"You there, come out now," he stared straight at the tip of a black shoe that was peaking out from behind a hedge. He heard a light gasp and some rustling leaves before a person finally stepped out from behind the hedges.
It was a woman. Kellan scrutinised her, his eyes scanning over her grimy dark grey skirt and patched together blouse. It was an old maid's uniform but terribly worn out. Her eyes were cast with dark shadows and deep frown lines were already forming on her forehead.
She rushed forward and got on her knees before Kellan.
"Forgive me, Your highness." She bowed her head solemnly as she apologised.
Kellan regarded her for a moment, she seemed vaguely familiar but he could not quite figure her out.
"The Queen's palace has been closed to outsiders for almost three years. You are not a member of the staff here, so how did you get inside?"
Kellan glowered down at her, holding authority over her. The woman lowered herself even further, touching her head to the ground.
"Forgive me your highness, there is an opening in the back wall that I used to get inside the palace." She dared not lie to a member of the royal family.
Kellan raised an eyebrow at this answer. This was the first time he had heard of such an opening. But then again, in his previous life he had never set foot in his mother's garden after the execution, so this incident never took place.
Kellan looked from the white roses to the muddied hands of this woman. It was obvious that she was the secret gardener who had been tending to the flowers.
"For what reason did you feel compelled to break into my place and disturb my garden?" Kellan raised his voice, feigning anger to try and frighten her.
Although at the moment his body was only thirteen, but his Aura was still that of a much older much crueler man, the person who he would become.
The woman's voice faltered slightly from anxiety, but replied to his answer nonetheless.
"Forgive me for disturbing your peace, your Highness. I came only to tend to the garden. I have no other motives."
"To tend to the gardens, you have broken the rules of the palace and trespassed into the residence of a prince. This is a crime punishable by death. Am I supposed to believe you risked your life to take care of some flowers?" The situation was too absurd to believe. Kellan knew there was something more.
"Tell me the truth or I will have you sent to the department of Justice for your punishment." He snapped at her.
The woman's hands trembled slightly. Despite her brazenness to trespass in his palace, it seemed she was still frightened.
"Please believe me your highness!" The young woman reached into her skirt and pulled out some dirty gardening tools.
"I only care about the garden, your Highness. I have no other motive. Surely if I was doing something sneaky I would have other instruments with me..."
Her voice began to tremble as she spoke, her nervousness spilling out.
"I cannot fake the mud in my fingernails and I cannot fake the dirt and ware in these tools that I have been using here for years. I have only ever tried to enter the gardens. Nothing else. Please believe me, your Highness!"
Kellan did believe her. After a lifetime of living in the palace, he became quite good at deciphering truth from lies. She was nervous but not deceitful.
"Why?" He asked her.
"Your Highness?"
"Why are you so determined to take care of those roses?" He pointed at the exquisite white flowers.
"Because of my father..." She barely whispered her reply.
"Explain." Kellan commanded.
"My father was the chief Gardener for the former Queen."
Her words caught Kellan off guard.
"My father loved these gardens and worked tirelessly to maintain them. He was especially devoted to the former Queen and spent his life keeping up this garden, motivated by his adoration for her. When her Majesty was executed, my father was so stricken with grief that he refused to leave the gardens..."
Kellan could see the bitter pain and sadness spilling out of her eyes.
"It got to the point where soldiers were called to remove him. In his withering state of mind he tried to fight off the guards which led to the guards stabbing him to death. He died here in this garden..."
Bas must have order that all on his own without informing him. It showed how out of control Bas was that he would actually let something like this happen and not mention a word of it to Kellan.
"I know that your Highness ordered that no one shall take care of the garden, but it was my father's pride and joy. He would be heartbroken to see the gardens looking like this. Even if you punish me, please employ some gardeners. Please don't let this place go to ruin!"
She crawled forward towards the prince and looked up at him with tears swelling in her eyes. She wasn't a spy, she was a devoted daughter who did not want to let her father's life work go to ruin.
Kellan faintly remembered the short grey beard of the head gardener. In his memory the man was talking to his mother and explaining the up and coming renovation of the gardens. By his side a young girl was holding his hand and staring at the flowers with wide eyes. That girl he was once saw, was the girl kneeling at his feet now.
She was loyal. It was more than he could say for those working for him at the moment.
He glanced down at her hands and arms. There were bruises on her sickly pale skin, some were old and bluish others new and still swelling.
Occurrences like this were unfortunately common in the palace. Workers with seniority bullied those below them. Furthermore she was a maid with ties to the former Queen, a women everyone hated because she killed a child of the emperor.
"I was not the one who ordered to let this garden die." Kellan walked towards the white roses.
The maid slowly looked up from the ground with a puzzled look on her face.
"And I definitely did not order for the gardeners attending this garden to be taken away."
"But, then—"
"When my mother died I became so grief stricken that I was unable to take care of my palace. I was bedridden for quite some time."
Kellan bent down to smell the sweet and fresh scent of the flowers.
"In that time my servants became brazen and began to take liberties with my authority. That servant Bas who just left is the main perpetrator. He was probably the one who ordered your father to be taken away. And caused his death."
Kellan turned to look at her face. The fear was gone, in its place he could see a small fire burning. It was an emotion similar to the one burning in him, a fierce desire for revenge.
Fear was crippling and often made its host inactive. Revenge, in the other hand, was quite different. If she had a desire for vengeance he could use her.
"I am a prince, but in name only. My authority is so weak that my servants even have the gall to have someone killed under my nose. And you..."
Kellan looked at her, she was in a pitiful state with her bruises and old clothes.
"Those wounds tell me that you are in a tough situation as well."
She self consciously pulled down her sleeves to cover her arms.
"Should we stay like this forever?" Kellan asked her. "Should we be pitiful and live our lives waiting for death?"
She did not answer, she needed more prompting.
"Now that Bas knows someone is tending to the garden he will be even more strict. He will make sure that these plants die, maybe even keep a guard here to patrol for intruders... Your hard work will be for nothing and the person who caused your father's death will carry on like nothing ever happened."
Kellan stared down at her. "Is that what you want?"
"No," she blurted out. "No, that can't happen."
Her eyes were wide with desperation. Her two years of had work were about to be for nothing. Her remembrances of her father's work were about to be lost.
"Please, your Highness. You can't let that happen."
"Like I said, I've become a useless prince with my mother's crime hanging over my head. Even if I order Bas to have the garden restored, there is no guarantee that he will do it."
"But there has to be something that you can do." She urged him desperately.
She was reacting just as he hoped she would.
"Once I gain my power back I can order for this garden to be brought back to its former glory. I know royal gardeners even have plaques placed in the gardens they worked on, if I get my power back I will definitely have your father's plaque placed here."
Her eyes beamed with joy at the thought of that.
"I imagine that you also hope for better circumstances for yourself. If I get my power back I could have you brought to my palace to work here instead. That way you can always be close to your father."
She was silent for a moment, taking in all the Prince had said and implied. She knew he wanted her to do something for him, something risky. And if she could do it he would follow through and do everything he had just mentioned.
A plaque for her father, moving away from her current department where they bullied her, it was too good to refuse...
"Where do you currently work?" Kellan asked.
"I am stationed at the hall of commerce, your Highness. I am a maid there."
Kellan grinned. "Excellent. You'll easily be able to send letters out of the palace then."
"Letters?"
"Yes." Kellan nodded. "In order to get my power back I need to contact my uncle. Of course I can't give the letter to Bas because he will read it. So instead I'll give it to you to take care of."
"Your Highness's uncle will able to restore some of your power?" She frowned knowing that the prince's uncle did not hold a very influential position in court.
"No, he won't be able to do that." Kellan nodded with a grin. She was proving to be very intelligent. "But if I am able to use him well, he will be a stepping stone for my rising."
She nodded slowly. She did not quite understand everything, but the confidence on the young prince's face was somehow convincing.
"What is your name?" He abruptly asked, which caught the young woman off guard.
She bowed her head again for a formal introduction. "This servant's name is Mildred Sorn, Your highness."
Kellan nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Mildred. Will you help me?"
Mildred almost flinched at his question. In all the palaces had anyone ever heard of royalty lowering themselves to ask a servant for help?
She was shocked at the courtesy the prince had given her. It was definitely a risk to help him, but if she carried on with life the way she was going, she was surely die too young with too many grudges.
"I will gladly help your Highness."
"Nice." Kellan grinned. In one day he had secured a route for his letters to be sent out of the palace.
"Now show me where this hole in the wall is."