Lost Girl

Sixteen

            The plane ride was long but not entirely terrible. There were a couple of moments when I felt like killing myself and those around me but those were short lived and usually involved a crying baby. I wasn’t looking forward to the hour-long drive we had ahead of us, but as we stepped off the plane and into Seventh Kingdom heat I realized that it wasn’t the worst thing possible. Back home it was starting to get colder and I had been wishing for a couple more days of summer before the cold days of fall set in.

             In the first kingdom, fall was brutal. Thunderstorms, and sleet led way to frost and ice in the winter. Although the forests turned beautiful colors that would make any painter cry, the cold was something I would die to get away from. I pulled off my leather jacket and stretched in the sunlight. I turned to see Bryce smiling at me; he knew how much I loved the heat. It gave me energy, allowing me to recharge.

            “Come on guys, lets go get our stuff.” I smiled and looped my arm through Bryce’s and gestured for Anne to follow us. I was in a good mood, what can I say.

            By the time we got our luggage, our rental car was already waiting for us. It was a black escalade like always, and I climbed into the front seat and curled my legs up into the seat. I let the window down and undid my braid, loving the feeling of the wind rushing through my hair.

            “So why are we actually here?” Anne asked from the backseat.

            “Good point. Let’s figure it out.” I answered. I bent down, reaching into my bag and digging around until I found the manila folder with all of the information in it. Pulling out the sheets of paper, I did more than scan them this time. “It looks like we are signing a contract on behalf of the King.” I said it loudly so Anne could hear but is sent a special look to Bryce. He knew what this meant. The king was starting a war and he was asking for back up and it looked like the Seventh Kingdom was his first choice.

            “That seems rather boring. Why did he send you guys all the way down here just to sign a document?” She mused and then went back to her magazine, it seemed like she had a million of them.

            “Yea that is interesting. Normally you would just mail the document, especially if it doesn’t have to be signed in person.”

            “It seems odd but then again,” I lowered my voice, “we needed to get to the Seventh Kingdom and we’re here.”

            He nodded, “There is that.” He looked in the rearview mirror, checking to see if Anne was paying attention, which it didn’t look like she was. “Have you done any research on that?”

            “Not really. I did a basic Internet search with some keywords but that didn’t really help at all. I wish she had given us more information to go off of. How are we supposed to find this guy if we don’t even know where to begin to look?” I was aggravated with this whole situation. Not only was I having difficulties with the Goddess, I was upset with the mission as well. I was upset that I was even calling it a mission! I had no information except for a name and no way to find him.  It was a needle in a needle stack and I was Sleeping Beauty.

            The car ride wasn’t bad, a little boring. The road to the Seventh Kingdom castle was filled with flat land and cattle. The sun was blaring, the wind was rushing, and the sky was a bright blue. The castle loomed ahead of us as we drove up the extensive driveway.  There were perfectly manicured lawns and shrubbery and the trees looked immaculate. I wasn’t quite sure how they got their lawn so green when the surrounding area was brown and crunchy, but I decided not to dwell on it, it was a castle thing. When we finally reached the front door, we saw several servants waiting on the large stone steps to receive us.