"I cannot believe I have to wear this," I grumble kicking my feet out beneath the long, flowing fabric of my dress. "I'm a thief, not a princess." I stumble a few times trying to walk correctly in this forsaken thing. The events leading up to this situation resurface in my mind.
"There's an important item somewhere in the castle and we need you to sneak in and retrieve it," Mark explains handing me a flyer. I examine the contents of the paper to see a contest being held to declare a lucky woman as the next heir to the throne.
"What does this flyer have to do with me?"
Mark's eyes stare at me until I realize what his intentions are. "No way," I object. "I am not going to associate myself with those types of women. Send someone else."
Mark chuckles as well as his second in command, Sam. "Do you honestly think we can sneak a man into the castle without anyone batting an eye? You don't realize how easy this day will be for you to get in and out without anyone blinking twice."
"I don't care," I say.
Sam steps up and studies my face; I step away feeling uncomfortable. "I'm with Cyra on this one. It's too obvious. She doesn't have a womanly feature at all. She'll easily throw the mission."
I step closer to my comrade and greet his shoulder with the ball of my fist. He playfully grabs his shoulder in pain and I scowl at him. "I can be womanly!" I boast.
"A woman wouldn't punch her friend in the shoulder," Sam chuckles.
I lower my brows at him and lift my arm up as a threat.
"Enough," Mark interrupts. "You have no choice in this, Cyra. Consider a larger portion of the pay yours to do what you want." Without allowing me to refuse, Mark steps out of the room followed by Sam.
I couldn't believe those two. When I had changed into the dress they had gotten for me they both laughed. I tried to wipe the smirks off their faces but ended up tripping and bruising my knee instead. I lift the skirts of my dress to my shins and hasten my pace to reach the castle in time for the competition. I hear the clock tower bells sound off eleven times and I realize I'm late.
The gates are within my sight and I start to run, tripping mostly, until the image of a closed gate brings me to a stop. I curse under my breath. If I didn't have to wear this stupid dress and heels I would have made it in time.
I examined the lowered gate. There had to be another way inside. I search the stony wall for anything I could climb. A smile crosses my face when my eyes find a protruding brick allowing enough space for my foot to rest on. I slide up the sleeves of my gown and hoist myself up the wall. The tip of my shoe fits perfectly on the brick and I begin to raise my other up higher when the hem of my dress snags on something.
"Oh, come on," I groan and look down to see the dress caught on the jagged edge of another protruding stone. I tug on the dress until it becomes loose with a rip. I release an agitated breath but continue to climb the wall. I get a few feet up when I begin to remember I'm not wearing my usual shoes and start to have trouble holding a grip on the wall.
"What are you doing?"
The tip of my foot loses its position and I tumble to the ground. I spew a few curses until I realize there's someone a few feet away. I bring myself to my feet and look up into the owner of the voice. Two eyes as red as roses narrow at me and a firm line of lips rest inches below.
"I came here for this," I quickly say shoving the flyer towards him. A hand resting at his waist reaches for the paper and his eyes shift over the large font.
"You're late," he says with a smooth, deep voice. His auburn colored hair sways over his forehead as he lifts his head up and returns the paper. I notice a glimmer of metal flash in the sunlight by his ear bearing some sort of earring tracing his cartilage.
"I know but I'm really determined to get in there. Wysteria needs a new princess and I'm the right choice," I fib. I honestly wasn't interested in the stupid charade but I wanted that item and the money that came with it.
The man eyes me over and his lip twitches slightly and I know he's fighting a smile. "Right, well, a princess is never late. Nor is she covered in dirt." He lets out a snort before turning away and walking back to the gate. I take in a deep breath before jogging up beside him.
"I had trouble with my dress," I say through my gasping breaths to keep up with his long strides. "I wouldn't have gotten dirty if the gate wasn't closed. Look, I really need to get in there. Please."
He stops walking then turns to me with narrowed eyes. "Why should I let you?"
"Please let me in. I've promised my dying mother I'd become the princess or attempt it before she passes." I say pretending to tear up and batting my eyelashes. It usually works for most girls so it was worth a try.
The man cocks a brow, clearly unimpressed, but sighs, "Fine. You're lucky I'm in a good mood today."
My lips curve into a smile and I lift the bottom of my dress as he unlocks and opens the gate. I step inside and my jaw drops at the beautiful sight set before me. The castle is humongous and made of an elegant white stone. Luscious green grass surrounds the border of the castle and flora of every kind imaginable decorates the landscape. A large marble fountain rests in the middle of the courtyard just before pearl white steps leading up to the castle's front entryway.
"Wow," I breathe.
"You get used to it," the man says placing a hand on the hilt of his sword. Whether it was because he saw me as a threat or it was just a habit of his. Now that I notice it, he does have quite a bit of armor on. He must be a knight.
"The competition is in that door and to the right. When you hear a bunch of screaming girls, you'll know you're in the right place," the knight says crossing his arms over his broad chest plate.
"Thank you," I say. My heart calms and I'm grateful he didn't offer to escort me there personally. I attempt to curtsy and hear a snort from the knight in response. I instinctively scowl but stop myself when I remember my mission. I plaster a fake smile on my face before trudging over to the steps and enter the hallway. I knew I was making a fool of myself but that didn't matter because money was involved.
I enter the castle and follow the directions as instructed. As I make my way down the cool, marble hallway, I slide my fingers into the collar of my dress and pull out an envelope that held my objective inside. Mark had told me not to open it until I was inside the castle. For whatever reason, I had no idea.
I slide open the latch and remove a folded piece of paper covered in words. It looked like a page torn from a book. Curiosity taking hold, I unfold the page to find an image of a drawn flower. My brows draw together in my confusion and I bite my lip as I read the description beneath the sketch.
Starlight Lilium, also known as Starlight Lily, is said to grow inside the ancient garden of the Wysterian Castle. Although it hasn't been proven, this flower is believed to grant wishes upon those who discover it and whisper their wish while removing the flower from the earth.
There was no way I was sent here to get a dumb flower, a myth at that. I flip over the page but it's blank. Anger and betrayal flows through me and I crumple the paper and throw it at the wall.
"Is this a joke? Those jerks!" I say loudly. "I"m gonna strangle them."
"What have we here?" A male voice says behind me and I turn around startled. A man with snow white hair is leaning over and picking up the crumpled paper. "It's not like a lady to litter," he says tilting his head to the side with a smirk.
Crimson eyes, just like the knight's, gaze at me with a bit of amusement flashing behind them.
"I accidently dropped it," I lie and snatch the page from his hands before he opens it.
"Is that why you were cursing and talking about strangling someone?" He lifts a brow suspiciously but the smile remains on his face.
"You heard all that?" I mumble.
"It's hard not to when you're not exactly quiet about it," he says with a soft chuckle.
"Sorry," I murmur before shoving the page back into my dress. The man strides over to me and lifts my chin up to examine my face. I notice how long his lashes are and his lips are smooth like silk. My cheeks begin to burn and I stagger back, at a loss for words.
"You're quite beautiful," he says and it takes all I can to keep myself from staring at those lips of his.
I lower my chin and blink myself back from my trance. "Thanks," I mumble.
I step away and the man chuckles. "Do I make you flustered?"
"Of course not," I blurt out quickly.
The man smiles at me but something about it comes off as mischievous.
"I'm assuming you're here for the competition, correct?"
"Maybe," I say averting his gaze.
"Shall I escort you? I'm heading there myself." He reaches a hand out but I don't take it.
"I'm a little nervous," I fib. "I'm just trying to compose myself before I join everyone."
His brow lifts again and I know he sees through my lie. He grabs hold of my hand anyways. "You'll do fine. You're beautiful. That's all that matters with these things."
I search my head for excuses but come up short so I've no choice but to follow him.