Chapter 3 New World

He seemed to be asleep just as Gosling was. His hair color was nothing she had seen before- at least not on what appeared to be a young man. The silver-white strands covered some of his face, while his head rested against his fist. His complexion was like the color of toffee with a blue-red undertone. While she had an orange-red undertone. He also seemed to be a little lighter than her.

Her head started to dip down and her eyes tried closing. But she needed to figure out where she was and who this man was.

In mid-thought, she's thrown up when they roll over something rough. She landed back down in her seat along with the man before her. His eyes flew open as she closed hers. For a brief moment, she saw eyes that seemed to be the shade of amethyst. 

The man across from her eyed her for a while before turning his head to talk through an opening, presumably the driver. She was unable to catch any clear words from him before feeling herself go back in deep sleep.

Her eyes flew open as she breathed out heavily. She was back on the water, just barely floating on top of it. This time she couldn't move her limbs. The dark waves around her would move closer and closer around her, tugging her deeper into the water. She squeezed her eyes shut as she fell underneath the waves. 

Suddenly when she gasped and opened her eyes again she was in a bed. She winced, turning her head away from the sunlight that hit her face from the window across the room. Her heavy breathing didn't cease as she sat up, her eyes darting around the room. It was a little larger than her room or maybe it was just bare compared to hers. She wondered if she ever would be able to return to her room… 

With a deep breath, she shoved the covers aside. The cape she was wearing beforehand was gone, replaced with a periwinkle gown. She stepped out of the bed quietly and made her way to the door on the front of her feet. The door thankfully didn't make too much noise as she peeked out. 

After a double-check to make sure no one was nearby she further opened the door and started to step out of the room. She trembled, gripping onto the doorknob.

Even if she did escape where would she go then? Would going back home even be safe? She didn't even know where she was... Besides, she had failed her race just like those before her. Most are never seen again once they do. 

"Oh, ma'am!" 

Gosling was seconds away from slipping back into the room but a few ladies had already made their way to her. From their clothing, it appeared they were servants. Though, what they wore seemed to be in better condition versus what the servants she knew back home wore.

Her shoulders tensed as she debated whether to just run back inside the room anyway and to shut them out. She did a once-over on them before deciding they may not be much of a threat. But her hand didn't leave the doorknob.

"Morning young lady, we were just about to check if you were up. Breakfast is almost if not already done," the hefty woman who had got her attention earlier explained.

"Did you sleep well?" the lady beside her piped up. She looked like a miniature version of the hefty woman except thinner and a slight taller. They both had curly auburn hair and their skin was a peachy color. 

"Ma'am?"

She turned her attention to the last servant of the trio. This lady was much paler than the other two, though all of them seemed to be much paler than Gosling. She sucked in a breath at the sight of the lady. Pale with sky-blue eyes and blonde hair. While the servant's hair was nowhere near golden, it was still blonde. Gosling felt her hands reach up to her own hair for a moment, gripping it. 

"I think she's frightened," the blonde mumbled to the other two before giving Gosling a strained smile. 

The hefty woman sighed before patting Gosling's other arm. "No need to be scared. Our prince found you on his morning stroll during a patrol."

"Prince?" 

Almost everything was so foreign here, there, even just one step outside the door of the fortress. 

"You will meet him at breakfast. Now then, let's go!" She wrapped her arm around Gosling's and tugged her away from the door. "Don't want to miss eating do you? I know you have to be hungry."

"I would imagine so, she looked like she was dead when she got here-" 

The hefty lady swung around to face the blonde and glared down at her. "Listen here young lady, you can't be saying such things. Especially when the person is in earshot, have some damn manners!" Her face seemed to be growing a darker shade of pink with each word.

The blonde quickly nodded and her eyes stayed on the floor the rest of our walk. Even the hefty woman's "twin" and Gosling had their eyes downcasted as well. It seemed the scolding had affected them as well. It reminded Gosling- not of her childhood but even recently, she can't remember a day that had gone by without her being chastised about something she's done or tried to do.  

"You three look like a puppy who had their tail or foot stepped on." The hefty lady shook her head.

"Sorry, ma'am," Gosling mumbled, glancing at the furniture as they walked down the hall. Large paintings or photos covered the walls among some mirrors if there weren't any doors in the way. "By prince...did you perhaps mean ruler?" 

"Ruler?" She laughed, patting Gosling's hand. "Well, I would say his father is more like our ruler than he is. Though, his father does leave some tasks to him, so he can be prepared to do it all and more in the future."  

"Yes, since one day he'll be our king," the "twin" piped up with a smile. 

King..must be their way of saying, ruler. But why only one king? She decided to keep these thoughts to herself once a divine aroma filled her senses. 

There was a large, round-arched opening versus other hallways they had passed by. It led to a room that was about as large as the ballroom her uncle had. Yet this seemed to be just the dining area with the white long table and the many chairs to go along with it. But there was still plenty of space in the room for walking, tall potted plants, and more could likely fit or be done in here.

Her eyes followed along with the plates and bowls of food sat on both ends of the table. Everything had some silver on them and it wasn't rusted either, the table had silver carvings of twists, and the dishes had silver edges. Slowly her gaze, as well as the scent, shifted onto something- someone else. The person she had seen before waking up here. But her focus on his scent was brief, her appetite could have been the cause. 

The servants glanced over at the young man that sat at the other far end of the table. "Good morning sir."

His amethyst eyes had finally left the plate in front of him. Instead of them fixating on the servants they weighed in on Gosling. She kept her own on the food or anything else but him.

"You may take a seat." His lips broke out into a gentle smile. "Actually let me pull out your seat and serve you." He stood up from his chair, causing the servants to scramble over.

"No sir, please sit." The blonde tried to push him back down while the other two helped with his chair and attempted blocking his exit.

He chuckled as he clasped the blonde's hands. "You three have already done enough with bringing her here." He glanced between the trio. "Let me-"

"Janice, please pull out her chair for her. And Mercy, please help Agnes with serving her," a voice rumbled.