Valley Of Glamorgan (12 page)

After he had gone Declan laughed. “Wow, I
must admit I like the way you handled that. A princess with
attitude for sure,” he said.

“Um, thanks, I guess,” I said nervously but
joining in the laughter. “Well, I really enjoyed spending time with
you and I hope that we can do this again sometime soon,” I
continued, leaving the question hanging in the air.

Declan stood staring at me, a look of wonder
on his face. “You can see me whenever you want. However, my animal
ceremony is starting in a few weeks,” he said; reminding me of what
my father had told me earlier that day. For some reason I felt like
an idiot for not remembering.

“
Well, I have no idea what everyone
has planned for me tomorrow, but would it be okay if I got your
phone number? We could text and figure it out,” I asked innocently.
Smiling he pulled his phone from his pocket and read out the
number. Quickly I put it into my phone before walking arm-in-arm
with him back to the crowded room.

As we entered everyone looked at us with
wondering gazes, and I blushed; realizing that my arm was still
wrapped through his. He just smiled at me and leaning towards me he
joked, “I will let you get to the hounds. Talk to you soon,” he
called behind him as he made his way to one of the refreshment
tables at the back of the room.

Slowly I made my way to where my parents
stood waiting patiently for me. “I apologize for my disappearance;
I needed a breath of fresh air,” I stated simply; trying to be
polite. Everyone dismissed my apology by assuring me that it was
okay. That was but for one person.

It seemed that the lady called Thora didn’t
seem to understand or want to. She stood at the back of the large
circle of people peering through at me. “It looks like you needed
more than fresh air,” she said in a hateful tone. Surprised by the
animosity I didn’t know what to say, so thought it better to ignore
her, even though I longed to tell her to mind her own business.

As if reading my mind, Eleanor turned on the
woman saying, “I don’t recall anyone inviting you to join us. If
you don’t like what my daughter is doing I suggest you leave. Now!”
Eleanor had almost spat the words at Thora which caused everyone to
turn in anticipation of Thora’s response. She hissed, like the
snake she was and left the room.

“Now then,” said Eleanor with a smile across
her face, “Where were we? Ah yes,” motioning for an older woman
with snow-like white hair and dull hazel eyes to step forward.
“Mina, this is our healer. She is very dear to us and is willing to
train our dear Maggie.”

The lady approached me with a glimmer in her
eye. “What an honor it is to finally meet you Mina,” she said, a
wide smile stretched across the wrinkles of her face. “My name is
Willow. If you should ever need anything please do not hesitate to
ask; I am so pleased that you have returned home safely.” She then
embraced me in a small hug before excusing herself from the room.
Eleanor explained that Willow needed her rest and it seemed a big
deal that she had stayed this long; just long enough to be able to
meet me. My mother assured me that the lady was really fond of me
but still tired easily. I have to say I was surprised to hear that
about her for although she was an older woman, maybe in her late
forties she didn’t appear old enough to tire so easily.

The next person I was to meet was Taya; a
nice girl about my age, who had chestnut colored hair and eyes that
matched. She wasn’t a petite girl, but she had a grace about her
that made her seem much older and wiser. Somehow I could tell that
she and I would become good friends.

Then I was introduced to her mother, Rose
and father, Kevin. I could tell they were her relations just by
looking at them as her mother had the same coloring of hair and
eyes; she was also a curvy woman, which in my opinion just added to
her beauty. Taya’s father had grey hair and green eyes; he was
handsome for his age and kind with his words of welcoming me home.
I thanked them warmly, happily accepting their invitation to have
dinner with them sometime soon. Unlike most of the invitations I
had politely accepted I found myself looking forward to the idea of
dining with them.

After meeting Taya and her family I was then
introduced to the Sullivan’s. They were, to my surprise, my
parents’ closest friends. The young daughter was about thirteen
years old and had long black hair and dark eyes. Her mother had
similar hair color, although hers was cut into a cute bob. They
introduced themselves as Emily and Tia. Shortly afterwards they
were joined by none other than Declan, who had a huge smile on his
face.

“I see that you have met my mother and
little sister,” he said, appearing proud to announce the fact that
these people belonged to his family. Looking more closely I could
see the resemblance. Declan had the same dark hair as his family,
although he must have gotten his eyes from his father, who for some
reason, I was afraid to mention as he hadn’t been introduced. I
made a mental note to ask my parents about him later.

Not long afterwards Liam broke up the
chatter by calling the night to a close; surprising me by inviting
the Sullivan’s to stay behind for coffee and dessert. Sadly they
politely declined, explaining that young Tia had school in the
morning. Declan also looked saddened by his mother’s refusal but
managed to give me a small hug goodbye, whispering, “Text me, I
will be up for quite some time as I work the night shift over at
the east wall.”

I wanted to ask him what exactly he did
there, but his mother pulled him away before I got the chance.
Watching him as he walked away my heart seemed to sink; it was
weird how empty I suddenly felt. Finally the evening ended and
everyone had left. ‘Soon my poor feet would be relieved of these
high heels,’ I thought happily.

Walking slowly between Liam and Eleanor, I
listened to their chatter about how wonderful the night had turned
out. It was then I realized for the first time that Knoll and
Maggie had been missing since I had left with Declan to go outside.
Smiling I sent a silent prayer up that they have a great night
together to be honest I still felt bad for taking Knoll away from
her, and for hating Maggie over what I thought I felt for him. Now
I knew that it was just a crush and that he had simply been the
only thing I knew after my life had suddenly turned to crap.
Standing in the hall Eleanor and Liam invited me to join them for a
coffee in the study but I just wanted some time to myself so I told
them that I was feeling tired and wanted to lie down. They looked
slightly disappointed, but with words of understanding they wished
me a goodnight and turned to leave as I ventured up the stairs.

Back in my room I was finally able to throw
my shoes off. The feel of my toes squishing in the ultra-soft
carpet felt like heaven. Making my way to the large closet, I
realized I was still in awe by the size of it and the magnitude of
its contents. From the drawer housing a large selection of pajamas
I chose a pair of yellow and white stripped cotton shorts with a
matching yellow tank top then made my way to the bathroom. I was
looking forward to using the giant tub. It was then I remembered
that I had forgotten to ask about the strange TV window so I made a
mental note to ask the next day.

Starting the water running I poured in some
of the lavender bubble bath that was sat on the side of the tub.
Patiently waiting for the water to fill up, I set my phone and
other belongings on the vanity mirror counter before taking the
beautiful dress off. It proved to be much easier said than done and
meant I had to practically rip my hair out whilst trying to pull it
up over my head. ‘I should have asked Eleanor to help me,’ I
thought to myself.

Finally climbing into the tub I felt the
soothing effect of the warm, lavender scented water which was more
than welcomed by my aching feet and tense body. Leaning my head
back against the head rest of the tub and closed my eyes enjoying
lying there; all the while breathing in the lavender and feeling
the peace of being by myself. Slowly my mind began reliving the
evening’s event and I remembered how welcoming everyone had been.
Then I started to feel a tug of guilt when I thought how rude it
must have seemed by my leaving and going outside. But I hoped they
had understood how overwhelming the whole evening had been for me.
No-one had seemed to judge me when I returned to the party; other
than Thora. She was a funny woman and I would have to ask Knoll
what he meant about avoiding her.

Thinking of Taya and her family I found
myself looking forward to having dinner them; they all seemed so
genuine. Besides it would be nice to have a friend to confide in
again; even though I knew that no-one would take Katelyn’s place.
Memories were harsh sometimes so I quickly changed my thoughts and
tried not to think about those that weren’t here.

Needing something to occupy my exhausted,
racing mind I searched through the large basket that sat on the
shelf above the tub. It seemed there was a large selection of
bottles of bubble bath, brand new razors and more lotions than I
had ever seen before; I was grateful for the contents. Then I came
across a strange remote which looked like a normal TV remote but I
couldn’t figure out why it would be in the bathroom. As I hit the
power button the TV window shut off; revealing a plain black
screen. It was the neatest piece of technology I had seen in a
while and I couldn’t help but wonder what else it could do. Turning
the power back on, I scanned through the channels, surprised to
discover that from my TV screen I could see the views of the whole
village; the images were spectacular. Even in the dead of night I
could see the rolling hills and the massive star covered sky.
Finally, I chose to leave it on a view of the creek that ran down
the valley, before lying back once more and relaxing. Once again my
mind began thinking about the evening’s events. Naturally, the one
person who came to mind was Declan, and I thought how he had saved
me from potentially having a meltdown. He was sweet, kind and
handsome and seemed somehow to get me, without my having to say a
word.

Being in the bath tub thinking about him
made me blush, but I couldn’t seem to help it. Strangely I realized
he was everything I had ever wanted in someone and yet, so much
more. ‘You sound crazy Mina,’ I tried telling myself, ‘how could he
be the ‘one’ when you have only known him for a few hours?’ I
decided that he might have just seemed so perfect because of all
that I had been through. Maybe I was looking for a distraction and
probably once I felt comfortable living here he wouldn’t seem so
amazing; although I felt the doubt in my stomach.

Suddenly the beep of my cell phone broke
into my thoughts, making me jump with surprise. Feeling silly I
laughed at myself and stood up in the bath. Grabbing a towel from
the rail I wrapped it tightly around me, climbed out of the tub and
made my way to the where my phone sat on the counter top. The
message light was flashing green, and as soon as I looked at the
screen the butterflies started again. It read, ‘I hope you had a
great time, I know I did. Can’t wait to see you again -
Declan.’

As I dried myself I let the water out of the
tub, then I pulled my hair into a bun and climbed into the pajamas.
Making my way to the big plush bed I tried to decide how to reply
to his message, settling on; ‘I had a great time too, looking
forward to seeing you soon.’ As soon as I had hit send I felt my
stomach clench in anticipation of receiving a text back. It was at
that point that I figured things would never go back to being
normal. It seemed Declan had made an impression on me and my heart,
and that was something that I thought I would never be able to
erase. Turning the bedroom light off, I decided that it was time to
get some sleep; once I had finished texting Declan. The only light
came from the bathroom but I was glad to see that he had texted me
back. ‘How soon would you like to see me? – Declan.’

Quickly I replied. ‘As soon as possible of
course.’ Pressing send I waited nervously for his reply. Almost
instantly I received, ‘Would you like to see me tonight?’

I held my breath. “Right now?” I questioned
out loud; almost as if he could hear me. ‘I am a mess,’ I thought.
After all my hair was pulled into a messy wet bun and not to
mention that I was in my pajamas. But; I did feel a longing to see
him. A longing greater than my fear of how ridiculous I looked and
so I opened my phone and texted, ‘How?’ hoping that it didn’t sound
like I didn’t want to see him.

He quickly replied, ‘I have a break in five
minutes; I can meet you outside in ten?’ A sudden rush of
excitement surged through me. Here I was, my first night in the
castle and I was already sneaking out to see a boy. Laughing at
myself I quickly texting back, ‘Okay meet you in ten.’ That was all
I sent.

Quickly I ran to the closet, searching for
something comfortable to put on, and choosing a simple pair of
jeans with a plain green t-shirt. I didn’t want to spend too much
time on my clothes so that I could try to work a miracle with the
wet mop on my head. Standing and looking at my reflection in front
of the mirror I decided to just wear my hair down. Bending over I
scrunched it in my hands; making it curly was the easiest thing I
could come up with at that moment as I was under a time
constraint.

Slipping on a pair of flip flops and then
grabbing a grey sweater I pulled it on as I quietly made my way
down the stairs stopping dead in my tracks as I practically ran
right into Maggie. “Oh dear Mina, you scared the crap out of me,”
she said laughing, trying to catch her breath. She had a long, blue
silk night gown on with a matching robe; her hair lying straight
down her back and, even in her night clothes, she still looked
flawless. I thought I definitely hadn’t received that trait.