The Hidden Kingdom

Chapter 13

Instantly, her emerald eyes lit up. She sprung up from her seat and pranced to the door way. Her black and white dress swished as she turned swiftly towards me. Odd. It didn't seem like there were any other people wearing multiple colors. Thank goodness I had chosen the black cardigan over the white one.

Without further ado, we stepped into the crowded ballroom. The bass vibrations pulsed throughout the massive room. The swaying and twirling bodies glided in ease around us. Sometimes though, they came a bit too close for comfort.

Looking down, I saw Princess Daphne taking in the scenery. Her face held all the zeal of girl who's dream had just come true. "Why don't you ask someone to dance?" I suggested. Before I had even finished, she scampered off. Quickly, as to not lose her as she was engulfed by the swarm of dancincg bodies, I followed behind her. She did not go far.

Not a minute passed before Daphne found her first victim. She began dancing with a blue haired teenager, but because his back was to me, I was unable to catch a glimpse of his face. But by the lovesick puppy look of the princess, he must've been very handsome. Or in a boy band. She is still twelve.

It suddenly hit me that amidst all these beautiful, energetic people, I was the only one unaccompanied by anyone. Simply put: I was a loner.

With downcast eyes, I approached the princess and told her to meet me at the entrance at midnight. She complied but not without an overtly dramatic eye roll most likely meant to impress sir blue hair. I couldn't help but let a chuckle as I spun around. A ghost of a chuckle echoed behind me. Perhaps sir blue wasn't as pompous as the others.

I discreetly maneuvered through the crowd as I searched, unsuccessfully, for any trace of Eliza or Lilith. With a sigh of resignation, I headed towards an unobtrusive doorway. It was frequented even less than that of the one I had just left. People didn't seem to actually see it though- much like the houses in the forest. Unlike them however, the magic around the door felt more invasive to my mind than that of the houses. Almost as if someone was prodding my brain and trying to coerce it to forget and to walk away. Back in the forest, all I felt in the magic was a slight feeling of confusing what was before me.

Could that mean there are different types of magic? My eyes widened and I came to a halt in front of the door at the sudden revelation. If there were different types of magic, did it mean that the natural feel at the houses was fairy magic? That kind of sounded familiar. Since I love reading paranormal and fantasy books, I'm pretty sure I had come across a term for that but just couldn't remember what. Wait! It was glam-something. Glamma-glamper-glamour. That was it! Glamour. In all the books about faeries, fay, and fairies I had read, the magic they wielded was glamour. In most of those stories, they were able to take the magic from the nature and air around them and use it. Maybe that's why the magic feels different.

Adrenaline pumped through my system as I prepared myself to enter the obscured doorway. Did I really want to go through? There's no point in going through it anyway. Not only is it protected for a reason, but if I get caught, there's no telling what could happen. Perhaps a three headed serpent lady would attack me, or I would be frozen in ice cream. Okay, maybe those ideas were a little far-fetched, but could you blame me.? After all, in less than two days, I confronted a prince, got stranded on the Bermuda Triangle, went toa  ball only to babysit royalty, and discover magical creatures.

I was just about to turn around until I saw the patronizing glare of the blond girl who had previously been dancing with the Prince. She sauntered forward, her target clear to everyone around her: me. I blanched. With each step she took forward, I recoiled farther and farther into the recesses of the room. I took another step backwards. Suddenly, her gait faltered and an unexpected look of confusion appeared on her semi flawless face.

My face must have mimicked hers into I realized, she couldn't see through the magic like I could. A giant grin formed as I saw her back-track. Her frown had deepened, but she shrugged it off as soon as she came into contact with another individual. Quickly her expression became sultry and pleasing. Bipolar much?

My best chance of surviving the night would ultimately be hiding behind the obscured door, or else I would have to face the wrath of the blonde ice queen. Well, no. Her particular brand of nasty was more of a explosive heat sinking missile than that of an ice queen. So to avoid anymore, erm... unwanted situations, I yanked open the door and crossed into the other room.

Out of everything I had been mentally preparing myself for when I entered the room, this was nothing like what I expected. It was quite a simple room which made the glittering golden crowns sitting inside glass boxes all the more prominent. Atop small pillars, all of the six cases but two had a crown or tiara inside. Since I had not seen Damien, Daphne, nor Sammy wearing a crown, I assumed the two other ones were being worn by the King and Queen- whoever they might be.

My eye was immediately drawn to the delicate patterns of the rubies and sapphires  upon the third crown. There was one tiara among the crowns, but it screamed girly girl and was unimpressive compared to the third crown. To me, it seemed to radiate power, but yet, it also communicated empathy and warmth.

My fingers ached to run along the engraved surface. Almost on it's own accord, my hand reached out for the crown.

The glass suddenly opened and the crown floated gracefully towards my outstretched. Eyes wide, the golden crown clattered as it fell from my limp hand onto the ground.

Somehow, I must have unintentionally used magic to grab the crown... and ended up dropping it. I'm pretty sure my head could be chopped off for this! Oh wait, that's Alice in Wonderland. Maybe the quean'll be more lenient here. Carefully, I lifted up the crown and replaced it in the case. Slowly, I used my magic to enclose it in the glass case as to not leave fingerprints.

Wary of any more mistakes occurring, I sat down near the doorway to wait out the night.

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