IGNITE (The Heir Chronicles Book 1) Page 4

  “Thank you,” He says and places his right hand on my back and my left hand rests on his shoulder while I hold his left hand with my right.

  “And one . . . two . . . step . . . three . . . four . . . step . . . five . . . six . . . step . . .” he says.

  "Ugh." I plop down on my bed after a tiring hour of etiquette lessons by one and only Prince Adrian. "Busy?" Altin asks, popping his head in the doorway.

  "Um, no, just worn out."

  "Well, that works." He plops down on the couch in front of me.

  "So, what mischievous plan is forming in your head?" I notice the mischievous smirk on his face.

  "Um, nothing. Why do you think-" I stare at him. "Okay, you broke me. I was thinking, maybe we could pull a prank on Adrian." I am barely suppress a smirk that spreads across my face.

  "Okay, what's the plan?" I ask.

  "We have to go and start working on it right now."

  "Well, what are we going to do?" I ask the most obvious question.

  "We are going to drench him from head to toe." He grins ear-to-ear.

  "Okay, first, let's arrange for a bucket and water." I clap my hands.

  "Already done it."

  "Nice work."

  "Now, all we have to do is, arrange the bucket and lure him to his room."

  I nod and we go off to Adrian's room.

  "I think that’s enough." Altin says, helping me get down. We have spent the last twenty minutes arranging the bucket on Adrian's door so that when he opens it, it falls on him and he gets soaked from head to toe. And it's a lot easier said than done. Gosh! That bucket is heavy.

  "Okay, I'm going to call him, saying that you have slipped in his room and have fainted." I say.

  "And, as far as I know, he would come running to his room and get soaked." He completes.

  I laugh and go down to find Adrian. I turn about three turns and check five rooms before I finally find him. I try to act breathless and panicked. "What happened?" He asks, his voice dripping with concern. Yeah! He is buying it!

  "M-Altin, h-he slipped, fainted," I act the best that I have ever in my whole life. He immediately gets up and rushes out the door with me trailing near enough.

  When he reaches his room, I step back and tell him to go in. I gesture Altin to come out of his hiding place as soon as Adrian opens his door.

  Splash! The water along with the bucket falls on . . . drum roll please . . . me. "What the-" I gasp.

  "What the HELL?" Shouts Altin. I turn to see he too drenched like me. "Well, you'll have to try a lot harder than this to prank me." Adrian chuckles and leaves.

  I quickly start off after him and grip his wrist, causing him to turn around. "What?" He asks, trying to control his laughter as he looks at my drenched figure.

  "How did you do it?" I ask, not bothered by his silent laugh. "And why do you think I will tell you?" He counters and walks off into the hallway, whistling.

  "What just happened?" Altin asks, looking at himself as if he were an alien. "I don't know, he just blew me off. He didn't even bother to give the least bit of an explanation." I huff and go to my room to change into a fresh pair of clothes.

  __

  I walk into the dining hall and see Adrian's eyes brighten up with mischief. I take my place next to him and wait for Altin and Drake to arrive. Drake comes first and sits down next to me. He and Adrian seem to communicate to each other wordlessly and he smirks a little as sits down. Finally Altin arrives and dinner is served. "You really tried to prank him?" Drake asks. I just roll my eyes and continue eating. I pick up the tongs and reach for the pastry, remembering my lesson on etiquette.

  "So, Fena, how was your first day of training?" asks the king and I hear a faint chuckle from Adrian and a warning cough from Altin. "Uh, fine, your highness." I continue poking my pastry. "Oh, great. Is Adrian teaching you well? Any complaints you want to make?" The queen asks. "No your majesty." I reply sweetly, giving Adrian a side glance. While the others are eating, I lean towards Adrian and whisper to him, "I'm going to get even. Just you wait," and then go back to eating my food, smirking.

  __

  "Help me Fena, please, I'm right here. Help me. Find him." I walk towards the same girl that I saw in the garden. "Oh no, she's here," She mumbles and then there is a green light and I burst open my eyes. Just a dream. Which I have been having since the day I got here. I always get a feeling that it's more than just a dream. I think that some girl out there really needs my help. But, if we consider that, who was she talking about, who were the "he" and "she".

  I flick the sheets off and turn the bedside lamp on. I sit there not doing anything for a while. I then look at my ring. It's glowing. Whoa. I guess all the weird things have my name on the top of the people they are going to happen to. I don't know why, but I reach out to touch the ring with my other hand. Nothing happens. Wait, something is happening. Suddenly, the room starts spinning and my body leaves the bed and I close my eyes. It's just like the time when I was in the forest. I open my eyes when I feel the spinning has stopped. I am standing in a hallway of what looks like of a palace. I see around me. There are portraits of people on the walls. Some inscriptions too. I hear footsteps behind me and turn. I gasp when I see what is in front of me.

  CHAPTER-11

  I gasp when I see the scenario in front of me.

  Two little girls about twelve years old who look awfully like me are running down the hallway with a woman trailing behind them. She shouts, "Girls, stop, I'm tired," and both of them stop running and the woman crouches in front of them and opens a small box that she has been carrying. She opens it to reveal two beautiful pendants. Both are circular, but one of them is orange, almost red with a Phoenix engraved on it and the other one is light blue with a tortoise carved on it. She had a similar necklace on. It was circular but had three stones fitted in it. One was identical to the red one, the other to the blue one and the other one was green. "Happy birthday my girls. Now, I want you both to wear these," she says, taking the pendants and putting it on both the girls. "And never, take them off. Okay," she looks at them pointedly and the girls nod. Another figure appears in the hallway. He is a boy, maybe a year or two older than the girls. "Mom, it's time." He is tall, healthy with dark brown hair and green eyes.

  He looks like someone I know.

  All of them get going. Suddenly, I am transported to a ballroom. I look around me. No one seems to notice me. Hell, no one seems to be able to see me. “Princess Serafina and Princess Mirella," the announcer announces and the two girls from earlier enter the room. The girl with the orange pendant is wearing an orange gown which fits her perfectly, although she seems very uncomfortable in it. I notice that she is wearing boots underneath the gown and the gown is so long that you wouldn't be able to see them. The other one, unlike the first girl, is wearing a pink and very puffy gown. Both the girls stand on the top stair as the announcer announces once again, "Prince Lysander" the boy from the hallway appears and stands between the girls and hooks his hand with theirs and they all descend down the stairs. The crowd gathers on the dance floor. A boy with dark hair approaches the girl with the boots and says, "Princess Serafina, may I have this dance?"

  "Forgive me prince, but no," Serafina says and goes off to the food table.

  "Wake up sleepyhead!" Altin shouts in my ear. "Go away Altin," I shout and chuck a pillow at him. I know that any attempt to sleep would be useless, so I get up and as soon as I do, my left leg gets tangled on the bed sheets that fell down while I was sleeping and l fall down, face-flat. "Ugh." I get up and run my face. Altin laughs and when he finally gets over it, he massages his cheeks and says, " The nobles will arrive here in precisely an hour, so if I were you, I would start getting dressed like, now," he says while I continue to stare at him in confusion.

  It has become a ritual for Altin to wake me up every morning. He always barges into my room and wakes me up saying the same words as today and try as I may, he never lets me go back to sleep but usually, he wakes me up abou
t half an hour before I am needed, so why has he waken me up so early?

  I rub my eyes and say, "I can get ready in fifteen minutes, why have you woken me up so early?" In a whiny voice.

  "I woke you up early because," he says and motions a cluster of people to come inside, " you are going to really get ready, like a girl, if I wasn't clear before." As I continue to stare at him open-mouthed. "You want me to what?"

  "We want you to dress like a girl, so that you may make an impression on the nobles." Adrian enters the room, holding a dress bag. He slowly unzips the bag to reveal a red coloured satin gown. I reach out and touch the fabric. It feels even lighter than air. It reflects the light of my room in such a way so that it looks as if there is a halo surrounding it. It has a circular neckline decorated with lace. "Guys, I can't wear it." I take a step back and sit down on my bed.

  "Sure you can, it's especially made for you," Adrian says, handing me the dress and exiting through the door with Altin. Before they go out, Adrian pokes his head back in and says, "Also, there is a surprise for you, so get ready as soon as you can and come down to meet your surprise." And exits, leaving me puzzled. "Miss, we are here to help you get ready," a girl, about my age informed.

  "I'm Emma, she's Kriss," she motions towards the brunette standing towards her left, "and she, is Natalie," she motioned towards the red haired girl standing towards her right.

  As soon as the introductions were over, they usher me towards the bathroom and I take a bath. As soon as I return, wearing a robe, I am surrounded by the excited chatter of my maids.

  Emma made my hair while Kriss did my makeup and Natalie was doing my nails.

  After about forty five minutes, I was done. My hair is left free with just a single braid on a side, completed with jewels in it. My nails, which are now smoothed and painted look nothing like the ones I had when I was at home. And my face, although covered in makeup, still looks like mine. I have to complement Kriss for not making me look like a monkey with a painted face, which was how I looked the first time I had worn makeup. My makeup is very light and as is my nail paint.

  "Miss, it's time to put on the dress." Emma helps me get out of the robe while Kriss and Natalie take the gown out of the garment bag. When I am done getting ready, I look at myself in the mirror. The gown is full length and hides my feet. It fits smugly at my waist and lowers down into flairs.

  I choose a pair of boots to wear as I am not completely sure if I can wear the heels and manage to make it to even three steps without falling down.

  I turn around exactly as a guard knocks on the door to inform me to come down. I turn towards my maids and give them a nervous smile and a thumbs up and leave

  __

  I enter the foyer and see Adrian, Drake and Altin standing there. The three turn their heads together as I walk in. Adrian and Drake's mouths pop open while Altin continues to blink his eyes to see if what he’s seeing real or just a mirage. After about a minute or two have passed, I clear my throat. "Guys, how do I look?" I ask, even though I know the answer. "Like a girl," the three of them reply in unison. I laugh and we all turn back towards the sound of the door opening once again.

  CHAPTER-12

  The great double doors open to reveal a visitor. "Leo!" I rush to him and jump into his arms. "Hey tiger!" He says, stroking my hair. I get down and I am still unable to believe that he is here. "What . . .how . . . who?" I stammer.

  He laughs and says, "Adrian arranged for me to come here. He said that you were doing pretty well and, well, I wanted to see you too, so I seized the first chance that I got and burst off towards the airport."

  I turn back and see Adrian smiling modestly. I go towards him and hug him. "This does not mean I have forgiven you for all those hours of etiquette lessons," I murmur in his ear and he bursts out laughing but soon comp is himself when the king and the queen arrive. They both walk towards Leo and embrace e him like he is known to them for years. I'm going to say the word again. Weird.

  They let go of him and walked towards the rest of us and embraced the princes and Drake received a shoulder pat from the queen and a hand shake from the king. Then they move towards me. I curtsy and they both receive it happily and wish me good luck and move on to take their positions. Just as they have settled, the double doors are opened once again and all the nobles enter the hall, first being introduced by the announcer and then moving into the room in a very practised and stiff way. I am going to compete with that! I think and suddenly an thankful for those hours of torture of etiquette lessons. At least I knew enough manners to not end up making a fool of me.

  __

  "Uff," I huff and crash into my bed, face-first. Leo rubs my back and grabs my shoulders and makes me sit up.

  We just talk about home and how is everyone. Nothing new. Emmica, my neighbour, got fired again, for the tenth time in a row. Mrs. Rodger gave birth to twins, both girls.

  "I'm bored." I throw a pillow at him and he stands up as soon as he can manage without falling on the carpet, and dodges it.

  "You want to play it this way, then," he picks up a pillow and throws it at me, " game on." I giggle and we both engage in a pillow fight which soon turns into a wrestling fight and then back into a pillow fight.

  Leo is standing in front of the door when I throw the pillow at him. As the pillow is about to hit him, he ducks, the door opens and the pillow hits Adrian on his head, throwing him off balance. I immediately rush to his aid and he gets up and walks in.

  "Okay, so I just wanted to make sure that you are enjoying having Leo around, and now, am in no doubt," he says and Leo and I laugh. I call Adrian inside and ask him to sit on the only corner of the bed which is not covered in clothes and other stuff. Some Leo’s, some mine and most the gifts from my friends and family. My eyes immediately wander over to the gift from my mom. Leo made me promise that I won’t open it until he tells me to, or until he leaves.

  I go out into the balcony and when I return Leo and Adrian are already talking like childhood friends. I glance around in confusion. That is the thing about Leo, he is very friendly and easy going, he can make friends with practically anyone, a quality that I truly and completely lacked.

  I sit down and ask a maid to bring some pastries for all of us and then engage in their conversation.

  I wake up and see Leo lying dead asleep on the foot of my bed. I laugh silently at the him.

  All of us had stayed up late last night. I went to sleep at about one in the morning while both of them continued to chatter. My guess is that Adrian left at about two in the morning.

  I am about to wake him up when I catch something hanging out from his coat pocket. A photograph. I walk over to see it. It looks like the photo of a royal family. Not of this one, I’m sure. In the photograph, there are two little girls, just like the two I saw in the water yesterday. One of them has light blonde, almost white hair while the other one has red hair, a deep shade of red, like scarlet.

  I quietly slip out the door and am greeted my Altin just about to knock on the door.

  "Hey! You're up early!" He exclaims.

  "Yeah, I know, but don't make any noise. Leo is still sleeping. He and Adrian both stayed up late last night and now are sleeping like dead." He chuckles and we both head towards the gardens. "Hey, so what is the deal with your brother Leo?" He asks.

  "He isn't my real brother, but yeah, he is pretty much like my elder brother I didn't have."

  "You know, yesterday-" he is cut off by a guard asking him to go with him. "Uh, well, I'll see you later." He turns back and leaves.

  I decide to walk back into the castle.

  CHAPTER-13

  I walk into my room to find a brown bag kept on my bed. I go and pick it up and a cream coloured paper falls down. I pick it up and read it aloud, "A Royal Ball to welcome the nobles for the Prince’s court will be held 7. You are requested to be present at the allotted time with an escort."

  I open the packet to find a beautiful orange coloured dress with a note.


  Fena,

  Please wear this dress tonight at the welcome ball. The king and queen of Irèa are coming as special guests and we need to make an impression on them too.

  Love,

  Adrian.

  "Ugh," I grunt and plop down on the couch.

  __

  I walk out of my room and find Leo waiting outside as my escort. He is dressed in a blue coat and is wearing a white shirt underneath the coat with blue matching pants. He looks so handsome. Like a . . . Prince. I feel like I have seen him like this before also, except that he has worn a suit for the first time.

  "You clean up good," I say and he says, "you're the one to say, haven't you looked at yourself in the mirror."

  I am dressed in the gown that Adrian had left me earlier. It is full length and sleeveless along with a pair of lace gloves to complement the look. I also found an orange necklace which was the gift from my mother after Leo permitted me to open it. The weird thing is that it looks just like the one in my dream. It matched the gown so I put it on. My hair is kept back in the form of a bun with a few strands left to give emphasize my face.

  "Shall we?" He offers me his arm and we both walk towards the great hall.

  It's kind of weird that Leo knows his way around the palace so well when he has been here for just a day.

  We stand outside the door while the announcer introduces us to the crowd as he has done for the other nobles.

  The door opens and we both walk out and I look over the crowd. I see Altin and Drake but I can't find Adrian. I loop my arm with Leo's and descend down the stairs.

  I can feel every head turning in our direction and the occasional "look at that dress," comments but I ignore them and instead focus on the weird and funny faces that Altin is making.