Julie found herself in the middle of a field.
The sun was setting over the horizon and Kale was standing on the top of the hill, his blond hair getting swept away by the wind in waves. His face was down, his chin nearly touching his chest and he seemed to be in grief.
It was such a raw look on his face. And what scared her was how his expression was completely different from how he acted now.
She slowly realised that it was a dream when she saw the grave he was facing.
This was a scene from the original novel which would take place after the Annual Ceremony.
And the grave in front of the Prince would be his mother's.
"JULIANNA-
Julie's eyes flew open.
The artificial rays of sunlight poked through the painted window panes around Vellona's room. The room had brown walls and stained ceilings. She could see the effort Vellona must have put into brightening this room with the creeper vines snaking their way into the room through the windows, bringing in flowers and designs on the wall that looked painted by hand.
She sat up on the bed blinking a few times, trying to refresh the dream she just had. It would be more helpful if she often had dreams that were related to the original novel, she thought. That way she could confirm which step to take next in her plan for survival.
"Rise and Shine Shine!", Vellona yelled again banging a spoon against a pot. Rivela trailed behind her trying to mimic her sister.
"I'm awake", Julie muttered placing her fingers against her temple.
"That may be true, but awakening the mind is important too", she said pulling Julie from the bed.
"My mind is awake too", she murmured taking her clothes to the bathroom attached to get changed. The costumes they had down here were all long and droopy robe like clothes with wide sleeves that nearly touched the floor. Julie always felt like she was overdressed everytime she had to wear them.
She walked over to the common room which was attached to the small kitchen. Kale was already sitting there with his head in his hands, grumbling something unpleasant. She noticed that he was finally out of his sling.
"Low BP?", she asked sitting down next to him.
"Shut up", he grumbled in return taking a long sip of what Julie assumed was the underground version of caffeine.
"Aren't you going out with Vell today?", he asked again trying to look at Julie through his blond hair that fell over his eyes.
"Stop looking at me like that. You look creepy.", Julie said instantly. "And yes, I am going out today"
"What happened to the courtesies?", he grumbled unhappily.
"You'll get to be called by your title once you deserve it", she said haughtily. Then, in a low voice, she added. "Besides, I don't want these people to know who we are, just yet"
"Pretty sure they won't look twice when they see that we are their enemy. Although that's what I'm telling you, Vell isn't like those people out there. I'm sure we can trust her", he said leaning his head back in the chair.
"I can't believe you're trusting someone so easily like this, just because they've helped you once", she said worried now. "How on earth are you going to lead a nation at this point?"
"That's pretty easy", he said smirking at her. "While dealing with political matters, I'm best at putting on my mask", he said, his golden green eyes gleaming with that prideful expression she hated so much. "And I have my own reasons to trust Vellona Weretti"
"Are you both done with your breakfast?", Vellona asked loudly suddenly coming into the hallway.
Julie nodded grabbing a cup having the same liquid Kale was drinking. "I'll be done with this"
"You seriously need to eat", Kale began but then Julie shot him a glare.
"I'll be done in a minute and then we can leave after you finish changing my hair and eye colour", Julie said drinking down her drink in a rush. It tasted like sweet wine. She tried not to throw up.
"In a minute", Vellona said asking Rivela to bring her a comb.
"If you are going to the market, make sure they enlist Julie under a false name at the city centre", Kale told Vellona.
"I didn't really introduce your names the first time we brought you two back from the tunnel. It's a simple registration process. I have signed you two under the name of underground traders so it will be fine for now", Vellona explained.
"What do you mean for now?", Julie asked bending her head as Vellona tied her long hair back in a tight bun.
"The traders who come here have to be recognised by the trader's association that reports to the king. You also need to have a traders pass or license, both which you don't have"
"I really need to check how tight their security is. For an underground city, I find it impossible to believe that there are only two exits", Julie pondered.
"You'll see why once you reach the market. Oh and Julianna, come over here for a moment", Kale asked asking her to lean in.
Julie looked worriedly at Vellona who didn't really seem to care. She leaned in as he suggested and listened to whatever it was that he wanted to say.
"If someone happens to recognise you, pretend like you don't know them", Kale whispered.
"Why should I- Ohh", she muttered realising what he meant. If she were to be recognised by someone then that person would more likely know 'Julianna' who had the memories and not her.
"So you believe me when I said that I didn't remember anything?", she asked him surprised at his sudden change in attitude.
Kale looked at her with a silent expression then.
"Yeah something like that", he murmured slowly getting up from his chair.
"Ummm Julie come here let me change the colour for you now. It won't take more than five minutes and then we'll be on our way", Vellona said, in a bit of a hurry now.
Julie walked back to where Vellona was and sat down closing her eyes. She felt her bring up that glistening white mana ball from earlier and shine it over her hair.
"...Aand done", she whispered tapping Julie's forehead with her finger.
Julie slowly opened her eyes and Vellona gasped.
"What?", she asked standing up and panicking . She wanted to see a mirror, where was the mirror-
She heard Vellona squealing from the kitchen as she passed the doorway to their room.
Kale was at the doorstep putting on his diva boots and they slipped from his hands and fell down on the floor with a clang. His mouth flew open to say something and then he shut it staring at her in horror.
"What?", she asked stopping now. Julie kind of was afraid to look in the mirror after Kale's reaction.
"I think.....I think I'm sad that you don't look like a 50-year old woman", Kale began and Julie mimicked throwing something at his head. He laughed and picked up his boots disappearing behind the front door.
She had walked back to the room, disappointed then when Rivela saw her and then threw away the dolls she was playing with on the ground and ran upto her and buried Julie in a hug.
Julie picked her up in her hands and walked towards the mirror as Rivela pulled at the thin strands of white hair which had strayed from her bun.
"Julie are you a Princess?", She asked curiously with wide silver eyes.
"No....and I don't really think I want to be", she said remembering all the trauma stuff Princess Nele had to go through.
Rivela grinned at her with a sneaky smile, writhing in Julie's hands. She jumped down and pushed Julie towards the mirror and ran away to the hallways shouting. "Liar!!"
Julie turned around and looked at herself in the mirror and gasped.
**************************************
"So I'll talk to the people at the city centre for your registration. Just to make sure again, your given name is Serena Quell. You are 23 years old and a trader for the underground community that lives in the north. They will ask for your pass but just tell them that the guards at the checkpost held it with them for checking", Vellona explained.
"Alright. Meanwhile I will check around the city and try to find some information on how to get out of the city, and no I won't be asking any direct questions and yes, I will hint to everyone that I talk to that I am a trader interested in their business", Julianna explained.
Vellona smiled and gave her a mini hug. "That's my girl. Now meet me in front of the bronze well in 20 minutes"
Julie nodded and walked around thinking over Kale's words from today's morning on how he trusted Vellona. Julie hoped that she would prove to be as faithful as he claimed her to be
She walked around the market looking at the exotic goods and clothes that all seemed to be in that ridiculous robe like fashion.There were also costumes that looked like the half-cowboy suit the prince was wearing and she decided to stay away from it, just in case.
The people around her didn't seem to notice her much because of her newly transformed white hair and eyes. They only seemed to notice her presence when she decided to approach them herself. Julie wondered whether Vellona's magic was capable of hiding her presence too.
She roamed around, asking people for the Southern exit. The people seemed a bit turned back by her accent but they were kind enough to point her in the right direction. Julie sighed, suddenly glad that both the underground folk and the surface people spoke the same language or it would have been troublesome gathering information.
She walked a while exploring the long line of stands circling around the walls of the big clearing. It took quite a while when she noticed it.
Men with white masks and swords. Positioned at every corner of the circular market. They seem to be in groups of three. Julie immediately recognised then as the king's knights by the red symbol encrusted on their gloves.
She tried to stay low and away from their sight but they seem to be everywhere. Their glares bore into Julie's back as she realised that she must look like an outsider to them who daily patrolled this place. It would be even easier to identify a foreigner when the people around were limited.
The vendors weren't really worried although. Julie tried to keep a conversation with them to throw the guards nearby off her trail.
They kept watching Julie for a while then moved on with their patrols once they found out that Julie was regular with the folks here. Julie did her best and gave a smile that made her fit in. Or she hoped so.
She walked around some more visiting random shops at a time and asking people around for mass sold products. One particular vendor asked her how she transported the goods and whether they would reach the neighbouring nation in good quality or not. Julie gave him a smile. "Err you know the usual way. The people in the neighbouring countries don't complain much so I hope that means that we are doing a good job", she lied effortlessly.
"You go through the North pass with those goods?", he asked still in wonder.
"Yes", Julie said trying to sound confident.
The vendor stepped out of his stalk pointing at somewhere in the walls up ahead. "I really don't know how you manage to raise your stock upto that entrance and not damage any goods. But I have to say that I am interested in your work now. Tell me how to contact you for business. I've been thinking of trading with the western country for a long time now"
Julie stared at the spot the man had pointed to earlier. Then she realised a very very troubling detail crucial to their escape plan.
The North exit was high up in the wall.
There was absolutely no way someone could go in and out of the entrance without being noted by the entire city. Not to mention that the road leading upto the exit was very steep.
Julie made a quick mental note to kill Kale for avoiding this detail earlier and made an excuse to the trader and stomped off towards where the hole in the wall was.
She walked quite a while, totally off track and off time from where she had promised to meet Vellona. Her eyes never left the large hole in the wall which she had utterly failed to notice before back at the Weretti home.
She ran through the crowds pushing past the robed people and dashed through the horse carts. She finally came in front of the huge road leading the way to the Exit of the North side, panting.
There were more guards here than usual and they looked at Julie with curious concern. She looked at the steep road, wishing she could see the exit from up close, atleast once. She wanted to see whether they had a magic barrier installed or not.
"Miss, you are not allowed here", One officer called out breaking free from his patrol. He jogged to where Julie was and she ran back to the city crowd blending in again. When would she be able to take a good look at the exit again? Maybe during the scouting process? She made up her mind to ask Kale about it tonight.
Julie walked some more to find the knight from earlier at her trail, she quickly moved towards a fruit stall looking at the red coloured fruits, pretending to be immersed by their colour.
"They say the apples are in good season at this time of the year", a cloaked man beside her spoke.
Julie froze suddenly. That sound somehow felt oddly familiar.
She slowly peeked at the person sitting beside her. From the figurine she could tell that it was a male. He was wearing a turquoise coloured clock with golden runes embroidered on it in delicate lines.
She saw two scarred hands push back the head of the clock and a man with silver hair turned around and smiled at her.
But what shocked her the most was the blindfold around one of his eyes. She was sure that she had never met the man before and yet she couldn't help but suppress the feeling that she knew him very well at the same time.
The man turned around his position to face her.
"How are you Julianna Emore?"