're here..."
Stormy's eyelids fluttered open hearing the gaurd announce their arrival and in an instant, her heart began to race and her breathing accelerated.
She felt her muscles tighten and her body stiffen as a rush of cold weird energy coursed through her veins, sending shivers down her spine.
Rubbing her palms against each other, she nervously edged closer to the side of the carriage and slowly pulled the curtains apart a bit, then peeped through the gap, another wave of panic sweeping over her immediately she noticed the group of people standing outside ready to welcome her.
She's been dreading this very moment ever since they set off on their journey and now that it has finally arrived, she had no idea how to deal with it.
"We've arrived, your highness. You can step out of the carriage now," the gaurd disclosed, causing Stormy to sigh in distress.
She was extremely anxious about meeting her 'new family'.
Will she be safe living all alone amongst them considering they're all strangers? Was she going to be able to impress them? Can she pull this off?
Furthermore, will she be able to survive in this strange place without her mother?
Her mother...!
How was she at the moment? Was she doing fine? She must be worried to death by now.
Gosh! How she wished she could send her a message to let her know she was okay.
Will she really be safe like the queen promised her?
But what if she fails? What if they detect that she's not the princess?
What'll happen to both her and her mother if she fails to play her part in this scheme well and ends up being exposed?
Were they going to be in any trouble?
With these thoughts running through her head, Stormy's anxiety flared up, making her wish she could hide in the carriage forever and that time will come to a standstill.
In fact, she wished she could go back in time and say no to the queen's proposal, but unfortunately, she can't.
It was totally impossible.
She had had to accept this role because her mother's life was on the line and she was left with no other choice so even if she were to go back in time, there was nothing else she'd have done.
There's absolutely no way she'd have said no to the queen when her mother's life was involved.
She was the reason she was still alive. The reason she had been spared after that horrific incident years back and for that she owes her her life and it's also why she had to do this for her.
Although still nervous, Stormy understood she had no other choice.
She knew that one way or the other, she was going to have to get out and face the people no matter what.
As a matter of fact, she had spent quite too much time in there already, another minute more and they might begin to suspect that something was amiss and that wouldn't be good for her at all.
Now determined not to give up, Stormy exhaled one last time and quickly offered a silent prayer, then she pulled her dress a little bit up to her knee and got up, slowly stepping out of the carriage with a forced smile on her face and then, fighting back her overwhelming worries and fears, she strode majestically towards the king and the rest of the people awaiting her and gave a slight curtsy.
"Your majesty, may I present princess Zelda Bernadotte Nikaulson from the Avalon Kingdom," the gaurd introduced, bowing in respect, with both of his hands pointing towards Stormy.
With a hearty smile, the King immediately reached out for her right hand and said, "You're highly welcome to Nightingvale, princess Zelda. We're really pleased to finally have you here with us," and then he went on to plant a light kiss on her hand. "We do apologise for the change of plans," he quickly added, sounding extremely remorseful.
"No need to apologise, your majes..."
"Err, you can just call me Max..." the king suggested, interrupting her speech, "since we're going to be a father and daughter soon," he continued.
"You don't have to apologise, your ma-sorry Max," Stormy remarked, quickly correcting herself, then she motioned towards one of the guards carrying a cushion with a golden dagger on it to come close. "My father, the king and the queen both sends their greetings and they wanted you to have this," she said, lifting up the object with both hands and then offered it to the king who gladly received it with a smile.
After admiring it for a while, he handed it over to one of his gaurds and then went on to thank her.
"Ah," he suddenly exclaimed as if now remembering something. "I totally forgot to do this earlier. Anyways these are my two children, princess Reina and prince Allen."
Stormy followed the King's gaze as he introduced his kids to her and immediately felt an unwavering sense of fright when she noticed the cold looks they were both giving her.
In fact, the two of them had been glaring at her ever since she arrived on that soil, she had just been too distracted to notice.
Stormy, although slightly bothered by the unfriendly look she was been given, gave a slight bow and in quite a polite tone, said, "It's a pleasure meeting you both," hoping to get a smile or something other than the icy-cold looks from them, however, to her greatest shock, the two siblings just acted like they didn't hear her at all.
The princess even went as far as to roll her eyes at her and then with an unsubtle bitter voice, said, "I wish I could say the same for you," before swiftly turning around and walking away, making Stormy wonder if she had by any chance offended her in her past life.
After she left, the king immediately tried to defuse the tension in the air by consoling Stormy. "Do not take my daughter's words to heart, my dear. She's actually quite a nice person and I'm sure you'll love her once you get to know her better," he explained and Stormy who at this point doesn't know what else to say merely gave a slight nod.
Following this, she was taken directly to the main palace and was then shown to her chamber, after which she was assigned a few maids who helped her to undress and also prepared a cold bath for her.
Then, when she was done bathing, they helped her into another set of clothes and did her hair before she finally sent them away with reasons of being tired and wanting to rest.
The moment they had all gone, Stormy immediately slumped herself onto the bed and although she was still not entirely comfortable being there, the stress from the journey made her fall asleep the very minute she landed on the bed.