Esther

Chapter 8

When I arrived at the staircase with a full Meral in my arms, Isis and Jenia were waiting along with Ashley.

"Sorry. When did you guys finish?" I asked. "A few minutes ago. What took you so long? I understand you left quite a few minutes ago and left Ashley waiting here alone." Isis said. I could feel myself blushed slightly again. Why was I blushing? "So?" Ashley asked. "Are you mad?" I asked her. "No. I just wanna know what took you so long." She replied hugging me and I hugged her back, letting Meral jump to the floor. I was afraid you might've gotten lost." "I'll tell you all what happened when we get to our room." I said. Isis nodded and she led the way.

When we reached the room, I stood in the doorway probably looking like an idiot waiting for someone to stuff my mouth with an apple like a pig. My mouth was hanging open. And so was Ashley's. The room was twice as big as our room in Isis' and Jenia's mansion. And that means, really big.

I was finally knocked out of my shocked state when I heard Isis and Jenia laughing. Ashley and I turned and looked at them. "Guess in your world you rarely see rooms this luxurious and big, I take it?" Jenia asked still laughing. Ashley and I were slightly embarrassed. We nodded. They laughed all the more and ushered us inside.

We settled down on the bed and on the bean bags and I related what happened leaving out the comments he said that made me blush a lot. "You met the prince? You met the prince. You met the prince!" Ashley said excitedly. "And he invited us to hang out with him. I feel like fainting." Ashley said making a dramatic move with her hand indicating she had fainted. We laughed. "Oh come on, Ash. He said he wanted to be treated like a normal guy remember? Unless, of course there are other people around. So don't act too proper. Just be yourself." I said. She nodded happily clapping her hands. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Why don't you girls get ready? Lunch will be served in about an hour. You need to look your best. Wear a nice dress too. Since there are two bathrooms, Jenia and I will share and you two will share the other." Isis said. And so we showered and got ready for lunch. We all took quite a lot of time in the bathroom, fixing our hair, putting on a bit make up, and finding our dresses in the closet. After 50 minutes, we were all ready. Isis and Jenia had done my hair and Ashley's. they were put up in a braided bun with a braided "headband" crossing over the front. Ashely's bangs were behind her ear. We didn't want people to see our "human highlights" and such, so our hair was braided. We were ready.

We used up 5 minutes walking to the dining hall. We entered the dining hall finding half the table full of beautiful girls and the royal family. We curtsied as soon as we entered.

"Isis. Jenia. Esther and Ashley welcome. Please sit here near us." We sat down. I fixed my dress and looked around. A few girls looked over at us and smiled. Some waved and we smiled and waved back. I guess we could make new friends fast.

"Psst." I looked over and saw Ashley looking at me. She was sitting across from me and beside the prince. She used her eyes to indicate that she was talking about the prince. I gave her a questioning glance. She mouthed what am I going to do? I laughed and gave her a thumbs up and turned to my right, for Jenia was on my left.

"Hi." I said a bit softly. "Hello. I'm Sophia." The girl said. "And I'm Esther. Nice to meet you." I said to Sophia. She smiled. We started making small talk. "You're really friendly. Well, at least, the friendliest person I've met so far." She said. "How long have you been here?" I asked her. "I arrived this morning."

Sophia was a pretty girl with a sweet face. She had thick, silky black hair and hazel eyes. Her complexion was fair giving off a faint glow. She was wearing a red gown with gold lining and ruffles. I wore a plain light green dress with navy blue lining. She also wore sapphire earrings, a sapphire necklace, bracelet, and ring. "You look really pretty." I said. She blushed slightly. "Thank you. But you shouldn't forget yourself. You're really pretty too. Your dark brown hair braided, looks beautiful. And your emerald earrings bring out your beautiful features." She said. I laughed. "Thanks." And so we started talking until lunch was served. Sophia was such a sweet girl.

After lunch, I said goodbye and met up with Ashley, Jenia, and Isis outside since I told Sophia we could probably hang out in the library.

"Hey guys." I said. I turned to Ashley. "So, Ash. How was your conversation with Andrew?" I asked teasingly. She blushed. "I'm guessing you both are gonna fall for Andrew. Actually, I'm going to predict that one of you will be with Andrew. But let's just see." Isis said with a teasing smile. And we both blushed furiously while Isis and Jenia laughed.

We went to the library where we would meet up with Andrew. Prince Andrew. We entered the library. "It's huge. Gigantic. Enormous. Gargantuan." I said clearly amazed. There were shelves of thousands of books filling the first floor and the second floor where the mezzanines were. "Glad you like it here. I take it you like reading?" Someone asked. I turned around and saw Andrew. "I love reading. Reading, writing, singing, playing instruments, drawing, and playing basketball, to be exact." I said. He laughed. "You have many hobbies. Just like me." He said with a playful wink.

"Hello, Andrew." Isis said. "Isis! Jenia!" He exclaimed. He ran over and hugged them. "So, you guys are close?" Ashley asked, astonished. "Yes. Since Andrew's not allowed to go on trips with his father 'cause he's an only child and the only heir, he takes short trips in the forest and occasionally trains there, and so, the king and queen ask us to watch over him. And we do. He also stays in our mansion sometimes." Isis explained. Andrew nodded. "Cool." I said.

"Come on." He said motioning for us to sit on couches. "Choose any book you want to read." He said. "No thanks. I might get distracted. And we don't want that do we?" I said giving a little laugh. They laughed along.

"So, how do you like the castle?" He asked. "It's huge and nice." I said. "But we haven't had our tour yet." Ashley said looking at Isis and Jenia. "Why don't we give you a tour now? You three can still talk." She suggested. And so we did.