It loomed

One year later:

Rory was visiting her Aunt for her tenth birthday. It had been a year since she last saw her Aunt Leah at her wedding and a year since she had been to the castle where Leah now lived as Queen.

She’d forgotten how big the castle was.

It loomed. There was no other word for it. With it’s tall outer wall, steel gate and huge windows, the castle was an imposing addition to the rolling hills and dark woods that was the surrounding countryside.

It loomed.

Rory was dropped at the gate and ushered into the building but the awaiting Zara. She hoped she would see Phillip around. After their encounter last year, Rory had plagued her godmothers with questions about the boy. She’d discovered that Phillip’s mother, King Hubert’s first wife, had been part fae and Phillip had inherited her skill for magic. At aged twelve, Phillip would still be a novice, but perhaps if Rory became friends with him, he would let her watch him practice his magic.

Rory was endlessly fascinated with the older boy, not just because of his magic but also because of his easy smile and strange, dark eyes. No other boy was like him in the village where she was from.

“Aurora, darling.” The queen kneeled and squeezed her niece’s cheeks together, kissing her enthusiastically. “Happy birthday, baby.”

“It’s not my birthday for three whole days, Aunty,” Aurora pointed out, her voice muffled by Leah’s exuberant greeting. She was long used to her Aunt’s fussing and truth be told, Rory missed Leah just as much she was missed by her Aunt. She enjoyed Leah’s motherly smothering, though she pretended the opposite.

“Oh, shush. I’m allowed to be excited. Ten is an important age.” Leah hustled her young niece through the castle to her rooms. “This is where you will be staying, Aurora, dear.” She opened the extravagantly huge doors to reveal an entirely pink sitting room.

Her feet sank into the plush rose carpet as she took a few steps into the room. The ornate gold chairs were trimmed in a vibrant pink and the soft petal pink walls were painted with tiny golden leaves. There was even a pink china tea set sitting on the salmon coloured side table.

Rory made a face. She had nothing against the colour pink, besides it’s propensity to stain. Rory had a habit of getting covered in muck. No matter how hard she tried, she could never go an entire day without getting dirty. She feared this room would not survive her short stay and she vowed to avoid spending any amount of time in it.

“Why don't you spend your afternoon here, child?” Though it was phrased as a question, there was no sign of compromise in the queen’s tone. So much for Rory avoiding this room.

“I have a meeting with the king that I must get to,” Leah continued. “I will see you for dinner, darling.”

“But I just got here.” Rory couldn't believe she was being left alone already. She missed her Aunt and wanted to spend time with her.

“I know, sweetheart, but I have duties now that I am queen. We will go on a picnic tomorrow, just the two of us.”

“Okay,” Rory said, barely mollified.

I hope you like it, my other work is officially complete so go check it out if you want to binge 30 chapters.