THE DARKEST CURSE & THE PUREST OF MAGIC

CHAPTER 3 - GENTLEMAN'S COMPLIMENTS

A/N: I know.. shame on me :( And I'm sorry for Sibyl will only make the appearance in the next chapter. I am already halfway through with it but.. :D I've started to write another story, it isn't a FF this time - well, it could be but it would be a multi-crossover so I decided not to refer to it as such. Who is interested, you can find it on my profile. And big thanks to you all who like this story, it really means a lot :x :x :x  

One Year Ago

A pleasantly warm evening breeze was playing with Aileen's long golden tresses while she was standing on a small porch of her recently newly rebuilt house in the middle of an australian bush. Her hands were firmly gripping the porch rail and her eyes were casted somewhere beyond the horizon with its beautiful crimson sky. She knew her time here was up, those fifteen peaceful years seemed just to fly by. Fifteen years, and she still looked the same like on the first day she had arrived to this forsaken corner of this desolate land. Her pretty face remained wrinkle-free and there was not a single grayish hair on her head which made people wonder and whisper behind her back. Some thought she was a witch, according to the others she must have been a vampire but everyone around her agreed that her always perfect yet unnaturally lasting appearance simply wasn't normal.

"Miss Duncan, we are ready to serve dinner." said an elderly man with a dark skin and snow-white hair matching his beard who had emerged from inside the house.

Aileen spun around and nodded politely, "Thank you, Pearce. I'll be there in a minute."

The man made a slight bow and disappeared behind a closed door.

Aileen once again turned towards the vast and seemingly hostile plain that surrounded her existing home. She had already decided what her next destination would be, no matter that a mere thought of the place was sending shivers down her spine. It had been almost one hundred years since she had left London and England, swearing to herself she would never return but during the last couple of months she had been haunted by dreams and signs, everything telling her it was time to go back. And she chose to obey, listen to the voice of her destiny and return to her homeland, hoping she might be able to find a reason or a purpose for her otherwise empty and lonely life. Or maybe.. the time has come to end this long suffering of her broken heart.

Present Day

"Gods, look at all those people! Some of them had been waiting here even before we came in." Aileen commented on the crowd of mostly teenage kids and young girls gathered in the foyer of the store.

"They aren't here to listen to the reading, dear, they're here because of them." Ellie pointed sharply at the huge poster placed in the corner of the foyer and next to a long white desk with a few chairs. "I bet a good half of the girls is head over heels in love with prince Caspian and the second one with the two other guys."

She then nudged Aileen's arm and gave her a mischievous smile, "You can join them after your session is over and ask your prince to sign your bra or whatever."

Aileen turned her head towards her friend, wearing an expression of pretended indignation, "No, thank you. Besides, I have my own crowd of fans waiting for me. Though it's much smaller and.. older." she muttered and glanced up at the tall brunette who chuckled at her last statement.

"Ah, miss Duwall, here you are." Mr. Parker called from behind their back. "The room is full and ready, would you please accompany me inside." and he motioned for her to follow him.

When they entered, the hum in the room was slowly beginning to die down and Aileen felt her nervousness was returning. She had no experience of speaking in front of so many people, quite the opposite, all her life she'd shunned the society and always tried her best to somehow keep away from people and now here she was, sitting by a table on a small stage, put on everbody's display.