I braced myself for the most horridest of women to take a heavy step in through the threshold but was surprised when a tiny, plump woman with curly brown hair hobbled in instead. She had a huge, comforting smile on her wrinkling face and she wiped her hands on the flowery apron she was bearing confidently before sitting down on the chair Reynard offered her.

"Ashli, is it, love?" she beamed with the voice of a nice, old grandmother. "How're you feeling, deary?"

I looked nervously at Reynard who was just standing there, smiling, but his eyes were telling me to answer positively.

"Very well, madam," I said demurely.

She laughed heartily before saying, "No need to call me 'Madam', lovey. That makes me feel old. Just call me Faustine, that'll suffice."

I chuckled uncomfortably. "Thank you so much Faustine, for letting us stay a while. Though I have no idea how much we may have inconvenienced you, please excuse us, for Reynard and myself were in a bad spot at the moment."

"No, no, love," she said, shaking her head. "It's quite alright. I've known this lad since he was a wee child." She pointed towards Reynard who was leaning against the wall. "And to think he's got himself a sweetheart! My heart cannot be more content. You have no idea how happy we felt for him when he told us about you."

I spoke through gritted teeth, "And, pray tell, what is it that he may have said about me?"

She laughed, her cheeks red. "Oh darling, he told us all the good stuff. My son Lennard was bursting with envy by the end of it if I do say so myself. But then again he's never had his share of luck with love. Anyways, we all knew that sooner or later, Reynard was going to introduce us to his future wife, as after all, he's very handsome. You're a lucky girl, dear, I'm sure you know that."

I looked at Reynard, my eyes flaming. Keeping my expression at this point was proving to be a hard task. "Yes, I am very lucky."

Faustine suddenly changed her expression as she thought of something. "Ashli, love, is this mischievous boy treating you well? He hasn't done something to anger you till now, I hope? I would love to apologize on his behalf for we all know how irresponsible he could be sometimes."

Reynard was practically flashing me alarming signals with his eyes, which of course, I chose to ignore.

"Yes, you're absolutely right," I said, sighing dramatically. "Reynard's such a rash soul. Sometimes I feel like he's going to do my head in."

Faustine looked at me sadly, then sighed and sat up properly. "Well, that makes the two of us," she comforted. "Though I'm really sorry, honey. I'll chastise him about him, so don't you leave his side, you hear me?"

I laughed as well, finally at ease. One would've thought I really was in love with Reynard, but of course I'd never let that happen. Thank god I didn't believe in love and the sorts.

I was about to say something to further tease Reynard when all of us heard a loud clanking and thudding outside the door.

Faustine began to stand up. "That must be Lennard back from the market," she grunted. "Give us a moment, love. Reynard, sonny, you follow me outside."

As Faustine and Reynard, who was giving me a sour expression, exited out the door, I lay back on the bed and thought over our conversation. Faustine's a nice lady, was the conclusion. I was a little shocked when she first addressed me as 'love' and 'dear' because nobody had ever called me that and it felt a little weird at first. But then I started to realize that I liked the sound of it. It made me feel loved and cared for.

Then the door opened again and a haggard man almost Reynard's age made his entrance. Behind him was Reynard who was pulling him roughly by the collar and muttering something like, 'C'mon, man' or 'Stoppit, man'.

But the guy in front seemed to resist his tugs and stayed by the door with a huge grin on his face, studying me. It made my skin crawl.

"My, what a beauty," he said loudly on purpose. "You scored a good one, my friend," he said, glancing back at Reynard who had begun pulling harder at him and was practically growling now.

"Lennard. Get. Out," he said angrily.

"Just a moment, man," Lennard replied gruffly, his hands on the door frame. "So, Ashli Rivers, how'd you decide to go for a guy like him? Was I unavailable or something?"

"Lennard, this is your last warning," Reynard growled angrily.

"Givvus a sec, Reyn. So, Ashli, do you actually like him or are you, like, going for none but his looks? Because I can't imagine someone liking this guy for his personality. He says you've known each other for a few months now, so you must know."

I glanced nervously at Reynard, uncomfortable with Lennard's questions. Reynard slapped hard on Lennard's back which made him grunt and turn around.

"Oi, what gives?" Lennard shouted as he rubbed his back. "I was just talking to her. What's wrong with talking?"

"You know what you're doing, Len. I thought I gave you your warning," he retorted. "Stop disturbing her and get out. Your mom needs you."

Reluctantly, Lennard shuffled out the room after giving me one suggestive look. Reynard shut the door behind him and leaned against it, exasperated.

"Sorry for that," he said, raking his hands through his hair. "Lennard's a bit..."

I shivered. "Didn't you say he was a nice guy?"

"I mean, he usually is..." Reynard was finding it hard to explain. "He just likes to mess around when it involves me. I'm really sorry you had to see him like that but I'm sure he was just giddy upon meeting my first love."

"Just to be clear," I said, "I am not your first love."

He looked at me, confused for a moment and then burst out laughing. "I know. You're much too young to be my first love. I'd say you're more like a sister to me."

My tense shoulders finally sagged. "Glad to hear that."

We had nothing more to talk about so we just remained in silence. Then suddenly, Reynard jerked his head as if he had just remembered something.

"Powers," he muttered.

I didn't quite catch what he said so I asked, "What?"

He looked up at me, wide-eyed. "Do you feel weird? Any changes in your body? Your divine powers should have awakened by now."

I opened my mouth to speak but shut it again.

"Well?" he asked, observing me with his turquoise eyes. "Feel anything? Any surge of power?"

"Not really..." I shook my head. "I don't feel any different at all."

"Really? Nothing out of the ordinary?"

I shook my head and saw him throw himself on the chair, his head in his hands.

"This isn't what's supposed to happen..." he mumbled into his palms. "You should've been able to wield your abilities by now..." He looked at me, locking his gaze with mine. "...whatever they might be..."

"Oh, come on," I tried to reassure him. "It's not the end of the world anyways. And besides, isn't it a good thing? If it appears that I'm not the princess from the prophecy, then there won't be any need to kill me."

Reynard didn't say anything for a long time. He just sat there with his face in his palms.

I had no idea what he was so worried about. If I hadn't any powers, then it was a good thing, right? Why then would someone resort to sacrificing me when I wasn't even the princess from this unreliable 500 year old prophecy?

Still, I looked at my hands in a new light, as if they could be shooting lasers or fire any moment now. I mean, what else does power mean? Surely, God wouldn't make me invisible or be able to fly, right? How would that help me benefit the people of Wisteria?

A few moments later, the door opened and Lennard peeked through, his expression bitter as he scanned the room.

"Ma says dinner's ready, so come out and eat," he announced to no one in particular and slammed the door shut.

Reynard stood up without even so much as giving me a glance and said to the door, "Can you stand up?"

"Erm..." I said awkwardly. "My legs aren't quite stable, so I'd say no."

He sighed and turned on his heel to walk over to me. I lifted my arm so he could pull me up and shoulder-to-shoulder, we walked outside.

It was the first time I had a chance to step into a normal Wisterian home. I had expected it to be like those old, medieval time houses with cold, hard walls and bare floors but what I saw was much cozier than expected. The house was more like a cabin with plank floors and several decorative tapestries hanging around to give the house a more home-made feel. It was nighttime but the room was lit by lanterns hanging all around the walls, giving the room a golden glow. In the middle of the large floor was an animal fur carpet on which a kid around the age of was sitting and playing with a small wooden-horse toy.

As expected, there was no TV, no set living room, no bookshelves, though there was a hand-made wooden rack filled with jars and scrolls.

On the right of the room was a door that probably led to the kitchen as I was able to smell a lovely aroma of food wafting through there.

Faustine came through that door with a large tray on top of which was a whole boar's head which was decorated with delicately cut vegetables and an apple in its mouth. My wide eyes followed her plump figure as she walked swiftly to the table which was set by the far wall and placed the tray smack-dab in the middle.

Then she proceeded to wipe her hands on her apron and when she looked at me, her face broke out in a huge smile.

"Ashli, darling," she beamed. "Come take a seat! I made something special since you're here. Got to leave a good impression on you, no?" She continued to laugh heartily as she lit the candles and set the cutlery.

I looked nervously up at Reynard who was greedily eyeing the meat. I, too, decided to take a look at it and almost threw up. It still looked so incredibly alive with its eyes and tusks, though a little burnt.

Reynard walked me over to the table and sat me down on the head seat of the rectangular table. When I protested, Faustine gently calmed me down and told me that she had actually wanted me to sit at the head since it was my first meal with them.

Everyone started to pull out their seats and sat down, and after a small prayer (which I knew not a word of) everyone started to dig in.

I was still looking at the boar's head, equally entranced and disgusted by it, when Faustine, who was sitting right by me, started slicing into the poor boar and placed a large chunk of meat on my plate.

"Dig in, love."