| |
AURORA WAS SHAKEN FROM her sleep by a sound so shrill, skeletons might have risen from the dead in search of earplugs. She tried to smash her pillow against her ear in an effort to drown out the noise, but it didn’t help. After three minutes of non-stop squealing, she got out of bed to investigate.
The source was none other than Princess Rachelle, who was howling like a banshee from the bowels of Hell. She paced the hallway with her knuckles curled, as if searching for someone’s neck to wring.
“Um, Your Highness?”
Rachelle didn’t stop to acknowledge Aurora. She was too caught up in her own misery to notice anything around her.
“Princess Rachelle!” Aurora reached for Rachelle as she walked by, nearly clotheslining the princess with her outstretched arm. That got her attention.
“What?! What do you want?!”
“I’m just wondering what’s wrong. You sound like you’re in pain.”
“Not pain. Distress.”
“Was it Lyric? I bet he did something to upset you, didn’t he?”
“Goodness no, it’s not Lyric! He’s the greatest man in the world! He could never do anything to upset me!” Rachelle insisted. “No, my problem has to do with...my bed.”
“Your bed?”
“Yes. I believe there’s something under the bed, but no one will come and help me!”
“But you’re a princess. You have a lot of servants, don’t you? I’m sure there are plenty of people who could help you.”
“That’s the thing... I think they’re all asleep! They won’t even come when their princess calls for them!” Rachelle laid the back of her hand against her forehead and threw back her head, as though mentally distraught. “I cannot believe the incompetence of the people in this castle!”
“Well...” Aurora looked both ways down the hallway. No one was coming, but no one could have possibly slept through all the yowling. Aurora didn’t blame them for ignoring the princess’ distress call. Rachelle didn’t seem like she would be a pleasant girl to deal with. “I can help you, if you’d like. You said you think there’s something under your bed?”
“Uh huh.” Rachelle pouted and nodded at the same time. “More specifically, I think there’s something under my mattress.”
Aurora walked toward the princess’ bedchamber, which was across the hall from her own. “Under the mattress?“
“Yes. Something was poking me! I have such delicate skin!”
The princess’ bedroom was huge, equal in size to Aurora’s entire cottage. At the center of the room, there were several mattresses stacked on top of each other, reaching halfway toward a dome-shaped, mural-covered ceiling. “But there are at least four or five mattresses here,” she quietly observed.
“I know! There’s something under one of them!”
“Okay, umm... can you help me lift off the first one?”
“Alright.” With a tremendous sigh, Rachelle seized the mattress. “But I shouldn’t be forced to move heavy objects. I am a princess, you know. I’m not fit for this sort of labor.”
Before Rachelle had a chance to complain some more, Aurora grabbed the first mattress and shoved it off the bed. “There’s nothing there.”
“Keep going!”
“But you wouldn’t be able to feel something that wasn’t under the first mattress!”
“Keep going!” Rachelle screamed. She grabbed the second mattress and gave it a tremendous shove.
Nothing.
They moved the third mattress.
Nothing.
Finally, after moving the fourth mattress, Rachelle gasped. “There it is!”
Aurora’s eyes scanned the length of the fifth and final mattress, but she didn’t see anything.
“There!” Rachelle repeated, pointing to a tiny round pebble on one end of the mattress. “Look at that! How did that get there?!”
Aurora picked up the pebble and held it between her fingers. It was barely the size of a pea. “I have no idea. But this couldn’t possibly be the thing you were complaining about. There’s no way you could feel this under all those mattresses.”
“Yes... I did feel it!” Rachelle crossed her arms. “You don’t understand because you’re not royalty. I’m used to luxury, and when anything disrupts my comfort, I’ll know it right away!”
“Wow.”
“It’s completely unacceptable! I’ll have to reprimand my servants for this, but I guess it can wait until tomorrow.” Rachelle yawned. “Arrange my mattresses as they were before, if you don’t mind.”
Aurora certainly did mind, but she didn’t protest. The last thing she needed was another stuck-up royal threatening to put her in a stockade, so she opted to do as Rachelle commanded. “You and Lyric make a perfect couple, you know,” she spoke to Rachelle as she heaved the first mattress back on the bed.
Rachelle grinned, tickled by Aurora’s assessment. “Really? You really think so? Oh, I hope you’re right! I think we’d be a perfect couple too!”
Perfect couple... and perfectly spoiled rotten, Aurora’s mind completed the thought.
* * *
AGAINST HER BETTER discretion, Aurora joined Lyric and Rachelle for breakfast the next morning. The croissants and jams were delicious, but Rachelle’s constant coddling of her beau was disgusting. Aurora could hardly hold down her food as Rachelle continuously combed his hair, caressed his face, and babbled baby talk in his ear. Lyric was obviously loving the attention, too. Every time he took a bite of his bagel, he seemed to grin from ear to ear.
When breakfast was over, Aurora was ready to leave—not just leave their company, but leave the castle entirely. She planned to go into town and ask if anyone knew how to get to Avalon. But Lyric had other ideas. He caught up to her in the hallway, impeding her escape.
“You... girl. Come here for a moment.”
With slumped shoulders, she turned around and walked toward him. “When will you start calling me by my name?” With any luck, the answer to that question would be never. After today, she hoped she would never have to see his face for rest of her life. But the emperor was like a shadow on a sunny day. It was impossible to shake him off.
“I’m leaving the castle,” he told her.
“Good for you. Does your girlfriend know?”
“Girlfriend?”
Aurora rolled her eyes. “I’m talking about Rachelle, obviously.”
“Now, now... that’s not my girlfriend. I’m just one of her many suitors. Many men are vying for her hand in marriage. Too many to count.”
“I’d say you’ve already won.”
“That’s not to say I want to get married. Wait... what did you say about winning?”
“You’ve won. You’ve already won the princess’ heart. She’s practically obsessed with you.”
If his raised eyebrow was any indication, Lyric‘s interest was piqued. “She is?”
“I’d say so. All she does it talk about you. All her simpering and pouting... and the way she fawns over you when we sit down for breakfast. It’s so obvious. And it’s really sickening to watch, by the way.”
Aurora started walking again, but Lyric stepped in front of her. He wasn’t through with her yet. “Sickening? Why is it sickening? Only someone who is blinded by her own jealousy would say something like that.”
“Wait... what... jealousy? What would I be jealous of?”
“Jealous of Rachelle. You’re jealous of our relationship because you want me for yourself.”
Aurora was silent as she let his words sink in. When it hit her, she doubled over with laughter. A lot of laughter. She clutched her stomach and erupted in a fit of giant, belly-shaking chuckles. She laughed until she was gasping for breath.
Lyric’s brow creased as he listened to her laughter. “What’s so funny?”
Aurora wiped tears from her eyes and took a breath. “I’m sorry...” she uttered through her laughter. “I’m sorry... it’s just... it’s just....” She couldn‘t finish her thought; the demons of laughter possessed her again.
“Stop it! Stop laughing this instant!”
Aurora drew another sharp breath, and her laughter finally subsided. “I’m sorry. But when you said I wanted you, I couldn’t stop myself. Trust me, you couldn’t be more wrong. No offense, Emperor, but I can hardly stand to be around you!”
His expression didn’t change in the slightest. He didn't appear to be the least bit affronted by her words. “Well, anyway, as I was saying, I’m leaving the castle.”
“Right. So am I.”
“Of course you are. Because you’re coming with me.”
“Sure. Okay. Goodbye.”
When she started to walk away, Lyric grabbed her around the waist. “Nuh uh uh. Didn’t you hear what I just said? You’re coming with me.”
“You’re kidnapping me?”
“No.”
“Placing me under arrest?”
“Well, no, not exactly.”
Aurora grabbed his arm and swung it away from her. “Then why in the world do you think I’m going with you?”
“Because you’re supposed to be my cousin, and I can’t leave without my cousin, can I? It would look odd if we left the castle and went our separate ways. Besides, you said you were going to gather information, but this is a rather small town. You’d have much more success if I dropped you off in the next town.”
“So you’re asking me to come with you so you can save face with Princess Rachelle?”
“Well, yes... more or less. If my cousin and I part ways too soon, she might start to doubt that you’re my cousin at all!”
Aurora shook her head. “She doesn’t seem to doubt it in the least. Maybe you’re just paranoid.”
“Or maybe I’m right. Come on.” He offered her his hand, but she didn’t take it. She stared at his fingers as if they were each a vial of poison that he was asking her to drink. “I won’t ask you to do anything else... just do this for me. You got me into this mess. It’s your obligation to help me out of it.”
Aurora held her breath for a few seconds, then slowly expelled it. Against her better judgment, she could feel her hesitation melting away. “You’ll drop me off in the next town?”
Lyric nodded. “Of course!”
“You’ll let me walk away, and you won’t say a word?”
“Yes... yes!”
“You swear it?”
“Yes, I swear!”
“Okay, fine. I’ll go with you.”
And that was her first mistake of the day.