Unveiled

~ Chapter 3 ~

"Ouch" Naya says quietly to herself. She hate carriages. You can feel every bump and stone in the road. Naya would much rather prefer riding Shirley, her asterion mare, than going in a carriage, but it is the glamourous way of traveling to a foreign kingdom.

Naya cannot wait to arrive in Nocturna. Nocturna is Tendora's border kingdom on the northern side. The main village, where they are heading now, is in the legendary mystic mountains, with snow-capped peaks and woodlands all around.

Suddenly shouts and shrieks rise up to greet them and Naya realised that they have finally arrived. She hears hushed voices from the villagers and smells the lovely scent of freshly baked bread.

It takes the royal court of Tendora a few minutes to arrive at the palace gates. As they ride through the gate, Naya cannot contain herself any longer, she has to look. She slides on the bench to the side of the carriage and looks out the window.

What she see is breath-taking. At the foot of an ice peaked mountain lies a white castle, as big as twenty-stories high. It is not quite the sight of the castle that is breath-taking, but everything around it. In the distance she can see green pine trees covered in snow and all around the castle. They pass a giant fountain in the shape of a tree, the water frozen, due to the cold winter morning.

The carriage stops and a guard comes to the carriage door and opens it. King Choal Foltenhearte, Naya's father, is the first to step out. His long figure, having to bow his head to emerge on the other side. Then Queen Christina Foltenhearte, Naya's mother, the guard helping her out. And then it is Naya's turn, the ice cold air biting at her warm cheeks as she steps out of the carriage.

They all walk, with the company of the guards, to the foot of the steps leading to the main doors of the castle. Naya looks around and sees all the members of the court of Tendora do the same.

In front of the castle doors stands the royal family of Nocturna. The king, dark brown eyes and black hair, with a bejewelled crown upon his head. The first thing Naya noticed was his feathered wings, like that of a bird, of some sort. If you have never seen anything like it, it is the first thing you would notice.

By his sides are, who Naya assumes are his sons, - three at his right and two at his left. She doesn't pay them much attention, they are a mix and match of both bird like people or Fae. There are two boys who are both, but the one boy catches her attention.

He looks about Arthurs age, seventeen, maybe even sixteen. He is a bird like person like his father, but he is also Fae. He has silver hair and bright blue eyes. From this distance he looks handsome. He looks Naya's way and she sees that deadly, familiar expression her brothers have. That expression of power, of strength and now she can add that of territorial nonsense. The same expression that can easily be passed over as a threat or a warning, but she is not afraid.

Naya has only noticed now that it is complete and utter silence. The rulers of the two kingdoms look at each other, both wary of the others power. This is what Naya could not understand. A king of kingdom where magic is forbidden, seeking an alliance with a king from a kingdom, whom welcomes magic with open arms.

The king of Nocturna breaks the silence. "Welcome!" he says, his voice ruff. "I hope you have had a pleasant journey." Naya's father nods. "For those of you who do not know me," he continues, "I am king David Lupton the second, these are my sons: Harold," gesturing to Fae man on his left, "Richard," the bird man on his left, "Jacob," the other Fae next to Richard, "Marcus," the Fae/bird man boy like the other young male, next to Harold, "and Xander" gesturing to the young, handsome Fae male, who caught Naya's attention

"Please come in. You have had a long journey." continued the king, with a small bow of the head. Naya's father returns the gesture. A slight dip of the head. A bow accustomed to that of acknowledgement, not that of submission.