Star

No Place Like Lilingale

It was two more days before Astara gathered all of her stuff out of her room from Castle BlueBay and was officially moved to Lilingale. Queen Chrystal and King Harold assured her that she was always welcomed at the castle, and that they hoped Breanna would invite her over often. Which wasn't a problem since Breanna and her had already planned to have many sleepovers(the Princess had trouble bearing Leo without her). Not to mention Astara was sure she'd find herself wandering over there almost everyday.

Why?

Because Lilingale may have been her favorite place in all of Cornacapia(it was so beautiful and serene), but her guardians were rather...odd.

That's an understatement, Astara thought as she tried to stuff the hundreds of dresses Queen Chrystal and Breanna had given her into the cramped, dusty wardrobe that had come with her cramped and dusty room.

Her room was nowhere near as dazzling and extravagant as her one at Castle BlueBay. In fact there was nothing dazzling about it at all. All four walls, the floor, and ceiling were all made out of the same boring planks of wood. Her bed didn't resemble a cloud like it had in her old room, it was just plain, old, dusty bed with a thick garnet blanket on top. A single, wide window allowed sunlight to shine into the room.

The only touches she had added herself was her backpack full of books in the corner, her skateboard lying by the door, and a small rose quartz Breanna had gifted her, which was sitting on her bed.

"Why won't you close?!" Astara grunted as she used all her might to shut the full wardrobe.

Hey, magic, if you're in there why don't you help me out here, She willed the not-so-possible magic that could be within her.

She knew that it was silly to think that she could be capable of magic, especially after Leo showed her his mark, which was something all magical people apparently had to have. And, well, she didn't.

So, of course, her non existent magic did absolutely nothing to help her.

"Finally!" Astara exclaimed when the wardrobe gave a triumphant click. "See who needs magic when you've got some good ol' arm strength? I definitely-"

Woosh!

The wardrobe doors burst open and all of its contents came flying out, causing her to groan in frustration.

A small, tentative knock came from outside her door. Astara inwardly sighed. "Come in!"

A thin woman with long, ruby red hair and chestnut brown eyes opened the door almost uncertainly. "Is everything—is everything, um...okay?"

Astara gave a small, forced smile at Wanda. "Just great."

She gave a curt nod, hesitated, and then quickly left the room. Never meeting Astara's eyes once.

Whatever it's no big deal, it's nothing I'm not used to anyways...

She sighed and plopped down on her bed, wondering why she could never get some normal people to live with for once. Because Wanda and Graham Dove were about as strange as they could get, or at least they seemed very odd to Astara.

Wanda was very...fragile. She almost seemed to be afraid of Astara and usually would only check in on her on Greta's suggestion. The bags underneath her eyes were so huge that Astara was sure that they could carry elephants. She often heard Wanda wandering around the small cottage muttering to herself, but when she noticed Astara she quickly turned the corner.

And Graham...well she didn't know much about him. He hadn't come to greet her when she moved in, and he hadn't even come by her room for a simple hello once. She had sat next to him during the dinner at Castle BlueBay so all she knew about him was that he was very, very hairy.