TWO

An tap on her door instantly brought Elaine out of her thoughts.

"You may enter." She called out.

Turning to face the door, she smiled as her mother, Thea, gracefully entered the room and joined her at the mirror. She glanced at her mum with curious eyes as she hadn't expected this little visit. A pleasant surprise that started her day. 

"My baby is all grown up now…" Thea began, her voice smothered in pride and emotion. 

"Mum." Elaine cringed at her mother's choice of words. 

"Your brother would be so proud of you, as we all are." Her mother stated, fussing with her hair. 

"Doesn't feel that way sometimes. I really miss him, mum." She admitted softly. 

"Oh, honey! I miss him too." A v line formed in the middle of her forehead as she wallowed a little in a second of grief. 

Without another word she embraced her mother in a comforting hug, feeling relief from the overwhelming moment of grief herself. She did not want to ruin the celebratory day with tears and sadness as that isn't what Lucas would want. With that thought in mind, she forced a smile onto her face and then stepped back from the hug, blinking away the tears that had threatened to fall. 

Linking arms with her mother, the two walked together out of Elaine's bed chambers and headed for the ballroom. As they turned onto the final set of stairs atop of the grand staircase, all heads in the room turned towards the two beauties. 

"Announcing the entrance of her majesty, Queen Thea and her highness, Princess Elaine." One of the herald announced as the pair descended the remaining set of stairs. 

Finally breaking away from her mother, Elaine made her way through the crowd to find her best friend, Isabel. Spotting her short ginger hair amongst the seas of black, brown and blonde hair, Elaine found Isabel near the exit. 

Having been so busy recently she hadn't managed to get the chance to speak to her yet. The fairy friend stopped in her tracks when she heard her name being called, and spun around to face her best friend. 

"Happy birthday, your highness." Isabel greeted with a smile. 

"Issy, please. No need for the highness. Elaine is fine with me. Thank you though." She reminded her eccentric best friend, who had a habit of using formal titles at formal occasions. 

"Right! Sorry, I forgot again." The fairy apologised, readjusting her everyday short, blue tunic dress.

"No need." She smiled and took two glasses of wine from the silver platter that one of the royal servants was holding as they passed, and handed one to her best friend. 

"Thanks." Isabel smiled and lifted her glass to clink with Elaine's.

Just as the girls clinked their glasses and said a little cheers, the ground began to vibrate beneath their feet and the walls shook causing picture frames and candle branches to fall and smash on the floor. The elegant music that had been playing only a moment ago ceased and the whole room fell silent. 

Elaine and Isabel looked at each other confused and scanned the room for anything out of the ordinary. There were never earthquakes in Delphi, so that was out of the question. Only a few seconds passed before a loud cackling laugh ripped through the castle and echoed, bouncing off of every stone wall. 

Elaine felt her heart begin to pound in her chest as her mind raced back to the dream she'd had the night before. Her eyes widened as she scanned the room once again, looking for the source of the laugh. 

A feeling of dread and a feeling of panic set into Elaine as she stood still as though she had been frozen and only moved her eyes to try to locate the cause. Though it wasn't long before it presented itself in a rather brash manner. The entrance doors of the castle burst open with a loud crash as they hit the walls on either side and a malicious looking woman entered. 

Her long midnight black hair flying behind her in the strong winds that she had somehow created, she barged into the room, pushing anyone standing nearby out of the way. Elaine, followed by Isabel quickly joined her parents in the centre of the room, hoping to get a better view of the party crasher. 

As soon as she laid eyes on the person, she had to do a double take to ensure that she was not dreaming again. Sure enough, this time what she was seeing was real. The woman's now windswept midnight hair was scattered messily around her shoulders and back. She was wearing a dull black ball gown and a long black cloak that trailed on the floor behind her. 

Although she was almost physically flawless, there was a look in her eyes that just screamed of trouble… something about the deep purple irises that brought her ill intentions to the surface. 

"I beg your pardon." Elaine's father, King Luther, scolded. 

"Excuse me Miss, but what my husband is trying to say is that you can't just barge into the castle and party without an official invite." Queen Thea tried to explain as politely as possible. 

"Zip it Queeny." The woman snapped. 

"Don't you dare speak to my wife like that! Who the hell are you anyway?" The King raged. 

"Easy there, pretty boy… My name is Odette, and I have come here to collect a pure soul. I noticed that this entire room is filled with purity, but none quite as good as my chosen one." The woman, clearly a witch, informed him. Elaine froze once again when Odette eyed her with a glint of mischief. 

This was not how she imagined her birthday would turn out, instead it was something that only existed in her nightmares - until now, that is. She was one hundred percent certain that this was no nightmare. This was real. But instead of showing any signs of weakness, she stood her ground. No shaking or flinching, just staring into the eyes of the witch who had crashed her birthday. 

"Well aren't you a brave one." Odette sneered. 

"O - Only when I need to be." She stuttered, unsure of exactly how to respond. 

"Yes, I can see." The witch said in a contemplating tone.