I tried my best to prevent them from noticing the mirror and kept looking over to where Routan was just in case they tried to do anything silly to him. More of them came and their whispering greatly disturbed my ears.

We had reached the queen's palace a while later and it was a very beautiful sight. Even more beautiful than any other place I had seen on the journey.
I was dropped to walk myself but my hands were tied together from behind. I felt unstable walking with my hands tied at my back and I did my best not to fall.

The palace was made of water and some parts were beautiful  shining ice. The building was very tall and as we stepped inside I could feel my body freeze. The people weren't affected and also Routan.

There were many people inside the palace and they all paused whatever they were doing to stare at me. It felt really awkward to have so many unknown eyes on me.

My feet got even colder as I walked on the ice stairs. My slippers had been seized for some reason and when I turned to look at their own feets, they happened to had dropped them at the entrance of the palace. It appeared it was some abomination to wear slippers or shoes into the queen's palace.

My feet survived to the top of the long curvy stairs and I almost fell if not that one of them caught me.

I lifted my head and behold was the Queen in all her glory. Her aura was outstanding and her cloth was made of water which matched the color of her ice throne. Her white hair stopped past her shoulder and her blue eyes never stopped sparkling.

Around her throne were a lot of blue crystals and portraits of her which made me irritated for no reason.

I was awestruck and before I knew it, the people of the water kingdom had all bowed to her. I did the same courteously and as I wondered how long we were going to bow. It felt like years and we stood up when she looked satisfied.

The man who had suggested they made her aware of my appearance stepped forward after summoning a lot of courage and bowed himself thrice before opening his mouth to speak.

" My Lord, Queen Aquella. We found a stranger in the village. Could she be a spy from the other rival kingdoms? We have to be careful. We have come to ask for your superior opinion on this. " The man was on his knees and didn't even look up to face the queen.

Queen Aquella didn't even reply him but rather stood up from her throne and walked towards where I was. The people holding me stepped back and I was left alone standing in front of the terrifying Queen.

" Could she be the chosen one who has come to rescue this kingdom? " I was shocked by that statement but not as much as the others. There were gasps of " Huh! " In the air and most of their mouths were rounded in O's.

I didn't understand anything that was happening and neither did the others.

" Do you mean, this stranger will save us from our enemies and everything that has disturbed the peace of this village? But how, she's just a mere human. She doesn't have any special powers. " The man said still on his knees.

" Don't worry. I know just what to do about that. " The Queen was still standing at my front and she was so close I could feel her breath. She stared at me and I didn't know whether I should feel honored or scared. I just stood stiff there and didn't move.

With a wave of her hand, she dispersed them all including the respected man and I was left with her.

" What is your name? "

" Lyra"

" Come with me. " She led the way and we walked out of the cold palace. She refused to let any of her guards follow her.

We walked a long distance for a while and passed through many villages in the kingdom. They were all shocked and watched us as we passed by.

We walked until we got to a blue river which was so clear and I could see my reflection perfectly in it. We stood at the bank of the river for a while and I felt the urge to ask her what we were doing there.

After a while, she plucked a fresh green leaf from a growing plant nearby and threw it into the the river. It disappeared within seconds.

" Enter into the river" She commanded and I looked at her in shock and she repeated her statement.

" But I can't breathe in water. Am I a fish? " I questioned her and luckily, none of the villagers were around because they would have killed me if they saw me look at her in the eye and talk to her like that.

" You're the one who is going to save our kingdom. If you want to pass through this place alive, you must obey me. You must enter deep into the river and meet with half women half fish for them to give you magical powers to be able to defeat one of our greatest threat, The sea monster. It had killed a lot and reduced our population for years and even my powers can't stop it. There was a prophecy that there'll be one who will come and rescue us from the sea monster. " She explained without even stopping amidst her sentences to take a breath.

" But how am I supposed to enter into a deep river and come out alive? Again, am I a fish? " I asked impatiently after taking time to digest and process all what she said.

" It's easy, just don't panic once you get in the water or you'll DIE. " That last word die really scared me. I couldn't die, not yet. Until I saved my village.

" But what am I going to do there, what if I don't survive? " Just thinking of the possibility of dying made my heart beat very fast.

" Just don't panic. "

Before I could say any other thing or even think, I felt a force from behind push me and I slowly slipped into the large blue river.