Levi followed Zina like an obedient child waiting for his reward up the magical stairs that led to the dining.
He showed much excitement, checking out the palace's decor as he wowed in amusement, having a feeling his dreams were coming true.Different cuisines were placed before both of them, and Zina who was paying so much attention to Levi noticed he wasn't eating. She thought he didn't know what he wanted because of the way he stared at the table. After much observation, she noticed he was staring at the cutleries."Do you know how to use them?" Zina asked him sincerely in the calmest voice she had ever used. He seemed to have a worried expression on his face but when he noticed how sincere Zina was at that time, he answered her with the truth;"There are too many cutleries, why do we need so many? One cutlery can be used for all these meals, Zina, I don't see the need for so many cutleries."For the first time Zina smiled at his innocence; "Do you always have to be like this, you're always complaining. You said we should have… um… fun, yes fun! Now your face looks like a mashed potato."Don't worry about the cutleries, today is a day of fun and not formalities so you are free to eat how you like, just don't spill okay?" Zina spoke jokingly, she wanted him to be himself, not to care about the palace rules and most importantly to teach her what fun was.Levi grinned lightly, He had always longed to see this side of the princess ever since he got to be the palace gardener. He gazed into her eyes, speaking softly to her, not minding what she just said;"I finally got to see you smile, this is the best gift I have received today, Zina, thank you so much." He replied with so much happiness, looking at her dazzling face with so much love that could be felt from miles. His eyes softened and his care could not be hidden even from the one he was speaking to.Zina gave him another smile before gesturing for him to dig in. To Levi this was the best time of his life but to Zina this was a new experience.She doesn't normally havecommoners come into the palace for any reason because Ann always told her that those commoners could easily take advantage of people's kindness but she didn't see Levi portray any of that now.Zina for the first time saw the true meaning of friendship. She kept smiling like a little child who had gained access to a candy factory.After lunch, the two took a stroll to the palace garden but Zina didn't seem happy;"I wish I could go out of this palace, forget my worries and just have fun like you said, I just want to be like every other person except I'm not everyone, I'm royal."Her confession made Levi's emotions drop. He looked at her and then asked her if she wanted to go out of the palace right now. She smiled as her eyes widened in shock. She couldn't contain her joy so she jumped up. Levi was able to give her a twirl which caught her by surprise. When he carefully placed her down, she felt ashamed. She cleared her throat as she tried to adjust her gown and hide her face that was already looking like a tomato;"Please umm young man let me go change into something more comfortable, I'll be back soon." Zina excused herself quickly, trying to get away from Levi so the situation wouldn't get weird.Levi was merry, Zina had agreed to go out with him, his long awaited dreams had been set in motion and he couldn't wait for it to yield good results. His thoughts were interrupted by Zina's shy voice."I'm ready…" she said, calling out for Levi's attention. Her gown was simple and creative . It was a blue knee length flare gown having strapped hands and a slit in the middle which made the gown to be parted into two places. She wore it with a white long sleeve, a pair of black leggings underneath and a pair of blank ankle boots to match."You look amazing!" Levi exclaimed, not wanting to look away for even a moment,"Shall we?" Zina asked while smiling. She was trying not to be too curious but she really wanted to know where they were going,"Where are we going," Zina asked in a gentle tone,"Anywhere the wind takes us", Levi answered back with all sincerity. He wanted everything to be a surprise so he tried avoiding her questions.Levi took Zina out of the castle walls to his farm where the two already saddled horse were waiting for them to ride on;"Do you know how to ride horses?" Levi asked Zina to make sure she could so she wouldn't be involved in an accident."If you can't, you can always ride with me." He gave her a much easier suggestion so she wouldn't miss out on the ride."Yes I can, it's part of my royal training. But I still ask you, where do you plan on taking me?" She persisted to know where they were going. Her eyes were pleading with Levi so much so he couldn't resist her charms."Since you care to ask, we're going on a ride then we'll stop by the kingdom's waterfall. I want you to experience how lovely nature is and how your beauty can't be compared to it because you're more than what nature brings." Zina's face flush red, she placed her hands upwards trying to hide her face behind them,"Thank you young man, shall we ride the horses now?" Xena said this as she gently stroked the horses. She loved animals and couldn't wait to get on this one. Hearing her statement, Levi quickly gave her a hand to help her get on the horse. As soon as she was properly seated, Levi got onto his horse and they took off.At first, their pace was slow until Zina came up with an idea to race with Levi. Levi grinned as he took on the challenge, he looked at the princess with so much passion that he lost track of when she had said the words for the race to start. In an instant, Zina was in the lead. She held the horse tightly as the rushing wind blew her loose hair wildly, her eyes were closed because she feared for her life. She had never gone this fast while riding a horse before."Oh dear, I pray this ends soon…" Zina screamed in her head. Levi on the other hand was surprised, he wondered how someone who got trained in horse riding would get this scared of going so fast. Knowing she wasn't alright, he increased his pace to finally catch up with her. He glanced at her only once to notice her eyes were closed;"Zina!" Levi screamed, he looked at the way she held the horse and his heartbeat increase,"Zina please, I need you to trust me on this one. Do you?"She nodded, slowly opening her eyes to Levi who noticed they were already teary, he was right! She was absolutely scared. He stretched out his hand for her to take but she didn't. He had never seen anyone so scared. Right now, all he wanted to do was to protect and help her calm down, so he came up with a crazy idea. He stood on the moving horse as he studied the movement of Zina's horse. After some time, he leaped onto Zina's horse while signaling both horses to stop at the same time. When Zina noticed the horses were no longer moving, she hurried down as quickly as she could;"Thank you young man you are indeed…""Enough!" Levi screamed out in anger, giving no room for her royal appreciation."You could have gotten hurt, don't you think about anything, what were you trying to prove. Why didn't you tell me you weren't able to ride a horse!" "Don't talk to me that way! At least I was trying to have fun like you said, but each time, you only see wrong in what I do. You complain abo
"Why do you choose to act this way my princess, don't you know the kingdom's eyes are on you? Yet you go out to have fun with a commoner. He's not even of your own status, he's a mare gardener. Don't you think you're giving him too many opportunities to get too close to you? You aren't even preparing for your coronation ceremony. I heard the council members say you threatened to cancel, is that true?"Zena looked at Ann with tired eyes. She knew Ann was truly worried about the kingdom's welfare;"I will then have to postpone the coronation. Send words to the council members and also to the king of the second realm, tell him I am truly sorry for the inconvenience. And nanny please do not wake me up so early tomorrow, you know fully well I had a long day. Just in case Levi comes by, tell him I had a great time and would love to spend another time with him. Good night nanny." She spared herself from Ann's tantrums by concluding their conversation.Ann was left speechless. She knew her
"Where have you been nanny? I asked some of the palace maids and they said it's been a while since you left. You got me worried."Ann was absolutely nervous she didn't know what to tell the princess so she quickly changed the topic;"A letter came in from the king of the second realm and it seems he wants to have a private meeting with you. I think you should send your approval to him to enable you both to meet quickly, maybe he is already smittened by your beauty."Her words were like lightning bolts to Zina's heart, compelling her to speak;"Smitten? No, that's not even possible. we haven't even met. I only recall my meetings with his right hand man sir Marcus but that doesn't mean the king has picked interest in me. Send him a letter of my approval, I hope to see him soon." Zina spoke in an unseen worried tone."You have made the right decision once again my princess, entertaining the king would bring the peace you have always seeked. Maybe your arranged meetings with sir Marcus pa
Levi tried calming Akeelah down but she kept screeching non stop;"Get down here Akeelah, we have no choice and believe me, Wanda isn't all that bad, she just has a very high tendency of going wild. I know you're scared she'll demand you as a price but I can't give you to her because you're my spirit animal, we cannot be separated."After Levi's assurance, Akeelah Landed on his shoulder. She rubbed her head against his cheek to show that she was happy with his stand. "Let's go pack our things, we leave at dusk." He informed Akeelah as he stepped into his cottage.Wanda was Levi's cousin's best friend.She had been obsessed with him since childhood and would do anything to have him to herself. She was the daughter of a warlock and her mother was a Banshee, a very pretty one who didn't speak much. But Wanda was nothing like her mother. Her mother left because of her father's attitude and never returned so Wanda had to spend lots of time with her dad which made her hate her mom even mor
"Levi, are you alright?" Please open up," Janet begged countless times, banging loudly, but he refused to . She placed her hands on her chin, wondering what could have happened when it dawned on her that Levi and wanda have always been cat and mouse to each other."I better go check how Wanda is doing. I hope she's handling her emotions well. She knows fully well that she's half warlock, half banshee, she isn't supposed to wail. I hope she remembers this." Janet concluded, running quickly to her friend's place.Her panting was heard as soon as she got to Wanda's home, she saw her friend laying on the ground, face flat on the floor. As if sensing Janet's presence, she spoke in a sorrowful tone "I don't know why Levi doesn't love me, did I do anything wrong? I made up my mind to use my power for good from a very young age but still he doesn't love me…" she dragged the last statement, in the process, she cried out even louder."Shhh, shhh," Janet comforted her friend, wiping off the te
Liam gave her a light kiss before placing her back on the chair. He wondered what could be done to restore Wanda back to shape so she could figure out how to save Levi. As if knowing his thoughts, she pointed towards the box close to the cupboard, giving instructions to Liam to give her the bottle with the green mixture. She explained to them that she tried to broaden her knowledge in magical things that's why she's also able to create mixtures like that.Liam watched Wanda as she gulped down the slimy thick green liquid that emitted a shiny light as it went into her body and within some minutes, Her energy was restored. She examined Levi then turned to Liam to give him the solution which wasn't an easy one."We need to find out what is going on in his subconscious and I don't really know how to do that. What do you think we should do?" Wanda asked, almost on the verge of chewing her nails.Liam, who had been paying a lot of attention to Wanda's words, approached her, seeming embarras
Don't forgive her so easily," Janet interrupted with puppy eyes, "She has to agree to go for a get-together picnic with us."Levi shook his head negatively to Janet's request,"We can't have a get-together because I won't be staying long, you know I've got to find out what dad meant in his incomplete message. Also, I want to win the heart of my princess very quickly, I wouldn't want any other guy to replace me in her heart."Janet had positioned herself to express her disappointment however, Wanda interrupted her;"Of course we would have the get-together picnic Janet wants owning to the fact that you can't just leave now. I need to observe you for sometime, see how that new chain works on you. Magic isn't meant to be rushed, let's watch how you can handle this for a little while and you can have fun while you're at it too."Janet gave Wanda a warm smile. She loved to see her friend really happy. She looked at Levi in a silly manner as she stood up to inform everyone she was going to
Despite the fact that the aim of the picnic was to have fun, Levi couldn't focus. He kept placing his hands on his chin, indicating that he was thinking about something."What is it cuz," Liam called aloud for Levi's attention. Even though his eyes were mostly fixed on Wanda, Liam couldn't overlook Levi when he honestly knew they was something wrong;"Cuz?" Liam called out in a questionable manner,"What exactly is bothering you, I agree we may not be able to solve it completely but… we can help one way or the other."Levi took several breaths before he spoke to his cousin, Indeed his countenance spelled trouble."I was having a really rough day, so I tried calling my dad's ghost. I told him about what was bothering me but he told me love shouldn't be my problem right now, he said something about me trying to know. The problem here is, know what?"Liam,Wanda, Janet and Nathan pondered on what he just said;"Let's use strategy," Nathan said, drawing all eyes to himself."What do you mea