A soft alarm echoed inside their room, waking up the sleeping beauty. She turned over on the bed and lay on her back, moaning at the sudden interruption. Was it time already? She felt that she barely got any sleep at all!

  She counted to ten before she forced her eyes open, and rubbed the sleep from them. 'Alright! Wake up, Abi. It's time to go,' she encouraged herself. She turned the bedside lamp on, flung the covers off her and got up off the bed. She stretched and then looked back at the bed to see if she needed to wake Alex up.

  Her eyes were met with a pair of charcoal eyes already awake and alert. Her heart thudded in her chest for a wild second.

  "Good morning, Alex. How long have you been awake for?" she asked, trying to calm her racing heart. God, why did he have to look so damn good?

  "Good morning, little lamb. I woke up not too long ago," he answered.

  "Oh. Okay. Well, I'm going to go and get ready," she told him before she escaped to the bathroom.

  When Abi left the bathroom, she was already changed and she looked like she was ready for the day ahead. Her eyes were bright and sharp. She saw that Alex was also ready to go.

  They both grabbed their backpacks and put them on before they finally left the room.

  The outside world was still under the cover of darkness, the perfect time to sneak out of the castle. As they entered the corridor, Alex and Abi stopped by an open window. In the next second, Abigail was lifted up by Alex as he jumped on top of the windowsill.

  Abi didn't kick up at him touching her because this was all part of the plan. Alex had to carry her because he was going to jump out from the window to the ground and there was no way Abi could do that on her own. This was the quickest and safest way to sneak out without being seen by any of the guards or the residents of the castle.

  Still, Abi couldn't help but give him a look of warning, as if to tell him that she was on to him and that he better not try anything funny.

  "What? This is an exception," he said in response and just smirked. "Hold on tight," he added and when she wrapped her arms around him, he leapt off the windowsill and they were falling to the ground. Alex landed with a soft thud and he looked around, making sure no one was around.

  They then headed towards the foot of the hill, with Alex still carrying Abi because it was faster that way, to their rendezvous point.

  When they got there, they saw a nondescript car waiting for them, with the engine already rumbling. Zeke was sitting in the driver's seat, waiting for them to get in.

  Alex finally, reluctantly, put Abigail down and she climbed into the back seat, while Alex sat in the front passenger seat. The moment the doors closed, Zeke accelerated off towards their destination. He drove the car like a maniac that Abi put her seatbelt on and held onto it tightly.

  Eventually, she spoke.

  "I didn't think we would be taking a car," she said, voicing her surprise at their mode of transport. She thought that because this was a reconnaissance mission that they would prefer a less conspicuous approach.

  "Yes. Why? Would you prefer to go by foot?"

  "Well, no, but… I thought…"

  "Unfortunately, running with you isn't an option. You'd be destroyed by the time we arrive there if we did that."

  The conversation ended at that. Abi knew that Zeke had a plan so she would just go along with that.

  Meanwhile, Alex was still savouring being able to hold her for a short time that he didn't listen to the conversation at all. He just closed his eyes and pictured that moment when he picked her up and was able to hold her close to him. He still felt the heat of her body on his skin and she smiled at the thought.

  As they drove along, the sun started to rise up, spreading its long wings over the country and Abi could not help but gasp in awe again at how amazingly beautiful this country was. The snowy mountains were almost blinding from the sun's kiss. The trees that lined the roads reached out towards the sunlight, ready to receive its warm blessings. Abi could not get enough. Even as they sped through the windy roads, her eyes were glued to the outside world, trying to memorise all the wonderful things she was seeing.

  After a few hours, the car finally started to slow down so Abi immediately sat up from her seat to take a look outside and holy moly, what a sight it was.

  They were entering what seemed like a small village that was built around a small river which flowed through in the middle of it. That village itself seemed to be much the same as the other villages they had passed by, which mainly consisted of a small cluster of gray-toned, stone houses scattered along the land. The main difference between those other villages and this one was that this village was built beside a tall cliff with a huge waterfall down the side of it, feeding the village's river.

  The waterfall started from the top of the cliffside and made its way down the bottom of the cliff, showering the village with many small rainbows as the sunshine poured through the sprays from the waterfall. She didn't know a place like this existed! She thought that she had seen the most amazing sight she would ever see when they went to see the Northern Lights but this was just as spectacular. She was speechless!

  There were so many things that this kingdom was hiding from the world and she felt very lucky to be able to see these things that not everyone would have the opportunity to……

  For new readers, if u are stuck in a certain chapter despite having enough coins, please try removing the book from your library and add it back again. There are 5 advance chapters that could only be access if you buy the privilege. But worry not if you can't but them, they will be pushed down once I update. I also update 3 chapters daily.

  Hope this answered your queries.