Chapter 9
My feet touch down gently as if I had glided from the air to land on this exact spot. I look down to see a grassy meadow outstretched around me. It’s filled with purple and yellow flowers that look like detached dots in the distance. It smells like jasmine and lilacs and I inhale deeply. It smells fresh and exuberant and full of life.
I sprawl out on the grassy meadow floor. I smile as I look up at the bright blue, cloudless sky of Newhollow. I’m finally home.
“Oh, how I love it here.” I screech delightedly. “Everything smells so wonderful. I feel like I’m on top of the world.”
I get up and spin around in circles. My loose-fitting dress flowing freely in circles with me—I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy in my entire life. Everything makes sense.
I now know who I am. I know what my purpose is and it’s important.
Theo gazes out in the distance sitting next to me.
“I wonder where your parents are.” He speculates. “They must have landed somewhere closer to the palace.”
I continue spinning around in circles until a hand jerks me to a standstill.
“Ow! Let go, you’re hurting me Theo.” I protest.
“What is your name intruder?” A gruff, unfamiliar voice interrogates.
“Intruder?” I ask astonished, whirling around to see who would take away my brief moment of happiness.
“Her name is Alison Callahan. She is part of the Royal family, and I suggest you unhand her at once.” Theo bemuses. “That is, unless of course you want to be executed for treason for the interrogation of the lost Princess of Newhollow.”
“My apologies dear Princess, I did not realize that it was you. Could you ever forgive a bumbling fool?” He asks, bowing with downcast eyes.
I look at him gently. He looks strong and hearty. His hair is a wild, dark entangled mass atop his head with silver highlights, only slightly revealing his age. His eyes, full of seriousness, are as green as the meadow grass surrounding us and his chin is full of slight, dark stubbles. His bangs sweep across one of his eyes and his crooked nose make him intriguing. His cheeks are red from shame, but they give him a humbling look. He bends down and takes my hand, planting a slobbery kiss on top.
I want to be disgusted or outraged, but I smile at him.
“Welcome to Newhollow, Princess Alison. I hope you will forgive me for my mistake and that I have not offended you or made you feel unwelcome.” He says, turning away quickly, his dark green robes trail behind him as they blow in the wind.
“Simon.” Theo bellows out. Simon turns around to look at him. “I hope you do not make such a grave mistake twice.”
Theo takes my hand in his.
“I truly am sorry for him.”
“I know. He was just doing his job.” I answer.
“Yes, but he should have known better. He has secretly always disliked me… I think he may have thought you were my Soulfire.” Theo replies.
“Soulfire?” I ask bewildered.
“I guess the humans use the word soul mate. The belief that there is someone out there for each of us is absolutely true here. You’re born with only a half soul, but someone shares the other half. You’ll find them eventually, and when you do you’ll know.” He says winking at me cryptically.
“So have you found your Soulfire yet?” I ask.
“Not exactly…” He says trailing off.
“Oh.” I answer, secretly thankful that he hasn’t because I wouldn’t want anyone to see his smile the way that I do. I shyly grab his hand, and he takes it caressing my palm. I look over at him and he’s smirking and starry-eyed. We stare straight ahead, sitting like that for a while, enjoying each other’s company.
“It’s getting dark.” Theo says, snapping me out of a fantasy world.
“Right, we should probably go.” I stand up and stretch my arms cat-like above my head.
“I’m nervous.”
“You’ll be great, Ali. Just don’t forget to smile.” He embraces me tightly and I feel like I can take on anything with him by my side. I stare at him. He was beautiful before but there’s something different about him now—something even more enticing. I think about his arms enclosing me and rolling around in the grassy meadow with his lips embracing mine.
Is he a good kisser?
“The answer is yes.” He answers.
“What?” I ask him, realizing I had been pulled from a wonderful daydream.
“I am a good kisser.”
I look down at the ground, mortified.
“I forgot that you can hear me in here sometimes.” I say pointing to my head.
“Yeah, I wish I couldn’t though. It would be nice to just guess what you’re thinking.”
“Can you turn it off ever?” I ask.
“I can only hear questions that you ask yourself. Not everything. I know you’re kind of new to the telecommunication thing so maybe try to think of a different way to think about questions.” He says.
“Sorry. I was a little distracted by other things.” I say.
“It’s understandable.” He says laughing. I stare at him, questioning if he gets it. The feeling that I have when he’s standing so close to me—I wish he did. I sigh.
“So where to next?” I ask.
“The palace.” He responds. “It’s just up ahead.”
He points to something in the distance, but I can’t see anything. All I see is an outstretched meadow of flowers and grass.
“Where? I don’t see anything?” I inquire.
“Ah.” He says snapping his fingers. “I keep forgetting you’ve lived in the human world for so long. You’re still prone to shut out many things that we enchant.”
He takes my face in his hands and kisses me gently. His lips are smooth and his arms are strong as he embraces me tightly. I cry out and my eyes widen in surprise.
“What was that for?” I ask astonished.
“Look now.” He says, as my head begins to feel less light and airy and my senses come back to me. I look to where he points.
Now I can see it up ahead in the distance. Tall, stone buildings tower above us and wooden shops line the streets. The meadow is nowhere in sight. Instead we’re standing on a busy street made of a shimmery red brick and cobblestone, bustling loudly with life and sounds. The buildings come in all shapes and sizes, some of them towering high above us with outstretched wooden balconies and enchanting gardens. One shop appears smaller than the others, standing just at my exact height with a tiny olive green door that reaches my abdomen. I watch as dwarf-like people stumble out laughing loudly as they hold their stomachs.
Each store is unique from the others in some way.
The bakery shop to my left—I only know this by the sweet smells that protrude from the open doorway—is made out of a dark-mahogany wood with a sunshine-yellow door.
The hardware store on my right is made of a dark-gray stone with a forest green wooden door. The shield and ax emblem give it a menacing look, but the characters that stroll out of it our far more frightening wielding worn battle axes and aged battle regalia.
Each store has a different material, a different door and a different purpose.
The sounds cease for a moment and every eye turns in our direction. An uproar in the crowd, and they begin to murmur and question one another:
“Is it the Princess?”
“Is it really her?”
“Has she come back?”
I hide my face in Theo’s shirt, but the crowd begins to cheer and clap loudly and I look up. The people are bowing before me. Do I say something?
“Everyone, our Princess has come back to Newhollow as has been prophesized. Please welcome her and accept her into your hearts as the future ruler of our fair Kingdom.” Theo bellows out using a commanding, hypnotizing voice I have not heard him use yet.
They crowd around us, chanting my name loudly until the sound of horse hooves come from somewhere in the distance. The crowd breaks and begins to scatter
on to their daily lives. A pearly white carriage arrives with golden swirl embellishments as door handles and deep plum purple wheels. The gold trim of the wheel nearest to us reflect the faces of the people. The driver peers from behind the carriage and tips his feathered hat at us.
“Afternoon, Princess. Theo.” He says hastily.
The cart is pulled by two enormous white Arabian horses and the chains that the driver holds are made of shimmering gold. The carriage sparkles and glimmers splendidly in the fading sunlight. The children race around the to get a better look.
The driver jumps down from his seat. A plump man with a well-trimmed and overly styled mustache, his bright red hair contradicts the elegant hat in an almost humorous fashion. He scratches his beard inquisitively. He appears much shorter when he isn’t sitting in the extravagant carriage.
“I haven’t seen you since you were about yay high.” The driver says with his hand coming to the top of his head, he laughs loudly from the bottom of his belly. I giggle with him. He outstretches his hand and I give him mine as he plants a kiss atop it.
“I am Raleigh Hopper—the official driver of the Royal family.” He removes his feathered hat for a flitting moment; his white suit fits loosely around his belly. He places his hat back on top of his twisted red curls. He opens the carriage door with a swift movement of his hand and holds it out to me to beckon me inside. His face is serious. I think that he looks quite like a ringmaster, but I try not to laugh out loud. He is the ringmaster to my new life that is so similar to a circus show.
I take his hand and step up into the carriage. Theo steps in, as if he has done this a million times and it’s the dullest thing he will do all day.
The crowd bursts into a loud cheer as he closes the door behind him.
The horses begin to weave and zigzag through the crowd. Theo and I bounce back and forth helplessly in the backseat. We sit on seats of the softest white velvet my hands have ever touched. The walls are decorated with gold-flecked wallpaper that has deep shades of purple twirling and spiraling throughout it. The windows are covered by thick, lush purple curtains. I take a deep breath.
“Are you okay, Princess?” Theo asks hesitantly, taking my hand.
“Not exactly...”
“What can I do?” He enquires.
“I want to go home. Everything here is so strange.”
“B-but this is your new home.” He replies.
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
We sit the remainder of the ride in silence. My hands tingle and I feel light-headed and weak. I hope I don’t faint again.
I don’t want to be the Princess. I just want to go back to my normal, predictable life in the human world. Sure, it wasn’t great. But I knew how to survive there. I could use my good looks and my skills to persist. Here, I don’t have a lot of options—I think back to the terrifying monstrosity that almost killed me. He almost suffocated me to death with his magnificence and then his darkness. I could never take that on alone. I’m going to need allies. I look up at Theo.
And these people might be my only hope of survival in this place.