Royal Arcanum (Book 1 of The Arcanum Revelation) [PREVIEW]

2. Dreamlike State

The dreams. Cathy still remembered.

For the past three months, just right before Elle came here, those blurry visions had been bothering her mind. She couldn't possibly understand what the visions were all about. There were not only two or three visions that appeared in her recurring dreams, but there were many of them.

Cathy remembered seeing the fireballs in the air. The war. The wilderness. Everything was so chaotic. People were screaming out of fear on the battlefield.

A young woman was riding a horse. The red and mahogany shades of her long wavy hair, dancing with the blowing wind. Her pale white face was covered behind a gold and silver royal armor.

There was an old man, also riding a horse next to her. And they were all seemed like tough warriors. But the vision got blurred when the battle was about to begin again.

Another vision appeared, showing a beautiful winter view of an old castle. Red roses grown withered in the yard, but only one that outgrown perfectly fine. A little princess came to see it from closer. She was amazed that the flower could survive the coldness of winter. 

She was not aware when a stranger watched her secretly. But as soon as the princess realized, they exchange a quiet stare for a moment. That woman in a black robe approached her cautiously. Eventually, she feared the magnificent beauty that the little princess possessed.

The little princess smiled at her and said that she was as beautiful as the red rose. She had never expected the princess to show such kindness, especially to a pitiful woman like her kind. That woman's heart was immediately touched. 

The reverie had to stop when someone kept knocking at her bedroom door. Cathy immediately opened the door and saw Elle standing there.

"Your mom's calling you downstairs, don't you hear?" Elle reminded her. "She wants you to help cooking for breakfast."

"Sorry, I'm about to change clothes. I've just done taking a shower," Cathy told her. "I'll be there in a second."

Elle didn't say anything further. She just stood there like a statue.

And then Cathy thought for a second. The girl in her dreams and the one here could be completely a different person. Maybe her mom was right, it was all just a coincidence.

After serving omelets on the table, Haile shouted out, "Okay, let's have a breakfast, everyone!"

Cathy helped to serve the coffee. Then her dad came out from the bedroom. He dressed neatly as usual in his favorite brown blazer.

"Where is your relative? Her name is Sylvia Elle, right?" Her dad asked wonderingly.

Cathy shifted her eyes quickly at the arched door that adjacent to the family room.

"Hey, Elle, let's go eat together," Cathy called her in.

Haile smiled gawkily as she shouted out, "I forget to tell you; she's on a strict diet."