Arranged

18: The Arrival

The sleek black bulletproof car made its way up the hill as the royal family of London, more like Kalia, waited in angst to make their arrival. Several black cars, identical to the one Kalia sat in, followed behind and in front for safety purposes. Kalia's eyes were glued to the window, and as the pale purple and pink empress trees cleared, she caught a glimpse of the royal palace that looked more like a castle pictured in a fairytale book. It was plenty different from the one that she was used to living in. Her sisters gushed and fawned over the view, and Kalia was no different, if only more subtle about it. It was truly a sight for sore eyes.

She remembered how Queen Celeste, with great confidence, had described the palace to Kalia that afternoon they shared together in the garden back in her home in London, but it was so much more magical than her imagination allowed. She found it weird that she would, from now, call this place her new home, but couldn't find herself complaining whilst looking at that view.

The car pulled up behind others, and Kalia and her sisters waited until they were signalled to leave. She watched as a group of bodyguards surrounded the car parked in front of theirs and escorted their parents out to the very large entrance, before another group came to their vehicle and helped them out. She let her sisters exit before her while she worked on her nerves, which seemed to have her stomach in her throat. She felt that she could throw up any minute, but decided against it with force at the thought of what her mother would do to her if she embarrassed the entire kingdom like that.

She stepped out with her gloved hand in one of the guards', and didn't think her nerves could heighten until her heels hit the pavement and the car door shut behind her. There was no return now. No escaping. 

Her eyes traveled up the length of the magnificent tower. Somewhere, in the palace, the prince awaited her arrival.

***

They were all speechless as they were led up the concrete steps of the porch, which turned to marble as they were ushered into the palace. The King and Queen stood there with what Kalia estimated might be half of the hands  that the kingdom employed. 

"Welcome!" Queen Celeste's voice chirped through the decadent foyer, her thin cream dress in contrast with King Eltis' dark suit. The fact that the prince was no where in sight allowed her to let out a breath that had been held in too long, which soon became obvious to everyone else in the room when the sound of the breath leaving her lips became audible. 

All eyes turned in her direction to find the source of the sound. Exactly what she didn't want - to be the centre of attention. She cheeks flushed with the colour of embarrassment.

"Ah, Kalia, come my dear," the queen called to her with her arms open wide with welcome. She walked toward her and was compelled into a tight, comforting embrace, catching her mother not-so-subtly push Tessa's book down against her chest and away from her face. "What do you think of the palace so far?" Celeste asked after pulling away.

"It's beautiful. Truly," Kalia replied, and upon looking up at the woman who was slightly taller than she was, she noticed her eyes were quite similar to the prince's. She wondered how she hadn't properly noticed it before. Celeste smiled at her response.

"Indeed it is, thank you for your hospitality," Lania spoke aside Celeste, who had all apparently gotten comfortable and settled before Kalia and her sisters had a chance to enter the building. 

Kalia turned to bow before the king, unsure how to approach him since she certainly couldn't jump into his arms. She was stopped short by his hand at her shoulder, a deep chuckle erupting from his voice-box. It was both a shock and an embarrassment to Kalia that the King of New York was laughing at her for a reason unknown to her, but more of the former considering this was the first time she'd seen him so much as smile. 

"No need to bow to me, child. We are family now," he said with hardly emotion to his voice, but his eyes were warm and told a different story. Kalia was beginning to realise the type of person he was and didn't mind it one bit.  

"Let our hands show you to your rooms so that you can have a chance to settle in before dinner. They will come and find you when it is ready," Celeste notifies and comes toward Kalia and her sisters. "As for you little gems, I'll be your personal escort this evening."