Navalla

Chapter 3

There had been one month between the approval of the ball by my parents and the actual ball. People from all over the world came to see me and be my new partner. They came from all of the countries: Ochus, Uglye, Glaelor, Obos, Afrana, Quskioso and Zedraybourg. Of course, there were also people who live in my country, Navalla. While they all are already partying and mingling, I was still trying to fit in my dress on my own and doing my make-up and hair. I really should have taken my brother's advice and let Lana help me put on my dress. The dress was absolutely perfect, it was a dark purple one with glitter that made me shine. It was shaped as a ballgown which showed my hourglass figure. I mean I'm not one of the slimmest girls, but I had a small waist. For make-up I put on some silver shining eyeshadow and white mascara, making my eyes glow up. I also put on some dark purple lipstick. My hair was put up in a high ponytail with a tiara on top of my head. On my arms and around my neck were some accessories, I put on two silver bracelets on each arm and a silver chocker.

I was a bit nervous about tonight, what if I didn't meet anyone I would like? What if Maeve really is the one? I wasn't only nervous about tonight; I was also nervous about tomorrow. Tomorrow I should kill another creature. This time it is a Siren whom I should kill. Sirens live in the sea between Glaelor and Obos, so it is a long boat trip. Luckily, we have two unicorns so it will only take four hours or so to get there, but we will still leave early in the morning. This time not only will Rodriguez come with me, but my brother will too, making me automatically a third wheel. Unless I meet someone tonight who is free tomorrow and would like to come too, but I guess we'll see about that later.

"Bub, you really have to come down now, people are getting impatient." My brother yells outside of my room.

"Okay, I'll come out in about a second." I yell back. Okay Willow, you can do this. It's not like it will determine your whole life. Okay maybe it is but who cares, right? Who am I kidding I care. Let's just go now.

When I arrived at the top of the stairs located in the ballroom, the party was indeed already going on. When I was about to descend the stairs, everybody suddenly looked at me with curious gazes. This was making me very self-conscious and quite anxious. All I wanted to do was turn around and get back to my room and get back to reading the book I just started in. All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my arm and someone asking me, "Are you alright? Do I need to help you to get down, so you are a little less nervous?"

When I turned to look at the mysterious man who just spoke, I was surprised by his beauty. He was definitely one of the most beautiful men I have ever seen. He had dark brown, almost black, hair and had blue eyes. His eyes were as blue as the sky on the sunniest day of the year, or like the most beautiful blue ever. I looked down at what he was wearing and was pleasantly surprised to see him wearing a maroon suit.

"Are you okay, princess? I really think you should get downstairs now; the people are kind of just staring now." The handsome man spoke, interrupting my thoughts.

"Oh, my goddess of course. Thank you! I think I just got kind of overwhelmed by all the people suddenly looking at me." I said while walking down the stairs.

"No problem, princess. I think I would have the same reaction to be honest. By the way, my name is Cadar. I am from Glaelor. And can I just say you look absolutely perfect. People told me that you are beautiful, but beautiful is just an understatement."

"No need to call me princess, just call me Willow. You kind of saved me so no need to be so formal. It's nice to meet you Cadar. And thank you for the compliment, I kind of had to rush to get ready. I am a major procrastinator."

"I bet that you look as perfect without all these things."

"So, you say I would look perfect if I were naked?"

"Oh, my goodness, no I didn't mean it like that. I meant that you would look perfect with everything. I wasn't thinking about you being naked. I swear. Oh goddess, I'm already ruining everything. Oh no, please exc-"

I cut him off laughing, finally putting him out of his misery. "I was just messing with you; I knew what you meant. You can relax. So why don't you tell some more about yourself, Cadar? I believe you already know some things about me so it would only be fair if I knew as much about you. Don't you think so?"

"You are absolutely right Willow. Okay so I guess I can start off by saying that I'm the oldest of my family at age 21. I have two little sisters, who are five and seven years old, and I also have a brother who is 15 years old. My mother died giving birth to my littlest sister so it's kind of a house full, but I work as a carpenter to help my father provide for our family. I really love reading when I have the time, which is rare. What else do you want to know, princess?" he said while we were walking onto the dance floor and before we started dancing.

"Oh wow, I am so sorry to hear about your mother's passing. I can't believe how hard it must have been for you and your siblings or even your father."

"Don't worry about it, we are handling it as best as we can."

"As you know I am 18 years old and what not a lot of people know, is that I also like to read. When I am not training, I am sitting in our library reading a book. If you want, I can show you the library? It's really big and so comforting." I asked as I looked back to look into his sky-colored eyes.

"I would really love that." He answered with a grin on his face, making him even more handsome than he already was.

I took his hand and lead him off of the dancefloor, guiding him upstairs to the library. While we were walking there, I was stopped by my brother, who was looking shocked at our intertwined hands.

"Willow, what are you doing? You have to mingle with everyone else too. How else will you get to know your soulmate? You can't just run away with some boy you just met to upstairs. What will everyone think?" He scolded me.

"Brother dear, I don't need to talk to anyone else. I think I need to get to know Cadar here better. And how rude of you to not even introduce yourself to my new friend. Hjalte, meet Cadar my new friend. Cadar, meet my brother Hjalte. I'm sorry on his behalf, he usually isn't this rude."

They looked at each other before saying their hellos to each other. My brother looked at me and gave me the secret look that said he really looks hot, well done. I smiled at him and bid my goodbye to him before dragging Cadar by his hand to the library.

"Okay, behind this door is the most beautiful place I can think of and the place where I spend most of my time. Are you ready for it?" I asked playfully with a smile on my face while looking into his eyes.

"As I have ever been." He answered with a grin on his face.