Valley Of Glamorgan (10 page)

Maggie insisted, “I know that she will love
it.” Then she disappeared into the kitchen to prepare dinner for
them all.

I woke up screaming as I tried to flee from
the images that flashed through my head. It felt as I would never
escape that night; I would never feel normal again. A sense of
panic raced through my body and I felt utterly helpless as the
tears streamed down my tired face. It had been another horrible
dream about Jack and Stephanie; how they had broken into the castle
as I slept, and had killed everyone. They were laughing at me with
blood stained faces, telling me that they would finally kill me
too. Shivering, I tried to shake away the eerie feelings the dream
had brought me.

Reminding myself that it was all over and
that I was safe I grabbed some towels from the closet and quickly
made my way into the remarkable bathroom. I still couldn’t get over
the lavender painted walls or the beautiful marble floors. Looking
down at my watch I realized that I had slept for almost three hours
and that Maggie was due to come and wake me up, meaning I would
have to hold off on the giant bath tub until later. However, I made
a mental note to ask about the TV window.

Setting the water for warm I quickly stepped
into the shower, enjoying the feeling of the hot water beating on
my back; somehow it helped to erase the gruesome memories of the
dream I had experienced moments before. If I was honest I was
nervous about the party, and wished I could have declined the
invitation. Right now all I wanted to do was to crawl back into the
comfortable bed and sleep for the rest of the night. But, I knew it
wasn’t a choice I had, how would it look if the princess ditched
her own party?

Sighing to myself I wished I could be a
regular teenager and just stay underneath the radar. Now I felt
like a radiating bomb; everyone would be watching me. They would
scrutinize every move I made; maybe they would treat me weirdly?
Somehow I knew they would be careful not to offend or scare me; all
because of my crazy, pretend parents. I thought about how weird it
would be if the roles had been reversed. I mean, how do you treat
someone who has been kidnapped by evil, giant demons? The thoughts
were still settling down, and I honestly didn’t know if I would
ever get used to any of it. Reluctantly I left the shower. As I did
I heard someone knocking at the bathroom door.

“Hello, Mina its Maggie. I’m just laying a
few dresses on your bed for you to choose from. They’re for the
party. Oh, don’t worry about wearing something fancy for dinner, it
will be very casual,” called her sister.

I laughed, never thinking that I would have
a dress code for eating dinner. Grabbing the robe from the back of
the bathroom door I put it on, wrapping it tightly around me to
make sure that nothing was showing. I opened the door, and just
before Maggie excused herself from my room, I asked her if she
would mind staying. She laughed nervously, but agreed to stay,
finding a place to sit on the corner of the bed but being careful
not to mess the blankets up any more than I already had.

What Maggie didn’t realize was that I wasn’t
used to people being so careful around me. Back home Katie would
have just walked into my room and kicked her shoes off before
bouncing directly on to the center of my bed, saying something
like, ‘What’s the plan for tonight?’ Maggie was the exact opposite;
she was quiet and self-reserved. It would take me some time to get
used to that. Just give it time I kept reminding myself; give it
time.

Making my way to the closet I closed the
large door behind me as I first selected some under-garments.
Putting on a nice silk blouse with ruffled pieces at the front I
matched it with a nice pair of jeans that were dark blue to a faded
light blue at the knee. Choosing the right shoes was not an easy
task but eventually I chose a pair of black flats with bows on the
toes. ‘They go nicely with the blouse,’ I thought as I walked out
of the closet and headed back into the bathroom asking Maggie to
follow me. Once we were in the bathroom, I stood in front of the
oversized, lit mirror. As I looked at my reflection I realized the
lack of a goodnights sleep had caused bags to form under my
eyes.

“You look lovely,” said Maggie, taking me by
surprise. She had been so quiet I had forgotten she was there.

“Thank you,” I managed to say, even though I
knew she was just being nice. “But I have no idea what I am going
to do with my hair,” I said, sounding clearly frustrated with
it.

Maggie laughed and stepping towards me,
said, “Why don’t you pull it up away from your face for now? That
way it will have a chance to dry.” She was right it did need time
to dry.

“Tell you what, I’ll do your hair for the
party… mmmm, that’s if you would like me to,” she said
questioningly? Searching for the hair things in the various drawers
I finally found what I needed before doing my best to get my wet,
unruly curls up into a ponytail.

“You are very beautiful,” Maggie said, “You
resemble mom and dad so much.”

Laughing lightly I looked at her, “Have you
not looked in the mirror recently? You are gorgeous. You look just
like Eleanor; and, you have Liam’s eyes.”

Maggie blushed, saying, “Thank you,” before
announcing, “We’d better get downstairs.” Nodding my head I
followed her out of the room and we made our way downstairs to the
large dining room.

Entering the dining room I thought the large
oak table looked big enough to accommodate the whole village.
Looking upwards I caught sight of a beautiful chandelier hanging
just above table. Maggie made her way to the end of the table where
Eleanor, Liam and Knoll were sitting and she took, not to anyone’s
surprise, a seat next to Knoll. I chose to sit between Liam and
Eleanor; feeling their delight at my choice of seating. Both told
me how lovely I looked and asked me how I liked my room or if I
needed anything. After I had reassured them that they had supplied
me with more than enough, Knoll asked me how I had slept.

For some reason I felt my body grow rigid so
I tried to make my smile as convincing as possible. “Like a baby,”
I said with a pretend smile. Suddenly I remembered I had told him
that I would never lie to him; yet he had broken his vow to me so I
didn’t feel too bad. He looked at me as if he was trying to decide
if he believed me or not, so I quickly changed the subject by
asking, “What is for dinner?”

Eleanor smiled, replying, “We are having a
traditional Irish stew, which is potatoes, carrots and lamb, along
with Irish soda bread. We felt it was appropriate for your first
authentic family Irish meal and we wanted your first meal with us
to have great meaning and to welcome you home.”

“It sounds delicious,” I replied, excited to
be trying a new dish. It sounded so different to anything Jack and
Stephanie had cooked me as they had always insisted on our eating
healthy organic food. Stephanie had been a vegetarian, so I had
eaten little meat during my upbringing. I couldn’t help but find it
all so condescending. They were evil giant demons hidden within
human bodies. Yet somehow it was strange that they hadn’t eaten
meat? It was hard to know what were lies and what the truth was
anymore; for all I knew she and Jack could have been out eating the
hearts of the neighborhood children. My mind would have gone on in
this tangent if Liam hadn’t interrupted my spiraling thoughts.

Abruptly he asked, “Have you thought what
sort of animal you will choose Carmina?”

I thought for a few moments then answered
hesitantly, “Well….. No…. I haven’t really thought about it that
much to be honest.” I suddenly needed to get the focus away from
me, so even though I knew what his animal was I still asked, ”What
is your animal Liam?” hoping that Knoll wouldn’t say anything.

Not expecting it, I was surprised by his
reaction at my having called him Liam. He grew sort of frigid, but
quickly responded by saying, “I chose to be a black bear, as do
many of the guardians. I had once dreamt of being a guardian when I
was a child. Therefore, I wanted to be the same animal as them.” I
smiled and thought that it was sweet that he had shared such an
intimate dream of his with me.

“A king wanting to be a guardian, mmmm that
is interesting,” I said and smiled at him.

Liam chuckled and with a polite smile back
he said “Yes it would be, if I had been born to be a king but I was
just a normal villager Mina. Then, when I was a teenager I met your
mother, who was next in line to the throne, and so here I am
today.” In some respects I felt bad for not knowing that; after all
they were my parents and I suppose I should have known their story.
I should have at least asked Knoll more about them.

Suddenly Eleanor chimed in, “I chose to be a
snow leopard. They are such beautiful creatures, and rare in these
parts. I decided I wanted to be something unique. In fact, I am
actually the only Snow Leopard in the whole village.” She had said
it matter of factually, but with a brilliant smile and I could tell
that she felt proud at being so unique.

As I looked at Maggie, she shook her head
and before I could ask, she laughed saying, “My animal is a little
bizarre, at least compared to everyone else’s. I didn’t choose a
feral beast. I wanted something peaceful and kind; as those are the
qualities a healer must possess.” I waited in curiosity to find out
what she had chosen. “My animal is a grey and white horse,” she
said, pride sounding in every word.

Liam smiled and said, “Most find it a
strange choice, but for any of those that truly know our Maggie,
then they know that it is the perfect fit. You see from the age of
three up to now she has always spent every Sunday in the stables
with the horses. They were her true love; that is until Knoll came
along,” he finished jokingly. For a moment I couldn’t help but
wonder what it would have felt like to watch Liam tell people
stories about me if I had grown up here. Maybe I would have had a
story like Maggie. Suddenly I longed to make some memories
here.

Dinner was finally served, which I was
thankful for as it would finally silence my grumbling stomach. By
the time dinner was over I had eaten three bowls of stew, and two
large slices of soda bread. My stomach felt as if it was about to
burst, and I think I had surprised everyone by how much I had
eaten, even though they were probably too polite to say anything.
By the end of the meal I had decided that maybe soda bread was my
favorite food so I hoped there would be some served at the party;
even though my full stomach grumbled in protest at the thought.

Remembering the party I asked, “I was
wondering who was going to be at the party?

Eleanor was the first to answer, “Well,
everyone in the village most likely.” I laughed nervously, hoping
that she was joking but, by the look on her amused face, I knew she
wasn’t. ‘Oh my God,’ I thought to myself, ‘this was going to be
very nerve racking.’

“Speaking of the party,” Maggie said as she
stood up, “I know this might sound weird, but it is tradition for
your guardian to take you to the party. He is somewhat like your
date and will present you to the people. He also has to make a
speech about how he will vow his life to protect you.” I hadn’t
known Maggie very long, but there was definitely a change in her
demeanor when she said that Knoll had to vow himself to me.

However, I didn’t say anything but let her
continue. “Most of the time this is done when a princess is a
child, but due to the circumstances we are doing it now,” she said,
trying to avoid bringing the circumstances up. I nodded in
understanding, even though I was freaking out inside. What I
thought was just a welcome home party was actually going to be a
very important affair; one that held great importance to my life
here. If I was nervous before, now I thought I might experience a
nervous breakdown.

Rising from the table I asked to be excused
so I could prepare for the party. Having made my way to my room I
sunk onto the bed as soon as I had closed the door; I felt so
overwhelmed. Everything was happening too fast. I knew that my
family was just so happy to see me, and that they were looking
forward to the party but I wished they had given me more time to
take things in. In fact, just give me enough time to get some sleep
but I knew I couldn’t have asked that of them.

Getting up off the bed I remembered the
dresses that Maggie had mentioned. Moving to the other side of the
bed I found three beautiful dresses lay out on the dresser, waiting
for me. The first was a cocktail dress that would end just above my
knee. It was red and low cut at the front with a black bow tied to
the side. The second dress was similar to the first, but it was
pink with a black ribbon tied around the back. But the third dress
just took my breath away. It was an exquisite green apple color;
there were two wide straps that sat just on the shoulders. It also
had a low neck line cut into a V-shape whilst the waist had
beautiful diamonds spread across it, as well as in a crisscross
pattern across the midriff part of the dress, before cascading down
in a fan style to just above the feet. It was by far the prettiest
dress I had ever seen and I knew it had to be the one for me as
soon as I saw it. I did wonder if it might be too much but, then
again, it wasn’t every day that a princess who had been kidnapped,
returned home.

Having just finished dressing I heard a
light knock at the door. Calling enter, Maggie opened the door then
stopped and stared at me. “You look amazing,” she said in a loud
squeal, “I am so glad you picked that one. It was my favorite too!”
Leading me into the bathroom she instructed me to sit down so she
could do my hair.

As she worked on my hair, I noticed the
dress she was wearing. It was very pretty, and made her look quite
classy being an all-white strapless gown, with a thick, bright red
belt tied around her thin waist. With it she wore a pair of red
strappy heels and her hair was tied back in a messy bun.