Ava watched as the silver haired lady entered the carriage and leave. It was already evening and she had already finished counting. Her heart was beaming with the pride of her passing Neville's stupid test. At least she would prove to him that she wasn't dumb.
She was so engrossed in curiosity while watching the silver haired woman, that she didn't see Amelia and her entourage coming towards her. Not until Amelia shoved her aside, fiercely. Ava ignored her and motioned to walk away, she didn't want to be involved in Amelia's business
"Hey, can't you at least acknowledge my presence?" Amelia said coldly when she noticed that she wasn't given any attention. The personal maid beside her whispered something in her ears and then she laughed. "What are you doing her anyways?"
"I'm training here" Ava simply said confidently, already furious.
Amelia raised a brow "I heard you're counting the tiles. Did Neville tell you to do that?"
"It's part of my training, I believe he knew the reason he asked me to do that" Amelia's loud laughter followed Ava's statement. Ava fumed.
"Oh my goodness! Are you really that naïve? Or do I say…Dumb?" She laughed again this time, more loudly. Her servants giggled too.
"Don't talk to me like that ever" Ava gritted her teeth
"What?" Amelia said and composed herself, her gaze turned cold "I brought you here Ava, and I'll take you back from where I saw you if you don't know how to respect me" her voice sounded like a deep evil whisper.
Suddenly, a strong irresistible force violently pushed Ava down from where she was standing, making her fall. That was Amelia's power and she couldn't do anything but watch. She felt so ridiculous at this point, not because she felt intimidated by Amelia but because she was powerless and these people just treated her as they desired.
"Bye-bye Ava, good luck on your training" She said sarcastically and sashayed out of the training ground. Her minions following her too.
Ava watched her leave, infuriated. She had never been as angry as this before, no one had ever treated her like this. Perhaps it was because she had not ever been in the outside world. She didn't know how badly people could treat others, maybe she was indeed naïve.
She stood up and arranged her hair. She didn't care about what they said. She had counted the tiles and passed Prince Neville's test -that was the thing that mattered. There would definitely be a comeback for Princess Amelia, one day when she was much stronger.
.........…..
Ava entered her chamber after she had sent for Rosslyn and Annabelle. There was need for someone to talk to at least, someone normal- who was not vain or arrogant.
She took a long shower, wishing she hadn't craved for a change and swearing she missed her real home. Where she was safe with Sir Asher and her other friends. She missed playing Sweet in the orchard. And not being bothered by anyone or anything.
She wondered where Sir Asher was now, was he safe? Did he feel lonely?
Soon, Rosslyn and Annabelle had arrived, they looked happy to help as always.
"Lady Ava" Annabelle said "You look very tired, are you feeling okay?"
"Well I'm a bit tired. I did a lot of strenuous work today"
"Should we give you a massage then?" Rosslyn suggested
"Yes, and we could bring your dinner here so you'll not have to stress yourself" Annabelle added.
"Oh, that'll be nice" Ava said, already adapting to the way they took care of her.
Shortly, they had already rested her on the comfortable rocking chair and prepared to massage her.
"I didn't know moving to another level required so much practice, I thought I'll be in level two by now" Ava said to them.
"Yes, my lady. Every level has it's potential so you need to train well to go to a higher level" Rosslyn replied.
"So what about you guys, do you train too?" Ava asked as Rosslyn rubbed her shoulders with some oil.
"No" Annabelle said "We servants are forbidden from expanding our magic powers. We are even restricted from doing some kind of magic in the palace, our levels are sealed which means we cannot advance"
Ava didn't like the idea of sealing someone else's magic powers, wasn't that unfair? So even if they had higher levels, they couldn't do much with it. She figured that it was perhaps because they were not trusted, and the royals were afraid of servants using their magic against them.
"I hope you guys don't feel bad about it?" Ava asked.
"Not at all" Rosslyn said "It's just one of the rules anyway"
Ava nodded enjoying the relaxing massage that they both gave. it made her ease all the tense muscles that she had been dealing with the whole time.
"Do you guys know anything about Princess Amelia?" she asked out of the blue
"I'm sorry My Lady, but why did you ask?" Annabelle asked
"Actually, I just think I need to know them all better, that's all" Ava didn't want to go to the details of telling them all that happened some moments ago.
"Princess Amelia is the youngest daughter of the king, she's also the weakest. She's in level three" Annabelle revealed.
"Yes, that's why she is not really liked by His Majesty. She stopped advancing her level since she was thirteen years old"
Ava nodded slowly, that was probably why the king always ignored her when she was talking, he showed so much dislike to his own daughter because she was just in a lower level than the others? That was wrong. Power was what mattered to these people, they didn't care if they were one family.
"But why did she stop advancing?" Ava asked curiously
"Nobody knows, but no matter how many times she tried, nothing happened"
That was why she was so mean to Ava, she wasn't going to be happy seeing her progress when she wasn't. Princess Amelia was just jealous, that was it.
Ava was so relaxed that she dozed off immediately the massage was over, the girls were reluctant to wake her for dinner and disturb her. So, they let her sleep instead and quietly left the room after she laid on the bed.
.........…
Meanwhile, in the human world at the heart of the huge city of New York stood a large imposing glass building. Dmitri, a middle aged man, entered the grey office and stood in front of the dark haired man dressed in an impeccable black suit on the office chair.
"Lord Supreme" He begun "There is vital information on The Awaited One. Our target is based on the hilly regions of South Georgia. His name is Asher Anderson, the former assistant of the Phoenix"
"Asher Anderson, the name rings a bell" The dark haired man crossed his legs leaning backwards "I want him before me. Alive" He ordered
"Yes sir, your wish is my command" Dmitri bowed
"She is within our grasp. We must not lose hold now"
"Yes Lord Supreme"
There was no prophesy that could come in the way. He needed information, needed the reigns and most of all, the highest magnitude of power imaginable.
His dream was coming true.
The one he had chased for twenty whole years.