Heart of darkness

Chapter Seven

"Aurora." My mother whispered. "Where almost there."

My eyes fluttered open and I was surprised that the sun was just starting to set. The sky was filtered with reds, yellows and oranges. How long had I been sleeping? By the fact that my neck was cramped and there was sleep in my eyes showed that it had been a few hours. I sat up, realizing that I had been laying against the window.

"Darling, you have a bit of drool." My father said, touching a spot on his cheek.

I quickly whipped the drool away and focused on preparing for the ball. The nerves that I had tried so hard to get rid of, had snuck their way back in as I saw that we were nearing the castle.

The palace was placed in the centre of Lightwood hundreds of years ago. I thought they put it there to show that the palace and the royal family were the centre of our land. I hated it. The castle had been built on the blood of innocents, it sickened me.

"Aurora whip that frown off your face." My mother said as we passed through the gates.

The iron gates were grand and had many difficult designs, I wanted to congratulate the maker, though it had been years since the structure had been built. Meaning they were probably dead.

"Big smiles, big smiles." My mother said as we pulled in front of the palace steps. There were already people in front of us, walking up the steps into the large entrance of the castle.

My mother and father were the first to step out. I didn't look up until I was far away from the carriage. My mind still acknowledged that Cas was our driver and I could feel his gaze on me as I walked up the steps behind my parents

"Aurora." My mother said, seeing that my head was turned down. "Chin up."

I looked at her and gave a slight nod, I turned my gaze to the palace and was speechless. It was terrifying, but beautiful at the same time. The stone still looked as if it was just placed today and not three hundred years ago. It was lit by a thousand torches and a large staircase stretched up to the front entrance, not to mention a guard was placed on every step. I felt small compared to this castle's size. I couldn't begin to imagine what the inside looked like.

I gulped, suddenly scared to go in. The memory of reading how this palace was built by slaves slipped into my mind. But I carried on, holding my head high. The stairs took a bit to get up, but I made it and made my way beside my parents, into the large foyer. I couldn't help but stare at elegance of it. A large chandelier lit up the room, columns held the high roof up. Painting's decorated the ceiling adding to the angelic feel of the foyer.

For some odd reason, I felt under dressed to be in a room like this and I suddenly wondered what the ball room would look like.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs..." A palace staff member said as we neared the doors to the ballroom.

Other guests were standing around the edge of the foyer, some taking in the beauty and some looking for secret passageways. I didn't blame them, this would most likely be the last time they see the inside of the castle. If I wasn't so disgusted by the way this castle was built, I might have joined them.

"Whitmore, and this is our daughter, Aurora Whitmore." My father told the gentleman. I saw him take a look at me.

"Alright then, I will introduce you first, then your daughter." The gentleman said as he opened the door. My father looked at the gentleman, confused why I wasn't being introduced with them. "The king recommended that all young women be introduced separately, to give the Prince a chance to see them."

My father nodded slightly and continued with my mother closer to the doors. I took a quick look behind me to see a few more guests show up, all of the girls looked the same. Painted faces and horrendous dresses. A few of them seemed to look at me curiously as if they were wondering why I was wearing this dress.