"Sir We've searched everywhere in the city, she's nowhere to be found!"
"Are you sure?" Asher said calmly
"Yes sir" one of the men replied
"You may leave. Remember to inform me if you have any ideas on her whereabouts" Asher said "I'll pay you double if you do"
"Okay, I'll send some of my men again to the far outskirts of the city. I would also contact my friend who is in the other city"
"That would be fine, please do that as fast as possible" the men nodded and Asher watched as they all left.
He wasn't going to stop looking for Ava, he was a man of his words and nothing was going to make him give up.
...
Ding!
Her eyes went from seeing black to blue and then…
Ding! Again
Ava rose from the bed, where was she? The familiar scent of jasmines filled her nostrils. It couldn't be, right?
"Lady Ava, It's morning" Annabelle who was holding a tiny golden bell said.
What! Ava's eyes widened, she was still in this place? This wasn't a dream?!
"Lady Ava, please get prepared, Prince Neville personally ordered to get you up at this time"
Ava breathed in, trying as much as possible to not overreact to everything that was happening.
"What's the time, please?" Ava asked, it felt like she had just closed her eyes and opened them. Why did morning come so fast?
"It's 4:00 am, My Lady"
"4:00 am!!" Ava screamed. This was just some minutes past midnight! Why would they wake her at this time, she was already so tired the previous day.
"I'm sorry but Prince Neville gave the order and I couldn't refuse"
Ava ruffled her already upside-down hair "Okay, I'll get dressed, thanks"
Annabelle bowed and left the room.
Ava walked to and fro, accessing all the possibilities of the situation. How was it possible to move from her own bedroom to a different place entirely by just sleeping? What was going to happen to Sir Asher?
And now she had to wake up 4am in the morning because some bossy arrogant prince told her to?!
Unable to find a sensible explanation to her doubts, she entered the bathroom to take a bath. Peering into the huge bathtub, she found something familiar and white.
It was Sweet, her favourite flute and the object she had always took around wherever she went.
She was so surprised to find it here and concluded that it must have fallen into the bathtub when she was removing her old clothes, it probably would have been in her pockets or something. She kissed the flute excitedly and was tempted to play it but figured it'll disturb the other people in the palace.
After she took her bath, she put on a simple and short blue corset dress. She quickly arranged her hair, not wanting to put on any heavy makeup or jewelry. Then, she checked the time, it was already 4:35. Perhaps the Prince was already waiting, and she was still feeling sooo sleepy!!
Ava stepped out of the room, there were only a few guards on the hallway. No maids walking about, no voices. Everyone was probably still asleep. What was wrong with this prince anyway?
Ava walked up to one of the guards, cleared her throat and asked
"Erm…do you know where the prince is? Like is he outside…or something?"
"Prince Neville is still in his chambers, probably asleep. He doesn't like to be disturbed to you can wait for him to come out"
"Okay" Ava nodded.
So, he was even sleeping and he interrupted her own sleep.
Ava could have gone back to bed and continued her sleep but she was a bit wary of waking up late and being late for the training thingy. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear Prince Neville spouting arrogant words at her.
So she hung around walking to and fro impatiently. She found a comfortable lounge down the hallway and sat there, waiting. The place was quite beautiful and its windows enabled her to view the salubrious compound.
What seemed like an eternity passed.
Nothing.
Ava had already drifted to sleep on the comfortable chaise lounge. She opened her eyes when she heard some footsteps coming towards her direction, then she saw Princess Aurora and a maid by her side. Perhaps the prince was already awake too
Ava left the lounge and walked to a guard at the side
"Is Prince Neville awake yet?" She asked
"I don't think so, My Lady. He is usually not awake until six"
Ava blinked "What time is it?"
"Five fifteen"
Oh, wow. She had waited for that long, she felt so silly to have woken up so early before anyone else.
Aurora who was passing by turned to her. Ava waved at her, unsure of what to do
"You really wouldn't want to wait for my brother to wake up. Did he say you should?" she said flashing a friendly smile.
"Well I was already waiting" Ava swallowed not knowing what to say, Aurora had never spoken to her.
"Okay then, I want to have breakfast. Do you want to join me?"
Ava raised a brow, she was hungry but was not expecting this
"O…kay" She said shyly
"Then come" Aurora moved to the dinning and Ava followed.
They both sat there and food was brought to them.
"So the others…aren't they going to eat too?" Ava asked as they both munched on their food.
"They'll eat separately, we don't eat together usually"
Ava nodded.
"My father instructed me to be your guide in this place. Tell you the rules and regulations and so on"
"Okay"
"I know you came from the human world. So there's not much you know"
"I know that this is the spellbinding clan, that's all. But how come I'm from the human world and I belong here? I don't understand"
"Well, there are some people who are half human and half mythic, one of your parents are human and that was probably why you were born there. We call people like you Outcasts"
"So I'm an outcast?"
"Yeah, most probably"
"Actually I don't even know anything about my real parents. I lived with a guardian and he says they both died before I was born"
"It's quite possible" Aurora simply said
"Hmm" Ava had some other questions but she swallowed them first.
"So you don't know of the other clans?"
"No" Ava shook her head
"You know what? Let's finish eating, we'll discuss more outside"
"Okay thanks" Ava smiled.
They finished eating not long after and she felt so satisfied with the food. The cooks in this place were really really good.
Ava remembered something, the garden she really ached to see the previous evening. She wanted to go there really badly. She turned to Aurora as they waked down the stairs.
"Um…can we go to the garden? I saw it through the windows at the dinning, its so beautiful!"
"Really?"
Ava nodded excitedly
"Okay let's stay there"
Ava walked faster, in full enthusiasm. She was glad
They reached the garden and she was mesmerized at the masterpiece. It was far larger than what she saw through the window. There were different beautiful flowers arranged according to their colours and types, a pretty swinging bench at one corner. And finally a huge white fountain in the middle where water gushed out.
"Wow" she whispered as she touched the row of flowers.
"You like them?" she heard Aurora say.
"It's far better than I thought"
"So let's talk about the clans, they're three of them" Aurora walked to her
"Spellbinding, Shapeshifting and Wielding"