In a flash! Ava felt someone pull her to a corner, her heart skipped a beat. She looked to see who it was and his familiar voice said to her.
"What the hell are you doing here?!"
Prince Neville looked at her head to toe. Her roughly packed brown hair, scarlet face and small lips. He wondered if she had any idea of what could have happened to her if she was caught. They both heard the footsteps of the strange man walking away.
"I…I…I was just curious, I meant no harm" Ava said timidly. Both of them were so close, they could hear each other's breaths. Neville who was dressed in a black leather hooded coat, face-palmed himself. His skin lightly brushed hers.
"This is none of your business. You're supposed to be asleep" he whispered
Ava sighed and crossed her arms. "What about you? Why are you here?"
"I was watching, it's my business not yours" he said, she watched his Adam's apple go up and down- he was nervous. "I'll take you back to your chambers"
Ava rolled her eyes as Neville watched to see if the coast was clear.
"Follow me" He whispered his strong hands holding hers.
They both walked briskly away from the dark hallway. Then stopped at another corner where Neville opened a door that she'd never have even imagined was there, it was perfectly camouflaged with the walls and so easy to miss. She wondered if there were other doors like this one here that she did not know about.
"Get in here" He whispered and she did, after which he entered as well. They walked, Neville leading and navigating the way through the dark labyrinth of passageways. Then she saw another opening which they passed through. They suddenly arrived at a dark end of the garden.
He paused there and turned to her. Heaving a sigh and staring with his dangerous grey orbs.
"Whatever you saw there shouldn't be said to anyone" He started "I hope you're not a blabbermouth because it'll do you good if you know how to keep secrets"
Ava raised a brow and nodded curtly. He had a bad habit of treating her as if she was dumb.
"What happened there? Who were all those people?" She asked staring into his eyes.
"I told you it's not your_"
"I deserve to know, I live here now. Why are you so hush-hush about it anyways?" Ava said deliberately being loud with all the sass she could muster.
"Shush!" he whispered and ruffled his shiny black hair.
"And what if I'm not quiet?" She said in a louder voice.
Neville put his hands tightly over her mouth. This girl wanted to put him into trouble, what was she trying to prove?
"If you don't shut up then you die" Neville spoke softly "Those people would kill you without thinking. I have magic you don't"
Ava removed his hand from over her mouth and then gulped hard. Death was something she didn't like to hear.
"So let's go now" He ordered and she reluctantly followed him.
They went out of the garden and watched the guard parade away before they ran into the building.
And slowly, they went upstairs and finally reached the passageway to her chambers.
"Here" He halted "Go"
She turned to him for a moment wanting desperately to ask so many questions but then turned away heading to the room.
"Wait" He stopped her still speaking carefully. Ava turned to listen. "Whatever you do, don't talk to me about this night ever. Just pretend it didn't happen"
Ava paused and thought for a while. "Okay" she said and turned to go.
"And" He said again "Don't step out of your room like this again if you still want to be alive"
She nodded intently, breathing in fearfully. And then she left for her chambers and slammed the doors shut.
Phew!
That was close! There was so much she didn't know about this place. But something baffled her, Prince Neville was sneaking too. He didn't really know about what those strange people were doing as well. And even if he knew, then he wasn't supposed to. Those people were also very dangerous. What in the world could scare a level-eight spellbinder so much?
Ava knew she had to find out. It was a big risk-she knew she could die and no one here would even care. But there was a purpose for her being in this place, Aaron said she had a huge burden to carry, she had to find out what it was. That would be her mission- finding what, why and how?
.........
Ding!
Ava's eyes flashed open, morning had come. So fast?!
"Lady Ava" She heard Rosslyn's voice "Its 5am. Prince Neville stopped me from waking you earlier. Heaven knows what you did to convince his majesty"
"Really" she thought aloud. "This was probably a way of bribing her so that she wouldn't tell anyone about the previous night. Or why else would arrogant Prince Neville care?"
"Alright, I'll get dressed. Thank you for yesterday's massage"
"You're welcome My Lady. I hope you're not too hungry"
"Oh no. I treated myself to some berries on the table much later"
"That's better. Next time you could just ring the bell. Someone would come to attend to you"
"Yes of course, next time I will" Ava replied, her attention diverting to a small golden bell on the nightstand.
Rosslyn left the room and Ava quickly stood up, she felt oddly energetic this morning. Suddenly wishing she had Sweet with her to play. She missed her only toy.
Searching the wardrobe, she found out that a new set of clothes had been put there. One's that were her size even if they were still extravagant. She stared at a blue cleavage-exposing corset feather dress with shoulder pads wondering if she should wear that just to annoy the prince. 'His royal Arrogance' was probably feeling abashed right now for being caught on his little spy mission. But she didn't wear the feather dress and chose something rather simple and smart, a yellow long sleeved cashmere dress. Ava also wore pink diamond earrings and left her own golden necklace on her neck-the one she was never ever going to remove-to complement the look.
She requested to be served breakfast in the chambers to avoid any disturbance. She wanted to eat the way she liked. She told them to make her omelet extra spicy-just the way she liked it-as she was full of energy today. God, she loved food!
Then, she headed to the training ground skipping playfully like a little child. The day was bright and sunny like her mood.
"I don't know how many times I have to remind you that I'm older" Ava heard a familiar female voice as she inched closer to the training ground.
"But I'm stronger. No one cares if you're older than me" Neville's voice rang out
And then a loud bashing sound was heard.