[Next Day]
[Chirping of Birds]
I got up a bit late due to my headache but it was fine now. Getting up I went to the balcony. The sun was high up.
("Lan,… is he back?")
The sunny breeze felt great.
TAK! TAK! TAK! [knocking]
"Lady Ariya, are you awake?"
It was Fiona.
"yes I am up. Please come in."
Fiona entered the room with her maids. She was looking beautiful today as well. She wore a light turquoise coloured mermaid dress complementing her body shape. Her green eyes sparkling through her brown hair were mesmerising. She spoke gracefully,
"Lady Ariya. Did you slept well?"
"I had a bit of headache yesterday while I slept. Now I am feeling good."
"That's great. Lets get you ready!"
Fiona was excited for this.
"Are we going somewhere?"
"No. But still..who knows we have to go !... Its just that… you remind me of my siblings.. so I want to be with you and enjoy our time."
I nodded with a smirk. The maids arranged everything and gave me a bath. It felt like heaven….haaaaa …. Just great….
They even gave me a massage with essential fragment oils. Fiona instructed everyone.
They dressed me in a comfortable white pant with a white shirt embroidered with small gems and designs. A ultramarine blue jacket was accurately as per my measurements. A waist belt with small pockets with a pattern matching the white shirt embroidery and a dagger attached to it. Ultramarine Blue Shoes, half length to my knees with the rubies and same pattern as jacket. The rubies reflected from the blue jacket as well as shoes. Fiona tied my hairs in a ponytail with a blue broach in sliver that complemented my maroon hairs.
I stood in front of mirror in a daze…
"Is this really me?"
"[chuckle] You look beautiful Lady Ariya…. Now then let us have breakfast."
"wait!"
Before I go, I took the pendent and stone and kept in my pockets. Fiona was leading me to the place where we would have our breakfast. All the servants on our way were looking at me with admiring eyes.
("wohh! This is great!")
We entered a terrace lawn for breakfast. A table in the centre surrounded by small plants and flowers and a climbers shed above us. Even from the table one could view the immersing beauty. The breakfast as already arranged on the table where Lan and Roger were sitting. They were busy conversing with each other. As I entered, they both saw in my direction as stood up from their sits. They were Stunned?
("Holy Mother!!!!") ("Wowww!!")
They were stupefied to my transformation. Fiona looked at me and just laughed about the whole situation. Their eyes with big enough to pop out their eyeballs with jaws dropping.
"You look beautiful Kid… Now you are a complete fit to our world…Pretty." Roger commented with a amazed smile. He nudged Lan who was turned into a statue to speak up.
"Yes!... you look very beautiful…. So beautiful, I can't take my eyes off you." As Lan complemented this we all burst into a laughter. Lan started blushing.
"I thought that I look weird so you were looking at me like that." I laughed out.
Lan was wearing a suit which looked somewhat like a royal. Roger too wore a suit with a high coat complementing his looks and attire.
"Lan, when did you come back." I asked curiously.
"Let us eat first then we will talk…" Lan replied me with a light smile.
"You were out yesterday? When? Why? " Roger asked.
"Yes I will tell after we eat."
"Okay. But where is our King?"
Fiona asked her maid to have a look.
("Wow so much to eat! I am already hungryyyyy! Where is this king?")
The table was filled with sandwiches, salads, some vegetable pancakes, sweet pancakes, bread, butter, fruits, juice, etc.
While the maids served us tea, the butler approached us. He bowed and spoke,
"King Leo is not feeling well. Hence, he won't be joining you. He wishes you to have breakfast peacefully and that he will look for you all afterwards."
The old butler just bowed again and left.
("wow he just looked like the scientist type, white haired one.")
("Why is Leo not well suddenly? He was fine yesterday.") Lan had some confused thoughts.
"Let us eat then? " I asked calmly.
The delicious breakfast was waiting for us. We eat with watching the beautiful scenery around the castle.
After the breakfast when we were admiring the blue sky, Lan spoke,
"[clearing his throat] I have something important to tell you all. Yesterday after you both left, Ariya and me, we say someone entering the forest at night hiding his identity."
"Forest!! THE DARK FOREST!!" Roger exclaimed.
"Yes Roger. So I followed that person into the forest and he went through a Lam Portal Tree…"
"what??" Fiona Shocked.
"wait… what is this Lam Portal Tree." I asked
"A gateway between two places." Fiona answered.
Lan continued,
"So I followed that person through the lam portal tree which led to an abandoned monastery. It was very dense place. The building was covered with moss and climbers all over the walls from outside. The inside was not so clean either. Red candles were lightened all over the place and a stench of rotten meat was everywhere. The person was very secretive. The cloak was on him until the very last room. The middle of room was the most terrifying thing."
"what was that?" I asked
"An Altar for Devil. That person was worshipping devil!!!"
"WHATT!!!!" Fiona and Roger shouted.
"But it is against our law! How is it possible." asked Fiona.
"Did you see that person?" Roger asked.
Lan frowned and replied, "I couldn't see his face as I was a bit far and the light was not enough to recognise. I was try to move forwards but then suddenly I was surrounded by black smoke. It was not around the lightened area but only in the darkness. It was suffocating. It almost made me loss all my senses as all the emotional trauma was flashing inside my mind. Before I could get stuck in it I ran out as early as possible. It almost made me paralysed."
"Emotional trauma?"
" I suddenly remembered all the bad memories and my heart was filled with sadness of all these years. I suddenly felt inability to breath. My body was trembling on my way back."
(" Lan experienced the same as me in the dark room. So, the black smoke is related to..dark magic?")
"But you got out of that and are here safe is the most important now." I comforted Lan.
("Should I tell them about my experience?")
I thought a moment and spoke,
"I experienced the same as Lan yesterday…[guilty]."
"WHAT?''[all together]