Chapter Two

Before I knew it, sleep consumed me, and I drifted into a very strange dream. I was in a circular room with no exits. The entire room was painted in emerald green.

I hate the color green. It reminds me of vomit.

In the middle of the room were a circular wooden table and a matching chair. There was a crystal ball resting on the table and the way it glowed was unlike anything I've ever seen. The light was almost blinding, but I couldn't blink nor look away. Instead, I went and took a seat and simply stared at the crystal ball in amazement. I was in a trance, and I enjoyed it. The light slowly started to dim until it completely vanished.

I moved my face closer to the crystal ball and could not believe the image in front of me. At first I thought it was my reflection, but the way I looked in the dream was nothing compared to the way I looked in the crystal ball. In the dream, I was in my jeans and pullover that I slept in and my hair was loose. In the crystal ball, I wore a blue satin dress, and my hair was pulled up into a tidy bun. The crown on my head was what took my breath away. It was, by far, the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen. It was made of white gold and was embedded with diamonds of all sizes; the biggest was in the middle. I had a thing for diamonds. It looked like it was worth a fortune, and I loved it.

Diamonds really are a girl's best friend!

I stared at my reflection harder, absorbing the details of my face, the hazel eyes, the brown hair, the tanned skin. The more I stared at the image in front of me, the more I realized I was staring at a complete stranger. The girl in the crystal ball looked royal and confident enough to rule a nation. She looked well-mannered and behaved, which was a far cry from who I really am. I lived in an orphanage, and throughout the years developed a bad attitude towards anything and anyone in my way. With my record of mischief and bad behavior, there was no way in hell I was eligible enough to look like the person in the crystal ball; even though the person in the crystal ball was eerily me.

The more I studied the girl in the crystal ball, the more I got frustrated with what I was seeing. I didn't like what I was looking at one bit. Then the image in the ball whispered the weirdest thing I have ever heard.

'Sangre Real.'

And with that ended my dream and I was back into the sanity of my dorm. I looked at my alarm clock and it read 6:30.

I slept for six hours!

My grumbling stomach was the only thing that send me diving to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Mrs. Hess, the voluntary cook of the month, told me to wait for dinner to be served. I couldn't wait for another half hour to eat so I grabbed an apple and a pear to nibble on while I waited for real food.

The image in the crystal ball never left my mind. It was one thing for me to fantasize about being a princess. It was another thing to actually see myself as one. My fantasies about being a princess were merrily just that… fantasies. It's the woman in me proving to me that she is well alive and kicking.

And what was with that thing she whispered; Sangre Real.

It was in Spanish I concluded. So I decided to hit the library and translate it. The library wasn't that big of a room, and it only held like six rows of books. I read almost all the books in the library; they were my third companion. At the end of the library there were two beat up computers. The internet connection, on the other hand, was at the speed of lightning.

I switched on the computer and waited for it to load. The wait only made me even more restless.

'Come on, come on', I whispered in agitation.

Finally!

I clicked on the internet browser and went to Google Translate to find out what "sangre real" means.

The moment I read the translation on the screen I giggled. It was like a reflex action.

Sangre Real. Royal Blood.

****

'I've never seen it glow so brightly before', she addressed the queen lurking behind her.

She couldn't get her eyes off of the oracle. She couldn't shake the uneasiness at the pit of her stomach.

'Perhaps, we have waited too long for Abagail', the queen replied patiently.

The both of them stared long and hard at the glowing crystal, not sure what to make of it. They anticipated danger, a warning… anything that could give an explanation as to why they were witnessing this particular phenomenon. Try as they may, the oracle couldn't reveal its secret to them.

No, she was much cleverer than that.

She knew not to share what she sees with anyone. She only shares her wisdom to those who are brave enough to welcome her when they're most vulnerable; when they're asleep.

She has sent a message, loud and clear.

It was only a matter of time.

'Have the guards left yet to get Abagail?', she asked the queen, breaking the awkward silence that had befallen them but never her stare from the crystal ball.

'They are on their way. She'll be here soon', the queen replied confidently.

The oracle began to dim its light. They both let out a sigh of relief.

'We must alert the others. The Supremes are finally ready to close their cycle and their powers will be complete', she reminded the queen, not that the queen needed any reminding.

'The Supremes are ready. There's no need to stir any trouble when none is needed', the queen said confidently.

'But Abigail knows nothing of her powers yet. Don't you think it's wise if we at least prepare for her power-receiving ceremony', she told the queen, her voice raising a few octaves.

The queen turned around to face, unamused by the way she was questioning her judgement. The queen knows, better than most, that the power-receiving ceremony was a sacred tradition for creatures who have been stripped from their powers. It was a rite of passage, a re-birth of sorts.

And there was no point in rushing the inevitable.

'The oracle has spoken her truth. There is nothing more for us to prepare for. You are unwise to question the calling. Abigail is ready.'