Bird in the Golden Cage

Chapter one

The night hid the landscape in its dark veil. The black skies were covered with millions of bright stars, shining like diamonds. The full moon shone through the thick, impenetrable darkness. The silence was broken only by the chirping of crickets. It was carried through the night like the beautiful song of birds during the day. A quiet summer breeze whispered in the treetops.

On the edge of a small village, where wild nature meets the modern world, there was a small house. Colorful flowers and herbs grew around. It was overgrown with ivy on the side. And inside that little house slept a girl, a woman. Her name is Aislinn. Aislinn was different from other people. She was a dreamer. She constantly dreamed of worlds like fairy tales and myths. She dreamed of adventures. She found an escape from reality in books. In those moments, she became someone else, lived a different life. Her own family often scolded her to get her head out of the clouds and start living in reality, but she continued to live in her own world. When she was sixteen, she moved to a magical house on the edge of the forest. She was a loner. She was a mystery to people. She successfully graduated. She had a job she hated. She celebrated her twentieth birthday and no one knew her.

During the day she lived in the world of adults and at night, she dived into the oceans of her mind.

Aislinn was sleeping peacefully in her bed. Despite the hot summer, she was wrapped in warm blankets. After all, she didn't have time for ghosts from the shadows, who wanted to disturb her sweet dreams. Sweat ran down her skin. Her long, brown hair clung to her body. The clock struck midnight. Aislinn awoke to the sound of a beautiful melody echoing from outside the windows. She lazily opened her eyes. Looked around the room. She saw a small, dancing light in the window. She approached the window and it disappeared. It moved a little further to the fence.

Aislinn decided to chase that little light. It seemed to her like just another one of the millions of dreams that people suffer through at night. The light was only a ghost from the realm of dreams, and therefore she was not afraid to follow it into the night.

She walked out the door into the landscape covered under the veil of night. The cool breeze caressed her skin gently. Her steps led her to the place where she saw the mysterious light, but by the time she got there, it was gone. It moved a little further again. It hovered on the border between the forest and the village. It was as if it was calling her and she obediently followed it.

Aislinn walked into the forest. A canopy of tree crowns arched over her head. Fragments of moonlight filtered through the leaves flickering in the breeze, illuminating the forest with magical light. Every time Aislinn got close to the little light, it moved a little further and further. It led her somewhere unknown. Aislinn was curious and obediently followed. The forest floor cracked under her bare feet. The music that woke her up seemed to get louder and louder with each step, the closer she got. At night, the forest seemed to be from a different dimension than during the day. But she wasn't afraid. It was just a dream after all.

She reached a small clearing in the middle of the forest, in the shape of a circle. There the light disappeared and did not appear again. But instead, she saw something else, the origin of that beautiful melody. In the middle of that mysterious circle stood a man. He was tall. Dressed in a black cloak. The hood hid his face. He had a violin resting on his shoulder, which was making that beautiful sound. Bow easily slid along the strings. Their music was the only thing that sounded around. Aislinn didn't allow herself to disturb the stranger from her dream, so she stayed in the cover of the forest and listened.

The cloaked stranger stopped playing. The violin turned into a crow and flew to the heavens with a cawing. He took off his hood. He revealed a pale face. The moonlight illuminated his handsome features. Full lips. Dark bewitching eyes. Ears with pointed tips. The golden earrings glistened in the moonlight. His hair was as black as a raven's feathers. He turned towards Aislinn hiding in the trees. He held out his hand to her. Aislinn ventured out from under the veil of darkness, but not to approach him.

"Come on, Aislinn!" the stranger urged her.

Aislinn approached him, dazed by his beauty and the dark magic that surrounded him.

"Who are you?" Aislinn asked him.

"My name is Nathaniel," he replied. "I am a prince, heir to the throne of Feria."

Aislinn accepted the hand Prince Nathaniel held out to her. The prince took her in his arms. With a gentle touch, he brushed unruly strands of hair from her face. He looked deep into her eyes.

"And what is the prince of Feria doing in the human world?" Aislinn asked Prince Nathaniel.

"I am looking for a bride," said the prince. "And I found you. You heard my call, dear Aislinn. You came to me. You found me." he said those sweet words. "Will you be my queen, Aislinn?" he asked her.

Aislinn nodded. "Yes." she accepted his offer. After all, what terrible thing could happen? It's just a dream and she can be anyone in her dreams. She can be a queen. She can marry the prince. She can fly. And with the first morning rays of the sun, those dreams will disappear like fog.

Sometimes she was surprised by the imagination of her own mind. The bride of the prince of Feria. She told herself that she wouldn't have thought it up even in her wildest dreams, and yet her subconscious brought something like that to life.

Prince Nathaniel kissed Aislinn. Gently at first. He touched her lips fleetingly. Then he kissed her more passionately and fiercely. He claimed her lips, her breath. Aislinn kissed him back. Her heart was pounding wildly. She couldn't think straight. She longed for his touch.

She did not realize what she had just agreed to.She was too intoxicated by the presence of that mysterious prince.