Empty castle
1697 Words
While we were walking, Ivy was observing Atlas from behind.
“Here we are.” Atlas knocked on the door while we stayed behind.
“Father, it’s me, Atlas.”
“Come in.”
He pushed open the door and walked inside.
They followed him behind.
Inside the room, there sat a man in the center. He had curly brown hair with a rectangle face. By his looks, he seemed to be around 40 years old.
Ivy stood next to her Mom. She gave a smile when she spotted him from a distance.
“Father, they have arrived,” Atlas said with a bow.
His father nodded, looking for approval.
“Come here you two.” He called in one of the most gentle voices ever.
Her mom grabbed her by the hand and walked up to the King.
I was quite nervous to meet him.
When they stood in front of him Ivy kept her head lowered.
“How was your journey?” he asked Mom.
“Good all thanks to you.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“And you, won’t you greet me?” he said turning to Ivy.
She clenched her fists tightly out of nervousness.
Atlas stood a bit away from her but kept his gaze.
Martha patted her back to assure her.
“Come on. It’s rude not to greet anyone you meet for the first time. I had taught you that right?”.
“Greet him.”
Ivy nodded taking a deep sigh she raised her head, meeting the King eye to eye.
“Uh…Nice to meet you. I’m Ivy.”
“Hm…Ivy, that’s such a beautiful name,” he said with a smile. His eyes were blue just like Atlas's.
“Did you have any trouble on the way while coming?”.
“Uh…no.”
“Good to hear it. How old are you?”.
“Um, I turned 19 a few weeks ago.”
“Oh, then you are around the same age as my sons. You already met Atlas, didn’t you?”.
Ivy nodded.
“Did you like him?”.
Ivy nodded with a flustered face.
“I’m happy. There are other two of them who aren’t here in the room at the moment. But, you’ll meet them eventually.”
“I hope you like them as well. But, for the time being.”
He held out his hand towards her.
“Can we be a good Father and Daughter from now on?”.
Ivy paused for a second observing his face, then turned to her Mom as if asking for approval.
Martha gave a smile and patted her back.
Ivy took his hand with a genuine smile.
“I’ll try my best to be so.”
He only smiled in response.
“Go back to your rooms, you must be tired right?”.
Ivy nodded, “A little bit.”
“Atlas, show her to her room. And you have already moved your belongings to my room, right?” he asked Martha.
“Yes.”
“Then take her to her room. We’ll meet in the afternoon for lunch.”
Ivy gave a puzzled face back to her Mom.
“I’ll see you in the afternoon. Get going for now,” she whispered to Ivy.
Ivy nods giving a smile.
“Come with me,” Atlas added, leading the way.
He and Ivy leave together.
She was quiet for a while so he decided to speak up.
“I bet this is your first time living on your own,” he added, drawing her attention.
“Uh, yes. How did you know?”.
“It was easy knowing the reaction you had on your face. You were about to burst into tears any moment.”
“What? I didn’t look like that at all!” she protested back, fisting her hands in anger.
He chuckled, turning to her, and placing his hands in his pocket.
“No one can change the truth.”
“And, you don’t need to act tough at all.”
“If there’s something you want to speak, then speak up. There’s everyone to listen to you.”
“No one’s going to mock you for your weakness.”
Ivy’s eyes widened in surprise upon hearing his statement.
“What did you-“.
“Anyway,” he turned around heaving a sigh.
“Take it easy.”
“You’ll get used to everything naturally.”
He accompanied her up to his room and gave her the keys.
“Go inside, and if there’s anything you might need call the maids. And if you face any problems call me. I’ll come and help you right away.”
“T-thanks,” she stuttered, staring down at her feet.
“I’ll be counting on you.”
He smiled, patting her shoulders.
“Me too.”
“Have some rest.”
“See you in the afternoon.”
He left shortly and now she was standing in front of her room on her own.
She took some quick breaths and inserted the key, opening the door.
The moment she stepped inside she could smell something sweet right away.
It was quite a familiar smell.
She looked around searching for the source of the smell, only to notice the vase of flowers sitting on the table.
There were some oleander and orchids placed in the jar.
She went up to it and took a scent of the flowers laid out on a display.
“Beautiful.”
She also heard the chirping of the birds near the widow. Hearing the sound she walked up to it and stood right in front of the big window.
The gentle breeze walked past her making her long and golden hair all messy.
She tucked away some of the strands behind her ears and peeked out.
Only to see the Cherry tree in full blossom right outside her window in the middle of the garden.
Ivy's eyes snapped back the next second when she saw the view waiting in front of her.
"A cherry tree? They never said that they had one."
"It's so beautiful."
she stood there, enjoying the sight waiting without any care in the world, it was only a second ago, something had caught her eye.
it was someone underneath the tree. a guy was standing there.
she could not see his face properly but she could see that he was quite tall, just like Atlas.
"Is he someone inside the castle? or is he a servant?".
he turns around facing his back, making it visible for her to see his hair glistening under the rays of the sun. it was silver and vibrant, making it quite the unusual color which she may have seen in her village.
"Maybe things are different 'cause this is the Lycan Kingdom."
He left quite shortly before she noticed.
When he went away, she moved from the window and rolled her eyes all around the room.
"I feel lonely in here by myself."
"Hope I’ll find something to kill the time for the time being. Or else, I’ll be bored to death."
The afternoon soon came. She changed into the clothes which were prepared for her in her closet, a creamy white dress with straps.
She stood in front of the mirror, and combed her hair, then tied it into a ponytail with a small bow.
“Looks good. I can finally see Mom now.”
She goes out without closing the door behind her, heading towards the dining place.
She took the stairs and walked steadily.
At the end of the stairs, she spotted Atlas standing.
She walked up to him and greeted, “Are you going to eat as well?”.
He turns around with a plain face. “Uh, yes.”
But then, he examined her dress and his expression softened.
“You look good in that.”
Ivy’s cheeks turned a bit red hearing his compliment. She scratched her cheeks and replied, “Mm, thank you.”
“Let’s go then.”
She nodded following him quietly.
There wasn’t anyone present at the table when they arrived. There weren’t any maids as well.
“Weird.”
“Usually everyone arrives at the table by this time. But, there’s no one here today.” He added, roaming his eyes all around the table.
“Maybe, they are a bit late today.” She replied. “How about we wait for everyone to arrive?”.
He turns around with a smile. “Hm, that sounds better.”
“Take a seat for the time being.”
She took the seat right next to him and waited.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at the window in front of them.
Ivy was quite unable to understand what to talk so she stayed quiet.
But no matter how much they waited no one came. “Do you think-“ they both spoke up at the same time.
“You go first,” he added, resting his face on his hands.
“Uh, I…..”.
"I was just thinking, that there might be some problem that there isn't anyone here yet."
"Do you think so as well?".
He sighs.
"I was thinking the same as well. The castle isn't supposed to be empty at the moment, and Dad never arrives late."
"There seems to be some problem that we aren't aware of."
She pushed aside the chair and gets up on her feet right away after hearing that.
"We should go and help them out if that's the case."
She acted so worked up, surprising him.
"You want to help them out?".
She nodded, "Of course!".
He chuckled and gets up on his feet as well.
"You are quite strange, as I thought you were."
"Let's get going then."
"But, I'm not letting you go anywhere without me. We'll just check out the surroundings of the castle first. Then, if I think that we need to go anywhere, then only you'll go. Or else, not, got that?".
She nodded straight away.
"Good girl. Come with me."
- Writer
