The invitation came in the afternoon, when the sun was falling over the horizon, like an ominous omen.

The silverware clanking against the porcelain plates stopped and my father stood up after the head butler announced the messenger with the royal crest. The process was quick, for dessert Dad had sat down again, but with a pale face and dark eyes.

No one dared to ask, not even to breathe too hard, lest the air ignite the invisible sparks that seemed to come from the man; however, those sparks turned into a fire that burned me as soon as the sky turned completely dark and I was called to the studio.

The only presence, apart from myself, was that of my father, who had seen my mother off not long before I entered; in fact, we had passed each other at the door and I saw the reluctance in his eyes. 'Reluctance to what?' I wondered. Not long after I got the answer.

"Georgeana." Hearing my full name made the heart in my chest sink. "An invitation has arrived from the capital; we will have to go to Eirán before the social season ends."

I was silent for a moment and looked at the only piece of parchment that was left on the desk, the seal that kept it closed was broken.

I didn't know what to answer until I felt the realization come over me and I began to think about what the next time would hold for us. From Treva to Eirán , there were about fifteen days, but the road was still wet from the melted snow, maybe it would be about twenty days; counting twenty days there and another twenty days back, they would be forty, while the social season lasted three months. It would be about four or five months, in total.

Once the calculations were done, I smiled and answered what I thought my father expected:

"I am sure that both my brother and I will be able to administer the dukedom in your absence. You can trust us."

Contrary to what I thought he would say, he sighed and looked at me apologetically.

"No, Georgeana, you will go with me, you and me." For me, who was still immersed in calculating the work that spring would bring us, it was a surprise. My mouth dropped open and I stared in disbelief at my father's blue irises. We will leave as soon as the preparations are ready.

"You and me, father?" Suddenly, the sense that I had found vanished and I was left in disbelief. Why me?

In all my life, even when I reached adulthood, I never left my family lands.

With my question and obvious bewilderment, Dad gestured for me to take the missive and find out for myself. The courtesies were the same as always, from 'To my faithful subject' to the final signature, which read the name of his royal majesty, Declan Herve Kalen ; but what was scarier was what was in between.

My hand fell to the side and I stared in disbelief at the man across the desk who was looking at me with a complicated expression.

"It's true?" My voice, which came out in a thread, didn't fail to be heard over the silence and, getting no denial, I took a deep breath. "I see... This is quite complicated, right?" I asked and laughed.

"Gea." It had returned to being a nickname. "I'll fix it, but in the meantime..."

"I understand, we should prepare." I smiled and forced myself to move my feet toward the exit. "It's already so late, father, let's finish discussing things in the morning."

I closed the door behind me and looked down, my mother was waiting with her hands on her chest for me to come out and she took quick steps in my direction. I didn't know what my parents had discussed with each other, but I could see that neither was happy with the news; I wasn't either; however, it was not disgust that he felt, but a deep confusion.

'Marry the prince?' I heard in my mind and frowned all that night without coming to a clear answer. I wasn't adequate, I wasn't adequate from any point of view. Would they know? Would they know about my condition? She was pretty sure it was no secret to anyone how flawed she was.

I rolled over and only managed to sleep at dawn, a cycle that seemed to repeat itself bitterly over the following days. Going to the most resplendent city in the kingdom involved much more than getting in the carriage and leaving; it was hiring seamstresses and preparing sets of clothes at the speed of the blink of an eye, because time ran faster than we thought, it was also supervising the work that would be left in the hands of others while we were gone and making arrangements in advance.

If there was disgust and reluctance, she was soon crushed by the tons of work and the smiles of those who thought she had finally made a sensible decision.

No one knew that this was not a pleasure trip, or even that, finally, after twenty-two years, they had planned to take me to a place with better prospects, even for me. The hope in the eyes of the servants who loved me was as heavy as the uncertainty in my heart.

"I still can not believe it! The capital!" The excited exclamation that brought me out of my musings came from the closet door, where my maid was tending to the trunks that were not yet full. In her hand, the sleeves of a silk dress shimmered in the light from the window. "Isn't the lady excited?" Still holding the clothes in her hand, she turned and looked at me.

"Of course, Buffy". I laughed and looked listlessly at the mess in the room. She wasn't excited, she was irritated by the mess she was seeing and confused, as if the life she knew had been turned upside down.

No matter how I looked at it, just over a week ago, I was still having dinner with my family without thinking that the next day peace would be gone and that I would miss the spring of my land to spend it in an unknown place.

This was my last day here and I might never come back.

I couldn't help it, my lips arced downward and my eyes swept the room again. No matter when he told me that they would look for an alternative, I didn't think this was possible, unless for some inexplicable and miraculous reason, the royal family was unaware of the circumstances.

I looked at the cup of tea next to me on the nightstand and reached for it, the extremely sweet taste making me frown and want to spit it out, but without honey this would taste worse.

I forced the liquid down my throat, suppressed the headache that came over me, and prepared to sleep as soon as the luggage was removed from the room. Before the sun came up, I was back on my feet to leave. My mother and my little brother were standing in front of the door of the house with slightly dark eyes. Ewan said goodbye with a brief hug and whispered in my ear so no one would hear that he had offered to rescue me if necessary; while the little blonde, whose body seemed to sway in the wind, took my hand and comforted me.

"Be careful there and write to me." She smiled and ran his hand over my cheek. "Do you take everything?" She ask and I nod. "How about the diary? I hope you can tell me everything when you get back."

"I'll take it, mom." At this point, I didn't know if writing in my diary would be appropriate or if I would have to limit myself to sending letters. Going back seemed like a very small possibility that we all wanted to bet on. Nobody said it, we felt confused; however, whether we understood it or not, I still had to get on the carriage and navigate the muddy roads to Eirán .

The rattling of the carriage accompanied us together with the neighing of the horses and the voices of our escorts, who warned us as soon as we had to rest. My father looked out of the window absently or busied himself with a small notebook with thick pages, there were sketches of the landscape, of me, my brother and my mother.

Progressively and as if the notebook kept up with us, the pages filled with drawings and my diary became more and more entries about a path that was new, boring and intimidating. The distance was terribly shortened, until there was no more to go.

"In a few minutes we will be at the gates of the city." With a clear and strong voice, the knight who led the way warned us of the imminent arrival and my heart began to beat frantically.

"Dad." I couldn't help but straighten my back and look at him in a panic, as if someone, at any moment, was going to jump on me.

"Everything's fine." He reached out and put his hand over mine. I could tell he wanted to say something else, but he didn't, just kept patting the back of my hand in a constant motion that only made me more nervous.

The spinning wheels stopped and the horses whinnied softly. I heard the exchange outside the carriage and the permission to enter with a contented air, I had never felt so anxious before; still, as expected, nothing happened. The carriage moved forward again.

"Gea, look." The other person within these walls, tugged at the hand she was still holding and pulled back the curtain that covered the window. In front of my eyes, the brightness of the streetlights spilled over the passers-by, as if blessing them.

The multiple candles that melted behind the glass formed one star after the other; constellations among which people walked. Heaven had come down to earth.

A smile appeared on my lips as we entered more and more through the streets of this unknown city and the heat of the lights seemed to touch me.

"We'll take the main road from here, your grace." One of our knights, uniformed in blue suit and Fern crest, came to the window and reported. From what he could see, there was only a neat stone path ahead; however, before we could move forward, my entire environment was shaken hard.

"This..." I didn't even manage to ask, as the carriage began to move haphazardly. Although I couldn't see the situation from inside, both my father and I could hear the sound of the nervous horses that they were trying to appease; but no matter how hard they tried, it seemed to be impossible to move forward.

The surrounding knights took a long time to steady horses and when they finally did, the horses refused to take a step forward, instead the path they had walked briefly flashed back to my eyes.

"Your Excellency, we are very sorry, but the horses refuse to go any further," a knight reported.

Should I get off and walk, then? As soon as this idea crossed my mind, the clicks of the animals crashed again against the cold stone of the road; however, it did not seem to be the right path.

"We are very sorry, Your Excellency, we don't know what happened, but the horses refuse to move. We will take an alternate path." Without being able to explain clearly what had happened, the wheels turned and the horses resumed their pace quickly, as if something were chasing them.

Daddy waved to the knights to confirm.

"What do you think it was?" I asked for.

"Maybe some snake-shaped shadow or who knows." He sighed and closed his eyes.

Whatever had happened, nobody cared more about it once we started walking; however, as we walked away, a shriek as hideous as it was piercing made my ears ache and my teeth gnash.

It was a scream, but it was also crying. It sounded like death.

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March 30, 2023

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Hello, new readers!
First I am going to introduce myself, my name is Florencia, but they call me Flor and this is the first novel that I dare to translate into English.
Given the above, you will realize that English is not my native language, so I apologize in advance for any inconsistencies or misused words in the story (I am open to corrections and suggestions).
I hope you like "Gea".
Updates will be made weekly.
Thank you for reading, for your star and for your comments.
You can find me on Instagram and Wattpad as @defloresescribo

Flor~