"Rose," A soft voice woke Rose up from another world known as Dreamland. "Rose, wake up."
Rose rubbed her eyes and slowly got up. She could feel her shoulders cramping up, her legs sore, and sharp pains went through her feet. She saw her mother sitting next to her.
"Welcome to the land of the living, Rosie," Melinda smiled. "How was your nap?"
"Painful," Rose groaned. Then she sat up, as the memories of the past few days caught up with her. "Where's Tara? Is she alright?"
"Tara is fine," said Melinda. "She's just as tired as you are. She was in panic when the two of you were separated."
"Is she sleeping?" Rose lowered her voice down to a whisper.
Melinda nodded. "I tried waking her up, but she wouldn't move. I wanted to know what you wanted for dinner."
"Pizza," Rose grinned. "With lots of olives."
Tamara struggled to get out of bed. Her neck and back hurt, and her arm had cramped up. As she climbed down the stairs, she noticed that the sun was out. "What?"
"I tried waking you up for dinner yesterday," Melinda said. "But you were so tired, you slept till today."
Tamara's mind wasn't on the fact that she missed dinner, but on Rose. "Is Rose okay?"
Melinda smiled. "She asked the exact same thing about you. But yes. Rose is taking a bath."
"On a different topic, Mum, I don't really feel comfortable taking an aeroplane to Spain," Tamara said.
"If I had experienced what you girls just did, I wouldn't be comfortable either," Melinda agreed. "But a train trip takes more time."
"Sixteen hours," Tara corrected. "But don't you think a train ride might be safer?"
"I don't know." Melinda frowned. "I think they are both equally dangerous. Ask Rose and Amy."
"So," Rose started when the trio met up at Amy's house. "Train or aeroplane?"
"Train," Tamara said immediately, while both Amy and Rose responded with "aeroplane".
"Majority rules, Tara," Amy's mother, Elaine, said.
"I know," she grumbled.
As soon as the girls arrived at the London International Airport, they got their bags and went inside, with the parents in close pursuit. Once they reached security, Melinda and Elaine exacted promises from each of the girls.
"Stay safe, Amy," Elaine said. "Please don't wander off or get lost."
"Me get lost?" Amy smirked. "Never."
"Rose, stay close to Tara. Tara, watch the girls and make sure they stay safe. Okay?" Melinda looked into their eyes as if hypnotising the girls.
"Alright, Mum," Tamara rolled her eyes. "As the responsible adult, I solemnly swear to keep the immature children safe."
"Who's immature?!" Amy said, with an indignant expression.
After boarding the plane, Tamara looked over their itinerary once again. "We are going to land in Madrid at about eleven o'clock. I think we should still do what we were going to do before."
"Which is," Amy prompted.
"Sightsee. Duh," Tamara said.
"Says the person who didn't want to sightsee two weeks ago," Rose muttered
After landing in Madrid, the girls dropped off their belongings in a cheap motel. The room was about the size of Rose's closet and the single bed that the girls would share was a twin.
"Please don't tell me we're staying here," Amy moaned.
"When you go to college, some of the dorms are worse than this, Amy," Tamara said knowingly.
"Well, until I hit college, I would like to live a life of luxury, thank you very much." Rose put her hands on her hips.
"You two are so spoiled." Her elder sister shook her head.
"That's why you love us," Amy grinned.
An hour later, the trio went on a sightseeing tour in Madrid. "So, where should we go first?" Amy said, as she packed a pack of cookies in her bag.
"I think Palacio Real de Madrid would be a good place to visit," Rose said.
"Why," Amy asked.
"It's a palace," Tamara informed.
"That's very enlightening, Tara." Amy rolled her eyes.
When the girls arrived at the palace, the very sight took their breath away. "It looks just like Buckingham Palace," Rose gasped.
"That's probably not a coincidence," Tamara said. "The different kingdoms of Europe, through all their warring and pillaging, probably took inspiration from each other."
The girls entered the palace and found themselves in a room with enormous chandeliers.
"Wow," Tamara marveled. "It's beautiful."
"Ironic isn't it?" A man's voice asked. The girls whirled around and found themselves face to face with a man with wavy brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a black trenchcoat and held his hat in his hands.
"What are you doing here, Mortis?" Rose narrowed her eyes.
"I'm not here to cause any trouble, my queen. I'm here to educate you about the history of this magnificent building.
"Save it, Morty," Amy snarled. "If I wanted a history lesson, I would have stayed in school."
Nuntius Mortis smiled. "You know, this castle has had quite an interesting history. The Moors were defeated, chased out of Spain around the same time this palace was built. Joanna la Beltraneja took her final stand here, before she was defeated by her aunt, the ruthless queen Isabella of Aragon. But this piece of history, you will not find in any textbook. King Francis's first wife, Queen Salvia was banished from Maagiline to this very spot."
"Why?" Rose had been so drawn into the story, she felt the urge to whisper.
"King Francis found her mixing mysterious liquids together, so he could only assume the worst." Nuntius nodded in a dramatic way.
"C-cut to the chase," Tamara stuttered. "W-what are you really h-here for?"
"What am I here for?" Nuntius Mortis smiled. "My child,I am here to deliver a warning. That nothing is ever as it appears. And my apprentice draws nearer, as you dawdle."
"Why are you warning us?" Amy scowled. "Your stupid monsters tried to kill us."
"Unlike my past servants, Lady Hawthorne, my apprentice is no monster. She is twice as intelligent and ten times as ruthless. I can only keep her at bay for so long, before she decides to come kill you."
As the voices of the next tour group could be heard, Nuntius Mortis stood up and put his hat on. "Well it has really been nice chatting with you fine ladies, but I must be off. Good day." And with that, he vanished.
"Master, why didn't you just kill the fools?" Vesterka threw her hands up. "They were right there!"
"Patience, Vesterka." Nuntius Mortis soothed his apprentice. "It wasn't the right time."
"But when will it be the right time?" Vesterka snarled.
"Once the girls have assembled all the chairs. The Whisperer's blood must land on one chair as must the Clearsight's," Nuntius said.
"But what about your daughter?"
"She must stay alive."
"Your love for her makes you weak," Vesterka scoffed.
"No Vesterka. It will be much easier for the children to assemble the chairs with my daughter's help."
"When will I be of use to this foolhardy plan?" Vesterka sounded anything but eager.
"When the children reach Portugal, I will send you."
Vesterka sighed. "Knowing what obstacles you have put for them, I will not leave this tower for a very long time."
Nuntius Mortis smiled. "Good."