Chapter 3

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The maid that collected me for supper was a little girl who was extremely timid. Always looking at the floor with her brown hair covering her face. "Are you alright?" I ask her as she was escorting me through the hallway and down another staircase, into a grand dining hall with a huge table, six thrones all seated, four on the sided, two thrones at the head and tail of the table. "Yes ma'am." She whispers, looking down at the tile. I stopped and she turned, wondering why I had halted. "Ma'am?" She asks, not meeting my eyes.

"Hey, look at me." I ask extremely soft to her. She looks up slowly, meeting my eyes for a second before she looks away. "It's alright." I whisper, holding my hand out. She flinches and backs up, I could hear her breathing harder. I step forward, her hand shoots up, protecting her face from the blow that will never arrive. "Hey, hey hey." I say, backing up. "I'm sorry, I didn't know I came off like that." I apologize.

She looks up and meets my eyes, a curiousness in her irises. "You aren't going to punish me?" She whispers, her voice sounding extremely hoarse.

"Heavens no!" I state loudly, disgusted at the thought. She flinches at my raised voice. "I'm sorry, That must've sounded angry." I apologize again, covering my lips with my hand.

"It's okay ma'am." She whispers. I step forward, very gently staring at her.

I open my arms in a welcoming motion. "May I?" I ask her. She looks at me suspiciously but nods anyways, I slowly step forward and embrace her in a safe hug. I start petting the back of her head. I feel my shirt getting wet from her tears. "It's alright." I tell her. squeezing her once. She starts to pull away and I let her. "Are you alright now?"

"Yes ma'am." She says hoarsely, laughing at the end, wiping under her eyes.

"I'm here, just come into my room if you need me." I tell her genuinely.

"Why are you being nice?" She asks. I smile at her, rubbing her shoulder.

"I was raised that way." I simply tell her, fumbling for the reason for a second. She laughs, still wiping at her eyes. "Thank you ma'am."

"Anytime."

"Alright....Let me guide you to your seat." She finally decides, walking over to the tail of the table, pulling out the throne-like chair for me to sit in. "Thank you." I tell her after he pushes me into the table, placing a cloth on my lap. She nods and leaves through the servant door that is camouflaged to the brown and white door. The brown riding up to halfway up the door, the wood acting as a tall baseboard. I never understood why the servants could never enter and leave the same door as their employers.

I only had to wait a few seconds before the big doors where I entered through burst open, entering four younger children, all laughing hysterically. I smile at the sight, loving that they're all enjoying life. I looked at them closely, in the group there was only one older girl, who looked almost exactly like Queen Amalie. There was also an older boy, who had blonde hair and green eyes, a very athletic build on him. And then there was two twin boys, looking nine or ten, Both of them having brown hair and green eyes, but one had a mole on his right cheek.

"Oh, hello." The girl says, noticing me first.

"Hello, I'm Isla." I tell her, standing up.

"I'm Amalia, this is Laden, and the boys are Jacques and Jacob." She says. I smile at each of them.

"It's nice to meet you all."

"Why are you here?" Laden demands, his green eyes sharp.

"I'm here to break a curse." I tell them, folding my arms.

He snorts. "Yeah right, all the others ran away as soon as they saw him and they died." He spits at me. I smirk at him.

"Don't underestimate a Valakia." I tell them. The boys immediately perk up.

"Valakia? Like THE Lara and Aliax Valakia?" They demand in unison.

"They are my parents." I tell them both. They start jumping up and down, running at me with questions. "Do you know how to fight?"

"What kind of weapons do you have?"

"Can you teach us how to fight?"

"Can I meet your mom and dad?" I smile, and stop them with a hand motion.

"I was trained from birth to be better than them. I was trained in every form of fighting styles and martial arts ever, I was trained in ancient and modern weapons, and Yes, I can teach you how to fight."

"YAY!" They scream. I laugh.

"What about your parents? Can we meet them?"

"I don't think you could meet them any time soon." I tell them.

"Why not?" They both ask.

"Well you would have to die to meet them." I tell them.

They all go quiet and then the boys look at each other, sending knowing looks. I look at them with raised brows. Jacob runs in front of his brother and starts choking him, Jacques doing the same. I start laughing, glad that they broke the tension. "Not any time soon I said!"

They stop choking each other, hearing the signature dinner bells from the kitchen. They run to their seats, plopping down in their own respected thrones. I walk back over to my chair, sitting down and scooting in, smiling at the boys. Their older siblings following our lead, sitting down on my right sitting next to each other, leaving the head of the table open. "Who sits at the head of the table?" I ask them, having an assumption, not knowing if it was true or not.

"Our brother." Jacob says giddily, watching the servants put food on the table. I nod, my assumption correct.

"He won't be eating with us tonight." Laden says, almost rudely.

"Alright." I tell them, starting to eat the first course of tomato basil soup. Amalia snaps her head towards me, her eyes narrowing in confusion. Her and Laden look at each other, sharing yet another wordless conversation. I look up, noticing the huge crystal chandelier that had candles all around, the crystals making the candle light white. "That's gorgeous. I state, pointing to the light fixture. They all look up, seeing the huge crystal ball. "It is?" Amalia says, looking at her brother, winking at him. Laden smirks and looks at me.

"I've always found it bulky and ugly."

"You have your opinion." I tell him, still staring at the light. They look at each other again, I have an idea what they are doing, but I don't know why. They're testing me for a reason, trying to get me to say something wrong. So..Why? I furrow my eyebrows, staring at them, they seem to be racking their minds for another test for me. "What do you guys like to do for fun?" I ask them, getting them out of their heads.

"I like climbing trees!" Jacob says.

"I like eating!" Jacques yells. I laugh, as does the other children.

"Don't we all!" I respond. I look at the older teens, waiting for an answer. "What do you two do for fun?"

"I like to draw and design clothes." Amalia mutters, looking into her soup.

"That's amazing! It takes real talent to draw and design new clothes." She smiles at me, thanking me subconsciously.

"I like to fence and paint." Laden says.

"I do too! I can spare with you if you wish me to."

"I would enjoy that." He says.

"No fair!" The twins yell.

"Why is it unfair?" I ask the pouting boys.

"Why does Laden get to fence with you?"

"Because he's older, which means we can beat him up more." I say to them. They laugh. Laden perks up, staring indignantly at me. I chuckle.

"Actually, will you teach us all how to defend ourselves?" Amalia asks.

"Of course, everyone needs to know a form of self defense." I tell them, my soup currently being taken away and replaced with a thick medium rare steak cut in half, the side bowl filled with mashed potatoes with green herbs sprinkled on top. I say it was parsley or thyme.

I start cutting the steak, it was nice and juicy, the meat burst with flavor in my mouth. This was the most delicious steak I've ever had in my life. And my Dad cooked delicious steaks.

My Dad.

I haven't thought about him in a good way for a while. It feels good to remember the good stuff. I smile at myself.

"Are you alright?" Jacob asks.

"Of course. Just, the steak unlocked a memory in my head I haven't thought about in a while."

"Was it a good memory?" Jacques asked.

"Yes it was." I tell them softly.

"What was it about?"

"When I was younger, my father would have these monthly gatherings held for the people who lived on our street, he always cooked steaks, our neighbors bringing the sides. My father was known for his steaks, they were the best ever. I used to crave them when I was younger." I laugh at my memories.

"He sounds like he was an amazing person." Amalia states, looking sadly at me.

"He was." I stop and smile at her, placing another bite in my mouth.

"But enough about me, what was your mother like?"

"She used to gather us all for bedtime, reading us stories and singing us songs!" Jacob states happily.

"How do you remember that? You were like three when mom was killed." Amalia states.

"I still remember memories when I was four, and I'm much older than your brother." I tell her, defending her little brother. Amalia looks at Laden again, smirking.

"She always took a walk in her garden every day, smelling her favorite flower, the purple rose." Laden says, looking at me. Knowing that the purple rose was my family's symbol.

"Well that's interesting, and ironic so it seems." I tell them. Smiling.

"I only know of the Valakia's through her." Laden states.

"She told you stories of my family?"

"She used to say that Aliax and Lara met in this palace."

"That's really fascinating. My parents never told me where they met, if that story is true, I'm basically royalty then." Tell them in a joking manner, putting a hand on my heart, throwing my head up dramatically, acting stuck up. They all laugh and smile.

I look at their happy faces, smiling at each of them, glad that they have this connection with each other. My eyes suddenly catch a movement again. I look at the servants door, the one that camouflaged to the wall, and saw that it was cracked open a tiny bit. I tilt my head, wondering who it was. Probably just one of the servants, but something about the movement made my gut clench, like someone was watching us.

"Is everything alright Miss Isla?" Jacques asked sweetly. I turn to look at him, a grin on my face.

"Of course, I just thought that I had seen something." I tell him, acting like it was nothing. But I know someone was there.

"It's probably just the draft in that hallway, or it might've been a servant leaving that we didn't notice. Laden says, looking around, and then at the door.

"You might be right. It also might just be me, whenever I enter a new place I'm always paranoid, so it may just be my brain playing tricks on me." I tell them. They all smile, trying to act normal, but the energy was different from when we were laughing, the children all on edge, knowing it wasn't my brain playing tricks on me.

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I was sitting up in my bed, pillows propping my back up, a book in my lap, my fathers book in my lap to be specific. I opened the book up, re-reading the parts I already read, and then going on with the book.

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The girl was gorgeous with her personality and features, bringing happiness to everyone that looked her way, even in the harsh winters and burning summers, she was always the bright light at the end of the tunnel. Even though she was a little girl, the people looked up to her, always wanting to be bubbly like her, wanting to be a good soul like her.

Of course, the little girl had no knowledge of these facts, she just wanted to make her disapproving parents proud of her. Which was a hard task to complete. Or so she thought.

See, her parents loved her, and was proud of her no matter what she did, no matter if she would ever do terrible things, her parents will still love her, as all parents should.

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I had to stop reading because of my tears. My dad wrote this for me, I was the little girl in the story. I was the girl who wanted to make her disapproving parents proud of her. And they were proud. They always were.

I throw the covers off of my body, slipping out of the bed, walking over to the window, pulling back the curtains, staring down into the garden. I sigh, my breath fogging up the cold glass. I wipe away the fog, looking outside again. There was a shadow looming next to a bush, and then I realize,

I see it.

I see the Beast.