Under the Water (Book 1)

four

Scarlett's POV

Amelia crosses me in the hallway and asks what Dad wanted.

"I can't tell you right now Amy, but come to my room after dinner and we can talk."

"Okay." Amelia says and walks across the hallway of the third floor to her room which connects with Becca's. Apart from our parents they have the largest rooms.

"Ali could you get me ready for an afternoon with the duchess of the Paris this afternoon." Rani, my best friend was one of our families closest allies. The count of Paris is one of the districts in the inner pier. Its not just the royal family. In the Inner pier of the Aurum Imperium there are 5 main districts with the royal imperium palace in the center. The main five are;

1) The Paris

2) The Rose

3) The Lake

4) The Emerald

5) The Grecian

Ali brings out a golden dress with sleeves that don't attach to the top and it is huge, down to my feet and sparkly all over. I gape at the dress and get a wide grin from Ali.

"Made it myself. I always thought you would look good in gold." She grins at me and I don't even have to try to grin back, Its already plastered onto my giddy face.

Ali puts the beautiful dress on me and grabs a beautiful gold necklace with a ruby in the middle. Last she grabs my flat curling wand and curls my hair. She bobby pins 2 pieces in the back, adds my gold tiara, and to finsish the look, spays gold glitter hairpspray in my hair. I practically gleam.

"I love it so much! We have to do this more often!" However its already an hour and a half later when we finish. Before I open the door I consider showing Ali my sketches of the jeans I have always pictured wearing that Kaiden gets to wear, but on girls. And all my dress sketches.

"Ali?" I ask.

"Yes? What do you need?"

"I would like to show you what Ive never shown anyone." I fiddle with my drawer before opening up an old and battered sketchbook and flipping to the first page. I see before me a brunette haired girl wearing a navy gown with silver slippers and a black crown with perfectly straight hair. It looks more like my sisters Amelia and Becca than myself but what I mainly want her to see is the dress.

"Did you do this Scarlett?" Ali and I call each other by name from knowing each other our whole lives, we are practically the same age. She is my best friend.

"Yes. I was wondering if you could make this dress for Amelia. And the one on the 3rd page for Becca. But what I really wanted to know is if you could make me the dresses in here, but not tell my parents. I will help." Ali seems nervous for a moment before nodding, taking my sketchbook, and leaving the room and I follow her but I leave her when we arrive at the first floor.

"Duchess Rani is waiting in the garden." The guard at the door says as I walk outside.

As I am walking out in into the gray afternoon sky, I spot Rani sitting by the roses looking at the white ones. We have flowers in all types,colors, shapes, and sizes in the gardens but they don't feel right. They feel out of place and not real. I force a smile out of my lips.

"Good afternoon Duchess Rani." I fake a smile for the camera I can spot out of my peripheral vision in a bush.

"Princess Scarlett! So wonderful to see you!" Okay Rani isn't my least favorite duchess in the main five districts, the Emerald ( the second most powerful thing in the Aurum Imperium ) duchess and duke are my least favorite. They are rude and mean and annoying and its required for us to see each other at our parents parties when they come around.

Rani is wearing a bronze tiara and a violet colored dress down to her knees, it has a black big bow strapped around the waist. Rani hates ballgown dresses, she and I love jeans and shirts so much that when we were little we would go into the sewing rooms and put on pants that were made for our brothers. Rani and I share lots of childhood memories I forget why I was so worried about seeing her today. The air around us seems lighter and happy.

"I want to show you my artwork." In the Inner Piers we don't have to work, but have staffs and people work for us. However Rani has never been like most inner and she does her own laundry, helps cook, clean, and makes some of her own dresses. Her parents don't like to talk about that and I only know from when I used to spend the night at Rani's. But her favorite thing to do is paint.

Her artwork lines all the castles and she signs her name as the dreamer and nobody knows who she is.

As we walk into her room I'm not surprised to see state of the art paintings lining the floors, walls and even some on the ceiling.

"Rani, what about your art room? Don't you put paintings in there?" I ask.

"Ran out of room in there." She picks out a picture of an auburn haired girl crying in an alleyway. A boy is holding her, and comforting her. I know the girl and I don't know why the guy is so familiar.

"Its me." I whisper aloud. I study the picture once more. The girl is without a doubt me.

"I KNOW!!" Rani exclaims, before continuing, "I was sleeping and I just saw this. But look at the background. Its not where we live, but its the outer pier. I can just feel it." The more I look at it the more it makes me think. Dad said we might have to go, but why would I be crying? And who is that guy?

"Can I take this?" I ask quietly, unsure of what this is. Rani seems to hesitate before saying that if it is me, I deserve to know why and this might be the key.

This is why she wanted to talk, and I would do the same for her. But what I cant understand is how she drew it. Its like a vision and she wasn't in control of her hands. She used to tell me this and for the longest time I thought she was crazy. But now I am starting to think that our world isn't as perfect as it seems.

I leave with more questions than answers.