"Thank you Princess, for inviting us!" Said Rebecca with a small squeak, which was soon followed by others. "Oh, don't be so humble! You are all my friends!" Said Harriet the 8th princess of the kingdom. This tea party was organised by her. "Oh, how a princess like you befriend us small ladies?" squeaked another girl giggling vigorously. Harriet flinched, but said with a forced smile, "Please, call my name. 'Princess' is too distant!" "If you insist..." replied Rebecca, sipping her tea from the beautiful white cup, too elegant for a 10 year old.
Harriet gave out an awkward laugh along with the others who laughed whole heartedly. Harriet may appear as a naive little princess, but if you think so, you are terribly mistaken. She knows the hidden meanings inside the words her 'friends' imparted. To be honest, she hates such gatherings. She is the last royal blood born in the family. The age gap between her just older sibling, that is the 7th prince, is 5 and being a prince, he never really went out to play with her. Basically, she is lonely. So lonely, that she began to envy the commoner children playing on the streets whenever she went for a ride. This was her tutor's idea, she could mix with the social status and the noble society. But of course, for a girl with the status of a princess, who won't envy her. They rather make her life a living hell than befriend her.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Brother Niel is back from his competition! Guess what? He won it! You all can come to my house to congratulate him!" said Sarah, another girl. Harriet's head zapped up. Niel, he is an obedient boy. He is good in his studies and a one of the best in controlling his magic. And also, he is her secret crush. Not only her, almost all 10 year old girls have a crush on him.
"Oh, is he? Will he be okay if we visit him?" Asked Rebecca, her voice barely covering her excitement. 'If I could meet him, I can ask him how to control my magic as an excuse to get closer to him. Then, I will ask more about him and ....' Rebecca was busy reciting her plan in mind, that she barely noticed Harriet trying to speak to Sarah. "Sarah, can I also come?" asked Harriet, with a small line of hope. Sarah scoffed in her heart. 'This girl is still here. No, I will not let you meet my brother!' Sarah suddenly looked scared and began to sob. Harriet flinched and asked her what happened. Sarah said between her sobs, "It's just....just that....a princess is coming into my house. I can't receive you like one should do. I can't accept your visit!" Harriet panicked, she quickly said. "It's okay, it's okay, I understand. But your brother is here and I need to give him my congrats on winning the competition." Harriet tried to tell her, she does not want any preparations to receive her like a princess, but Sarah told her lots of nonsense, but the she said, "But I and him can come to visit your palace sometime. What do you think?" Sarah said. Harriet gently frowned her brown brows. Sarah is belittling her again, by saying Sarah can't invite her but wants Harriet to invite her instead?! But what can she do? She don't want to piss off these girls since only they can be her friends. And if she denied it, god knows what she will tell Niel back at her home. So she can only....
"Alrig--!"
"So, you mean to say she can't come into your home, but you can?"
Harriet was suddenly cut off by another sound. It was a female sound but, it was proud and displeased by the tone of it. All the 5 heads zapped to the speaker. It was a young maiden with brown hair and in a green gown. She had blue eyes, indicating she was from the royal blood. Beside her, was a handsome youth who was reasonably tall. His face was chiselled with a fair skin tone. He had silky like golden brown hair and had dark but sparkling cyan eyes. He wore a violet coloured suit and black pants. He also wore a violet cloak over his shoulder.
Harriet jumped out of her seat and ran towards the woman who hugged her back. "Meg!" she cried. Then, she turned to the youth who was smiling at her. She turned back to her sister and asked her, "Who is he?" Margret just smiled.
Lawrence smiled and kneeled before her and said, "Hmm..... you have grown taller. Oh well, you were just a baby when I left. So, you not recognise me right away.... sis!" Lawrence said as he patted her head. Harriet then caught on and suddenly hugged his legs. Lawrence flinched. Harriet said, "Brother Lawrence, when I came to know of you, I use to think I will never see you again!" She looked like she would cry.
"Wait Lawrence....the 1st prince who was impure." Whispered Sarah. "Hmph...don't worry, he won't get the kingdom. We must stick with Louis." scoffed Rebecca. Margret heard it. But before she could throw a tantrum, Lawrence said, "Hello my dear little noble ladies, It seems you are having fun! So I was thinking of joining you with my sis Harry! Come on."
Lawrence guided Harriet to her chair and he leaned against one of the pillars. He calmly stated, "Listen, I may be impure and all. I was also sent away because of it. But that doesn't mean, I have no chance for the throne. Or else, why would they bring me back?" The girls began to get uncomfortable, especially Rebecca. Lawrence then said with a smile, "So, I hope you all act like what is good for you. None of us can know the future." Lawrence said, and paused for some time. Then, as if remembering something, he said, "And what is your name, young girl?" "S...Sarah!" "Sarah... what a beautiful name.... I just want to say, Harriet will be visiting your house with your friends. And if you think you want to visit here with him, ask for Harriet's permission formally. Understood?" "Y-Yes..." Sarah said, but when she saw his cyan pupils twinkling in the shade of the pillar, she quickly added, "....Your highness!" and did a trembling curtsey.
The tea party ended quickly and abruptly, since all the girls were wary of Lawrence, who was still there watching them like a hawk waiting for his prey. Soon, everyone went away. As soon as they exited, Harriet slumped over her chair like a fluid and let out her breath which she did not know she was holding. Lawrence and Margret joined her.
"So....a bad tea party, I guess." Said Lawrence, which earned a nod and a hum from Harriet, while Margret began to munch on the left over cookies.
"But it was good after you came." Harriet said with a grateful smile. "I am your brother. How can I stay away when I find my little Harry being bullied?" "Well, my other brothers did." "..."
When Harriet said that softly, Lawrence frowned his brows. It must be so hard on her. Could it be she was lonely for 15 years? He can't imagine it. Yes, he was also broken for a long time after arriving at London, but he made many friends and was always busy to morn about his past.
"Don't worry, Harry, I won't let you feel lonely again." Harriet looked at him dumbfounded, then her eyes went big with tears and she smiled and hugged him again. Even Margret wiped her eyes after witnessing the scene. She knows how Harriet felt those years. She would rarely speak. She would immerse herself in books that were not recommended for her tiny age. She was a walking corpse in the palace like her granny. When Margret came to know of the tea party, she asked Harriet to withdraw, as Margret was sure she would get hurt mentally. But, Harriet said that back in those years, none of her siblings came for her help, now even if they would hurt her, she would still have friends.
Margret again looked at Lawrence patting Harriet. She silently thanked him for bring back the life in the two people. Suddenly, they began to hear footsteps. Lawrence could tell there were two people. One was running and another was just walking. If it's an enemy, they would hide their footstep sound with magic. Who could it be?
Suddenly, there came two people. One was shorter and another was taller. The shorter was a ginger haired guy and the other was ebony haired. Both looked shocked. The shorter guy suddenly looked angry. Before Lawrence could look for more details, the shorter guy armed himself with a sword and launched himself at Lawrence as if to stab him. What the hell is going on?