Beauty

At the same hour.

Walking beside Oletha had afforded Elizabeth the opportunity of seeing the most of the Castle.

Due to the darkness and the commotion of running amongst everything else, Elizabeth had formed a horrible opinion of the Castle and the entire country at large.

She had described the castle in her heart as a soulless place; with the hearts of its inmates coated with dark and heavy secrets.

To Elizabeth before now, the castle had nothing of note that held true to the word "Beauty".

But now, she was seeing a different kind of castle. She almost wanted to pinch herself to be sure that she was not living a dream as a reality.

So far, during her walk, Elizabeth's jade-like eyes had gotten fed with certain sculpted works of art aligned in a particular hallway they had walked through.

The amount of gold and ornaments of rich culture that she had seen were enough to drive her crazy with excitement but all the while, she had maintained absolute composure while screaming like a mad woman inside her head.

It wasn't until she had passed by a widely spaced corridor which flourished with beautiful painted pictures and well crafted fresco designs that she was forced to speak.

"How come I never saw these parts of the Castle yesterday? My god! I never imagined seeing this much beauty," exclaimed Elizabeth in utter amazement.

Oletha, at the sound of this, managed to stifle her brewing laughter.

"Milady, this is a castle and I don't mean to sound too rude, but what castle wouldn't have all these parts? Also you only took a small route into the Castle with the other maidens yesterday. Isn't it? So trust that this place is so much bigger." Oletha's words to Elizabeth.

"You are right, Oletha... I came in with just one route, but still forgive my ignorance. Also, you should know that my home town doesn't have its own king... We are a small village by the Moor river-"

"Griffinwald?"

"How could you guess it right?" Elizabeth asked in admiration.

"Haha! It was easy, milady. Only one village is beside the Moor river. There is Wimborne about an hour or so far from it, but those small villages really don't have a king. Their senior officials report to this place."

"You mean my village is subject to the King of Aegremonth?" Elizabeth asked, curiously. She could not believe what she had heard.

"Yes, milady. I think Griffinwald and Wimborne are a tiny part of Aegremonth. There is one more village but I can't remember. All three are within the territory now." Oletha informed.

"How come? My place is several hours from here. I even slept halfway through my ride to this place."

"It doesn't matter... The distance is nothing. The former king practically bought your village. Therefore, resources from here can make it easy to your village."

"The resources are true. I always wondered how it was possible. Thank you anyway, I'll ask my father to tell me more about it when I return home later today," said Beth to her companion.

Oletha simply kept a straight face; one that was difficult to read through.

"Let us walk on, milady. I know you must be tired," insisted Oletha.

"How did you know? Right now I'm dragging my feet halfway through. It feels like we've been walking for hours," cried Elizabeth in a manner that caused Oletha to laugh without restraint.

Beth then smiled a smile of fulfilment.

"I like that... Keep on smiling, Oletha. You look beautiful when you smile and you should totally relax your nerves when you are with me," said Elizabeth in a kind tone.

"Thank you, milady. You are the kindest and most considerable human being that I've met, and to think that I can say all this from spending just one hour with you."

"That explains you as the good person for opening up to trust my good intentions even though you barely knew me."

An emotional phase erupted scarcely between them before Oletha parted her lips to speak.

"We are approaching the courtyard now; the one that would lead us to the garden," informed Oletha.

Elizabeth nodded slightly and tagged along her guide.

The courtyard.

The magnificence before Elizabeth left her awestruck that she had her mouth wide open the entire time, her mind was trying to make sense of what her eyes were seeing.

Fine rich marbles paved the courtyard. Also, there was a 'well' in the middle of the courtyard but unlike any 'well' she had seen.

It was a well with a pump and standing on top was a monsterous form that mimicked a fiery lion which had wings cut into his back.

The lion's mouth oozed out a fountain of water and this water flowed from it into a golden trough.

"Such beauty indeed!" Beth exclaimed as she and Oletha soon made it through a curtainless door which stayed open, enroute to the healing herb garden.

The Castle's garden.

This was another heaven of its own with flowers of all kinds and of varying exquisite fragrances blooming in it.

Elizabeth was speechless as she saw plants of all kinds, nothing was lacking in the garden. Even the trees existed.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.

Oletha then led her lady to the part of the garden reserved for growing healing herbs solely for the Castle's benefit.

There she spotted the back of the court lady and called out to her.

"Lady Sigrid! I've brought the maiden with me!"

Sigrid then stood up at once and turned around until she was facing Elizabeth by now.

She smiled at the girl who was now looking thoroughly transformed, before speaking to Oletha.

"Thank you for bringing her. You may go!" said Sigrid to Oletha.

The latter then nodded slightly and walked away leaving Elizabeth with the Court lady.

Looking at Beth, Sigrid who was still wearing a charming smile curled her lips to speak.

"I'm glad you are finally here, fair maiden. I have been waiting for you!"