[E D I T E D]
♕✿~♕✿~Chapter 6//: Going for a swim♕✿~♕✿~
I was told to wait in a chair after my interview. A girl in front of me was getting red highlights in her brown hair. Based on how she was creating a small whirlwind in her hand, she was of House Laris.
"Hey, Madison!" A voice calls out to me over the chatters of everyone else. I look up and see Rose walking towards me, in a dress similar to mine. I smile at her as she carelessly walks on the interviewer's feet, making him let out a painful grunt and stare daggers at Rose. This girl reminded me of Macy, which was a good thing in my opinion.
After about half an hour of just sitting and talking to Rose, we are told that the prince is training (for whatever) and that we would get a tour of the palace while we waited for him. They let us go to our rooms to change and, I swear, my jaw dropped when I saw my new room.
It is enormous, with a baby pink desk placed in the corner, several dressers placed along the wall, a large walk-in closet filled with dresses, and a queen-sized bed smacked in the middle. It has red sheets and black pillows, which I recognized to be the colors of House Calore. In one corner of the room, there's also a beautiful piano and a viola case next to it. I smile at the instruments in fondness. Maybe I could play on the instruments later.
There's even a floor-to-ceiling set of glass doors, and I realize with happiness that it leads to a balcony facing the maze of trimmed bushes known as the outdoor garden.
A flurry of movement in the corner of my eyes makes me glance at the doorway, where I see three maids bowing to me. I quickly tell them that they don't need to bow to me. They have small smiles, which grow bigger as they confirm that I am a Red by looking at my olive skin. It was easy to differentiate a person from Silver and Red because most Silvers had pale skin from the silver blood coursing through their veins.
"We're Reds too! It's nice to have Reds in The Choosing now," one tells me. She gets a smack on the arm from another. I let out a small laugh.
"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Madison, though friends call me Madi. Who are you guys?" I ask them.
"I'm Samantha, though I go by Sam," the one in the middle said. "This is Lacy." Sam points to the one who got smacked. "And this is Tiffany." Sam points to the one on the right. They all smile at me.
"Well, nice to meet you all," I say. I wait for them to leave so that I can change, but they stay put. I clear my throat.
"Um, you can go now. I'll just change and then go on the tour," I tell them. They look sad, but leave me alone without further questions. I grab my suitcase, which is by the closet, and grab my white t-shirt and worn out jeans from inside. I put on some plain, white tennis shoes and tie my hair in a ponytail. I nod to myself in the reflection and exit my room. I walk down the hall, looking around me as I do so. There are family portraits of the royals and decorative tables with vases on top. I come to a stop in front of one portrait, looking at the royal family in slight interest.
The king stands tall and proud while the Queen sits in a chair by him, her hands politely folded in her laps and the air of grace present around her even in a painting. The princess has an annoyed look in her eyes and I laugh softly at the sight. I'm guessing she must've had to stand up for a long time for them to paint this picture. She has her hair inherited from her mother, with neat red hair. Her eyes, a light red-gold color, are from her father. I finally look to the right of the king, seeing him.
Prince Ahren. He and his father have the same dark hair, the same muscled build, the same outfit, a legion's outfit with medals decorating it. I doubt he earned any of those medals. I'm just lucky that the war between the Lakelands and Norta ended a couple of years ago when I was 12. His eyes, stormy grey, are from his mother, which is the only similarity between him and his mother.
After staring at him in the portrait, I finally push myself to leave the hall and the portrait. Soon, I find the grand staircase and see the group of girls gathered below. As I start walking down the stairs, I notice with nerves that everyone was staring at me as I walked towards them. Why did they have to do that? I reach the bottom of the stairs and they finally turn away, talking amongst themselves. I see Rose push her way through the crowd towards me.
"There you are! Nice outfit. I wish I went the same way as you and wore some jeans and a t-shirt," she tells me. I look around and realize everyone was wearing some sort of dress. Even Rose was dressed in a grey dress that hung off of her shoulders and ended at her knees.
I just shrug as a woman walks towards us, wearing a grey sweater and a blue dress pant. House Macanthos, stoneskin. She had graying brown hair and brown eyes. She clapped her hands to bring our attention to her and the group quieted down.
"Good evening, girls. I am Carrie Macanthos, your tour guide. We will go through a very quick tour of the West side of the palace. By that time, His Highness should be ready to meet you all. Now, follow me." We all followed her around the palace, where she showed us the dining hall (which was huge), the Women's Room, the Men's Parlor, and other rooms. We all came to the sports area. We were shown the gym, the training area, where figures were training with their abilities, and finally the swimming pool. It was a glistening pool full of crystal clear water. Probably made by nymphs. Then, I saw the strangest thing.
Emily had a devious look in her eyes as she whispered to Fiona Samos and Alexis. They both smirked and glanced at me before looking away quickly, covering their mouths as they laughed. I frown, but choose to ignore it. That is, until someone pushes me into the pool.
I crash in with a splash. I knew this end of the pool was at least 6 feet deep. I swam upwards but then was pushed deeper by whirlpools in a swimming pool. My mind screamed, nymph, as it raced back to when I saw Emily, Fiona, and Alexis talking to each other. They were planning on throwing me into the pool. But drowning me? I couldn't believe they could be this cold-blooded.
I coughed wildly as I ran out of breath and inhaled water. I started panicking and knew this was probably the end of me. Then, I felt a splash by me, and strong arms grabbed me by the waist and pulled me up to the surface.
I gasped for breath as we broke the surface. After collecting my breath, I realized my hands were touching well-defined abs. I looked up and saw myself inches away from a familiar face etched with worry and amusement.
Namely, Prince Ahren.
I cursed in my head as I pushed myself away from him. It didn't really help since he had a strong grip on my waist. Oh gosh, he was holding my waist. I gulped as I tried harder to swim away from him. He finally let me go. I swam away from him and lifted myself from the pool. The girls were giggling into their hands, while Emily, Fiona, and Alexis looked triumphant. I stare daggers at them until I feel a hand touch my arm. It was him again.
When I looked behind me, he was smiling and his grey eyes were shining.
"Are you okay?" He asks me. I feel heat rush to my cheeks as I come to realize what had just happened and become overcome with embarrassment.
"Yeah I'm okay," I tell him. A corner of his lips quirk up as he gives me a smirk.
"You shouldn't go in the pool if you can't swim," he tells me. I scoff and roll my eyes.
"I'm 17, not 7. I know how to swim. Thanks for taking care of me, mom," I joke. Ahren looks a bit confused but then gets the joke and starts laughing. It is a hearty laugh full of warmth. I feel my blush deepen for some reason.
I walk a few steps away from Ahren, and go stand next to Rose. She looks worried.
"Are you okay, Madison? Oh, your shirt is soaked through," she tells me, grabbing my shirt to try to dry it. I look down and realize with horror that my white shirt is soaked through, showing my beige bra. Greeaaat, the Prince of Norta saw my bra. I did not need that to happen. I groan loudly, and allow Rose to shake my shirt. I turn back towards Ahren to see him still looking at me. I roll my eyes and stick my tongue out at him, which makes an amused smile break across his face.
"Okay. Well, that was an exciting moment," Ahren says, which makes the girls around me giggle. "So, if you do not know, I am Prince Ahren of House Calore and House Haven. It is nice to finally meet you all." He looks at me as he says this, which makes me look away from his stare. I can still feel his stare as he says:
"I can't wait to know you better."
♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~
Thanks for reading this chapter! ❤️ So, we finally met Ahren. What do you think of him? Tell me in the comments!
Glass_Sword