Chapter three

After all the craziness with this elf business. I finally calmed down and let Emmet explain everything. We are now sitting in some kind of hall, my stick laying down next to me.

"Hazel, we like to call this the other side. It's where me and Charlotte were born. We had to leave because someone really evil was after us. We are sorry we didn't tell you anything but it was important we didn't. If we did, anyone could find us. The elves that are after us can read people's thoughts. Even a million miles away. If they knew you knew about the other side, they would come after you. We were told to never come back here until we were ready."

Nodding I try to get everything through my head. "So evil elf is after you, couldn't tell me so they wouldn't find you, and you're an elf? Gotcha." Emmet leans forward and intertwines his hands. "I know, it sounds crazy! But now that we are here, we have no way to get out without defeating the elf. There's no exit where there isn't an army of elves waiting to attack anyone there without permission." Biting my lip, I start to slightly freak out. "You do realize there is only TWO WEEK UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS AGAIN AND WE HAVE TO GO BACK!!" Emmet looks down and leans back on his chair. "I know. But Hazel, if we do defeat him, we aren't coming back with you. We would stay here.l" Staring at him for a second, I grab my stick and walk out of the hall. Emmet starts to follow me, yelling at me to come back. Ignoring him, I start to go back the way we came. "Hazel! Please! You can't get out." Turning around I put my hands to my mouth and yell back at him. "Watch me! Have fun killing your evil elf dude!" As I turn back around, I am grabbed around the waist and thrown into the air. Screaming I try to get out of Artanis grip, realizing I shouldn't after I look down. "LET ME DOWN!" Artanis is laughs. "As you wish." Suddenly, I am plummeting to the ground. "PICK ME BACK UP! I don't want to die!!" And then, I am once again floating, with Charlotte glaring at me. Not paying attention to it, the minute Artanis gets to the ground, I wiggle out of his grip and run back towards the hall.

Running into Emmet he grabs me and holds me still. "I am sorry Hazel. We just need you to calm down." A soft gold light blurs my vision and soon, I feel myself losing consciousness and falling to the ground.

Waking up in a bed that definitely isn't mine, I look around, having no clue as to where I am.

Getting up out of the bed, I look up. The room is a beautiful wood room. With cedar walls and roofs, the beams of the room are beautiful and the door is ebony.

Knowing now that last night --or was it this afternoon?-- was definitely real. It's not usual for me to wake up in someone else bed.

Going to the door, I try to pull it open, it's locked. Yelling curses, I slam things on the door. Anything I could find. Causing dents and scratches in the door, it finally opens. Emmet is standing there with a very, very annoyed look on his face. "What are you doing Hazel?!" He looks at the chair in my hand and looks at my side of the door, freezing. "What did you do?! This is a royal suite, Hazel! The Queens and you messed it up?! It's bad enough we have to come up with a battle plan! Why didn't you just open the door?!" Setting the fair down carefully, I put my hands behind me. "It was locked." Emmet sighs and shows me the door handle. "You have to turn it, Hazel. It isn't a sliding door like what you have. Now hurry up. We have things to discuss."

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After Hazel ruining the door, I stomp back to the council room where Charlotte and Artanis are sitting. Everyone is coming back from the summer festival today, so we need to get an explanation ready.

Sitting down at my chair, I look up at Charlotte. "What should we tell them?" She shrugs. "The truth. It's not our fault we fell down. We didn't know it was an entrance."

"But we did Charlotte." Once again, she shrugs. "Then we lie how about how we didn't know it was an entrance. It's not that big of a deal." Putting my head into my hands, I sigh. "Yeah... I guess now we have to come up with a battle plan." Artanis raises his hand. "What Artanis?" He smiles and walks towards me. "Well, your Majesty, I just thought you should know that Recendolf, as already taken the west side. His evil little elves found some dark magic." Staring at him I shake my head. "No. They couldn't have!"

"Oh, but they have. They stormed the North district castle. Everyone dead!" He starts to slowly laugh before walking out of the room along with Charlotte. Standing up I try to call after them. When they don't come, I slump down into my chair.

"Please come back soon mom. I don't know what to do."

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Artanis is still laughing even after we leave the council room. "Artanis. Calm down! It's not funny. My castle, they're are all dead.." Artanis stops laughing and turns around, and to my surprise, hugs me. "I know Charlotte. That was the last place that had clues to the whereabouts of my beloved.." Putting my arms around him, I squeeze him. "You'll find him. Now let's go! We have things to do!" Breaking away from our embrace, I pull Artanis to the grand castle garden.

Once we get there, I bring him to the maze. "Come on! We haven't done this since we were little! I bet I can get to the end before you." Artanis lets out a tiny smile before running ahead of me and into the maze, going to the left. "Yeah right! You can never beat the maze champion." Laughing, I run into the maze after him.