chapter 13

Eleanor had no reason to be mad at her. It was her fault she weren't looking where she was going. Now this happened. The girl's white fur rabbit was out of sight.

"If you had controlled over your mouth. You would have waited for me to tell you sorry". Eleanor said.

"does that brings back my rabbit". The girl taunted.

"Let's looked for it together" Eleanor suggested. She was being polite and considerate. They searched together. Eleanor found the rabbit hiding among the tulips. She carried it and handed over to her.

"Thank you" she said after collecting. She turned to go.

"Hi I'm Eleanor" Eleanor hurried to say with her hands stretched out trying to get the girl to a halt.

"I know who you are" she said".

"What!" Eleanor pouted her lips. "How do you mean?".

" You are princess Eleanor from Golden Hill kingdom" she said turning to looked at the princess.

"was it written on my forehead?". Eleanor thought. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hands while her gazed travelled from the girl's head down.

She had a pair of cat eyes on a beautiful face. A fine thin line which she used to speak with Eleanor lied under her pointed nose. She was wearing a mini ball gown. Purple looks fabulous with a yellow sandals.

"You are beautiful" Eleanor said subtly. She thought it wouldn't be bad if she made friends with her. Since she had none other than her maid.

"Will you like to be friends with me". She asked her nicely.

" Humans are full of themselves and stupid. First she bumped into me and fell my stainless". She fondled the rabbit. "Secondly she was supposed to asked my name but she skipped that.

Will you like to be friends with me?". The girl said tilting her up like a clown just to mocked Eleanor. "You dumbed fellow"

They were few people passing by the greenery path. Cup shaped cottage stood adjacent to the apple cottage. Birds where humming on the trees. It was just the two of them standing near the tulips plant.

"I would have apologized if you let me and how is not asking after your name makes me dumb". Eleanor retorted.

"she must be arrogant" the princess thought to her self. The girl with the golden hair covered the distance between them.

"My name is Joyce. I am a demon". She left her fangs flagged off. "Do you still want to be friends with me you foolish little human". She roared to scared Eleanor.

"What's with the face you bitch". Eleanor was not having it. "is this how rude you are to people when they visit your land. You are a demon and so what. You are on my land".

Joyce smirk confused. "how is Serpent Land her land". Joyce thought.

" I thought you were wise". Eleanor stamped her bare foot on the grass, a hand on her waist.

"You are on earth. You dumbed fellow and earth is for humans. If you are a demon go to hell. P.e.t.t.y."

She raised her hands in the air to belittled Joyce. Still maintaining a fixed gaze with her.

Joyce was flaring up with a wicked sneer but Eleanor was not done." If you want to stay you must learn to be nice". She arranged her collar.

"I am a princess and not one of those little timid things of a girl. I have a kingdom bowing to me. The next time you want to speak, you kneel"

The demon girl stood looking at her for some good minutes. Eleanor's dark hair was slit into halves and parked with ribbons. She was wearing an ivory dress that matched with her skin. Her blue eyes was seen from her far. Crystal clear.

Joyce's was upset with her words. She needed to teach Eleanor a lesson for telling her to go to hell. She removed Eleanor's ribbon and let her hair stand like weeds on her hair. Sending whirlwind from no where to yanked her up.

Eleanor's hands were floating, trying to stir her balance. Dread engulfed her. Her blue eyes turned red and bulky. Her feet were dangling above.

Eleanor was screaming for help. None came. It was now evening and the passerby had retired for the day.

"you shall perished in my hands today". Joyce said. She slapped the air where she stood with her rabbit in her left hand. It affected Eleanor up in the air.

"Please…. I'm sorry…" Eleanor weeps. Joyce laughed and laughed. She was having fun seeing Eleanor being so miserable and helpless.

Queen Margaret and the knights arrived just in time.

"Put her down" the queen said to Joyce in a pleading tone. The knights willed to attacked Joyce to released Eleanor from her spell but the queen bluntly refused they used force.

She became Jessica standing in-between Joyce and Eleanor.

"you powerless legacy. You are no matched for me". Joyce said "Get out of my way. I shall teach this foolish human a lesson. And to all of you". She challenged the knights. "Know this and know fear. Demons rules the earth. know the difference and abide by it".

She snapped her hands and Eleanor came crumbling. The knights were fast enough to catch her before she reached the ground.

She was panting and sweaty. "I…I shall…"

"Eleanor relaxed and breathe in" Jessica said.

Eleanor was not having it. She was going to beat the demon out of Joyce with her bare hands or maybe in a duel.

She was slowly regaining her self. Ken hated queen Margaret for allowing Joyce to go scot-free.

" what land is this?" a blonde knights asked.

"We need to go guys or you wouldn't like what you might see next". Queen Margaret said when the first set of knights Ken sent met up with them.

They didn't have a choice. The knights finally agreed to entered the queen's cottage on the grounds that immediately after they meet the queen's mother they shall go.

Queen Margaret can stay behind if she wished.

The knight slept with one eye opened silently wishing for the next day to blossom. It was worth looking forward to, with the hope of leaving this dreadful fantasy behind.

Queen Margaret took them to the white sand beach in the morning. They marveled! how would a sick woman be on the beach and not on some sick bed receiving treatment.

Queen Margaret greeted the people she knew. She went into a tent and called out to the knights. They declined. Instead the stood near the tent, keeping Eleanor with them.

If it means holding Eleanor's arm, Ken and most of the knights were determined. She can't give them heart attacked with her escape.

Yesterday when she got lost in the blues. They thought queen Margaret was hiding her from them.

While Ken send some of his knight's to looked around. He held the queen captive to provide Eleanor.

"you can't be serious that I was hiding Eleanor when she was just here with you".

"My queen…the princess could not have gone to where you did not know. Provide her or take us there".

The queen was not aware of where she was. They went into a search. All of them. Ken following the queen up and down. Not letting her turned or blink without his prior notice.

Until Ken saw the shadow of Eleanor from a distance struggling in the air. He cursed under his breath for coming to a place like this where he could not teach this spirit a lesson for misbehaving.

Today at the beach, queen Margaret wore a broad smile greeting the friends she long missed.

"What are we doing on the beach my queen" Ken asked.

"a little more patient shall not killed your ego. Wait knights and you shall see"

Shortly after a very large castle appeared in the air. Not as large as the one the saw beyond the water.

A sand stairs was raised. She held Eleanor's hands. She told the knights that they were coming in with her or they stay back on the beach.

She was not ready to argued with them on this. And she didn't have the time to listen to Ken reiterate what the king said.

"My mother is in here". She told them

The knights were willing to stay back and wait for her. But not when she was holding Eleanor's hand. Who was not just electrified by the sight but was willing to go miles with her.

Eleanor was more than willing to go in with her. As a matter of fact queen Margaret was keeping her when she addressed the knights.

"Shall we" she said with eagerness. This was now Jessica who climbed the sand stairs into the castle with her.

"Righteous!" . Eleanor exclaimed when she turned to look at her. Jessica offered her a smile. The knights came from behind closing up the space.

Inside the castle the walls were soft blue silver shimmer sequin. Eleanor pressed it to be sure if it was actually a rock or glass wall.

They were in a very large hall. Quite a number of people were in there. Old and young in ball gowns.

When she looked up. The high ceilings were like the blue scorching sky but it was mild and tender.

"Was it a ball party going on" . She said to her self. The knights didn't give her breathing space. she would have met another friend. She was looking at her. She looked innocent with a dark hair like hers. A mild pink eyes and red lips.

She waved at her but the girl ignored her and got lost in the crowd.

Jessica had excused them to a direction they don't know where it leads or when she shall returned.

Eleanor was going to enjoy the moment at all cost. When she looked ahead. She saw a large throne. Silver and black. Very magnificent. The one seated on it, she couldn't see. He was too bright to be seen.

She saw people bow when the went closed before moving away leaving a narrow walkway to the throne

He spoke with a voice of many waters falling off a cliff. That Eleanor's breathe flutters.

"Welcome my people".

Eleanor never knew such wonder existed. She has grown to know her kingdom and believed it was the most beautiful the could be. The most richest too but she was wrong.

The were portraits on the wall. She was just noticing. They were moving like colourful sight in aquarium. Beautiful was not the right word. She shall described when she finds one.

She thought maybe she was the only human here. She and her knights.

The likes of Jessica filled the hall. Different colours of skin that she has never seen. And eyes of the gods. She seems to be the only human amongst them indeed. Small and inquisitive.

The scary voice came again. Telling people to sit. "Where was the sit" she asked. The aged woman in front bend to sit. She almost yelled her voice out but the was a sit that supported her.

"So you must bend before a sit shall popped up" she thought. How embarrassing it was to screamed then. People just looked at her. She experimented it. she was right. "Bend and the sit shall surely popped up". She said and smile. A glass sit to say.

She turned to Ken to negotiate for her release but his face was not smiling. She told him the opposite.

"I wished to ease my self right away" . She applied. They asked around and were directed to a small corridor by the left. She entered into the convenient.

She looked around there was a raised surface next to the shimmering sequin wall. A hole was in the middle of the raised surface.

She looked around again. Another door was there. She used it. She wanted to exercised her freedom. To see every hooked and crannies of this wonder floating castle.

Where she stepped into was a corridor. The walls here was different from the large hall. Black opal. It was not bright enough to give light to her feet yet she went further. She wanted to see to the end of this.

She got to the end of it and realized that the corridor leads to a different place in the floating castle.

She has not seen any room so far. Only scary carvings and portraits filled the black opal wall. She refused to be scared. A hall with golden walls and floors stood by another turned.

Nothing was in it. She saw a bright light entering into the hall from an opening.

She looked through only to discovered it was a small window. She went closer. She could see the outside through the window.

Out there was a beautiful fountain flowing with colourful water. A massive serpent curled up releasing water from it mouth.

she kept moving closer to the window. It turned into a door.

She stepped out. Carpet grasses round the fountain. Distance away were flowers planted orderly. Trees were not far fetched.

She thought of returning because she might have gone too far away from where her knights were.

The door had turned back to the window it was. it was higher from here than when she was inside the golden hall. Like a window on a two storey building.

She was becoming scared. Maybe she should have listened to his knights and stay still. Maybe she was too eager and stubborn. She would have be safe in their care. They must be looking for her everywhere by now and worried too. "why can't there used the door I used". She thought and hit her temple with her hand.

The grasses was becoming red. She was curious. No one was there to helped her out. She was letting out a low whimpering. It might happened that no one would ever found her again.

She sat on the now red grasses closed to the fountain. She was tired of seeing new sight. She needed to go. She saw a lady bug. Her only companion.

"please could you help tell the window to turned to a door that I may go. I'm trapped in here. I promised not to invade your privacy again". Her eyes tracked the bug as it went until it saw a thing.

It was right in front of her. A black ring. She was reluctant at first before she later picked it up.

She took a good look at the ring in between her slender fingers. The upper part of it looks like a dome. Same colour of the black opal corridor she had walked through before.

She felt it could wheeled. She turned it. Still looking at it. She gave up. She placed the ring in her palms with her thumb holding it in place. She stretched both hands behind and straighten her legs.

Behold someone was standing behind her. He moved with swift gait to her front. She jumped up. Afraid.

"W...who are you". She asked in a shaky tone.

Looking at the man in white stood in front of her. His platinum hair was silky and long. He had an oval forehead that lead down to his black eyes. The was something more to those eyes of his that she couldn't placed.

His long lashes hovers with pride. Princess Eleanor's gaze soften and her tension gradually reduced on seeing him.

"Maybe he shall be my saviour and show me the way out of here".

She was looking at the water fountain as she thought.

She took her gazed back on him. He was looking at her without a word. She wasn't moved by his gazed. She shouldn't be. She stood her ground.

She observed his cheek bones. The were perfectly carved. His nose and pink lips made it too difficult to imagined that such beauty would be on a man. His shoulders never relaxed but they complied inside his white sur coat according. He was tall and gallant.

She was not sure if he was a god or human, perhaps both.

"You are frightened, yet composed". He finally spoke

Slowly he kept taking a steady gait towards her. She began to shiver. How did she come this far from everyone else. What would this strange being do to her.

Looking at her with those dark beautiful eyes of his.

"Hummm" she breathed in.

Then she realized the ring were the same colours with his eyes. She put out the ring to him.

"Please don't hurt me" she said frightened. I saw the ring here". She paused, waiting to talk but he say nothing.

"I came with my step mother. I lost my way. Please don't hurt me. I want to go back and I promise I would never come here again please".

The strange being said nothing to her instead he took the ring from her

"you stole my ring. I have looked for this ring for the past hundred years". She looked at him again.

"Hundreds years!". She exclaimed surprised.

He doesn't looked it. He was young and sumptuous like the pear tree in her father's garden. And he is telling her that he has been looking for a ring for more than one hundred years now. How old is he?. Even her father that is aged is not up to one hundred years.

But that was not what caught her fancy. His voice. Was deep and commanding. Deeper than any she could hear.

She felt it was not wise to asked him who he was. Here people were many things. Not people. They looked like people but are not.

"so who do you think I am". He asked her. She was confused with his questions. She didn't wants to believe he could read her mind. She let it slip.

"Please I shall really appreciate if you take me back to my step mother". She said in her mind. If he could read her mind then let him read this one.

"Where is your stepped mother? He asked.

"so you can read my mind". She blurted out. "Then I don't have to think of something else". She said

"Oh you silly little girl. Why would you leave Jessica and come this far into the castle".

" you know her. Eleanor asked looking at him.

"I won't let you go. You shall remain here with me".

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