Ariadne's POV

"Ariadne? What are you doing here?"

I turned around to see Estevan's surprised, yet pleased, face looking at me.

"I did not mean to come here," I said trying to make sense of it as well.

He looked at me confused. "How so?"

"Well I was walking and we found this tree-" I started explaining and he patiently listened as the story of my arrival unfolded.

It took a minute for him to digest all the things I said. "The tree glowed? After you touched it? And you are still alive?"

"I believe so," I said curious to what he was getting at.

"That is odd indeed."

"What is?"

"Well, that is how our families got down here, at least that was what I was told. But in order to open the door, you need to make a sacrifice, and only the tree gets to decide who is worthy to do that," he said then hesitated before continuing. "In this case, it chose you."

My eyes grew wide. "Then why am I still alive?"

"That is what does not make sense. Because when our ancestors came here, they said that the man who was sacrificed could not move, and no one else could get him off either."

"I could not move either, it was even hard for me to breathe," I said with a shiver. "And then Prince Wilson helped me and that gave me strength and I was able to get away from the tree. Although, I was very weak afterward."

"That is not a surprise. But what is surprising is that you are able to walk by yourself even now."

I looked down at my shoes, half expecting my legs to give out. "I... I don't know why I am different."

He smiled gently and took my hand. "It is not a bad thing. In fact, it is remarkable."

I looked at him a little confused. He seemed to have many personalities.

"You must be very special," he whispered.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I cleared my throat, pulling my hand away, "Thank you, but I did not do it by myself."

"Yes... This, Prince Wilson, helped you?" He asked, his eyes narrowing in thought.

"Yes, he was very kind and-"

"What is his full name? What is he the prince of?"

"Well his full name is Prince Wilson Worthington II and if my memory serves me correctly then he is the Prince of Credarus in the 8th Realm."

Estevan's eyes widened in surprise. "I believe I have found a way for you to free my brothers and me of this dying kingdom. I did not want to tell you before, but the curse that King Rowland put on us can be broken if one of us or our descendants marries back into the crown of Glendowin. And if I am correct, this Prince Wilson you spoke of is one of our descendants! And if he helped free you from the tree then that means the love between you two must be powerful indeed!"

"What are you saying?"

"That if you marry Prince Wilson then you can break our curse!"

I tried to take this all in. Yes, we had just shared an amazing kiss but did that mean I wanted to marry him?

You have to marry soon, you are now the ruler of this kingdom. Plus father already approved of him.

I forced back tears at the thought. "I will see."

Estevan looked pleased. Then his face fell and he and walked over to some flowers. He knelt down and gently cupped one that was drooping lower than the others, and when he removed his hand it raised up, looking healthy and new.

My eyes widened. "How did you do that?" I whispered.

He gave a sad smile. "I inherited a little magic from my father because I am his oldest son."

I did not know what to say: I just stood there, mesmerized as he healed all the drooping flowers.

"I could teach you," he said not looking at me.

"How?" I asked once I had found my voice.

He beckoned me over and I knelt next to him. "Put your hand here," he said demonstrating with his own hands. I did as I was told and he gripped my hands a little too harshly in his. The instant our skin touched, I felt a flash of power surge through me. And I quickly pulled away. That was too much like the tree.

"Are you alright?" He asked, looking a little too concerned.

"I will be fine," I croaked, not able to take my eyes off my hands.

From the corner of my eye I saw Estevan start to reach for my hands again, but then retract them as he seemed to reconsider; for which I was grateful.

"Should we go see if the staircase will let me leave?" I quietly asked.

He looked at me and slowly nodded, appearing to be consumed with his thoughts.

We walked in silence until we reached the black river.

I reached the top of the stairs, but something was different. The opening was gone.

"Do not make a fool of yourself, Ariadne," I whispered. "Think."

I looked around and then an idea popped into my head. I knelt down on the last step and prayed that I was right. I reached my hands out in front of me, looking for another step, or the opening, or something to give me hope. I felt right above the step but the only difference was the air felt thick and moist. I stretched my arms as far as they would go until I felt shaky and made the mistake of looking down. I quickly backed up a few steps, laid on my stomach and reached out again. Nothing.

I sighed and decided to try one last thing. I stood up and reached up, wishing with all my heart that the opening would appear. I was wishing so hard that I could almost imagine it there. Then I realized that it was not just my imagination, something was beginning to form. I felt a smile growing on my face as I stood on my tiptoes and reached to try and touch the opening. My hand barely scraped it when I realized that I had leaned too far forward and I began to fall into the thick, dense air in front of me. I screamed and closed my eyes, willing the stairs to appear so I wouldn't have to fall the hundred feet to my death.

Then I heard someone else call out my name right before I landed. And I landed hard, but also a lot sooner than I was expecting. I slowly opened my eyes and it looked like I was floating. I moved my hand by my face, and I was on something. I slowly sat up and felt someone grab my waist and pull me to them. "Are you okay?"

I looked at Estevan and nodded, trying to steady my breathing; which was hard with my tight corset.

"How did you do this?" Estevan asked in astonishment.

I looked around and saw that we were sitting on a bright glass platform, a few feet below where I had fallen. Then I noticed that the glass staircase was dark, almost a black compared to the platform that I stood on. "How did I not notice that before?" I asked myself.

"What?" Estevan asked.

"Oh, it was nothing," I said and tried standing up, to which he immediately began helping me up. I looked around and realized everything was darker than I had first thought it was, despite the lights and beauty of it all. Everything, that is, except the platform that I had made. I shook off the nagging feeling in my stomach and looked at the ledge where the staircase had left off and above it was the opening. I was surprised that the rest of the staircase hadn't formed yet. "We should hurry, in case the staircase decides to reform as well."

"I agree," he said. Then he looked at the staircase as if willing it to do something. I looked at it too, and wished that it would stay how it was for just a few moments longer.

"Can you help me up?" Estevan looked away from the staircase to me, and nodded. He grabbed me by the waist and easily lifted me onto the platform. I looked down at him, "Do you need help?" I asked as I pulled my feet the rest of the way onto the stairs.

He smiled and shook his head. "I will be fine." And with that he grabbed the ledge and pulled himself up in one swift motion.

I looked down and saw that the stairs had begun to form again and when I gently touched them with my shoe, it bounced back and I stumbled backwards. Luckily Estevan caught me before I fell. "I am glad we made it up here when we did."

"Me too," he replied darkly.

"Do you know who did this?" I asked, surprised by his tone.

"I have an idea."

I looked at him and wondered whom he meant, but by the look on his face he didn't want to talk about it. Then he looked at me and his features softened. "You should go to your sisters. I presume they have greatly missed your presence."

I nodded. "Thank you."

I slowly placed my foot on each step to make sure that they were stable before placing all of my weight on them. It took a few minutes, but I finally reached the top. I looked back to thank Estevan again but when I turned around he wasn't there.

Typical.

I turned back and pushed on the exit. I breathed a sigh of relief when it easily slid open, and I hurriedly climbed out and then ran to go find Prince Wilson.

What would he say about all this? Would he believe me?

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