Chapter 2:An ordinary life
561 Words
The morning sun bathed the quiet village of Ashvale in a warm golden glow.
The scent of freshly baked bread drifted through the streets as merchants opened their stalls and children chased one another across the market square.
To everyone in the village, today was just another ordinary day.
For Agatha, it was no different.
“Agatha!” an elderly woman called from downstairs. “If you don’t wake up now, you’ll miss breakfast!”
Agatha smiled sleepily as she stretched beneath her blanket.
“I’m coming, Grandma.”
She quickly tied her long platinum-blonde hair into a loose braid before slipping into a simple cream-colored dress. Around her neck rested the sapphire pendant she had worn for as long as she could remember.
She gently touched it.
It had always been with her.
No one knew where it came from.
Or at least… no one would tell her.
As she walked downstairs, the familiar smell of warm porridge and freshly baked bread greeted her.
Her grandmother, Martha, placed a bowl on the table.
“Sit before it gets cold.”
“Yes, Grandma.”
The old woman watched Agatha with gentle eyes.
“You’ve been having those dreams again, haven’t you?”
Agatha paused.
“They’re nothing.”
“They’ve been waking you almost every night.”
Agatha lowered her gaze.
It wasn’t just a dream.
It always felt… real.
She never remembered everything.
Only flashes.
A grand castle.
People running.
A woman crying.
And a voice calling her name.
Every single time she reached the voice…
She woke up.
“It’s probably because I read too many stories,” Agatha said with a small laugh.
Grandma Martha smiled, though worry lingered in her eyes.
“Perhaps.”
After breakfast, Agatha headed into the village carrying a basket of bread.
She greeted nearly everyone she passed.
“Good morning, Mrs. Evelyn!”
“Morning, Agatha.”
“Tell your grandmother the bread was delicious yesterday!”
“I will!”
Everyone loved Agatha.
She was kind, hardworking, and always willing to help.
Yet sometimes…
People stared.
Not because of anything she did.
But because of her unusual silver-blonde hair and striking violet eyes features no one else in the village possessed.
Agatha had grown used to the whispers.
“She doesn’t look like she’s from around here.”
“I wonder who her real parents were.”
She pretended not to hear them.
There was no point wondering about a past she couldn’t remember.
As she reached the town square, she noticed an old storyteller surrounded by children.
“…and the lost princess was never found,” he said dramatically.
“The kingdom searched for years, but she disappeared without a trace.”
The children gasped.
One little girl raised her hand.
“Did she ever come back?”
The old man smiled sadly.
“Some stories are still waiting for their ending.”
Agatha stood frozen.
For some reason…
Her heart ached.
She didn’t know why.
Shaking the strange feeling away, she continued walking.
She had work to do, and stories were only stories.
…Or so she believed.
Far away, beyond the mountains surrounding Ashvale, a rider in black armor galloped toward the capital at full speed.
“The pendant has finally been found,” he said.
“It’s only a matter of time before they find… her.”
- Writer
