hidden features ( one x one with blackpearl44 )

[`sappho]

camilla sighed and nodded weakly. "i guess so, as long as we can stick together," she said to gwynne. she sighed, hoping that she would understand all of the nobles. from what she knew, serekans had their own language but nobles mostly spoke both serekan and vesian.

[SilentMelody]

at her somewhat solemn words, she could only nod in response and gaze out the window at her new home. gwynne hoped that she could find a way to live and keep control here. there was a forest that bordered the land, but she was unsure of where the prince's residence lay.

[`sappho]

after a while, camilla was able to see the palace coming into view. it was beautiful but also very stoic, it was made mostly from gray stone which blended well too the cold atmosphere of sereks. the snow was beautiful, as well were the mountains that lay far beyond the palace but seemed so near.

[SilentMelody]

it took her breath away -- both out of shock and fear. this was sereks, this was her new forever home. the dawning realization of this scared gwynne, but she had to get over it and very soon. in less than a few hours, she would be walking into the prince's residence at camilla's side.

[`sappho]

around two or three hours had pasted since camilla had left vesa. the serekian castle was now straight in front of them. two guards stood outside of the castle gates, fully armed and very stern looking. once they saw the carriage was from vesa, they moved out of the way. the large gates were hauled open and they made their way inside the inter wall of the castle.

[SilentMelody]

the lady stared wide-eyed at the castle and still continued to gape as they moved through it, making their way to the heart. the whole place was huge, absolutely massive in size and daunting to someone like gwynne. the woman sat back in the carriage and shook her head, giving camilla an amused look.

[`sappho]

camilla's eyes widened and her eyebrows raised when she saw that beyond the gate that they pasted through, another gate and wall was in place. sereks seemed so much colder and closed in than vesa was. hardly any light penetrated into the space between the first and second wall. suddenly, the carriage pulled to a stop. "we must be to greet the prince here," she guessed, hopping out of the carriage and onto the dim grass.

[SilentMelody]

as they continued on, everything seemed to get darker and darker. how could they live like this? the sky was barely visible through the bricks and arches overhead. "seems like it," gywnne mused in response and climbed out of the carriage. even the grass seemed to be dead, and it crunched under her flats.

[`sappho]

camilla stepped out of the carriage and looked up. she felt like she was in a dungeon. iron arches and vines roping around them nearly blocked out all of the light. soon the gate started to life and six knights walked out from the guarded area and to the two women. "ladies camilla, gwynne, please follow me into the castle," one of the knights said. she nodded and followed behind them. she felt trapped, one knight in front of her, two on either side of her and one behind her. why was there so much security?

[SilentMelody]

when the guards got close enough to make her claustrophobic, she inched closer to camilla and resisted the urge to grab her hand. gwynne really needed comfort, and she was quite positive that the princess would need it as well. this place was certainly scarier -- and darker -- than she had originally thought. how could they live like this? and how could she slip into the forest?