1 Chapter 1

Wrenley's POV

As I walk outside of the airport, I try to search for Hannah, and that's when I see two people with big black hats and fake looking mustaches. They were of course, holding a sign with my name.

I keep walking, hoping that Hannah wouldn't think it would be funny to send creepy kidnapper people as my ride. That's when I get closer to see that those faces are none other than Hannah and Phillip. What are they doing?

"Han Han," I scream, running over for a hug.

"Wreny Wren, you're here," she shouts as she hugs the air out of me.

After our embrace, I take in the friend who looks as if married life has been suiting her greatly. Her long blonde hair looks very much of one a princess might carry and her skin is glowing, seeming to have a perfect tan from the Aurelian sun. Even in the slumpy clothes that count as her disguise, you can see a familiar beauty that won't ever allow itself to be hidden.

I look over to Phillip next, and we do an elaborately made handshake that I force him to do as our greetings. Not going to lie, having a secret handshake with an actual prince is probably one of the coolest facts of my life. Even more so when the prince looks like a real life Superman. What, with the rich black hair, muscles that could harm you from just looking, and bright blue eyes that are a few shades darker than his wife's. Ladies and Gentleman, Clark Kent is standing in front of me.

"Phillip, old chap, it's good to see you," I say in a fake British accent, greeting the man after I've taken him in.

"It's good to see you too, Wrenley ," he states in an amused tone with a very real British-like accent. It's one that all Aurelian's seem to hold. In fact the country itself feels like it could be a smaller and older substitute for England. The large difference being the weather which has less rain and more of a above 70 degree forecast all year long.

"So is there a reason why you guys look like you are about to abduct me," I ask the question that needs to be voiced.

"Well our faces are kind of known around here and we wanted to be able to get you home with as little attention as possible," Hannah reminds me.

"Right," I conclude. Because the way they look isn't suspicious at all. They definitely need some schooling when it comes to the art of disguises.

...

As we drive to their castle, we 'catch up', even though we talk all the time, and Hannah starts listing off all of the places that I will need to visit. I can tell that she wants to ask about Chris, but I think she's just waiting until we are alone. Over our phone calls for the last few months, I've been kind of evasive with the whole relationship and how it ended. By evasive, I mean that she would ask me where Chris was and I would tell her that I'm pretty sure a squirrel stole my phone. Actor yes, liar not so much. Any how, I'm pretty sure she's ready to attack me with questions when the moments right.

During the ride, I go into a bit of a spy mode to casually see how Hannah and Phillip act as a now married couple. Let me just say they are disgustingly cute. They hold hands the entire time, stare longingly at each other, and even laugh at the other's bad jokes. I can tell my best friend is really happy, and that feels pretty darn good to see.

Once we get to the beautiful castle, I can't stop my large gasp of excitement. I'm quite literally walking into a scenery of one of my fantasy books. The tall white stoned building is aged by what looks like centuries of history. There's guards walking the outskirts of the fenced in area, as well as a large forest looming in the background. Everything is feeling very medieval, so much so, that the SUV's going in and out look like they're the thing that's out of place.

I look over as we pull in to notice the outer edge of a beautiful palace garden. The small snippet of rose hedges and what looks like a fountain give me a grand idea for later tonight.

As we make our way inside, Phillip leaves us, and Hannah shows me to my room. It's absolutely stunning, especially with the fancy pale blue bedding that sits on a king sized, antique looking bed. The bed posts, as well as all the dressers, are wooden and very intricately carved. Catching a glimpse of the bathroom, I see a claw foot tub and almost start to squeal in nerdy excitement. Talk about traveling back in time.

"So do you want to talk about Chris," Hannah asks as soon as I'm finished setting my bag down. As I thought, she get's straight to the point.

"What's there to talk about," I question sheepishly.

This must not be what she wants to hear because her hands move to her hips and her voice turns chastising, "You just broke up with a man that you have been dating for two years and haven't even said why."

I stay quiet. I was trying to be in a positive mood and talking about Chris the clown would probably bring me down. Yes I'm aware that rhymed. Rhyming kind of makes me feel like I'm an announcer for late night infomercials, a nice break from the series of thoughts my head usually plays.

"You know, in the tabloids he said that you dumped him and now he's completely heartbroken," she drawls while referring to the many tabloids that Chris has been featured in since our breakup. I thought one of the nice things about being here was that they wouldn't be following along on some small show from America. However, it is my best friend we're talking about.

"Trust me, Chris is not heartbroken. And why are you reading celebrity gossip? You don't even like that stuff," I question, knowing it's not her thing. I honestly think it's funny that Chris is going with the term heartbroken. After the way he's been acting, I'm not completely sure he has one.

"You were in it," she says in a duh tone, "and you haven't been giving me any details. You also took down a lot of pictures from social media without posting anything more for the last 3 months. How else besides trashy tabloids am I suppose to figure out what's going on in your life?"

I guess she's right, I kind of went off the grid in my small LA apartment. Even social media, which is pretty big for my acting career, and something I enjoyed, has been disregarded. The pictures up there were always something that I felt brought a little bit of magic. It's the same reason I loved my show where I played a detective in a world of mythical creatures. Except that, much like the show, the pictures and the man in them were fake. I felt like a little liar, showing magic to the world when it wasn't really there.

Even though it's perfectly ok to take a step back from my image online, it's not quite as fair to take a step back from such a good friend. One who's known me since we were in our awkward preteen years and has given no less then two calls a day. The girl who helped me break out of my practically indestructible shell that started growing after my dad left. She's part of the reason I'm me. For a while, Chris made me forget about who that was, but luckily he made sure his influence would no longer be a problem.

I sigh and take a moment, "A few months ago I came home and found him with someone else."

That wasn't so hard to say, not nearly as embarrassing as I thought saying it out loud would make me feel.

Hannah looks like a mix of shock and angry, "You mean to tell me he cheated on you?"

"Well, he wasn't just practicing for a new role, though that was actually the first excuse he gave me," I mumble, remembering that day. I'm bubbly and and a little imaginative, not stupid. I knew what it was when I went to his apartment for a surprise visit and found another woman with him.

All I could really reply with, was that I was finished with him and the relationship. Then I did this crazy evil laugh any time he tried to talk to me afterwards. It may have been childish but I didn't want to hear any excuses. That was a way that ensured I wouldn't have to.

Even if I may have never completely let my guard down with him, I was always supportive and understanding when it came to our relationship. It must have surprised him when I couldn't get myself to understand another woman in bed with him. Everyone has a limit and sorry Chris, but you reached mine. Stupid Clown.

"Wow Wren, I'm really sorry you had to deal with such a damn idiot. Looking from your face, it seems you don't want to hear too much pity, so I won't give it to you. Just know that you deserve a lot more than that, and also, I think Phillip has a private assassin in his contacts somewhere. Do with that what you will," she says the last part in a more joking manner. Hannah gets me and my need to lighten up a serious conversation with a little humor.

Though I must say, an offer of hiring an assassin is actually very tempting in a non joking way. Mainly because I've never met a private assassin and now I'm wanting to know exactly what one would look like. Still, giving any more time to Chris isn't worth it. Whether it be thinking of our past or planning out some sort of murder.

"No, I don't think murder is the best route here, but thank you. I really just want to move on. I mean, thanks to you, I get the chance to live in a real castle. I'd like to enjoy the fact that I've just ascended to royalty," I reply, changing the conversation and getting more excited as I continue talking. I wonder how hard it would be to usurp the throne while I'm here.

"Oh goodness, we might have to get someone to keep an eye on you but I'm really glad your here," she laughs giving me a hug.

"Me too," now was my chance to ask. "Hey, I was wondering if your and Phillip's  big camping tent was here?"

Their big tent is practically a castle in itself, and it's feeling like the perfect addition to my first night adventure. One where I don't have to think about how my life is so uncertain.

"Yah, we have it, why," she inquires for good reason. It's a fair question when we're standing in one of the most beautiful rooms I've ever been in. A tent may seem impractical.

Looking at her, I get excitement in my eye, as I mention, "Well, I was wanting to see if I could sleep in the castle gardens tonight?"

"What? Why would you do that,", she asks, clearly still confused

"Oh, you know fresh air is good for the soul," I lie, knowing she might have a laugh at the truth.

The real reason is that when we were walking, the gardens called out to me. They were saying, "Stay in us and you might get kidnapped by a fae king or discover a portal to another world." You know something along those lines. Letting my imagination take over in a place like this sounds needed right now.  And if that imagination happened to have some truth to it, well I wouldn't mind being kidnapped depending on the situation.

" I guess that's fine then, let me tell Phillip so theres no confusion on a random tent being in our garden," she agrees and starts walking out of the room.

" Thank you, and Han Han," she pauses at the doorway "I missed you."

"Missed you Wreny Wren," she says. Suddenly I feel better from a silly nickname, than I have from anything in a while. Sometimes you just need your best friend, her castle, and her dreamy, fairytale-like gardens.

Letting go of the stress from the past few months, I go to look for a perfect book. One that says I'll capture all your attention but I also won't scare you into believing a murderer is waiting outside of  your tent. Tonight will be fun, and just maybe, it will allow me to see some of that magic that I've been faking for so long.