Silence. 

The rest of the carriage ride was spent with the occasional cough or sniffle (all on my part, that is. I don't strike lady Yves as the type to even hiccup), conversation long gone. Every now and then I opened my mouth, words on the tip of my tongue just begging to be said. But the daggers she stared at me almost instantly had me stopping before I could even start. My, was this girl scary.

But perhaps I should've just bit the bullet and asked where we were going. When we didn't pass by the familiar large valley and green fields leading to the overseer's temple, I realised a little too late we were headed somewhere else. Oh god, is this where I die? Is the princess going to dump my body?

Just as I'm about to ask I instantly falter.

Following the princess' gaze outside the window I feel my eyes widen. For a moment it looked like we were going to crash right into possibly the largest tree I'd ever seen. The tree towered over us tenfold, unusually thick and tall. Shrubbery surrounded it so heavily I find myself jumping as realisation hits right at me.

"What.. What are they doing, we're heading straight for the tree!" I all but shout incredulously, pointing at the object in question aggressively. Sparing a glance at the princess' face I'm caught by further surprise when she doesn't even flinch.

Are these people crazy?!

Just as I'm about to poke my head out the window and call out to somebody-- anybody!-- I'm stopped.

I manage to make it half the distance to the window before a hand places itself on my forearm and tugs me back, so hard I collide against their body. A quiet wheeze leaves my lips when I fall into Yves' lap, my head briefly knocking against hers for the slightest of seconds. Before I can dwell too much on the ache in the back of my head, the feeling of her long arm now wrapped around my waist, her breath against my ear when she calls out a "Get off me!"-- I find my eyes squinting shut tightly as I brace myself for impact when the front of the carriage finally collides with the tree.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Nothing. I open my eyes. I can't believe it.

It's like the world seems to blur over. Like a camera lens shifting out of focus, like a motion blur on film when it pauses just at the second the main character moves. When I don't feel the carriage shake and crash against the tree but rather feel us go through it, my breath catches in the back of my throat. The world comes back into focus and we're no longer in the forest, no longer mere feet away from the tree. My mind is quick to catch up as I take in where we are now; horses pulling the carriage over a bridge separating us from a large body of water. So incredibly taken aback, I spare a glance behind the carriage and feel my eyes widen impossibly further.

In a formation of two straight rows, palace guards (at least sixteen of them) on their horses seem to morph through an invisible barrier-- the same one we came through. The barrier ripples as face after face emerge from its mysterious depths. The bridge we're travelling across seems to break off just at the edge of the barrier, but the further away we get I watch as the bridge slowly starts disappearing. I connect the dots. It must appear when it is needed then leaves when it isn't.

I couldn't wrap my head around it. It's a fantasy. It can't be real. It shouldn't be real.

But then I turn back around to face the front of the carriage.

The further we travel down the bridge the easier I could see, the more clear everything became like a masterpiece in a world so bland. We were approaching a sort of island, rain forest like trees as big as the one we morphed through framing its outskirts. But that wasn't what caught my attention, no. Incredibly large statues frame the edges of the island, at least eight of them, none the same. I couldn't make out their features but there was no denying how intimated I felt just looking at them. They were large and mighty, made from what looked like chiselled sandstone. They looked strikingly familiar to the statue in the university back home--

"She's a goddess."

Heejin's voice distracts me from my thoughts instantly.

"Huh?"

"That statue. She's a goddess. It's been here for a while, actually. Couldn't tell for the life of me who it is though." She admits with a thoughtful hum.

I look up from the podium and to the statue. In its chiselled glory I couldn't make out any distinct facial features. It looked like a faceless sculpture but for some reason I can't shake the uneasiness in my body as I meet where its eyes are suppose to be. It sent a chill down my spine which has me shivering. I tear my gaze away.

Gods.

The next thing my eyes are drawn to when the carriage completely crosses the bridge and the horses reigns are pulled on is a sort of courtyard. It looked like a village, brick and stone houses every which way, ant-like figures (slowly becoming clearer the closer we get) mingling about cobblestone streets. The village seems to go for miles, people walking out and about. But there was no mistaking the way they stopped and stared, pointing at the carriage almost excitedly. Then it dawns on me. This is the Kingdom. The palace folk, her people.

And then I see it.

Quite a miles away from the courtyard and the village appears a grand castle hidden behind more of the rain forest. Two unmistakably large watch towers stand at the front of the castle, bright orbs of light contained at their tops and masking the valley over in an orange-ish hue. The same maroon sigil I saw on the end of the riders pole from when I awoke in the forest hangs clear on both tower, proud as it waves in the wind. The castle looked like a modernised, altered version of the taj mahal: cylindrical towers, white and sturdy. But this... it was completely unlike anything I'd seen before. It was bigger, ethereal... I truly had stepped into a fantasy.

It's magical. I could only begin to imagine what it looked like closer up.

I was too busy caught up in my thoughts, eyes wide and mouth hanging agape that I completely forgot the position I found myself in now. It wasn't until Yves' voice broke through the silence was I drawn back to reality.

"Get. Off. Of. Me."

I pale.

The arm wrapped around my waist seems to grip me so tight I feel a warm flush taking over my cheeks. I instantly stammer, pushing myself away from the girl and out of her lap. Stumbling over my words I shake my head repeatedly.

"I-I'm sorry! I just got scared! I-"

I'm cut off. Yves raises a hand which has me silencing instantly, my mouth zipping shut at the sudden motion. The carriage continues to move forward, now cutting across the courtyard and through the village, past the village-folk who holler out to the princess in cheers of joy from her being home so soon. But I can't pay it any mind, no. Not when Yves stares at me in this moment with that hard look in her eyes, deadly. For a second I could've sworn I saw her cheeks redden over, even slightly. Her lips part as she seems to mull over her words. But then she stops.

"Forget it."

Huh?

Yves lowers her hand and looks out the window once more, waving out to her people and giving them her undivided attention. All I could do was stare at her side profile, startled, embarrassed. I'd known the girl for less than half a day now-- hell, less than an hour and everything about her confused me already.

I'd almost completely forgot about the entire debacle with the barrier and the bridge until reality kicks in. My mind drifts away from the gorgeous brunette in front of me and instead trails back to what just happened-- trying desperately to make sense of this new turn of events. The temple... the royal home... the kingdom. For so long I thought I was going crazy. I couldn't believe it, I thought it was a figment of my imagination, that it was too fake-- too fantastical to be true. But now... I believe.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed with the newfound silence be