Beyond the Fairy Gate

Chapter 26

Nyline

The walk that took them down from the landing strip to where her rooms was a trip to say the least. Every wall was made out of the same black material as the rest of the city and castle. Only it didn't darken the hallway, it was polished so that it reflected the light making the area brighter and warmer. The floor had was made of a polished white wood with dark grooves. The right side was lined with windows, the other side there was none. It took Nyline a minute, but she realized that the castle had been literally built into the mountain, so only one side stuck out.

The walk to wherever they were going was long as they descended a stairwell from the airstrip landing, then walked along a long hallway that bent slightly, before they went up another set of steps, then down yet another long hallway. After a while they took another small stair well up onto another floor that looked to have no rooms except for two sets of double doors towards the end. They were both made out of the same white polished wood. Janti took the time to walk in front of them before he bowed and opened the first door in the row.

"This is the third floor of the west wing," Gabriel started glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "This floor is considered where the princes and princesses live, my parents' rooms are another floor up, only they are located more towards the east wing of the castle." Nyline felt her head spinning, wings? How big was this place? "It's rather large," Gabriel looked sheepish. "But we also have a lot of space, kitchens, serving staff, as well as guest rooms."

"Does the serving staff live here too?"

"Some, there is a building for their living quarters. A lot of them live outside the castle walls though." He shrugged, "Personal preference. Anyways, this is my room." Gabriel placed his hand on her lower back and brought her inside.

It was massive. Nyline had to stop in the doorway just so she could look around the entire space before she entered it. Two long red and black striped couches were set in front of a large fireplace that took up an entire wall. Adjacent from that, there was a sliding door that let out onto a landing, then there were several large bookshelves that were covered from top to bottom in books. Slowly Nyline walked into the room and stopped looking down at a large round ball of fabric that seemed to be filled with some type of cotton.

"Those are poofs," Dashiner spoke as he walked in after, "There filled with Cotton fluff and are the best places to curl up with a book. Especially if the fire is lit," He smiled as if he were remembering something. "Then you get Angie to make you some of her special blend of tea. Perfect night. He jumped into the large poof right as he caught Nyline's eye. Out of everything that she had thought that she had known about Dashiner, being a reader was not one of them. His face deadpanned before he grinned flashing teeth. "Or so Adrenell tells me."

"It's alright to be a book nerd." Adrenell laughed as she walked int behind them.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Dashiner replied quickly not looking at her. She continued her exploration around the room as she found three sets of doors on one wall, then on another there was a single one that was larger and had a more ornate doorknob.

"The three doors on that wall lead to my scouts' room. Inside there is a wall that they are able to divide the room or leave it as one big space, depending on their comfort level. Each room has its own attached bathroom. The large door leads to my space."

"This is really cool," Nyline muttered as she walked over to a window that was set in between two books shelves and looked out. Whereas they were up on the third floor, the area below them was a large sectioned off garden that was surrounded by a large retaining wall. Despite the cold weather the grass was green, and the flower bed was overflowing with different colors.