Previously...

"You can't leave me!" Jeanette sobbed loudly. "You're the only family I have met!"

Her eyes grew fearful, shock and misery evident in them. She shook Zuber, once, twice, thrice, but there was no answer.

Jeanette clutched her head in her hands and shook it in disbelief. She couldn't believe that this was real. It felt like a bad dream.

"This can't be happening!"

"Get up, please!"

She shook Zuber desperately. Her wails turned into anger and she wiped her tears quickly with the back of her hand.

In her frustration, she started hitting Zuber's chest.

"You can't leave like that! Come back! What am I going to say to Kyrah?" she shrieked, her voice hoarse with crying.

"This is all my fault!"

"Get up!" She slapped Zuber's cheeks and hit his chest continuously.

"Ow! That hurts! Stop please," Zuber spoke cheekily. He had a huge grin on his face. He got up and hugged Jeanette tightly.

She slapped his back angrily and cried more fresh tears. With narrowed eyes and a scowling face, she spoke, "Never do that again okay? You scared me."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" He chuckled, raising his palms in surrender.

"Wait! Why didn't anything happen to you?"

"So you want something to happen to me?"

"Shut up, Zu!"

"Zu? At least find a better nickname."

"Don't avoid my question."

"I don't know, Jean. I think that potion only affects snakes and apparently, I'm just a human." Zuber pondered over the matter.

"It can't be."

"Can't be what?"

"If I can shapeshift into a snake, then you could too, Zu," she spoke gingerly.

"But I can't."

"I think you haven't reached the appropriate age. How old are you?"

"23, you?" 

"I'm 25."

"You're old." He snickered.

"Shut up. Listen, I think your parents haven't told you that everyone in our world is a snake," she said seriously.

"I mean our parents. Have to get used to that." She smiled.

"So, am I snake too?" he asked incredulously.

"You will turn one day."

Silence filled the hall. Jeanette got up slowly with wobbly feet. Zuber steadied her and stood to face her.

"Where's Kyrah?" she asked softly.

"I don't know. She said she had to do something," he informed with a frown.

"What if Hiram finds her?" she asked uneasily.

"I won't let that happen," he said through clenched teeth. "Let's go find her."

***

Kyrah ran towards her chamber. The path was long. On her way, she thought about everything that had happened. The escape from the jail, the toe-curling kiss shared with Zuber and how she had persuaded him to go without her.

She had a gut feeling that the Naag Mani might be somewhere in her room. She wanted to search for the gem. She reached with panted breaths and halted to catch her breath.

Her eyes cast a look at her grand room. The walls, a serene sky-blue, were painted with images of colorful birds, trees, and flowers. In the exact center of one wall, a huge sun had been painted in gold, which sparkled ebulliently. The rays shone against the blue and slowly merged with it, creating an ethereal look.

Everything had been painted by her. She loved painting to such an extent that sometimes she would skip meals and lose track of time. The floors were carpeted a mossy green, making her whole room seem like an enchanted forest. A large queen-sized bed with royal blue covers was placed at the center. It looked like the night sky, filled with so many twinkling, silver stars.

Kyrah inhaled deeply and sat down on her bed. A wave of nostalgia hit her, as she had been away from her home for almost a month.

Her eyes were fixated on the gold sun which she had painted on her birthday, her lips curved into a small smile.

She still remembered how she had asked her father for a gift of gold paint.

"So, what does my princess want for her birthday?" Marsel asked, beaming.

"A bucket of sparkly gold paint will do," Kyrah's spoke, her eyes lit up and she grinned.

"What will do you do with that?" Lilah asked curiously.

"Why, mother, paint of course," Kyrah said with an eye roll.

"Well, paint what?" Lilah asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"A huge sun which lights up everything," Kyrah whispered
dreamily.

"The sun is yellow," Lilah said with a pointed look, then burst into laughter.

Marsel chuckled, the corners of his lips twitched upwards in amusement.

"But, I want a golden sun," Kyrah whined, stomping her foot childishly.

"Stop laughing you two!" She rolled her eyes at both of them.

"Alright, alright, it's my princess's birthday today. No one makes fun of her. You'll get what you want." Marsel chuckled, pinching Kyrah's nose.

"Your princess is 21 today, yet she acts like five." Lilah tsked and gave Kyrah a lopsided grin. "Grow up, baby."

She then handed her a neatly wrapped package, which Kyrah opened gleefully. Her fingers ran over the silky material, which she took out quickly. It was a pretty, royal-blue, silk gown. Lilah kissed Kyrah's forehead lovingly and murmured, "It's your favorite color, baby."

Kyrah smiled fondly at the memory, her eyes still glued on the golden sun. She made her way towards it and rubbed a finger over the coarse wall. She sniffed the wall and exhaled contentedly. Strangely, she loved the faint smell of paint, which many others detested.

She giggled at that thought but soon frowned. She was reminded of the book, whose cover was of the same sparkly gold color as the sun, where she had read about the legend of the Naag Mani. She then recalled the Goddess's words.

"You are the protector of the Naag Mani and the only one who can find it. Make sure you utilize its power for good. Greed always causes destruction."

"That legend was about me." She gasped. "Everything makes sense, the gold color of the book, the picture of the snake curled around the shiny gem... that was me."

What she didn't see was that the book with the sparkly gold cover had been magically arranged among other books. The falling of it from her hands, opening right at the page about the legend, everything had been planned by the Goddess. Then, when Jeanette had dragged Kyrah out of the house, making her drop the book, it had vanished leaving gold dust behind, unnoticed by everyone. It must be here somewhere. My assumption was right then.

She looked around once again at her room and her eyes fell upon a magnificent frame with her picture on it. She was painted in a brown, lace gown, the corset embroidered with a myriad of beads, sequins, and crystals, giving it a shiny look. From the waist, it emerged as a huge, sequined tulle ending right at the ankles. A bejeweled crown was placed delicately on her golden head, making her look like an angel.

She focussed solely on the gorgeously painted blue eyes. The eyes seemed to flicker to green hues for a second, or so she thought. She scooted over to the painting for inspection.

Her hand automatically reached to touch a beautiful gold band, adorned with a single diamond placed in a prong setting on her ring finger. Under her touch, the frame creaked open like a window and she staggered backward, flabbergasted.

Hi, everybody! How are you all? ❤💙 I'm back with a new chapter and let me tell you that Zuber is fine. Haha! I read so many comments about not letting him die that I laughed off loudly while reading them. 😜 I couldn't let him die now, could I? Naah! He is too cute! 😍

Now enough with my rant. Let's see... hmm... now how was this chapter? I was going to write a lot more, but then I didn't want to make it soooooo long. So, I stopped it with a sort of cliffhanger.😜 Well, it isn't much of a cliffhanger. 🙄 I'm sure most of you must have an idea why the frame with Kyrah's painting creaked open.

Kyrah's painting abilities have been discussed in this chapter along with her search for the Naag Mani. Do you think she will find it? What is going to happen next? Any guesses? I would love to know what you think.

Are you liking this story so far? Please comment and let me know! I'm waiting...😍

Like this chapter? Please make me happy by clicking the 🌟 icon below. Thanks! It just takes a second to vote, but it will make my day.

Have a nice day/night. See you soon buddies. 💖 Thank you to everyone who takes out their precious time to read my work. It means so, so, so much to me! Bye! 👋

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