I tap my shoe against the 'welcome' Mat in front of the door and practice what I'm going to say.

"Hey! You have my sister and I need her to find my dad." I mutter and then roll my eyes.

"No, that's weird. How about 'Sup? Claire in there with you?'" I drag my palm down my face and cringe. "I didn't think it could get worse." I whisper to myself.

I take a peak over my shoulder to find Kilian leaning on a tree with his smooth muscular arms over his chest, waiting. I swallow, and turn back around to face the oak door.

"Maybe this is a bad idea." I panic and turn to run back to Kilian- but I hear something inside of the castle. It sounds like footsteps walking through the place- and how creepy would it be if they opened the door and found me standing there like a creepy garden gnome? No offense gnomes that aren't creepy. Who am I kidding, they're all creepy.

I take a large breath and hold it, only releasing it after I've knocked on the door three times.

I feel quick regret and a feeling of anxiousness in the pit of my stomach at what I've just done. I hear Kilian cheer behind me as my eyes narrow.

"He's the Devil reincarnated." I mutter as I hear him snicker.

"You have no idea." He mutters, but I hear it clear as day. Before I can question what he means, the door swings open.

I come face to face with a beautiful servant. Wow, even his slaves are majestic- how rich and fancy is this guy? Her crystal blue eyes stare at me in curiosity. Strands of brown hair fall onto my forehead and I move it away from my face unconsciously as I stand there staring like a big dummy with my drab brown hair and blue eyes. Her eyebrows furrow as she observes my nervous behavior, I probably look like a lunatic.

"Er— can I help you?" Her soft melodic voice rings out, as I glance up at her again.

Finally, I open my mouth and say something.

"Hi!" I say with the confidence of a thousand runway models. I almost wish I could take that greeting away, but my mouth has already opened. Here comes my stupid rambling. I bite on my nail— an attempt to slow my talking down so I don't sound like a complete idiot. It works.

"Does an Atticus live here?" I ask, waiting for an answer.

She almost stops breathing, her cheeks turning a red color. I almost ask the poor girl if she's okay but the look she gives is one short of jealousy. An ugly emotion, really. I frown as she seems to snap herself out of observing me and takes a short breath— perhaps trying to clear her head of any nasty things. A hundred ways to kill a girl asking for my man at the door. I almost chuckle at myself but I remind myself that she's just a servant, maybe she just has a crush on him. But she is beautiful. So maybe he does have a relationship with her. But— then why did he take Claire?

I start to tap my chucks in impatience, a bad habit of mine since I was seven.

"He does— May I ask why you want to know that?" She asks, her pink lips pursuing.

I flash her a grin, showing off all of my pretty shark teeth— and outstretching my hand.

"My name is Viola, but you can call me Vi." I say, watching for any sort of confusion. She eyes my hand cautiously, and I almost laugh. She's looking at it as if my hand could morph into a gun and kill her. Relax.

After a couple seconds of careful consideration, she reaches out slowly and lets a small smile perch itself on her face. I guess she finally realized that a dweeby teen with a love for Christmas movies wasn't a threat. I feel my heart start to stutter as my anxiousness returns, but I conceal the way I'm feeling.

"He has something of mine." I say, as my smile falls off of my face.

I hear a woman call out from behind her.

"Who's at the door?" The woman says, but she ignores her.

"Oh? — and what would that be?" She asks, a slight smile developing, but she hides it.

She probably thinks he stole Girl Scout cookies from me or something, I'm not very threatening.

I reach into my bag and grab a picture— the only picture that I've ever had of my family. The one that I take everywhere with me in case of meeting them by chance.

She furrows her eyebrows and leans in, taking in every detail of the picture.

"He has my sister," I say, pulse quickening. "Claire." I finish off, pointing at the baby in the picture. Her eyes widen and it looks like recognition flashes through her face. She's frozen, and I mentally debate whether or not I should snap my fingers to see if it would thaw her out of whatever emotion she's feeling at the moment.

The woman finally reaches the doorway next to the servant— a high class woman with charm. Her blonde hair resembles the girl in front of me, except she has grace. Her bun is styled neatly on top of her head, whereas the servant has messy hair looping around her head. The woman dries her hands on her red apron and gives me a breathtaking smile.

Are all the people who work and live here models?

"And who might this be, Claire?" She says, and I feel time stop. My eyes widen as realization slaps me like a ton of bricks. This entire time I was conversing with my own sister— and I thought it was a fucking maid who had the hots for the king. Oh god. Did Kilian know that it would be Claire? Opening the doors freely, instead of shackled in chains like a prisoner? I feel silly. I thought that this would be a rescue mission; instead I found a sister who's glowing with, dare I say— love?

The woman's eyes flicker to the picture and furrows her eyebrows as well as Claire. They look identical.

"I haven't seen that picture since—" I cut her off, my mind finally recognizing her as the woman in the picture. My mother.

"Since my dad took it with him— took us with him." I rock and bounce on the heels of my feet. I didn't think meeting the family I've never known would feel like this. Like id been the one in chains instead of Claire— and I'm the one who has just been rescued.

Both of them fall silent for a minute, which feels like a lifetime to me. I'd never believed in love at first sight, but maybe there was an exception for long lost family members?

I feel so many emotions run through me at once, I might faint. Claire picks up on how I look and speaks up.

"Mom, I think that you should put another kettle on the stove, cause we're gonna need it." She says, and immediately a smile blooms on my face— nervousness being forgotten temporarily.

"I'm more of a coffee drinker." I say, fidgeting with my fingers as they stare at me in awe.

They both smile at each other and open the door wider for me to come in. I take a step, almost going in; but then I realize that I forgot something.

"Oops," I chuckle. "Almost forgot my dog." I say as they glance around the garden, probably looking for a puppy.

"Kilian!" I call out and do a small whistle as he stalks out of the forest. I see the looks on my mother and sister's face and almost laugh. He narrows his eyes at me, muscles rising with every breath.

"I'm not a dog." He mutters, but then brightens up at my mother.

"Good morning, Mrs. Beaumont. Lovely day isn't it? Perfect for a talk of the prophecy." He finishes, finally reaching me and stopping at my side. My deal tattoo tingles.

My mother huffs at the mention of a prophecy, like she's sick of hearing about it.

"Come in." Shes says gloomily, and Claire laughs.

Hopefully they could give us some details on the prophecy, and finding dad.

But first, I'd have to tell them that he's missing.

How fun.

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