Arcania

Muktha's pov

Muktha's POV
     It had been 30 minutes since we left the palace in our carriages. We had entered the dense forest which we had seen few days back. It was quite dark because of the tall dense trees blocking the sunlight. “Isn’t it a bit scary here?” Kanchana said while glancing around through the windows. “Yeh” me and Chaitra nodded. There wasn’t any sign any creatures around, but they could appear anytime and we had to be alert. I kept thinking about what my powers could be as I stared outside the windows.
     After few minutes we reached our destination. We got down to find a cave in front of us. Whoa. We couldn’t see anything inside. It was pitch dark. “Follow me” Mask said as he walked towards the cave. We glanced at each other with fear and followed him. He took his wand out and casted a spell to produce light. It was bright enough to walk without any trouble. We cautiously followed him by frequently checking behind if anyone was following us. After some time, we encountered a door. It looked ancient with many carvings. He pointed his ring at the centre of the door and after few seconds the door opened.
    Warm air rushed over our faces as we the entered the room lit by fire torches. We saw a short old man sitting on a huge flat stone at the centre. He looked familiar. Oh yeh! I had seen his portrait in the store room. The one with a long white beard wearing a white robe. He had closed his eyes, more like meditating. His lips curved into a smile as we approached him. “Nice to meet you after such a long time Mask” he slowly opened his eyes as he completed his sentence. “Pleasure to meet you too Lev. These are the Queens of Arcania” Mask replied. “Nice to meet you ladies. But what brings you three here?” he asked with a calm expression, more like a sage. “One of them, that’s Muktha, couldn’t get to know her power, so we came here for your help in finding it” Mask said by pointing at me. I kind of felt anxious when he stared at me. “Sure, I will” he placed his palms on the shining crystal ball in front of him and stared at it for few seconds.
    Time passed slowly as we were waiting for his answer, every minute felt like an hour. I calmed myself and stared at him. He looked at me from the crystal ball and said, “You have a special ability to manipulate a person's actions and whatever they speak” I was in utter shock. Me and manipulating someone? “Well, you can test it on one of us if you want” Levi said. Kanchana and Chaitra glanced at each other. I didn’t feel like manipulating them. And Mask? What can I make him do or say anything? As I was thinking whether to test or not, Levi spoke “If you are confused on whom to try, you can try it on me” I didn’t expect him to say that. Since he was fine with it, I agreed.
    By his look, he seemed very old. He could be alive for so long probably because of his powers. I wanted to know what and all powers he had, not like I wanted that life span, but just curious about him. I stared at him while thinking to know about his powers. “The first power which I ever discovered of mine was knowing people's ability, just by holding their hand, similar to Mask. I worked on my power and improved it by observing people’s abilities in my bewitched crystal ball, even without holding hands. My another ability is wand manipulation” he showed his wand, which was dark brown in colour with carvings at the handle. “I can cast many spells including charms, hexes, transfiguration..” he said. “What’s transfiguration?” Chaitra asked. “I can turn an object into an animal and reverse also” he said proudly. “Wow” Kanchana exclaimed. “For example, I can turn that stone into a lizard” he said pointing at the stone next to Chaitra. She looked terrified because she is scared of lizards. She stared at him with fear as he took his wand and pointed at the rock. He casted the spell before I could stop him. But surprisingly the stone didn’t turn into anything. He tried again and again, but no use. I looked at Chaitra, she looked surprised and terrified. “How did that happen? Did you stop that?” Levi asked Chaitra in shock. “Umm, maybe..” she said while trying to smile. Levi stared at his crystal ball by placing his palms on it again. After few seconds he looked at Chaitra and said “You can manipulate wand using your ability, just like how you stopped the spell from my wand” he said. She was scared of lizards, so probably she would have wished that stone didn’t turn into a lizard, and so it didn’t.
    After few minutes we decided to get back to our palace. “Hope you all have bright future ladies” Levi wished us as we smiled at him. I was happy and contented as I stared outside the windows watching the sunset while going back. We got back to our room and there was one job left to be done, choosing our dresses for the Ceremony. We were curious to see the dresses which the Kings had chosen for us. “Guys, we should select our dresses” I said. “Yeh..” Kanchana said with a tired look. “How about a ramp walk??” Chaitra exclaimed. I agreed with her but Kanchana was too lazy to do, but we ended up convincing her. I decided to try my outfits first.
    There were four of them. I wore the first one. It was a dark cream coloured mermaid gown with floral prints and spaghetti strap. It looked beautiful. “Wow” Chaitra and Kanchana exclaimed. “But it doesn’t give the vibes for the Crowning Ceremony” Kanchana said and Chaitra agreed. Even I felt the same. I went back to try the next one. It was bright red mermaid gown with a straight across neckline and a slit in front of left leg. Whoa. It looked so damn gorgeous. “Whoa!” they both exclaimed. “Well you can save this one for a romantic date with Nolan, not for the Crowning ceremony” Chaitra smirked and Kanchana agreed. I just rolled my eyes and they chuckled. I went back to try next one. It was a baby pink ball gown with glitters and off shoulder neckline. It looked so pretty! “Wow!” They exclaimed again. “But, don’t you guys think it’s kind of plain or simple” I said and they both agreed. I sighed as I got back to try the last one. Final one. It was a golden one with a halter neckline and a slit in front of left leg. The shining glitters and the grand work gave it a Royal look. I totally loved it! They were speechless by looking at me and showed thumbs up with a cheerful grin. Finally! I had to appreciate Nolan’s selections. All were so beautiful. I wanted to keep another one for myself, but it was hard to choose which one.
    Next it was Kanchana’s turn. First one was a red mermaid gown with laces design and scoop neckline. She looked amazing in that outfit! “Whoa” we both exclaimed. “It’s better if you keep this for a ballroom dance with Derek” I commented and Chaitra agreed. “As if there’s going to be one” she rolled her eyes. “Why not? I'm pretty sure there will be one in few days” Chaitra said. We both giggled as she went back to wear the next one. The second one was a light grey coloured gown with a deep v-neckline and a slit in front of left leg. Whoaa. “It’s beautiful, but won’t suit for the Crowning ceremony I guess” Chaitra said and we both agreed. The third one was a baby pink ball gown made of satin material below waist. She looked damn pretty in that! “Umm.. guys, isn’t it kind of simple?” Kanchana said and we both agreed. She sighed and went back to try the last one. The last one was a golden coloured gown with a deep v neck and golden netted cape cascading down her shoulders. The work on the dress gave it a Royal look. She looked stunning in that outfit. “Perfect!” me and Chaitra said in unison. She smiled as she looked herself in the mirror with a bright smile.