Returning Reign

Chapter 2

The path leading up to the castle gates was magnificent. An immaculate stone pathway that heads towards the castle and makes a giant loop in the front of the tall castle. There is a water fountain big enough to be a pool and deep enough to dive into. The castle itself is surrounded by intricate landscaped greenery such as flowers, bushes, and trees. The castle seems to be about five stories, and made of beautiful cream colored bricks. The castle is a sight to behold. It is so long I can barely see where it ends.

The castle of Zemira is heavily guarded by what seems to be hundreds of guards in elegant uniforms. There is also a tall black fence that seems to go on forever surrounding the castle and all of its property. It will be hard to somehow find a way to get in.

I walk for twenty more minutes before I even reach the giant gate doors. There is a small booth that contains three guards inside controlling who enters and exits the palaces property. I stay in the line and stand behind a tan girl with dark hair and eyes. She seems friendly. Her turn approaches to talk to the guards. Hello, I am a new maid for the palace and tomorrow is my first day. She then proceeds to tell them her name, they check a list and cross off her name, she is granted access.

I am no longer Chloe Reed in this world or whatever it is, I'm now and have always been Cartia Laurelli, but I need to stay hidden to be able to find my parents. I am Cartia Reed for now. A mix of my old and new life.

I walk up to the booth slightly nervous, I am Cartia Reed I repeat in my head over and over again. "What will you be doing in the palace today?" A guard interrupts my train of nervous thoughts.

"I am looking for a job and want to apply for a position as a maid," I make up a lie quickly. I need to get into the castle. I am almost certain this is where all the answers to my secrets reside.

"Sorry, there are no open positions as a maid right now maam," the guard checks on the software of his computer.

"Actually," another guard interrupts "a maid just left on her maternity leave today. We need a temporary replacement," the second guard says as he clicks and types quickly on another computer.

"Alrighty then, go ahead and enter the palace grounds. A guard at the entrance will escort you to your interview." The guard gestures for me to enter with his hand. I step forward and I am quickly inspected by another guard to make sure I dont have any weapons with me. He pats me down, and passes a black wand that I assume is a metal detector over the length of my body. They really do take security seriously here.

I walk up the enormous pathway and make it to the entrance of the cream colored palace. If I look closely enough, there are tiny cameras throughout the entire palace. They blend in with the color of whatever they're on. If you didn't pay enough close attention, you'd miss them.

Before I know it I make it in front of the two dark brown wooden doors that are the entrance. About twenty guards stand by the doors and the steps that lead up to them. Feeling a bit anxious and awkward I clear my throat. "Um, Im here to be a temporary maid replacement," I cringe at my slightly shaky voice. The anxiety of the day finally creeping up on me.

"I've got this," a guard with tan skin and caramel colored hair steps up and leads the way for me. He opens the grand wooden doors for me to walk into the castle and I take a step inside. With just one look inside the castle, my breath is taken away from me. One word that describes the castle perfectly is decadence. The white marble floors glossed to perfection that seem to lead to infinite amounts of hallways, and extravagant rooms. The white almost cream walls make the already high ceilings look like they can go on forever. Chandeliers and other delicate looking light fixtures are placed everywhere to give infinite amounts of light to the palace. Not to forget the beautiful floor to ceiling windows that provide natural light and an amazing view to the gardens and forest that surround the palace.

"This way maam", the guard breaks the trance I was previously in. I can feel the familiar burning sensation of a blush on my cheeks since he found me staring at the palace. We walk for a few minutes, all the twists and turns we took in the hallways were quickly too much for me to remember. We stop in front of a door at the end of a long corridor and he knocks on the door a couple times.

"Come in," A woman's voice breaks the silence. The guard turns towards me and gestures with his hand to step into the room which I assume is an office.

"She will interview you for the maid job position," he quickly explains. I nod and step into the room. There is an elderly woman with white hair and red glasses sitting behind a mahogany colored desk. There is a large window behind her and some bookshelves.

"Sit dear!" the woman tells me and I obey. I sit across from her. "I am the head maid, but please call me Mrs. Greene" She smiles warmly just like the old man from the book shop.

"Im Cartia Reed," I smile at her. My name now is a mix of my past and the present. I want to make a good impression on her. Getting this maid job will allow me to be in the castle and look for any leads on where my parents are. I need to remain composed and have a facade.

"Well Cartia, as you know we need a temporary maid replacement but, if you impress me enough I will make sure to get you a permanent position if you would like to," Mrs. Greene had a motherly aura surrounding her. She sounds genuine, and seems like the type of person to help others. Her face wrinkled in a happy smile.

"That sounds amazing, thank you very much. I would really like the job position." She nods her head and tilts it slightly as if examining me.

"You know dear, I usually interview people a little longer seeking a job as a palace maid, but you, I like you. You have the job Cartia." I am internally shocked. It cannot be that easy? Can it?

"Thank you so much Mrs, Greene I appreciate your kindness." I gush out. Although it's a small victory, this job position brings me to being one step closer to finding my missing parents. Mrs. Greene stands up from her chair and walks over to me.

"You are welcome dear. Now come with me, I'll show you where you will be staying, because you start tomorrow morning." She exits her office and I follow behind her. It feels like I have done a lot of following people today.

After an hour I am settled in a small cozy room of my own. Mrs. Greene showed me the ins and outs of the castle. She showed me where I will be cleaning tomorrow and the maids wing of the castle. The wing was a long corridor that held all the rooms for the maids of the castle. Even with the tour of the castle, I was not shown the entire palace because maids are split into groups that clean their designated areas. So I barely even know the palace that I now call home.

My room reminded me of a dorm room. It has a small twin sized bed in the center with two windows on each side of the bed. The bed has crisp white sheets, pillows and blankets. On the wall opposite of the bed, there is a wardrobe. I walk towards it and open the dark wooden door. Inside there are plenty of maid uniforms for me to use in my size. On the other side of the wardrobe there are basic white night gowns and clothes to use when I am off duty. It seems like I'll be well taken care off for the moment.

Even with all these luxuries handed to me overnight, I still cannot forget why I am here. I also must not forget that I dont know who I can trust. My parents went missing and these kingdom, this castle especially has something to do with it. I hope my parents can forgive for going against their wishes on staying hidden, and not going after them. But what kind of daughter would I be if I never looked for them? I would regret it for the rest of my life, each and every moment.

With a heavy heart, and a newfound sense of courage I went to sleep.

Authors note:
Ahhh! It's finally here Chapter 2 of Returning Reign.
I am still unsure if I should change the name or just keep it. I guess I'll see...
Also, don't forget to comment and vote so that I can see your "presence"  on here 😂
It really encourages me :)

UPDATE: I had to go back and fix all the chapter I have published because wattpad erased all of my quotation marks :((((((((
-xoxo Ellie Violet