Like falling in love is as easy as falling from a chair... it isn't.
When falling in love, you get some chances to make your loved one fall for you too. But remember that you have enemies to face before you make them fall for you. One is Time and the other, Emotions but the deadliest one is a Rival.
Time can do no harm and Emotions are controllable but beware of your Rival for you can't handle them alone.
Palace of Del - Library
The library is a good place to find more information and to widen your imagination. You can learn a lot of things from books and you can widen the capacity of your imagination with those fantasy-genred fiction.
On the other hand, Jasmine, our greenish-black-haired hero from the Forest of Silence, is using the library for another purpose.
She followed the prince of Deltora to the library, though the prince wasn't aware of her presence. She took one step at a time, slowly, surely and silently. Luckily, the prince had something else in his mind that is distracting him from everything else around him.
Once the prince reached a certain bookshelf, she hid behind the bookshelf adjacent to where the prince was. She knelt and peeked through a hole in the bookshelf to see what the prince is doing.
His bestfriend continued to spy on him through a hole in a bookshelf. Thankfully, no one noticed Jasmine. It would have been odd to see Lady Jasmine of Del peeking through a hole in a bookshelf.
Lief picked up a medium-sized brown book from the top shelf. Jasmine didn't have the chance to read the book's title for Lief moved far too fast. Lief looked at the book cover which contains the title and the author but Jasmine didn't got a chance to read it for it was outside her field of vision. Lief walked towards the reading tables where some other palace servants or nobles are reading books quietly.
Jasmine followed the prince, still made sure her movements and spywork go unnoticed.
Lief reached the table on the middle. No one was sitting on the table's chairs and the whole table was vacant. He sat on the third seat from the right and started reading the book.
Jasmine grabbed a book from the bookshelf that is right beside her. The bookshelf with a seemingly unnoticed hole on it. She didn't care what kind of book she grabbed or what it is even about. Hell, she didn't even looked at the bookshelf. She was too focused on a certain Lief of Del.
She sat beside Rebecca, a girl with silver hair that serves as one of the palace maids. Rebecca didn't seem to notice her as the silver-haired girl continued to read her book. Jasmine and Rebecca were on a table directly behind Lief and Jasmine's presence is still unnoticed.
Jasmine covered half of her face with the book; only leaving her two eyes to get a good view of what Lief is doing. She continued to stare at the prince but it got boring. Lief didn't move much for he was too busy reading his book. Rebecca soon left afterwards.
Jasmine got tired of staring and eventually, she decided to play a little game until something gets exciting. Her eyes wandered across the room as she tried to think of what to play or what to do next. She was too bored that she didn't even noticed that she actually has a book on her hands. Maybe reading is just not her thing.
She started naming every single person in the library. "Adela, Mr. Gruntsman, Cufero, Hullgan..." she said silently. Jasmine had taken a hobby of naming every single person in the palace and memorizing their names. Of course, there are some she forgot the names for she thinks of them as someone unimportant.
After naming a couple of people, she came across a girl with rose pink hair tied in two ponytails wearing a beautiful lace dress. When she recognized the figure, Jasmine quickly muttered a curse. A curse that a witch from the high mountains of Deltora taught her. Of course, she wasn't a witch and she didn't have anything magical with her so the curse wouldn't really take effect.
The girl with rose pink hair sat beside Lief which angered Jasmine. The girl didn't seem to notice the prince's bestfriend.
Jasmine covered half of her face with the book she isn't quite aware she have and continued to spy on the prince and the girl with rose hair.
After a few minutes, she heard Lief say something to the girl but even if Jasmine was to eavesdrop her best, she can't hear what the prince told the girl. The girl laughed in response. Her laugh was formal and as lady-like as it can be. It was something that made Jasmine sick. In this case, it made Jasmine sick and angry.
After a few more minutes, the girl stood up from her chair and said "Good bye." to the prince. "Finally." Jasmine muttered. The prince smiled at the girl and the girl curtsied in response. Her lace dress made the curtsy look even cuter than how an ordinary curtsy made by the maids or the ballroom dancers actually look like.
This time, Jasmine felt something beyond disgust and anger. She was already grinding her teeth, didn't care about the world or if someone sees her. She felt like she was about to blow up. How can a simple ordinary girl do this to Jasmine of Del, bestfriend of the prince and the heroine of Deltora?
Her titles and names mean nothing now. In fact, it was the very thing that is driving her nuts. She is titled 'Heroine of Deltora', 'Jasmine of Del', 'Jasmine of the Forest of Silence', 'Lady Jasmine' and the one that hurts most is 'Bestfriend of Prince Lief'.
She can't stand the fact that the girl standing right in front of her with her cute laughs and curtsies is nothing but just a friend of Lief and nothing beyond that. Frankly, she should be happy that the girl is nothing beyond a friend. But for how long? How long will she is just a friend?
Jasmine should be happy of her title, being the bestfriend of the prince. The prince only had two closest friends and his closest and most loyal allies and they are Jasmine and Barda. Instead of happiness, the title only brought her sadness for she knew she is only a bestfriend and Lief would absolutely not fall for her.
The girl with rose hair left and Lief returned the book on the bookshelf. Just as he was about to head outside, he saw a familiar strand of black hair.
He saw Jasmine with her head buried on the book. She didn't seem to move or make any noise at all. 'How can she breath?' Lief thought about her.
He went towards the girl whom he thought fell asleep on the book or if not, was already suffocating from the lack of air.
"Jasmine." he said her name as he slowly shook her shoulder. A girl with tired emerald eyes faced Lief. Jasmine blinked twice... no, thrice. She was making sure that her vision isn't fooling her.
She wasn't sleeping on the book or suffocating on it but she was actually imagining if Lief will even fall for her. Now that's something someone wouldn't not believe that Lady Jasmine imagines. Hey, even wild girls deserved to imagine romance. But I have to agree, Jasmine thinking about love is a seemingly rare occasion.
Jasmine was finally convinced that her vision isn't fooling her and the boy in front of her is her one true love - well, besides Dain.
She gave Lief a goofy smile. Suddenly, Jasmine was confused by her sudden movements. Why would she give a smile?
Lief ignored her goofy smile and asked if she's alright. The prince still thought that if she wasn't sleeping, she suffocated. His blue eyes held care and love for a friend he knew. But love has several meanings. His eyes probably meant care and love for a friend - whom he thought suffocated on a book.
Jasmine nodded in response and said "Why wouldn't I be alright?". The wild girl can easily neutralize a small squad of guards but when it comes to large numbers, she'll need Barda and Lief with her. But you wouldn't imagine a girl living in the Forest of Silence managing to survive on her own.
"I thought you were...suffocating..." the young prince said. His voice got weaker the closer he got to the word 'suffocating'. It would be rude to say that you thought your bestfriend died.
Jasmine just have to do that. She seriously have to whack the Prince of Deltora. Poor Lief had a slight red mark on his face right now. The wild girl truly is wild. The combination of her jealousy (and Jasmine shouted "I'm not Jealous!" from behind the humble author) and her anger on why on Earth would someone think she's suffocating - and the worst part is, she suffocated on a BOOK!
Jasmine left the library in a hurry. She left the library not because of the shame of slapping the prince but because of her absolute anger to the boy who thought she's suffocating. There were many people who saw her slap the prince. She heard most of them say "How could she." or maybe "No honor, No pride!" or "What a disgraceful young girl!". She didn't mind them though. She was used to every insult the people or magical creatures called her.
She didn't need pity or mercy. She's a damn girl who survived the Forest of Silence and treated it as her home, went on a journey that gave Deltora its freedom back and someone with an emotionally scaring back story that didn't even affected her. Hell, this is Jasmine of Del, the legendary heroine of Deltora.
She headed towards the garden. It was a place that she can have for herself. She can do anything she wants in the Palace Gardens, of course she'll stop if Queen Sharn or if her father scolds her from her wild doings.
She walked along the corridors of the palace. Every maid, every servant, every person she came across with, she knew their names. Jasmine's hobby wasn't so bad after all. Everyone in the palace knew her and she knew everyone else back, except for one person.
She saw a fat man at the end of the hallway. She'd never seen him before here. Maybe the fat man is a newcomer.
She headed straight towards him. The man stared at the gardens which Jasmine calls her second home. His face was filled with amuzement. The Palace Garden is pretty amazing after all. With the help of the gardeners hired by Queen Sharn and the girl named Jasmine who can speak to trees, the gardens are more beautiful than ever.
Jasmine was about to approach the man who was busy recognizing the beauty of the gardens. She noticed some flour stains on his brown shirt and he smelled a lot like bread. He must be a baker then. But wait... why would the Palace need a baker? The maids are trained to bake bread and they can also do delicious cakes. Why would Queen Sharn hire a baker?
Maybe Queen Sharn didn't hire the baker after all. There are many visitors in the large palace and Jasmine doesn't recognized all of them.
When she was about to open her mouth to say a word, the baker (if it is a baker) spoke. He didn't turn his head towards Jasmine, he just continued to look out to the garden and see its beauty.
"You like the garden, right?" he asked her. Jasmine was dazzled by his question. Why on Earth would someone ask her that? After all, she's pretty famous as Jasmine of Del, lover of the trees.
"Well yes... I do." she answered unsurely. The man finally faced her. Jasmine felt confused for the man had two different eye colors - and that would be impossible. His left eye is dark-violet and his right is... burning fiery red.
Being surprised of the man's weird eyes, Jasmine backed away a little. But something prevented her from backing away. She felt as if it was a hand of a person that prevented her. To her eye's shock, the baker's hand stretched all the way behind Jasmine, just to prevent her from escaping.
The hand swirled up around her that made her lock into place. She tried kicking the skin-like barrier but it was something like rubber. She punched, kicked and even bit the weird thing that locked her up into place but it was no use. It didn't damage the skin-like thing nor did it even loosen her up a little.
She finally decided it was time to call for help. She can't handle to weird baker alone. She opened her mouth to scream help but the hands covered her mouth that prevented her from shouting or screaming.
The baker started switching forms. 'It can't be.. an Ol!?' Jasmine thought. But the Ols were destroyed and they are nowhere to be found. Level 1's or Level 2's or even Level 3's... they should be destroyed. They shouldn't even exist now. They are a mere part of Deltora's history.
The Ol changed to a young man with dark purple hair and purple eyes. Jasmine faced him and saw who he was. A recognizable figure from before. He was the Ol called 'Dain'.
The Ol that once saved them but was only pretending to be nice and caring. The boy that can take form of anything he wishes. Not to mention, he is Jasmine's first love.
He eyed Jasmine. He saw that her emerald eyes were scared. He laughed at that thought. The thought of the wild girl Jasmine being scared of him. But she should be scared. She really should be because she have absolutely no idea how on Earth he survived the belt, how he managed to become an Ol again and what will his next plan be.
"Jasmine, you haven't change. Still beautiful as ever." he said seductively as he leaned in close to see her face.
He got a small glass bottle from his pocket and it had a red liquid inside it. It had a label on it written in characters that Jasmine can't recognized. She looked down at the bottle, only to see that Dain opened the small bottle. A red-colored smoked came from the bottle and it soon consumned Dain and Jasmine.
When the smoke dissapeared, the two dissapeared with it.