Aurelia placed one pale hand on the cold handle of the door and silently opened it. Every girl seemed to hold their breath waiting to see what was on the other side.
Aurelia could hardly believe her eyes. It was like a world of gold! Golden trees that seemed to drip with jewels scattered the garden . The ground itself was covered in every jewel imagined.
A sparkling lake was before them and a golden boat with 12 seats waited. Rose bushes made of gold and diamonds surrounded the lake.
The real beauty though was what was beyond the lake. Aurelia could barely see but it looked like a castle of some kind was on the other side.
"Violet don't touch anything! You don't know where we are!" Carissa quickly grabbed Violet's hand and drew her closer to the cluster of girls.
If you had been looking down at the girls it would have looked like 12 little angels all perched at the end of the lake trying to decide to cross or not. The gold all around them seemed to make their soft white nightgowns glow,
Little Gretel's eyes were focused on the golden boat as if it had some kind of magical hold on the little princess.
"Well...are we going to cross or not?"Daisy asked looking impatient.
"Yes. We are..." Aurelia's voice trailed off as she helped the younger ones get into the boat. Something seemed strange about this place....magical almost. Why was an entire golden world hidden in the walls of their bedroom? Had Father and Mother known?
Surly they had to of known and if they hadn't was it a safe place?
Already half way across the lake a gold castle seemed to take form right before their eyes. As they got closer and closer excitement grew inside them.
A beautiful melody floated towards them from the castle. Two guards who looked so much like stone the girls thought they were at first stood at the castle entrance.
"Excuse me? What is this place?" Aurelia asked the guards at the door but received no answer. Maybe they were stone after all.
"This is my castle." A man with dark black hair and matching black eyes stepped out from behind a tree. His clothes suggested that he was rich and his manner told Aurelia he was indeed royalty.
She had to admit he was handsome looking at Carissa and Violet they thought so too.
"Where are we? How is there a whole kingdom..world..realm...whatever this is right inside our very own castle!"
"Too many questions Princess Aurelia. Far too many questions. Your in my kingdom now you can forget all about yours. Isn't that what you secretly wanted?" A smile played on this mystery mans lips and his black eyes sparkled like a newly found jewel.
Aurelia sucked in a breath. How did he know her name and how did he know what she wanted? True she wanted to be able to forget about her kingdom but how did he know?
"It's been a while since all 11 of you have danced hasn't it? Come inside. One of my subjects will take the baby. We are having a grand ball."
"Oh! A ball!" Felicity was already following the strange man towards the castle.
"Well we better follow her then...it looks harmless.." Carissa followed Felicity and they all followed her. None of them were thinking that it was strange that there was a kingdom beneath their very own.
Or who was this man leading them to an enchanting ball. All they did was follow and look in awe at the ballroom that they were now in.
The subjects dancing didn't seem normal or even real. It was almost like they were made out of glass covered in gold clothing dancing mindlessly.
Beautiful music played as glass servants carried gold trays filled with fruit. Aurelia realized she was the only one still looking at the ballroom. Carissa was already dancing with an unknown gentleman and the others were already happily dancing to the music.
What looked like a nursemaid held Grettle.
"Would you like to dance?" She heard that voice again and spun. The mystery man stood looking at her a strange smile on his pale face.
He held out a pale hand and bowed his black hair shielding his face.
"I don't normally dance with strangers." She replied looking at him curiously.
"Oh now Princess I am no stranger. Come along now just one dance."
His black eyes seemed to lure her in and her mind only thought for a fleeting second how strange his sentence had been.
The spun effortlessly into the golden ballroom and it took them only a second to match the beat of the music. They were the perfect partners.
It was like they were one person dancing along to the music not even thinking about the steps they were taking.
"Your a beautiful dancer." He said as the dance came to the end.
Aurelia who seemed to be in a sort of stunned state nodded.
"Thank you..what is your name?"
"Maverick." He stepped away into the shadows as the other girls came up to Aurelia their faces glowing with happiness.
"Wait! Where are you going?" She didn't get an answer though he just handed Gretel back to her and smiled stepping into complete darkness behind him.
The girls suddenly found themselves outside the castle but there was no castle. No guards not even a sign that anything had ever been there.
"That was strange..." Aurelia whispered looking around her.
"Yes but amazing! Oh it was so nice to dance at a real ball again! Oh and you got to dance with that handsome young stranger!" Violet stood on her tiptoes her mind obviously daydreaming.
"Yes well we better get back home now." Aurelia was now completely alert,a little confused but most of all suddenly frightened.
"Yes Aurelia's right." As Carissa looked around she noticed there was no boat anymore. No stairs no way out.
"Oh I wish we could just go home!" Daisy cried and just like that they found themselves back in the comfort of their room very much confused.
Hi there everyone! WOW it's been a while since I've uploaded this story! I was going to upload a picture with this chapter but haven't been able to find a picture to fit any of the other princesses! If any of you would be willing to help I would be forever in your debt!
As always thank you for reading!
Giselle
