(Circe's P.O.V)
We came through the other side in a burst a bright white light. The air that filled my lungs choked me for a second before I realized that my gills had appeared out of reflex as soon as we hit the water. I pressed a hand to either side of my neck and focused on forcing them to merge back to my skin so that I could breathe.
"Are you alright?" Zalas asked, his voice concerned but slightly distracted.
"I'm alive." I spat sarcastically as I shook my head from side to side, water spraying out from my braid. I was completely soaked through.
"Perhaps you could give me some warning next time before you decide it might be fun to fly through a giant waterfall."
Zalas merely laughed at my disgruntled tone as he took my hands in his own and pulled me backwards so that I had no choice but to raise my head.
"Look where we are Vanima and then tell me that this was not worth getting wet clothes for."
I blinked against the harsh light that blinded me, but as my eyes adjusted I felt my breathing stutter and my heart skip a beat.
This had to be what Heaven looked like.
The waterfall we had just flew through, was repeated in mirror image on the other side, but instead of falling straight into the ocean, the water tumbled down mountains of pure white stone and flowed into a river that twisted and turned through the incredible land that lay before me, nestled in the clouds.
Unabonan weaved in and out of clouds that were a mixture of fluffy pinks and whites, slowly descending down on the Kingdom spread below.
White cliffs extended out on either side of the waterfall and then the cliffs turned into ragged mountains whose peaks were hidden by cloud. Everything was white, blindingly white, starch white, crystal white, pearl white, every white you could think of.
"Welcome to the Air Temples." Zalas whispered in my ear, his musical voice only adding to the intensity of the view.
"It's beautiful." I breathed, feeling my eyes widen slightly as I tried to take in as much as I could at once.
"That it is Vanima, it is the most beautiful sight in the world."
Unabonan swooped even lower and now I could begin to make out the houses that seemed to rise out of the mist that covered the ground. They, like everything else, were white, but they seemed to glimmer in the sun, like sparkling diamonds and when I questioned Zalas about it his answer shocked me to the point of disbelief.
"They are diamond. Mixed with the stone that we mine from the mountains, but the outside of the houses and some of the insides are decorated with diamonds. We Air Sprites just love shiny things." He flashed me a white toothed smile. "It is not as valued here as it is to you Princess, the Dragons have always made diamond and there was a surplus so we used it to decorate our houses. Bits and pieces are added on over time, the more wealthy you are, the more diamond in your house. Wait until you see the palace." He grinned again. "It is like the nothing you will ever see again in your life time."
"I don't doubt that in the slightest." I laughed, still trying to come to terms with the fact that their houses were practically made from diamonds. Back at home, the diamond necklace my Father had given me had been my most precious item that I only ever wore for extremely special occasions.
We swooped lower and now I was able to see people, and although they were still faceless and tiny, I could see that they too had pale skin and light hair like the Prince behind me. Some of them turned their faces to the sky as we flew over head, their toothpick hands waving excitedly as Zalas laughed and waved back. Unabonan uttered a happy roar and shot a small flame out of his nostrils that flickered an electric blue before disappearing entirely.
"Brother!"
The Princess was beside us again, Nelonimi swinging her head to the side to playfully nudge Unabonan on the neck. It seemed as though both dragons and the two royal siblings were alot more relaxed once they were back in their own lands, they had certainly not acted like this back at the ship.
"Brother we have to go to the Palace immediately, Mother has ordered it so, she want's to speak with the girl as quickly as possible."
Zalas stiffened behind me and I felt something whisper past my ear, the language strange and unfamiliar. I only heard a few words and then the whisper was gone.
"Very well." Zalas's voice was suddenly hard as he spoke. "I had hoped that she would be busy for a few days so that you would be allowed time to settle, but it seems that is not to be the case."
"Why? What is going on?" I heard the panic in my voice more clearly than anyone else. All of my previous excitement at seeing the city had suddenly vanished and was replaced with cold hard fear as I remembered the situation I was in.
"Hush Princess," Zalas soothed, his voice taking on a musical lilt. "you have nothing to fear from our Mother, she will answer the questions you have, and the ones you have yet to answer."
I took in a deep breath and swallowed my fear. The sooner I did this, the sooner I could get back to Obsidian and the others I had left behind.
"Okay. Take me to her."
*
We had been climbing steadily upwards for over twenty minutes now and slowly the cloud was thinning.
"Today it is rather cloudy," Zalas stated. "on a good day, the Palace is able to be viewed from the ground and it looks simply spectacular. We could always will the clouds to leave of course, but we try not to interfere with the course of nature too much."
Before I could ask him what he meant we burst through the last of the cloud and I was graced with my first sight of the Royal Palace.
My immediate thought was that it looked as though it was floating on air. There were no clouds to mar the blue sky above and the Palace seemed as though it had been built on the clouds themselves. If it weren't for the fact that I knew I would fall straight through them, had I attempted to stand on one, I would have said that the clouds looked as solid as dry land. But suddenly I wasn't too sure about anything anymore, were the clouds here solid enough to walk on? But that had to be impossible, Unabonan had just flown straight through them. I shook my head, trying to get the muddling thoughts out of my head. None of it made any sense.
"You will understand later." Zalas whispered and I nodded firmly to myself. My thinking was ruining the moment.
Once I had pushed aside my logic, I was absolutely swept away by the breathtaking sight. The entire Palace glimmered and shone in the sunlight like the brightest of jewels. It twisted and curved, long delicate turrets spiraled out of the main body of the Palace, reaching for the sun like newly sprouted plants, desperate for life.
The whole structure was about a mile away and Unabonan was steadily making his way towards it, Nelonimi at his side. The closer we got to the Palace, the more nervous I got. Would I have time to change before meeting the Queen? What would I say? What would I do? How was I supposed to act? Was there any certain protocol I had to follow? Any customs?
I grew more and more panicked as we flew towards one of the highest out of the turrets and by the time we landed I was so nervous that I barely noticed that the side of the large room at the top was wide open and big enough that Unabonan was able to land right inside the room, his clawed feet clacking loudly on the smooth floor.
Zalas was suddenly gone from behind me and before I knew it I was lifted off the dragons back and placed on the floor. My legs abruptly gave out from underneath me and I crumpled to a heap on the ground.
I heard Zalas curse as he lifted me up and dumped me on a bed that I hadn't noticed before.
"Dammit! ARANEL! Get in here! You have to change her and calm her down, Mother is getting impatient."
There was alot of swearing in a foreign language as I blinked frantically and tried not to hyperventilate and burst into tears at the same time. All of my courage had gone out the window, this was too much! I could at least be given a slight break inbetween meeting members of the Royal family. The two I had already been introduced to were bad enough.
There was a sharp sting to the left side of my face and my head jerked sideways from the impact. I blinked and rubbed my jaw slowly, looking up to see a cold faced Aranel in front of me, her hand pulled back and ready to strike again.
"Snap out of it, you hear me? You are supposed to be a Princess! Not some sniveling little girl who is pathetic and screams at the sight of dragons. Now so help me, put this on before I put it on you myself."
With those words she threw a bundle of material at me which I caught and held up. It was a beautiful white dress, more exquisite than anything that I had ever worn before and my breath caught at the sight of it.
"I might need your help in removing the one I already have on." I said shakily, raising my eyes to meet Aranel's white ones.
She nodded in approval at my calmed state, a flicker of respect flashing through her eyes.
"Very well."
*
Ten minutes later I was being ushered down the spiraling steps of the turret, behind a staunch Zalas and an incensed Aranel.
The dress had fit me like a glove, the cut sleeves leaving my shoulders bare and the tight corset sucking me in at the waist. The rest of the dress hung straight to the floor, in a different style to the dresses of home that flared out from the waist like mushrooms. The material was soft to touch and shimmered slightly when I moved, the bodice dipping down into a sharp V that showed a little more chest than I was used to. There had no been time to re braid my hair so Aranel had simply tugged the braid out and combed through my golden waves till they tumbled down my back like silk.
"When you enter the throne room, the main thing to remember is to curtsey. Do not make eye contact with the Queen, do not open your ignorant mouth unless you are spoken to. Do you hear me?" Aranel snapped, our comradeship from the room gone.
"Yes I heard you." I said sharply, nervously smoothing my dress as we hurried along a long diamond incrusted corridor. "You don't need to speak to me like I'm stupid."
"Oh but you are," She retorted. "you are as stupid as they come obviously, since you don't know anything about anything."
"Enough!" Zalas yelled. "Aranel, please control your hideous temper or I will be forced to send you back to your room. Do you hear me?"
She scowled viscously at his back and didn't reply as he turned around and continued walking at a pace that had me running to catch up with him.
He made a sharp left turn at the end of the corridor and we entered yet another massive corridor with the same high ceiling and bejeweled appearance as the last one. Everything here just seemed to sparkle. Most of the walls were decorated with fantastic mosaics in different types of swirling patterns, made from a mixture of diamond, glass and the smooth crystal white stone than was mined from the mountains.
Halfway down the corridor, we came to a stop in front of a particularly unremarkable looking door with the same swirling designs etched into it as the ones on the wall.
Zalas turned to me, his hand on the silver door handle. "Mother requested that you meet her in your study. She said that she had a surprise for you that prompted the sudden change of events."
He turned the door handle and entered first, holding it for me so I could follow. I kept my eyes down low to the ground as Aranel had suggested, hiding my slightly sweaty hands behind my back. The door clicked shut behind us and there was a slight pause before I heard a cool musical voice speak.
"Ahh, welcome home my children. You have been missed. And this must be the girl that Evangeline has spoken so much about. Raise your head Child, look me in the eye."
Obedient, I raised my head and caught sight of a beautiful woman dressed in a flowing white robe before my gaze slid to the person at her left. I let out a gasp of shock, my eyes immediately welling up with tears at the sight of him. His eyes met mine and his mouth dropped open as he stared in disbelief.
"Circe?"
I took a staggering step forward before he met me halfway, scooping me up in his arms before I could fall.
"Naddy, is that really you?"
* * * *
___________________________IMPORTANT PLEASE READ________________________
This is the end guys!!
I want to thank all of my fans for getting me this far, the journey has been incredible and you are all fantastic. I'm sorry for cutting it short but once APK has been judged, I might go back to edit some of the Chapters and make the last ones a wee bit longer :)
There will be TWO MORE STORIES to follow this one, I will have the second one in the Trilogy started soon, don't worry :)
THANKYOU ONCE AGAIN FOR ALL OF THE SUPPORT!!
This final Dedication goes to the Author who got me here in the first place, I owe her so much, so a big thankyou to Fallenbabybubu!!
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Daisy xxxxx