Falling for a phoenix

chapter Four

James

James and Marcus made their way to the palace’s vast library, a place that held centuries of history and secrets of the kingdom of Loria. Under the light of oil lamps, they began to review the records of attendees at the royal galas from twelve years ago. Names, titles, and families paraded before them, but no trace of a girl with red hair and red eyes.

Hours later, Marcus closed a heavy tome and rubbed his tired eyes.

“There’s nothing, James. It’s as if she didn’t exist.”

James frowned, his resolve only growing stronger with each obstacle.

“She was there. I know. If there are no records, perhaps she didn’t attend as an official guest. Maybe… maybe she was an orphan.”

Marcus looked at him skeptically.

“An orphan at a royal gala? How would she have gotten there?”

James rose from his seat and began pacing the room, his mind working at full speed.

“Maybe someone took her. A servant, a charitable noble. We need to look into the orphanage records from that time.”

The next day, James and Marcus visited the city’s central archive, where the orphanage records were kept. After a long search, they finally found a report from an orphanage on the outskirts of the kingdom. One note stood out: “Girl admitted at age seven, with red hair and distinctive eyes. No name or family history.”

James felt a chill as he read those words.

“This has to be her,” he whispered, his eyes shining with a mix of hope and anxiety. “We must go to that place.”

The orphanage was in ruins, an abandoned building overgrown with weeds. It had been closed years ago, but traces of its existence still remained. Inside, among the peeling walls and dark hallways, they found a small room. In one corner, there was an old notebook filled with children’s drawings. One of the drawings caught James' attention: a portrait of a red-eyed girl watching a grand gala, observing from the shadows.

"She was here," James said, his voice full of conviction. "But where is she now?"

Suddenly, an old voice broke the silence. From the doorway, a woman with gray hair and a wrinkled face watched the two men.

"You're looking for the girl with the red eyes, right?" she said in a hoarse voice. "I was the caretaker of this place. I remember that girl. She was special, different. But she disappeared one night, without a trace. They say a family from the mountains kidn*pped her, and nothing else is known about that. The only thing she left behind was this necklace with a strange symbol, and a notebook full of drawings of a red bird.

James felt the weight of uncertainty fall on him once again.

"Do you know where she could have been taken? I mean, where in the mountains?" he asked urgently.

The old woman shook her head.

“I don’t know, but there had always been talk of a forest beyond the mountains. They say there are possibilities, look boy, she was never loved, and if you manage to get into her she might not know what love is, because all her life she was mistreated, and to add to that her red hair and red eyes make her very strange, and many people hate her for that, they see her as a monster.”

With a new lead in mind, James decided that his next step would be to travel beyond the mountains, in search of the forest that could reveal the whereabouts of the mysterious girl who had stolen his heart so many years ago.

Although he knew how complicated it would be for her to fall in love with him, and for the people to accept her as their queen.