Two days later, father and his daughters went to the palace to meet with Queen Roselyn and Prince Callum for lunch. They were sitting down by the large table in the dining hall enjoying a wide variety of foods laid out on the table, as the guards stood spread out against the walls and at the door.
“Thank you for having us your majesty,” father said.
“Oh please the pleasure is all mine,” Queen Roselyn said. “And I must say you all look so wonderful,” she then said.
“Yes you do,” Prince Callum said, with his eyes glued on Loque Bella. He knew of her beauty but with her hair bundled up opening her face and her navy blue dress complimenting how her skin shined underneath the light of the chandeliers, he was completely taken.
“Thank you,” the girls said slightly bowing their heads. Loque Bella looked at Prince Callum and finding him looking at her, butterflies flooded her tummy and she looked down smiling to herself. He too smiled to himself and they carried on eating.
“So, am I right to think that you and your girls come bearing good news?” Queen Roselyn asked.
“Oh yes your majesty. We have thought on your offer and I am pleased to tell you that we would be honoured to accept your marriage proposal,” father said. “We accept for his highness Prince Callum to marry our dearest Loque Bella.”
“Oh wonderful, Mr. Braun that is such wonderful news.”
“It most certainly is; his highness is such a good man, any woman would be lucky to have him as a husband.”
“And your Loque is such a darling of a young woman, any man would be lucky to have her as a wife,” she said and they all smiled to each other; Loque Bella to Prince Callum and him right back at her. “Oh such joy, such wonderful joy. Oh this most definitely calls for a toast,” she then said and stood up raising her glass of wine and the rest stood up too, raising their glasses as well. “To the future rulers of Hampshen King Callum and his wife Queen Loque Bella.”
“Here here,” they all said and drank from their glasses; with each one quite composed but inside bursting with joy they could not even put into words. A nobody finding herself set to marry a somebody, this had to be true love and as the two of them stood there looking at each other they felt it too; a strong power pulling their souls into each other like opposite sides of a magnet, much more than it did the first time they met when their spirits blended so well it was like they were not strangers at all. There was something that happened between them that day and they felt it too but they didn't want to play into it too much because they figured it wouldn't amount to anything. He obviously was not going to end up with her because he was a prince and princes only end up marrying princesses or people from royal families and she obviously was not going to end up with him because she was a nobody and he was a prince, there was no chance in a million years that she was ever going to end up with him. All they had was that moment, not sure if it was ever going to come again and so they made sure to make the most out of it. They spent all day talking and laughing and bearing all of themselves out and when it was an hour away from the sun setting, Prince Callum walked her through the forest to the back fence of their farm house and bid her farewell; grabbing her hand and not only planting one sweet kiss on it but two, and each time his lips touched her skin, her soul shone brighter as looking into his eyes and his looking back into hers, her heart fell prisoner to his. He then walked off back into the forest returning to his home and just like that he was gone. She had no idea whether she would see him again or get to spend such time with him but she knew she would treasure what they just shared for the rest of her life. She thought that would be it but there he was sitting right in front of her; she met him again and to meet him in the manner that she did meant that what existed between them really was special. They had freely gone their separate ways but there was somethign powerful between them and it had brought them back together.
An hour later, Prince Callum and Loque Bella went for a walk through the palace garden. The grass was green and the flowers were in full bloom and they walked down the concrete path nice and slow like they were taking a sweet stroll on the beach.
"Thank you for having the dinner move to a lunch, that was so very thoughful of you," Loque Bella said.
"You're welcome," Prince Callum said and they shared a warm smile. "You look absolutely beautiful."
"Thank you. You look wonderful as well."
"Thank you. Beautiful day isn't it?"
"It is beautiful," she said.
"It's good to see you again Loque Bella. I was hopeful that I was going to but I didn't think I could."
"I didn't think I could either. Oh gosh I can't believe this is actually happening. I keep pinching myself to wake up thinking this is all just a dream."
"Goodness I hope not," Prince Callum said and they chuckled. "I kind of like how things are going so far."
"Me too."
"Speaking of that Loque Bella, if you're feeling pressured to do this please just tell me and I'll . . ."
"No your highness no one is pressuring me into doing anything. I want to do this . . . I want to marry you," Loque Bella said.
"I want to marry you too. And I know we don't know each other but I promise you that I will be the best I can be for you. That I will take care of you, be committed to you, support you and protect you and do everything in my power to show you that being a part of this means everything to me."
"Are those your vows your highness?"
"Yes they are actually. I wanted to test them out and see how they sound," he said and they chuckled. "Are they good?"
"They're actually quite good."
"Thank you," he said and they chuckled on.
"It so lovely out here. The flowers are absolutely beautiful."
"They really are. Mother is always yelling at me about it, she says I spend too much time out here."
"Do you?"
"Maybe," Prince Callum answered and they chuckled. "I like to come out here to just relax. Kind of like at the stream. If I'm not out here then I'm out there. I just love how quiet and peaceful it is out there."
"Me too."
"Maybe we could go there tomorrow. We could even pack a basket of treats and have a picnic by the water."
"That would be lovely," Loque Bella said and they smiled to each other walking on.
The following day and as planned Loque Bella and Prince Callum went to the stream to have a picnic; sitting on a blanket and enjoying delicious treats whilst enjoying the lovely day. They spent hours out there and in those hours they talked and got to know more about each other, deepening the bond that came to life the first day they met. They talked about how different they grew up and discovered that even though they lived two totally different lives they had so much in common. They talked about their lost parents; Loque Bella's mother and Prince Callum's father and shared wonderful memories about them. Prince Callum shared all the beautiful places he had travelled to and promised to take her to see each one and even took the opportunity to give her a gift he specifically had made for her; a small white box nicely wrapped with a pink ribbon. "What is this?" Loque Bella asked. "Open it," Prince Callum said and she removed the ribbon and pulled the li
Minutes later Loque Bella and her sister bridesmaids were ready to leave for the church. Covered with the veil falling over her face, she was helped into her white and flower decorated wedding carriage by her sisters and together they rode down the road to the church; with the village people, men, women and even children, standing in the sides of the road waving to the carriage and throwing petals into the air and Loque Bella inside the closed carriage waving back at them. A moment later they arrived at the church and Loque Bella's sisters helped her out of the carriage and up the steps of the church where father was standing nicely put together in a brown suit waiting for her. He saw her and his eyes immediately began to water. "My love," father said. "Hello father," Loque Bella said and they shared a warm hug. "Oh my goodness, it's like looking at an angel. My love, you look so beautiful." "Thank you father." "You are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen," he said looking
The fayagan breathed out a black flames to the people and seeing the flames coming straight for them they ducked and the flames passed above them. It breathed on and the heat of the flames caused them to scream even louder as the walls, the ceiling and the double door caught fire and the windows burst; scattering the broken pieces into the streets and immediately startling the people that were waiting outside to see the married couple. Inside, the people had their heads down as just then the fayagan stopped breathing fire and looked down at Loque Bella; also on the floor and with her head low. It then gave out another spine chilling squeal and grabbed Loque Bella. It held her firm in its huge clawed hand that almost completely covered her and then leaped off the floor and flew out, flapping its massive wings and creating winds that raised the dust and debris of the broken wall off the floor and into the air, blinding their sight as the fagayan flew off further into the distance. "Loqu
Back in Hampshen, Prince Callum, Queen Roselyn, Mr. Braun and his daughters were in the queen's throne room talking about what just happened. Queen Roselyn was sitting on her throne with Prince Callum standing next to her and Mr. Braun and his daughters were standing before them. The throne room had two thrones all the way at the end of the large room; a throne for him and a bigger one for her, portraits on the walls of the queen and prince as well as the many kings and queens that had ruled Hampshen in the previous years, decorative pillars holding up ornaments and a red carpet that ran from the double door all the way to the two thrones that were sitting on a slightly elevated platform. "What is going on Mr. Braun?" Prince Callum asked. "What just happened?" Mr. Braun looked to his daughters and them at him and then back at the prince with his heart the heaviest it had ever been; whatever it was that had him looking like that it wasn't good. "Loque Bella is very special," Mr. Br
"I must protect her from the night, what does that mean?" Mr. Braun asked. "Fayagans. The fayagans of Monteg. Ever since they sensed that I was carrying the moon essence inside of me they have been coming after me. They fly the night searching for me and have burnt down so many villages just to get me but I have been escaping. This time I escaped barely but I had to keep moving, for her. I had to survive for her. And when she comes to be you must protect her from them," Hralda said. "They must not get their hands on her." "What are fayagans?" Kima asked. "They are vicious large winged creatures that are after her power. They want her because of her power." "What is she?" Miro asked. "She's a moon essence. A healing spirit that gets its power from the full moon. And they want that power. They will do anything and kill anyone to get it, you must protect her from them. Please. If they get their hands on her they will kill her." "Do not wo
Back in Hampshen Prince Callum was in the dining hall getting his weapons ready for the journey ahead. He sharpened and shined his long sword, the arrow heads for his bow and knives.Mr. Braun walking down the hallway stopped in front of the double door that led into the dinning hall and walked in as the prince carried on."I know I should have said something to you but it was our family secret and in order to keep her safe we had to keep it. I'm so sorry your highness," Mr. Braun said."Mr. Braun please, there is no reason for you to apologize. You did what you needed to do to protect her and your family and I respect you for that," Prince Callum answered."But I didn't protect her. The fayagan came and took her, I failed.""You did not fail Mr. Braun. She is still alive and we will get her back. No one has failed at anything.""What if they have already . . . ," Mr. Braun said but was interrupted."Nothing. They have done nothing to
Without saying anything, Princess Rada walked out of the room pulling the key out of the key hole and locked it from the outside. She then secured the key in her dress pocket and for a good while just stood there with more of a wondered look on her face than she had before. Could she have gotten the wrong person? Not possible, she could sense the essence on her. It had to be her but afraid of the night, that didn't make any sense at all. She then walked off and went back down the stairs and made her way to the dining hall. Her mother, Queen Gwen who looked just like an older version of her but had short black hair, was sitting at one end of the large ten chaired table and Princess Rada joined her, sitting at the other end. The table was empty and only had two plates on it; one in front of Queen Gwen and the other in front of the chair at the other end, both with a large piece of steak on it and a side of mushrooms. On the side of the plate was a glass of wine and on the othe
After dinner, Queen Gwen and Princess Rada went up to the room in which Loque Bella was in and they found her just sitting on the bed."Hello moon essence," Queen Gwen said."Stop calling me that. I am not a moon essence," Loque Bella said. "What is this moon essence you keep refering to me as anyway?" she then asked."It is what you are.""What is it?""No need to get agitated, you will know soon enough," Queen Gwen said. "Quickly tie her up," she then said to Princess Rada who was standing behind her with a rope in her hand."Tie me up, no," Loque Bella said standing up."Just relax," Princess Rada said as she walked towards her."You want to tie me up and you want me to relax, no. I refuse you to do that.""Refuse us, darling you are in no position to refuse anything," Queen Gwen said. "You our captive, we saw what happens to you not you.""Calm down we're not going to hurt you," Princess Rada said."At