"His royal majesty, the king of Alera, king Aeneas the sixth has summoned you, Astra Rainier to the royal court of Alera."

One of the sentinels, a black haired read out to her from a scroll. Upon hearing the king's name, she fell into a curtsy so low that her forehead touched her knees and they placed the scroll on her outstretched hands.

"I hear and I obey,"

She answered timidly then stood up and patted her pale blue dress with so many stitches on it that you'd think it was a design.

The King's word was law and once spoken, must be obeyed or it becomes treason and you face immediate execution.

Two of the stoic faced sentinels offered their arms to her once she had risen and she looped hers through them with the scroll safely tucked in her dress pocket. The other man led them at the forefront as silent as a feather.

They led her past the market square that she was earlier using as a shield and then past their small cottage with no change in their expressions whatsoever.

She saw her mother's blazing red hair before she saw her green eyes that were tinged with red from crying. She looked up at her daughter and the tears got worse.

Astra offered her a reassuring smile though she knew that nothing was going to be alright, before she was whisked away.

The castle laid perched on the highest hill top of grass as green as Astra's mother's vibrant eyes.

Rumors had it that a shard of a star fell there and so blessing it with lush gardens and the stone of the shard was used in building the castle thus earning it's name- star castle.

It was indeed a marvellous and breathtaking result. It was better than the green castle of Orin- the faery realm. It was better than the black castle of Lafere- the dark realm and then it was better than the light castle of Sita- the mage realm, though it was long destroyed.

Orin, Lafere, Sita and Alera were the four realms with Alera being the human realm. It had the best castle and because it was made from a star shard, it glowed like one at always.

As they approached it from below the hill, the light was so blinding that Astra wondered how anybody could stand it.

When they finally got to the eastern gate, she needed not explain herself because of the sentinels that were leading her, so the gates were opened for them.

She was led into the huge yard from the eastern part of the castle, past the royal treasurey- a rectangular building- right opposite the east gate- a side gate- towards the royal court, right in front of the royal residence.

Several guards were stationed every few feet of the castle buildings that she totally lost count of them after the fiftieth.

When the huge doors leading to the court were opened, without even looking up, she fell into a deep curtsy even lower than the one she did before.

At that moment, the hair that she managed to put in a messy bun came loose and her locks rolled down her back as if it was a waterfall.

Gasps came from every inch of the room as she felt every pair of eyes land on her. She didn't know if it was her hair that caused all the fuss but she was cautious nonetheless.

She didn't dare look up though until she was told to rise by the king. She stood up straight as a pin and held her chin up high, although not looking at anyone in particular.

Her hair cascaded down the side of her hips in a neat manner but she hastened to brush them away from her face with two tender fingers.

"Leave it."

The faery princess and the human realm queen by marriage- queen Ariane commanded firmly and Astra dropped her hands to the side.

She had always been self conscious when it came to her hair because it made her stand out like a red rose in a green field.

Often, questions were thrown her way because of how odd she was from the rest of her family with golden hair.

Her father's raven locks and ember eyes were passed down to Adam and Emory as Byron took after their mother's red hair and green eyes.

Astra on the other hand, no one knew how and where she got her golden locks and electric blue eyes, not even her brothers.

When she would ask her mother, she would simply reply that the heavens blessed her unlike no other.

"So the rumors are true! Noble ladies and gentlemen of the royal court, I present you the bride of my crown prince- prince Corbian."

Once again, everybody gasped including the royal family and Astra. It was not everyday that a stranger gets betrothed to the Crown prince. A peasant for that matter.

It appeared as if even the queen did not expect such words from the king's mouth, talk less of the Prince himself and the two princesses- princess Anastasia and Princess Isadora.

"Father! She's not even-",

The princess- princess Anastasia had made to object when she was cut off by her father's raised hand.

"We shall not discuss it here Ana. If you have any problems with it, then later is the time to voice it."

Murmurs were getting louder in the room, what with the confusion among all the nobles but nobody made to disagree or object.

Everybody fell silent when the king sent glares their ways. Nobody dared as much as move a muscle in opposition.

"Maids, take the girl away and dress her in the finest of attires. I'm hosting a masquerade ball tonight at midnight. Start the preparations for it right away. This is to honour this impromptu engagement of the couple."

He left no room for argument. His word was law after all and nobody dared go against it in fear of execution.

Three women in beige attires hurried over to where she was standing and started to lead her away.

One was a brunette, another was raven haired and the last one was a red haired. The three most common hair colors. Though they were maids, their clothing was twice as expensive as Astra's she was sure.

Their hairs were made in waterfall braids and Astra knew they had proper hair oils to have such classy hairdos. These maids in the palace were the rich people of the village even though they were way below the nobility of court.

The three ladies led her out a side door in silence outside towards the royal residences. She didn't talk to them because she had a feeling they weren't going to answer but she didn't mind the silence.

She had time to think about what was going on. Frankly, she felt like a chicken in the middle of elephants. She went to the castle, expecting to die but yet, her situation was completely different.

She only hoped and prayed that she gets out of everything unscathed. She didn't even bother understanding all that had happened because she knew she would just be back at square one every time she tried.

She sighed in frustration - not at the day's event but at the shadow she was being put under and all it meant for her.

She never even stopped to marvel at the glorious interior of the castle or the huge glittering chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. All she cared about was the present.

Then she wondered about her mother and brothers, right until they finally stopped at the door that would change everything, literally.

***

Vote and comment if you liked it.