Inkway to Albreton

Chapter Four

Jasmine tore her eyes from the swimming, growing lily pads, "I'll say! He better get some manners if he expects me to stick around." Swift neighed in agreement.

"I'm sure he'll warm up," Prince Albert said, more hopeful than confident. Swift chose then to rear up in farewell and dash off into the distance. As the stallion's hoof beats grew distant, the prince took Jasmine's hand. They crossed the moat gingerly and unbalanced and the lily pads spread apart and shrunk as they passed over them. Fragmaroginog welcomed them into the castle and hopped away. A minute later Jasmine heard a tiny splash from behind them.

As if the outside of the castle wasn't impressive enough, the inside was decorated gloriously in gold and blue and white. Emblems of the kingdom hung proudly on the gold-plated stone walls, royal blue ornate designs with pale white egg shapes surrounding carefully sewn depictions of the phoenix. Each one had a different image of the phoenix, one was aflame with its wings spread wide, another curled and tired, yet another showed the flaming gold bird cracking out of the egg, and each so magnificent they could all be considered masterpieces. Statues of the phoenix that was emerging from its egg stood tall and impressive beside the entrance to the hall, their eyes painted blue and their podiums white. The floor was painted royal blue and cloudy white like the sky and a giant handmade golden rug stretched into each wing. There was no furniture other than a single wooden chair in the corner, and soon a maid of some sort removed it, apologizing for her tardiness and lack of discipline.

Jasmine was intimidated; she hadn't been around anything so ritzy in her entire life nor had she ever been around anything so tacky. She found herself frequently thinking the decoration was a bit over-the-top, even for a king.

"This way," said the prince. Jasmine followed.

They passed too many rooms to count and Jasmine couldn't tell if any of them had a real purpose other than to look regal. The same blue, gold and white color scheme strewn through the castle; phoenix artwork burned on the walls. After far too much walking, Prince Albert turned a corner into an entirely white-furnished room. There were candles lit even though it was daylight and windows spanned the entire back wall to let in the light from the setting sun. The prince sat down with a groan on one of the many beds lined up along the inside walls. Their headboards were golden-tipped. He removed his fedora.

Jasmine lost herself in the sunlight. Seeing the view here, she wondered how she could've possibly thought the forest was anywhere close to beautiful. In the far, far distance icy mountains stood vast and tall and proud. They did not melt when the sun fell behind them, though they appeared to be aflame, reflecting and refracting the orange and deep yellow like a dance in the skies. Before them lay flatlands the color of albino grass that glowed pink in the fractured light baring down behind the icy mountains and before the flatlands lie the moat, glistening a deep blackened silver. The lily pads wafted to and fro in the gentle waves and Jasmine wondered how deep it actually was, if she could wade through if she wanted to. She closed her eyes and realized just how tired she was, nearly falling asleep on her feet with the warm setting sun and the smell of evening tickling her nostrils.

Prince Albert interrupted her with a small cough.

"Hm?" Jasmine responded and turned to see the prince. He looked pale and worn and his yellow-blonde hair was a sweaty mess. A woman was standing next to the bed he was occupying. She appeared to be a nurse or a servant, her dress was simple and blue and white like the rest of the castle's decorations. She wore a gold-trimmed folded hat of a design Jasmine didn't think could possibly stay atop someone's head without one of those strings that loop under the chin. The woman bowed politely.