This was taken in Ogwen Valley in Wales on the ascent up Tryfan. The mountain directly in the picture is called Y Garn. This area did inspire the scenery described for the palace of the High Queen, though obviously, the story version is a much, much, much, much larger scale. It obviously doesn't look exactly the same, but a high lake surrounded on almost all sides by mountains is what I was trying to get across in my the chapter. I hope this makes sense :)

We walk closer and closer to the gates stopping as they start to slowly open. Behind them, I can see Iona and Daniel.

"Isla!" Iona shouts, before appearing next to me and wrapping her arms tightly around me. I let out an oomph.

"Hi Iona," I chuckle, patting her arms.

"Could've taken me with you," Daniel smiles as he walks toward us all.

"Nah, you need the exercise," she tells him, jabbing him in the arm. 

"Daniel," Princess Kayleigh interrupts them.

"The two of you have time to bicker later, we have been travelling all day so please show us to our rooms so we can freshen up," she sighs.

"Yes aunt, sorry aunt," he chuckles and Princess Kayleigh roles her eyes.

We make our way through the gates and again I am in awe. We enter a large courtyard. There is a cross made up of stone paths, cut into the pristinely cut grass. In the centre of the cross is a large water feature. Straight ahead is the front of the palace. Up two sets of grand stairs, are large golden doors, similar to the ones we just entered. They open slowly too as we get closer.

I can't help but look around in awe as we enter a grand opening hall with tall wooden ceiling beams and great windows on the walls. Green curtains and cloth hang around the white walls which have been decorated with golden carvings. A large staircase sits ahead, leading to different doors to different parts of the building.

"The queen will see you all once you have freshened up," Princess Kayleigh tells us. "We can't have you looking warn from your journey," she tells us. I nod my head.

"Oh nonsense," I soft voice calls. I look around to see where it is coming from. A woman appears at the top of the grand staircase and my eyes widen. She is tall with smooth fair skin. Her large eyes sparkle a forest green and her angular face is perfect. Pale blonde hair with strands that are almost white, hang perfectly straight down her back. She wears a simple forest green dress which matches her eyes and fits perfectly on her figure. On her head is a golden crown. It is made up of individual gold leaves, packed tightly together, raping around a gold wolf head in the centre of it.  She is beautiful, perfect in fact. Everyone bows to her, including myself. I do it without even thinking about it.

"Katrina," Princess Kayleigh says with a smile. "I thought you would want them to be well presented when you met them," she goes on. The woman chuckles.

"Kayleigh, you know I don't expect everyone to look their best in front of me at all times," she chuckles as she elegantly descends the stairs. "I have been waiting to see them for almost two weeks now," she carries on. She looks at the four of us and sighs.

"Look at you, you've all grown so much," she beams. I look up at Toryn and he looks at me.

"As you may have figured out, I am Queen Katrina, the High Queen of Shadow," she tells us. I just nod my head.

"It is wonderful to see you all again," she sighs before walking closer to me. My heart flutters nervously still.

"Come, I will show you to your rooms. I'm sure you are tired and would like to bathe and change before dinner." I look up at my brother again, not sure what to think. This is the High Queen of Shadow and she's going to show us to our rooms.

"You'll have a proper tour soon," she tells us. I nod my head, still in shock. She looks so delicate, yet I can sense her great power. We walk up the stairs and through a maze of corridors. They are all decorated with white marble floors which reflect the surroundings. The walls are also white with lots of golden carvings decorating it. Rich green plants also hang from golden pots and a long red carpet sits in the centre of the corridor. It is light and delicate.

"All this will change," Queen Katrina tells us. I frown.

"What do you mean?" I ask. She turns her head and smiles at me.

"Once the new ruler takes over, this palace will change to match them, but Kayleigh will explain more about that in the future," she sighs. It is weird, to not hear a Princess in front of Kayleigh's name. We come to a white door with our flower on it. Opening the door, my eyes widen. We come into a large entrance hall. There is a grand marble staircase in the centre of the room with golden bannisters which curl around our flower. There are doors which lead off to other parts on the ground floor and more doors on the first floor at the top of the stairs. It is a spectacular room with it's curling gold carvings and other delicate ornaments.

"This is the Dragoheir wing," she explains. "Each Royal family has their own wing here because this palace is home to all of us," she explains.

"There are ten rooms in this wing," she carries on explaining, "for any of your guests who come to stay whilst you do," she continues. "Plus your rooms. There is also a kitchen. The kitchen can be used by you, or any of the staff you bring from your lands. Of course, any of your own staff will stay in the staff quarters in another part of the building." My eyes widen. My own staff. She chuckles.

"Once you have left the academy and have your own palace, then you will get your own staff. Maids, cooks, Butlers, Gardeners, just to name some of the few. You'll have to be informed of the rules of employment though," she chuckles, "but that will be covered later." I hadn't thought about having my own maids and cooks.

"There is also private bathing rooms in each bedroom, a dining room and a drawing room. I'll let you four explore your wing," she smiles. My mind is buzzing with surprise and shock. I can't believe in two weeks, we've gone from a small cave to having our own Wing in a grand palace.

"Relax, look around, take everything. Our dinner will be in two hours. I'll see you again then," she beams, before walking out. Iona and Daniel stay with us.

"We'll let the four of you look around and be back in an hour to help you get ready for dinner," Iona tells me.

"Thank you," I smile. The two exit the room, leaving the four of us standing in shock.

"Errrr...." I begin to say.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," Serenity says.

"Neither was I," Tanya mutters next to her.

"I guess we should look around and find our rooms," Toryn tells us.

"I wonder if we've already got our own rooms from all those years ago, or if we have to pick them," Tanya wonders. We all look at each other before we take off running in case we do have to pick between ourselves who has what room. We laugh as we chase each other through the corridors. Through the doors on the ground floor, we find the kitchen, dining room and the drawing room. On the first floor up the stairs are the ten guest rooms plus another staircase. Up the stairs is another corridor. It has a few doors. The closest one goes into yet another corridor. How many are there? I wonder. Serenity and Tanya race down there. Serenity opens the first door and shouts,

"My room! Claimed!" she races inside. Tanya disappears around a corner, shouting that she's claimed her room a few seconds later. Toryn and I role our eyes before continuing. There is a door at the end of the corridor, plus a turn. Toryn opens the door and walks inside, claiming the room as his. I chuckle as I turn down the corridor to the door at the end. Opening the door, I find a white spiral staircase. Going up, there is a door at the top. Opening it, I look inside and gasp. The room, I realise is at the top of one of the spire towers.

"I claim this room!" I say in a quiet voice as I look at it with amazement.

"What?!" Tanya shouts from somewhere.

"I claim this room!" I shout louder, still looking around.

The room is large. The floor is the shining white marble with glowing silver cracks. The walls are a light grey with sparkling silver swirling water like patterns covering it. There is a large silver four-poster bed with white bedding and it is covered in silver and pale blue pillows. The canopy of the four poster bed is white. It falls next to the beams, flowing around the bed. White draws sit either side of the bed decorated with silver ornaments. There is a large matching white wardrobe and dressing table. There is a large glass door which leads out to a balcony. The room is so beautiful. The pale blues, silvers and whites are so much like water that it calms me. An archway in one of the walls leads to the bathing room which is decorated with the same theme as my room. I go to my balcony and look at the view, my eyes widening. My room is at the back of the palace. I can see the lake and the huge mountains surrounding it. What makes my eyes widen more is the huge waterfall crashing from between two mountain peaks and into the giant lake. It is so huge that I can hear it from this distance away. This place is amazing.

"Wow, nice," Tanya says behind me. I turn to look at her.

"These rooms must have been ours before," she tells me. I nod my head. "They're all made to suit us," she chuckles. I'll look at theirs later.

"I'm going to bathe," I tell her. She nods her head and leaves my room.

I sink into the pool of clear water and sigh with content. Flicking my hand, water lifts from the pool and dances around it. I smile happily, happy to be relaxing after my long journey. I can only image how tired my sisters are seeing as they are the ones who carried us all this way.

"Isla?" Iona asks. I have been in the pool for a while and now she is here to get me ready. She waltzes into my bathroom, not caring for my bare skin. I don't mind either, we're friends.

"So what were you planning on wearing?" she asks.

"Errr,"

"You haven't seen your wardrobe yet?" she asks with wide eyes. "Isla..." she moans.

"What, the queen has already seen me in my travel clothes so I thought I'd pick the first thing I saw.

"No, Isla, your meeting all the court tonight."

"What?" I ask, sitting up.

"You have to look your best, especially as you will be a queen in nearly two weeks time," she explains. I groan, dipping my head under water. I stay there for a few minutes and watch as her figure above me sprinkles something into the water.
"What's that?" I ask as I spring out.

"Some smelly stuff," she replies, "with glitter mixed and something to make your skin glow," she smiles. I groan.

"Shouldn't you be with Serenity and Tanya?" I moan. She laughs.

"Like Tanya needs any help. She's not useless like you. She's helping Serenity too. That means it's just you and me," she grins. I sigh, standing up. She smiles evilly at me as she hands me a robe and sits me on the stool of my dressing table.

"You need to represent both your house and your element tonight," she tells me.

"Just do what you do best," I sigh as she begins to work.

My blue eyes seem to glow more as the shades of frosty blue and silver glisten around them. I love it. My white curly hair has been neatly brushed and falls down my back thick and almost glistening. Iona has added a silver sparkling headdress. The dress is beautiful. The sweetheart neckline is lined with curling metal encrusted with sparkling diamonds. It goes over the top of the dress around the shoulders. The dress its self is made up of small feathers shaped to look like scales and layers to look like the skin of a dragon. It is a silver-blue colour, matching the colours around my eyes. It clings to my figure and has a small train at the bottom. It is stunning.

"Wow," I say with a smile. Iona chuckles.

"Come on, dinner is in ten minutes and we must meet in the ballroom," she tells me. I meet my siblings in the entrance hall. My brother is dressed in a smart deep red and black suit. Serenity wears a green dress that blends well with her emerald hair and pale green eyes. Tanya looks striking with a glowing gold dress that stands out against her rich glowing purple locks. They both look like goddesses with their intricate makeup highlighting their features. It is defiantly strange to see us all so made up instead of covered in mud.

The ballroom is spectacular. It is a great hall with high wooden beams and white walls decorated with gold. Large windows sit equidistant apart with long red curtains hanging next to them. A throne sits at the end. It is gold, like the rest of the decoration in the palace. It is carved with wolves and leaves. On the wall directly behind it is a brown material hangs with the Howlsky flower on it. Two more thrones sit on either side. They each look different with a flower hanging behind it. Our flower isn't on it like it is on all the other buildings. Where our flower should be, there is a red snakehead instead. I guess that is where Aspen sits when they are all here. A long table stretches along the room, chairs surrounding it and the best crockery sitting on the white tablecloth. Lots of shifters are already gathered and talking together as we stand at the top of the stairs into the room. My heart beats wildly with nerves.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Queen Katrina calls and I see her standing by her throne.

"Our guests of honour have arrived," she smiles. Her soft voice covers the whole room with a powerful tone. The silenced shifters turn to face the four of us as we descend the grand staircase.

"Princess Tanya, Princess Serenity, Prince Toryn and Princess Isla, the Lady of house Dragoheir and the Future Queen of Zola," she introduces us.

"We welcome you home," she smiles. "Now, we shall eat," she calls and there is a cheer. Thankfully Daniel and Iona show us where to sit, which is near the head of the table where Queen Katrina sits.

"Isla, Toryn, Serenity, Tanya," Iona starts. "This is my Father, General Xavier." I look at the intimidating man sitting to the right of the queen. "He is the leader of all our warriors of Shadow. He is responsible for protecting Shadow and training all those who join the warriors. That's only some of the things he does," Iona says proudly, looking at the man. He may not be as tall as other shifters like my brother of Oliver and his father, however, he has a sense of danger around him. His hair is light brown and the same golden brown that Iona has. It is clear to see that they are related with their pale olive skin matching eye colour. He bows his head.

"I am glad that I could finally meet the four of you, again," he tells us. I smile softly at him.

"You too," I reply.

"Allow me to introduce you to Shadow's elite warriors," he stretches his hand to ten people sitting in a line not far from us. They look up at us as he speaks, waving at us. There are seven males and three females. I smile back at them before they carry on shoving their faces with food.

"Come on, they can be introduced to everyone later," The Queen says. "Let them eat and enjoy their meal." Tones of food has been laid out all over the table for us all to help ourselves too. It is delicious.

As the night draws to a close, I exit the large room. I have met so many people today. Advisers, representatives, warriors and High families. It was a great feast and after the four of us had been introduced to all the High Queens guests by Queen Katrina herself. As the four of us enter the Dragoheir wing, we hug each other goodnight and head straight to our rooms. We are all exhausted. I pull off the dress and remove the makeup and put on my night dress. The bed is comfortable as I slump into it. As I close my eyes, I can't help but see images of what happened last night when I was attacked. What was that strange black goo? I feel guilty about not telling my brother and sisters, but I feel like I can't. It will worry them. The attack has to stay silent.
After a while of worrying about it, I drift off to sleep but it isn't peaceful. Memories swirl around in dreams as things slowly come back to me. Faces, people, events passing and going. What keeps returning are sudden images of the attack. Of blood spraying on walls, of screams. All coming and going in quick flashes before a new memory shows after one has finished. In the middle of the night, I am awake again and walking to my balcony. It is completely dark now, but my eyes adjust from the moonlight. I jump over the ledge, landing on the grass below. Everything is silent but the water, the palace is sleeping. Walking over to the edge of the island that the palace sits on, I step onto the water, ice appearing where my foot stands. Slowly, I walk across the lake to the huge waterfall. The water is thick and extremely powerful. No one would be able to walk through it without being crushed. Luckily, I don't need to walk through it. I take a deep breath and put my hands together, my fingers facing the waterfall. Slowly, I pull my hands apart. I open my eyes and watch as the water splits. A chuckle escapes my lips. This is the most water I've ever moved. Behind the opening is darkness, but I walk inside. My eyes adjust and I gasp. It is a large cavern. Rocks are scattered around the room. Some small some large. In the centre is a large pool of clear water, almost glowing a green-blue. It illuminates the whole cavern, lighting up the dark room. It is beautiful and peaceful. I slip off the nightdress and slip into the glowing water and sigh, loving the feel of the water on my skin. For a while a swim around and make the water dance around the cave. This place is so relaxing and calm. I love it.

As I lie on the cold rock, my nightdress back on, I decide that I won't tell anyone about this place. Somehow, I know that no one has been here. The waterfall is the only way in and no one had the power to open it. This is my place and only my place. My eyes close and finally I get a peaceful sleep.