Chapter 2

"Kiara! Are you still sleeping?"

Kiara rolled on her side and groaned. The smell of baked bread and cooked meat wafted to her nose and made Kiara's stomach growl. Who is cooking? Both mom and dad never make breakfast! Kiara thought as she slept.

"Kiara!" There was a knock at the door and Kiara grunted as she did not want to wake up. It was Saturday and did not have to be up early.

"Come on, Kiara! The inn is starting to get busy and we need your help!"

Kiara frowned with her eyes closed. What? The Inn was starting to get busy? What inn? And also who was this person that was calling her name? Kiara did not recognize the voice.

There was another knock at the door. "Come on, Kiara! Your breakfast is also going to get cold! Myrtha made you your favorite and there is Frelian tea!"

Kiara frowned again. Who was this? Who was Myrtha? She slowly opened her eyes and she blinked a few times to make sure that she was not hallucinating. The room that she was in was completely unfamiliar to her. It was small and everything was made out of wood. The walls, floors, and ceiling above her were made of wood.

"What?" Kiara sat up and that was when she saw the dark blue trousers and a long-sleeved white tunic that she was wearing. On her feet were black socks and she saw that there were a pair of well-worn boots near the door. "What is this? What is going on?"

"I can hear you, Kiara! Come on downstairs!" The voice shouted from behind the door and then Kiara heard retreating footsteps.

Kiara quickly got out of bed and saw that it was not her bed. It was a small twin-sized bed with a wooden frame. On the bed was one pillow and a thick blanket. Kiara saw a window that was on the opposite wall. She went to it and peered out.

Kiara's eyes grew large and her jaw dropped. Outside it was snowing and the snow was landing on wooden houses and onto the roads below. Several carriages were being led by horses on the road and Kiara also saw people dressed in thick warm clothing with hoods over their heads. There was snow all over their coats. 

"What is going on?!" She said this in a loud surprised voice. Kiara stood at that window for a moment and kept looking out at the unfamiliar scene before her.

There was a loud raucous laugh from outside her door which made Kiara jump. It was a man's laugh. Kiara knew that it wasn't her father that had laughed. He had a mean laugh that he always used on her mother. That was the only time that she heard him laugh. Kiara moved from the window and walked to the door. She had to figure out what was going on. This had to be a dream! Kiara thought but it didn't feel like a dream. She could feel the cold air in her room and he could also smell the food that was drifting up into her room. Her stomach growled as if to tell her that this was no dream.

Kiara slowly opened the door and peeked out. She was instantly greeted with loud voices and laughter. There was also the smell of food and tea in the air. She exited the door and stared in disbelief at the sight below her. She was on the second floor of this strange place and there was a banister that went all the way around. There were about ten doors on the floor and some were ajar. In one of the rooms that was immediately across from her, she saw strang clothing. There was a big red pointy hat and red cloak that was hung up on a wooden rod of sorts. In the other room, she saw what she could only guess was a knight's armor. The armor was stainless and shun a little from the lanterns that were placed on the walls.

Below her there were several round tables with people sitting on chairs. On the tables were a hearty mix of food. She could see bread and cooked meat on the plates. There was also some sort of small round cakes on several trays. She also saw large jugs of water and several pots of tea with smoke drifting from them. 

But to Kiara it was not the food and tea that gave Kiara pause, it was the people. She saw men, women, and beings that she could not even describe! Many of the beings looked like humans but with fox, bunny, and cat-like ears! There was even one woman with cat ears on top of her head and there was a long furry tail that moved behind her as she sat and ate from a plate. There were two beings who were laughing that had long fox-like ears and Kiara could see that they had sharp teeth that were like fangs.

Several women sat at a table and were eating the small round cakes and drinking tea. They all had bunny ears and these ears moved constantly as they ate and talked. The ears were different colors as she saw stark white ones, brown colored ones, red ones, and even black colored ears.

In addition to these beings with animal-like ears, there were people who had long pointy ears! Kiara saw these long ears on many of the people who were at the tables. There were several people who had many earrings along their pointy ears. She also noticed that everyone was strangely dressed. There were people in similar trousers and tunics that she wore as well as cloaks, pointy hats, armour, and weirdly designed dresses. 

Kiara also saw several people with long staffs in their hands. Some of these staffs flashed a variety of colors. These people had on pointy hats and Kiara could see that their eyes were all vibrant colors as she saw blue, green, and golden irises.

What is going on?! Where am I?! Kiara thought as she gawked at the various beings and people in this place.