chapter 6

Shinja had been so afraid when they began speaking she looked at the ground in fear. She closed her eyes and started crying. Thinking that they were still around. She had not seen when and how they varnished.

"I don't know what to do, I am very confused. Please help me. I think I li-- lo-- I just don't know. I feel like I need to first let him learn a simple lesson before we take any other step. Is that too much to ask?"

She was scared out of her wits, when she looked up, the women were nowhere to be seen not even at the other end of the lake. She was all alone except for her horse that was taking water from the Green Lake. She did not know where they had come from, however, she had felt she knew them. 

Her suspicions were true, those women were her late grand grandmothers. Terese had been among them but she had not allowed Shinja to recognize her. They feared that if they introduced themselves to her as family, she would not grow into fearlessness yet they needed that from her at a time like the one she was about to face.

She offloaded her stuff from the horse's back for the both of them to take a breather. She tried to dismiss her encounter with the three ghostly women. While she took off her satchel off Flower-bender's back she did not notice her charm book fall out.

She urged  Flower-bender to take some more water from the Green Lake. Having stretched, fed a little, she mounted the horse and went on riding. They still had a long way to go.

Early the next morning, the Green kingdom and its guests could not believe that news that was circulating around the palace--the youngest princess, Shinja had gone missing. The maids and maidens, merchants, witches, mothers and fathers, everybody in the Green kingdom was searching all over, in the forests, parks, cottages, flower gardens and even the stables. All that was in vain, Shinja was still nowhere near the Green kingdom. 

Dusk was fast approaching and still no one in the entire Green kingdom had the answer Pink-White needed. He took out his frustration on everybody including his four remaining daughters. How had they missed her? She was their sister for Christ's sake! How had she gone missing with their rooms being so close to each other they would have heard something, any clue to begin with. He blamed everyone, but passing blame was getting him nowhere. He wanted his daughter found and he wanted her to be found NOW.

The gong was sounded for the second time but it was to call for only people that were in the palace. Others from outside the palace were dismissed and asked to search the neighboring villages and townships for the princess. 

Silver was first to arrive before all the other people in the palace. The king was astonished, his reaction quickly hidden by the frustration and anger he felt at missing his daughter. 

"People and visitors of Green kingdom, I greet you all. I want the chief commander, Bolton to step forward now." Pink-White commanded unsmiling. Bolton stepped forward as desired by the king who began giving instructions on how the army was to split itself in order to conduct a search for the princess.

It was divided into five fifths, one fifth had to remain and protect the kingdom because history had taught them that their enemies had a tendency of taking advantage of a crisis to cease their kingdom. The second fifth had to go and search all around the neighboring towns, in the forests, and also protect the people in all the towns. 

The three fifths that remianed were to use the road that went through a cave under the castle in the Green kingdom. It was the first time the king had mentioned this road. He saw the risk in this but desperate times called for desperate measures, his daughter missing could not mount to any war. He would risk everything even the secret passageways for his daughter. He was going to lead these three fifths. The two of them were to use the main road and the last one would navigate the main magical forests in order to reach Shinja's grandmother place. Yes, he knew about his mother's Secret Garden, his desperation had led him to searching all places even the least expected were not to be left out.

Pink-White had not mentioned whether the visiting families were to engage in the search for the princess so Silver came forward to confront him about it. He was not going to sit back and watch other men fight for the woman he loved while he stayed back enjoying guest privileges at the palace. He was determined to come with the search team.

"Please king tell me where I and my horsemen are going to pass. Thank you." 

"If you are willing, join me. All the visitors that would like to do so will use the same path that I will take. After all this, I want everybody back to the castle in one piece, safe and sound. Do I make myself clear?" Pink-White announced. Silver was pleased with the king's decision.

"Yes, your majesty, we give you our word," they all said. Everyone set on his journey after the king's command. 

Pink-White commanded Bolton to open the gateway to the road under the Green kingdom. It was hidden amongst the shrubs behind the door leading out of the servants quarters. He avoided using the passageways. He did not want anyone apart from himself using them.

Shinja had gone past the last path that led straight to where her grandmother lived. Because she was riding at a high speed, her satchel fell off the horse's back. She commanded Flower bender to stop.

"Wooo Flower-bender wooo..."

If she had not held on tight, she would have fallen off. She got off horseback and ran back to pick her satchel off the ground. When she was done, she mounted the horse once more and out of nowhere huge hands held her neck and mouth. She could not recognize who it was because it was dark now, mist covered the place getting in the way of her vision. The mysterious man pulled her off her horse and dragged her until she could only see her horse from afar. 

She bit his hand so hard and a coppery taste hit her tongue. It was her assailant's disgusting blood in her mouth. He let her go at once, and she started screaming. For an instant he glitched fading in and out until he disappeared.

It was a ghost and a man all at once. Ghost-man? What had she gotten herself into? All in the name of seeking clarity and space. Stuck in wonder, Shinja could not tell what the creature wanted from her. This did not stop her from running towards her horse to continue with her journey. She had to get to her safe place as soon as possible. Darkness brought with its own demons and her heart palpitations did nothing to help her condition.

She ran to where her horse had been tied, checked her satchel in search for the charm book. She wanted to look for a protective charm that would keep her through the entire journey. But... THE BOOK WAS GONE! Her eyes opened wide in disbelief. When had this happened? When had she lost the dear book? Damn it all to hell! She was stuck. 

She dug her fingers deep into the pockets of the flimsy thing she called a satchel and still found nothing. Her mind was running wild of all possibilities of when and where she had dropped the book. She got it off Flower-Bender’s back and shook it upside down like a woman at the verge of insanity. How has she lost it? When? 

As she did this, she felt something cold creep on her feet. She looked down slowly trying to calm herself from freaking out. When she saw the odd creature on her foot, she couldn’t help but scream. Shaking her leg to throw it off of her. What in the world was happening to her? 

She used the end of her veil of wipe off the slimy residue from the odd creature that had stuck to her foot. It looked like a frog but then again it had a tail attached to its rainbow colored back. She felt like giving up. Regret flooded her mind as she turned to leave. You should have stayed back at the palace. She started thinking that maybe facing the prince was not that bad as she had initially thought. God she was such a mess! She had been in a hurry to even consider using a more secure bag choice than the one she had carried, look where that got her.

Shinja realized that she was in more trouble than she had thought initially. She neared close to the border crossing to the Black Forest. It was not called black for nothing, her grandmother had warned her against using it. 'If ever caught between using it and choosing another path, use another path my child.' Terese had warned her.

The king and the rest were now getting closer to the Green Lake. As soon as they got close, they heard a crying voice of a young woman. It sounded far off from where they were. Had it been Shinja? No one could tell. The places they were approaching were spookier than those they had initially gone through.

Prince Silver quickly branched into the forest because he of all the princes had heard Shinja cry. He was sure it was her. The king stopped and nearly laughed at the young lad's inability to think straight. He had no idea what they were in for. It was his kingdom, his daughter they were searching for. 

"Many things in this forest tend to disguise themselves as people we know, more so those we love. Don't fall for them." He stopped the prince by placing his sword in front of his chest. Silver stared down at the sword then lifted his eyes to watch the king. He did not understand why he was being halted from seeking Shinja out.

Wasn't the king concerned about his daughter? He was not even trying hard enough.