Kingdom Zodiac

Chapter One

Jenna shuffled into her employer's bedroom, carefully, so as not to startle her sleeping boss.

"Ms. Bayliss, it's time to get up," Jenna spoke, lightly shaking the sixteen year old girl, who groaned in protest.

"Alright I'm awake, and you really don't have to call me Ms. Bayliss. I told you countless times that you can call me Maya. Plus, you don't have to act all formal," Maya rose from her covers and slipped out of her bed.

Jenna rolled her eyes before stepping away from the mattress,

"Of course, Ms. Bayliss, you've said so countless times," she mumbled before exiting the bedroom, "breakfast will be ready in an hour, provided King Bayliss is home by then," Jenna's voice was muffled by the sounds of the creaky spiral staircase.

In the meantime, Maya hobbled to her dresser and put on decent clothing before stepping into her bathroom to freshen up. Her new hair brush tumbled through the many knots dark brown before eventually moving smoothly through the strands. Maya, finally satisfied with her looks, placed her brush down on the countertop and walked out of her bathroom, staring out the large window next to her bed.

Maya was lucky enough to be given a room near the side of her castle, one with a lot of space and a large window, from which she could look out over the entire kingdom. She stared outside, wondering where her brother, who Jenna referred to as "King Bayliss," had wandered off to.

After scanning through the roads, Maya laid her eyes upon Leo Bayliss, the king, talking to Aaron Grant, the kingdom's gatekeeper. Next to him was an odd girl whom Maya had never seen before.

The girl had her hair tied back somehow. Her hair was dark, almost black, and extremely long. Her clothing looked interesting, but from such a distance, Maya couldn't see it clearly.

After realizing the new girl and Leo were talking, she decided to go out to meet her. Maya hastily grabbed a sweater off the edge of her bed and walked out of her room, down the creaking stairs, and to the front doors of the castle,

"Jenna, I'm going to see Leo! I'll be back soon!" Maya yelled, hoping her voice would carry through the large rooms.

"Yes, Ms. Bayliss. Be safe," Jenna's soft voice responded as she peeked around the corner.

Maya nodded to Jenna, and exited the castle. She began walking down the long pathway to the kingdom's walls, focused on meeting the new comm oner. Finally arriving at the gate, Maya approached Leo and gently tapped him on the shoulder,

"Hello. Who's this?" She asked, curiously looking at the girl Leo was talking to.

"I think she can introduce herself," Leo responded, nodding to Maya in greeting.

"Hello! I'm Elizabeth Bayliss, but people just call me Lizz. I'm from Virginia, but I just kind of woke up outside your walls I suppose..." Lizz's voice trailed off before her smile creeped back onto her face, "but this place seems really cool!"

"What did you say your last name was?" Leo took a step closer to Lizz,

"Oh, Bayliss. Why?" Lizz answered, stepping back.

Leo stared at Lizz, hesitating a moment. He turned his head to Maya,

"Maya. Show Lizz around. I'm going to figure this out," Leo walked away, back in the direction of the castle.

"Well, good luck you two," Aaron smiled, holding up his hand in a small wave to Lizz and Maya.

Maya nodded, looking at Lizz,

"Well, I suppose I should show you around then. I'm Maya Bayliss, by the way," Maya explained, turning around to lead Lizz through town.

Lizz nodded, walking with Maya through a few streets before she got too curious to resist asking a few questions,

"So... Leo, he seemed pretty cool, huh?" Lizz spoke, trying not to seem like a creeper.

"I don't know if cool is the right word. He's the king, though," Maya responded simply.

"He's a king?" Lizz questioned,

"He's the king, and yeah, obviously..." Maya rolled her eyes, huffing out a sigh before continuing on. She didn't want to deal with an idiot, but what can you do when the idiot's last name is the same as your own.

"Also, do you-" Lizz attempted to squeeze in another needy question before Maya cut her off,

"How is your last name Bayliss, and you don't know who I am or who Leo is? You're obviously part of the royal family. Nobody else has that last name, anywhere!" Maya raised her voice, not realizing her anger had gotten the best of her.

"Nobody else? It's a fairly common last name where I'm from... I swear I haven't seen you or Leo before in my life!" Lizz brushed off Maya's statement,

"Speaking of names, though, is Leo a nickname of sorts? For like, Leonardo or something?"

"A nickname..? Of course it isn't! I haven't even heard that word before," Maya quickly turned her attention away from the whole name thing, and continued giving her tour. Lizz calmly accepted the fact that Maya was annoyed, and thought not to anger her further. Lizz allowed Maya to ramble for a bit before coming in with another, more important, question,

"Sorry to be asking so many things, but can you tell me where I am exactly? I've never seen any place like this. I saw other walls to the east, but I'm not quite sure what they were for."

"You seriously are stupid. Well there are two kingdoms. You're in kingdom Lakra right now, and you'd best hope it stays that way. The other kingdom is kingdom Alura. Alura is obviously the lesser-" Maya quickly stopped speaking as three people brushed by them.

The man closest to Maya and Lizz had light brown hair sitting above his pale forehead which complimented his young but stern face. The person in the middle was young, with extremely light blonde hair, which Lizz almost mistook to be white. The last person was female, older than the men, but still young. Her dirty blonde hair was tied up in a small bun, and she walked at a slightly faster pace than the other two.

"Who were those people?" Lizz asked, after they were out of hearing range.

"Jason, Ryan, and Ellie. Most importantly, Ryan Walters. He's Alura's king. Can't say I know what he would be doing in our kingdom."

Authors Note:

Holy heck. I started this book a literal year ago, and finished my chapter planner last night. Hopefully updates will be frequent. Thank you!

Big thanks to @Quixnn for editing the story and for the cover