Chapter Three

Allure gates are so different from the simple vertical bars of Sardiarre. Their emerald-green glow spirals and curls to form magnificent rose-like patterns, surrounded by pointy thorns that I don't dare touch. Around the middle, 'Allure' is spelled is the most graceful cursive handwriting I have ever seen. The whole thing looks very beautiful, with an intimidating edge.

The ground behind it is blanketed with grass, like candle flames placed equidistantly and left dancing to the same rhythm. Fireflies twinkle freely, as if they are decorative red glitter in the air.

"Wow! No wonder they call it the city of angels."

"That is not true, you know." Luna explains, lifting my jaw that dropped in awe. "These are just tell-tales. But they do help with the tourism around here."

I clear my throat, then walk up to the gates. "Can you please let us in?"

A pair of gorgeous green eyes extend from the sides of the gates and bat their thick eyelashes at us.

"Access granted. " A hushed female voice replies.

Guards are waiting for us on the other side, around their transporter, which is lifted by a brilliant emerald light. Unlike ours that has silver light underneath.

"Your highness." One of them starts, holding out a long piece of parchment.

"'Your highness'?" Repeats the father in disgust. "I should have known from your snobbish attitude."

I open my mouth to protest, but he races me to continue. "What? Now you are going to banish me just because I hurt your ego and called you snobbish?"

"What? No! What I am try…"

"I just need my belongings." He turns his head towards the line of carts behind Cal Transporter. "So I can get going to my new home. Here in Allure. After the likes of you fired me and told me I should live on the Outskirts of Sardiarre, in some hut that is probably smaller than their closets."

"I am not…"

"My belongings!"

"All right, all right. Cal, release the carts."

The arms that were holding them in line retreat into the walls of the transporter. The man quickly rushes to grab his, and the others follow. Soon they all are marching away from us.

"You're welcome for the ride!" I call out.

Rude much.

The guard with the parchment clears his throat. "Your highness…"

I turn back to the guard. "I-I am not royalty,"I whisper hesitantly.

"I am sorry. Well-uh." He pauses, probably thinking what to call me. When he finds nothing, he simply skips the introduction. "We were informed, earlier today, that a member of the royal house, Sardiarre, will be visiting our city. Mayor Roland Allure is honored to welcome you to Allure. Please allow me to escort you to Allure Manor, where he is pleased to offer his hospitality."

I doubt he is reading anything off this parchment, if there are actual words written on it in the first place. The holes of his heavy iron helmet are barely enough to provide him with air.

"We appreciate the offer. But we aren't planning on staying here for long. Please send my greetings to the mayor, but we really should be on our way." I try my best to imitate his formal language.

Luna giggles nervously. "May we have a second please."

I follow her a few steps away from the crowd. "What is it?"

"You can't reject such a formal request. Unless you wanna rage war between the two cities. Such formalities are must-do."

"But we are in a hurry!"

"I know. We don't have to stay for long, just a little while."

I get back to the officer and put on a fake smile. "We would be honored to join the mayor in his manor. After all, how can we reject such an invitation?" Literally.

Luna pulls a face, which makes it obvious that she didn't like my choice of words, but doesn't comment about it.

The guard turns towards their transporter. "Luna Transporter, coalesce with theirs."

'Luna Transporter'? I turn towards Luna, and she just shrugs, as if saying, 'don't ask. Somehow, my parents thought it would be a good idea to name their daughter after the local transporter.'

"Cal Transporter, coalesce with theirs," I mimic the order.

The two transporters glide towards each other, each one extending a mechanical arm to the other.

They hold hands and announce in unison. "Coalescence complete."

When we pass through the grand double doors of the main hall of the manor, the guard politely requests. "Please, wait here. Mayor Roland will be with you shortly." Then he disappears up a flight of golden spiral stairs.

The grand hall here is smaller than ours back in Sardiarre, but the decor makes up for that and manages to leave an impression of its own. Dancing candles hang from the far ceiling on a gold chandelier, leaving orange waves on the emerald-green wallpapers. A long carpet takes you from the ceiling-high double doors, to a gold throne set a few steps higher than ground level. Probably this is where Mayor Roland holds his public hearings.

Speaking of whom, his lateness hasn't arrived yet. Probably the guard and I don't define 'will be with you shortly' the same way.

"Ugh! What's taking him so long?"

"Be patient, he'll be here." Luna assures.

"We are wasting time here."

"Don't worry. It won't be long, then we will get the lilies and save your mom. Everything will be alright, I promise."

An eternity later, footsteps sound from the gold staircase, along with a glow of a fire that left gold patterns on the wall.

Luna gives me a look. "See, I told you."

But when he appears after taking the turn down the staircase, it isn't Mayor Roland. No way. He is…too young to be.

"Who are you?" The boy asks.

"Who are you? We are here to see Mayor Roland."

He glances up the stairs he just descended from. "He is probably asleep by now. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I am Scarlotte Sardiarre. I came from Sardiarre, and some guards welcomed me at the gates and invited me here."

"Pleased to meet you, your highness. I am Maven Allure, Mayor Roland's heir." He bends into a bow. Before I correct him and tell him that I am not really royalty, he continues. "Allow me to escort you to the guest rooms."

"No, thank you. We are in a rush right now. So, we were hoping to make our visit as brief as possible."

"I see. Would you like to join me for dinner then?"

His friendliness surprises me. He doesn't comment on my eyes, and his green ones bare no hostility as they look into mine.

"We'd be delighted."

"That's awesome!" He jumps, and I can't help but burst into laughter. He clears his throat, and attempts to thicken his voice. "I mean what an honor. Please follow me."

He tiptoes past the gold staircase, towards a less fancy hole in the wall. He sneaks a peak in, and then motions for us to follow.

"You know, something tells me that you are not supposed to be here." I find myself whispering.

"Shh! Off course I am not. I am supposed to be asleep."

"Then why aren't you?" Luna asks in a strict tone I am surprised to hear from her. But then again, I only knew her for a day.

"I get hungry, okay? Is it so wrong for a man to get some food when he's hungry?"

Luna raises an eyebrow and chuckles. "A 'man'? You look barely ten."

"Actually, I am twelve."

We sneak down a crooked set of stairs, sandwiched by a pair of walls that are too close together, they can only fit one person in between.

The kitchen is dim; the only source of light is our fires, blanketing everything under golden waves. The mouth-watering scent of fresh pastry reigned over the air, making my stomach roar with impatience, reminding me that it has been more than a day since I last ate.

Maven extends his arms to his sides, like 'ta-da', "welcome to our kitchen."

Luna and I find fresh bread lying on one of the counters, and tear pieces into our mouth. "Mmmm."

"Oh pa-lease! You wouldn't want to eat that alone. Allow me to show you where the good stuff are." He smirks naughtily as he goes through one of the top cabinets.

"They hid it!" he slams the door and shuffles the jars of the next cabinet, "No! They hid it."

"Hid what?" I ask, peeking from above his shoulder.

"There was a jar of chocolate syrup here somewhere. But it disappeared!"

"Maven! Are you sneaking food in the middle of the night again?" Calls out an approaching woman's voice.

"Quick! Hide!" He hisses.

We crawl into the counter's shadow. Maven shoves his head into a cooking pot, and passes a pair for Luna and me. I lift the pot a little above my eyes, and notice that her glow only gets projected brighter on the wall in front of us.

"What now?" I whisper to Maven.

"I don't know."

"You don't Know! What do you mean you don't know?"

"I am usually one. Its easy for me to fit anywhere. This time we are three. So yeah, I don't know." He looks around while holding the pot, so it doesn't make a sound. "How about … you … use your super eyes or something."

"I don't have super eyes!"

"Oh yeah? Then, why are they so … blue?"

"So, you noticed?"

"Duh! They are super cool! I wish I had super eyes like yours?"

I smile. "Thanks, but they are not super. They are just… blue in color."

"Well, that's disappointing." He leans close. "But others won't know that."

I don't understand how that is a good thing. This is the problem I have been facing my whole life. It is not fun to have people think that I can hurt them by simply looking at them.

Before I can ask I hear."Well, well, well, there you are."

The lady is looking down at us, with her hands at her hips and her front foot tapping on the floor. I gulp.

"Uh-uh." Maven shoves me at her. "Don't tell anyone or she will freeze you with her freeze-stare."

She lifts an eyebrow. "Freeze stare? Seriously, Maven?" She shakes her head exasperatedly.

I turn back to him, and my lips stretch into a smirk as I look back at her. "Actually, I do have a freeze-stare. Wanna see it in action?"

Her fire shakes wildly. "Of-of course not. You are probably looking for the chocolate syrup." She gulps and points at the lower cabinet that we had our backs against when we were hiding from her. "We hid it here. We thought you won't expect to find in there."

He follows her finger. "Good eye! I didn't."

But she doesn't waste time to celebrate her victory, she just dashes out.

"See? Told ya." He raises his hands to me. "Hi five, Freezabella!"

"Freeza-who?"

"Freezabella. Do you like it?"

Do I like it? Do I like it! For once someone didn't see my eyes as something bad, but something 'super cool'. He even gave me a nickname for it, something other than 'freak', something he sincerely came up with and is genuinely asking if I approve of it.

"I love it!"

He raises his hands a little higher. "Now, hi five?"

I blink at both his hands in the air. "This is hi ten."

"Alright, hi ten!"

I slap my palms with his and we both burst into laughter. Is this how it feels to have a friend? Should I consider him a friend? We didn't even know each other for a day. But still, I have never felt like smiling this much before.

He is right; the mixture between the fluffy bread and the creamy chocolate and hazelnut syrup is more than welcomed in my stomach that only roars for more. Our faces are soon covered in brown, as if we dove headfirst into the jar, not just dip. Okay … I admit, we more than just dip, we scoop the syrup with the bread. Those ladies shouldn't really blame the poor guy. If they don't want him to sneak into the kitchen and eat it in the middle of the night, they shouldn't make it taste that good!

Luna tucks Maven in his bed. "Did you brush your teeth?"

He nods. "Uh-hm."

"I hope you sleep this time." she demands strictly.

I don't know how she activates adult mode all of a sudden, but she does.

She smiles at him. "Sweet dreams." And she kisses his forehead.

"Sweet dreams." I echo.

He turns to me. "Thanks, Freezabella."

I can't help but smile when he calls me that.