The young boy touched Taleyah, his hand was cold. The princess shivered. It was summer, the sun was burning hit yet the boy seemed unfazed by it. He was cold as ice.
"You are different. I can feel it doesn't prove me wrong," the boy said to her. He looked up to the flying palace, she flipped the end of his shirt. His dress whirled around before they changed to a gorgeous robe made of the finest silk. "See you at the palace, princess," he added.
The boy lifted his hand the scarf on his neck flattered to the wind and lifted him off the ground. He glanced one more time at Taleyah.
"It's okay to be scared but not all beasts are monsters," he let out.
Takeyah blinked, she watched the young boy disappear into the flying palace above her. Her breath hitched, she had met an actual beast. To her surprise she was scared, he had helped her.
Warning her of the impending doom to befall Ember. He had also got her to come back in time to do something about the danger. It brought a smile to her face.
All the while, she had pictured the beasts of the palace to be hideous-looking creatures. The young boy was the opposite of what she had expected a beast to look like.
He was cute and good-looking, well dressed, and kind enough to help her. If it wasn't for the fact that he can fly anf can change clothes with a tap of his hand. He could pass off as a human.
Taleyah shook her head. She pushed thoughts of the boy to the back of her head and stuck back into the palace.
There was chaos in the palace, representatives from the flying palace had come to meet the princess and they were getting restless. The two people that Taleyah had overhead talking in the garden as she was heading out.
They were questioning the king and queen of the princess's where about in the throne room reminding the king of the consequences of breaking his promise.
Taleyah managed to get to her room without being spotted. She let her dress fall to her feet, she walked to the bathroom to freshen up, she was a mess from all the running.
She entered the pool and quickly cleaned herself. Her mind kept going back to the boy she met, she had forgotten to ask him his name. He knew who she was but she had no idea who he was.
Feeling fresh from the bath, she strolled to her cupboard to find something presentable to wear. Her hand stopped midair, she felt eyes on her. Turning around, her eyes scanned the room.
To her surprise, she was the only one in the room. Grabbing the first dress her hand touched she got dressed. All the while is unable to shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
Taleyah adorned herself in a sky blue satin ball gown. A pair of diamond earrings and a butterfly silver necklace. She cleaned her hair and brushed it, holding it up in a bun. With Saffire pins holding it together.
Satisfied with her look, she stepped outside wearing her confident smile. A figure appeared out of the wall and walked forward. He stared at her back with a confused expression on his face.
"Taleyah of Ember," he said.
Taleyah turned around hearing her name. Her eyes darted to the place the silhouette stood. There was no one there. She could swear she heard a deep rich voice call out to her.
"Princess Taleyah," Taleyah's lady in waiting Orianna called out to her in relief.
Taleyah averted her eyes from her room and looked at the girl. She flashed her a sweet smile and stepped forward to meet her halfway.
Orianna rushed to her side. In one breath the girl filled her in on everything that had happened when she disappeared and told hurried her to the throne room.
The princess followed her lady in waiting to the throne room. Her head down in shame, she hadn't thought things through before leaving. But a part of her knew her choice would have a prize. She just didn't care at the time.
"Princess Taleyah of Ember."
Taleyah had her name announced. She straightened her back, and the doors to the throne room opened. With her lady in waiting behind her, she walked into the room.
Her father's eyes lit up on seeing her. He let out the breath that he was holding. Taleyah bowed to the queen and king.
"Raise," the king ushered.
The princess looked on at the woman and man that her lady had informed her about. The woman stared at her with a mischievous smile on her face.
"The famous Taleyah," she uttered. Her feet moved forward, and in a blink of an eye, she was standing before Taleyah. "How did you make it back so quickly?" She whispered the question to her.
Taleyah blinked. Stunned the woman was aware that she had run away. She didn't respond to her, she simply held the woman's gaze in silence.
"Either you have a guardian angel watching over you or you are just lucky," she stated.
The princess thought of the boy that had helped her. In a way he was her guardian angel, helping her protect her loved ones. However, she didn't voice it out to the woman.
The man approached them. "You are a beauty Princess Taleyah," the man spoke in admiration of her beauty.
The Princess nodded to acknowledge his words. For some reason, she didn't feel the need to speak to them. She could feel it in her gut that speaking with them wasn't a good idea. So she kept her mouth shut in their presence.
"Since you kept us waiting for so long. We have pushed the time of your departure forward to an hour from now," the woman let out to her.
Taleyah nodded to show that she understood what the woman said to her. She turned her attention to her mother and father, "I shall go and prepare," she said and excused herself.
As she walked out the door, the woman's smile broke. "She might survive her fate yet," she whispered to the man behind her.
"It's too early to tell. Don't forget she already made a mistake by running away," the man told.