Chelsea's Smile

Chelsea's Smile [17]

KATIE'S POINT OF VEIW

 

When we arrived at Winwald in the dark, armored car, I was stunned by the scene. It was absolutely beautiful, on this moon lit night. Think of those old, fairy tale castles you believed in as a child, with the tall towers, the stone bricking. There was a large river surrounding it, serpents, fish, and many other creatures swimming lazily along the bottom through the current. The garden was seen from the front of the castle, and was absolutely breath taking.

People from all walks of life flocked to the entrance. There were people in darkened clothing with numerous weapons strapped on, in long trench coats, men and women alike. There were women in brightly colored dresses and skirts. There were lizard like people, and gypsies, and so many others that it was mind boggling! Sander and Sarah were stopped many times by people of different classes and such, and nearly everyone knelt to me, making feel awkward and nervous.

"Why is everyone kneeling? It's making me feel weird," I whispered quietly to Sander, pulling off my hood, holding on to his arm. "I thought I was the Princess no one knew?" I was curious as to why an how everyone knew about me. From what I was told, I was given to Esmeralda and Thomas as a baby, before the public was aware I had been born.

"You are the Princess," He smiled, nodding to some people he knew as we slowly glided past into the entrance. "Meaning you look near identical to the Queen, so everyone knows," He pressed his lips softly to the top of my head.

As we entered to the main foyer, which was full of people, my jaw hit and bounced off the floor. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people, swirling, chatting, dancing to the music. There was a large, mosaic window over head, the night sky seemingly warped and twisted. The tile on the floor was difficult to make out through all the people. What seemed like Butler's popped in and out of the crowd, leaving a small poof of smoke as they disappeared to a different area. There were a lot of green's, and purple's, and blues, but no one, besides me and Sander were wearing red.

"PRINCESS KAITLYNN!" A man at the base of the stairs yelled to the party goers. All at once, the chatter ceased, as did the music as the sound of feet turning echoed through the air. My stomach twisted as hundreds of eyes were turned in my direction as I shrunk behind Sander, my face becoming redder. But he sunk to his knee, grinning at my embarrassment, and everyone in the crowd followed suit, men falling to a single knee, women in gowns falling to both. Serpents flattened against the ground, elves bowed, fairies and pixies fluttered forward, so I could see their bowed heads and the hands that crossed their chests.

I was frozen to where I stood, shocked and nervous about all the sudden movement and attention on me. It stayed this way for nearly two minutes, before everyone slowly rose to their feet, clapping and cheering. Shouts were auditable, such as "Welcome home!" and "The princess has returned!" When I looked over,  I saw that Sarah has disappeared, and Sander was grinning, reaching out for me. I took his arm and we stepped out through the crowd, people reaching out for me, trying to stop us. I gave them nervous smiles, but they didn't seem upset by my not stopping.

"Why are we sticking out like sore thumbs?" I asked Sander, regarding the red we both wore. We were bright flames in a pile of ashes compared to all the other people in this place. We really stuck out, bringing more attention to us than was needed. This was a time were I wished I still had the black dress.

"You will see," He grinned and kissed my ear gently, as if he could dismiss my questions with just that, which, I guess he could seeing as I smiled, and looked to the ground, dropping the questions for another time. "Come on, I want you to meet someone Katie," He tugged on my arm, leading me toward a group of men and women, all wearing dark clothing. They must have been the other shadow hunt group I've heard about.