"Gods, that was draining!" Amelia exclaimed, fanning herself vigorously with her hand. We slipped away after the performance for our rest before the next one. Amelia, being Amelia, stole a glass of wine that was being served to the entourage and downed it.
"Ah! I feel so much better."
I shook my head. Andrella already said we could be killed from any misbehavior yet she had the guts to steal a glass of wine, grabbing a chicken leg with it. She tore into it since no one was watching.
"Want a bite?"
"I have another performance soon. Unlike you, this would affect me."
"Suit yourself," she shrugged, taking another bite.
"Amelia, I'm going on a walk."
"Right now? We can start at any time!"
"I'll be back soon. I need to clear my head. I'll just be in the garden."
"Okay."
A cobbled path led to the garden at the back of the house. The garden, covered in wildly growing weeds and rodents when I had first arrived, had transformed into a lush vibrant field of colors under my care. It was my only escape from the harshness of reality and so whenever I felt overwhelmed, I would leave the house and tend to the flowers.
Magnolia flowers dominated the vast majority of the garden with lilies growing in a pond in the middle and a few roses. Each was cared for carefully so they would grow well and healthily so my indignation when I saw that some of them had been plucked carelessly was understandable.
Majority of the magnolia looked like they were picked through by a child and some roses were plucked here and there. It didn't look like the work of any of the girls, they were forbidden by Andrella from destroying the garden. She wouldn't have sent them to pluck the flowers either, she would've asked me since I was able to do it better.
There was a trail of fallen petals leading to the pond in the middle. Glancing back at the entrance of the garden, I saw there was no one to summon me yet so I followed the trail. Flower stalks and torn off petals littered the ground. If it truly was the king's escort, I would have my master talk to them. Destroying the house's properties was no good.
My heart jolted when I suddenly heard what sounded like the cries of a child. I ran to the pond and at the very edge, there was a scratched up bleeding child beside it. The blonde hair stood out very well and so did the dragon insignia on his dirtied clothes. It was the child Prince Kron was carrying earlier.
What is he even doing here? How did he even get here?
Questions like this filled my head as I rushed to lift him up. The scratches on his body were definitely from plucking the roses and his head was bleeding from probably a fall. He struggled against me, crying louder.
There was no one around and his voice was getting hoarse which meant he must've been crying for a long time and no one heard him. I bundled him with my sash despite his protests and carried him into the house using the back entrance. Since everyone else was in the ballroom, the house was empty. The distance from the back entrance to my room was short so I was able to attend to his wounds quickly.
There was no way for me to get heated water that fast so I settled with rinsing him with the water I had stored up to clean up after my performance was done for the day. I removed his clothes and set him on the bed, getting medicine to clean his wound with.
I had no way to stop him from crying and it caused a lot of trouble for me because of who he was. I quickly wrapped him up in some loose fabrics and offered him candy I didn't have a lot of. He of course refused and cried even more. I was running out of time and the situation was getting more chaotic.
"Sky high, dyed in purple, shining skies, bursting bubbles, oh what a wonderful night."
I repeated the same verse again. It was effective after the fourth time since his cries ceased and his attention was focused on me. He was on the far end of the bed and as I sang, he moved closer till he was in front of me. He stretched his chubby hands, clenching his fist and opening them again.
I smiled, carrying him and placing him on my lap. I rocked him and sang till his hiccups subsided. With his injuries cleaned up, he was quite a lovely child. Although he carried the traits of his father, I couldn't fault such an innocent adorable boy.
"Mama."
"I'm not your mother, little one. I'm Elayne. You can call me Ellie."
"Ellie... Ellie," he said as he clapped, smiling.
An old memory resurfaced in my mind seeing him like that. The song was an old lullaby my mother used to sing to calm my brother two years younger than I was. She also sang it for my sister.
----
"Ellie! Ellie!"
"Come play with me Ellie! Let's play hide and seek!"
"Ellie, you are playing with the flowers again! Let's go play!"
"Ellie, look I drew a portrait of you!"
"Isn't that just a doodle though?"
"Ellie, Carrion's being mean again!"
"As the future king, I cannot tell a lie!"
"Carrion, Celia, come on, be nice."
"Mother! Father!"
Carrion and Celia loved playing with me everyday as our parents never spent time with us. When they did have time, they were always excited to see them. And I, Princess Arianna Elayne Stavenger, was too. They were loving, kind and precious, my family.
"Ellie, look at you, you're covered in dirt again. Why can't you read books like the other noble ladies?"
"Mother, I love gardening and I love the earth the gods have bestowed us with."
"Ellie, this is not a royal's job"
"Mother, the ones who do this job, aren't they human too?"
"I know my daughter but everyone has a job and you, as first princess, are obliged to marry the crown prince of Zerramond."
"Mother, you're still on about that?"
"Ariana this is indisputable. You are to marry him and that's final."
----
Mother and I always fell into arguments like this and even then, she was patient in explaining and letting me understand. A few months after I was sent off to marry, I returned to see my family and discovered the whole royal family was dead. The regime fell and I was the only Stavenger alive.
If, just if I hadn't gone away, I would've ended up like my family. After five years, I'm still trying to figure out if that's a blessing or a curse.
"Ellie. Ellie."
"What's your name, little one?"
"Ba-Ba-Bastarsh," he replied and giggled happily.
Bastarsh? Bastard? What?
"That can't be right. Who's your father then?"
The door swung open, hitting the wall heavily. Prince Kron walked into the room with the most frightening expression I had ever seen on him. Behind him were a few palace guards, their eyes locked on the little prince on my lap, laughing freely. In this confusion, I had forgotten that my veil had come off.