I look at him a bit unsure “Are you sure there is no chance he knows your identities?”
Fadres pipes up again. “I wouldn’t say no chance… there is always a slim chance of anything… but it is unlikely.”
“Okay… good.” I pick at my nail.
Credour grasps the hand I am picking at and uses it to twirl me around. “Nice dress, where did this come from?” He compliments me with a smile. I giggle appreciating the subject change.
“Thank you, a sweet handmaiden gave it to me this morning.”
“Oh, so they have already assigned you with staff?”
“It seems so. I am hoping to befriend them,” I smile.
A look of worry crosses over his features for a split second, before he gives me a gentle look. “Be careful, although I am happy they are treating you appropriately, you don’t know if everyone truly means you well.”
“I know…” I shiver, thinking back to father’s letter this morning.
Fadres looks at me curiously. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. It’s just a little... chilly in here is all.” I rub my arms for added effect, glancing around. I am not sure why I do not tell Credour or Fadres about my father’s little message this morning. Although I trust them implicitly, I am paranoid about the eyes my father alluded to.
“Come, let’s go find you a cloak, we can discuss this later.” I nod.
Credour and Fadres escort me back to my room, but as they go to enter with me, I stop them.
“Wait out here, it would be odd if you followed me inside.” I smile at them, reassuringly.
Credour rolls his eyes. “Fine, fine. We will be right here, but no sneaking off.”
I nod my acceptance of these terms.
He mumbles to himself and leans against the wall. Before I can close the door Fadres stops me and gives me a quick hug. “We really were worried, please be quick.” He grins at me and casts a nervous eye towards Credour. “For everyone’s sake.” He chuckles in response to Credour’s glare.
“I will, I promise. I just need to find a cloak. That room is massive.”
He nods at me then releases my arms and leans on the other side of the door from Credour. “We will be right here.”
I give him a thumbs up and then walk into my room, closing the door behind me. I rest my hands on my hips wondering where to start my search. I actually have not done much exploring of this room other than, of course, the bed. I glance over at the bed in question, exhaustion sneaking its way into my limbs.I could use a bit of a nap.
I notice something lying on my bed and I walk over to inspect the material. There lies a cloak. One that matched the dress perfectly. It has the same white fabric, a hood, and it is hemmed with the same flowers and vines. Although beautiful, I was a bit disturbed by its presence. There is no other way to take its appearance other than a sign we are being surveilled. The only question now is, who is watching? King Demetrius? My Father? The prince? I bite my nail.Let us just hope this particular stalker has good intentions.
Nausea churns my stomach as another thought hits me, this gift serves as another message as well. This room is not a safe space for me. Not only due to the almost confirmed spyware littering the ceiling disguising itself as vines, but the fact I have no idea who has access to my room. A rustling on the other side of the door, causes me to jump. I calm myself remembering Sorin and Sam are still awaiting me outside, quickly I throw on the cloak and rush back to the door.I need to get back.
Chapter nine
Faraway Allies
Alaceandra
Despite the prince’s invitation, over the next couple of weeks, I steer clear of the gardens. I still spot the prince in the halls around the castle, but we do not find ourselves alone, and for that I am grateful. He made me feel so off balanced and I am not sure what to make of him. Instead, I find refuge in a little library doing all I can to learn about Helomasi. Hard as I try, the texts are bereft of any information regarding the kingdom or itshistory. I found only two things of interest. One was the mention that Helomasians use smaller elvisera for mail carrying, as they are much speedier than their larger counterparts, which I found to be quite odd, as I have never heard of a smaller elviserian race. The other was a singular sentence in one of the children's books. It mentioned some sort of plague that had wreaked havoc on parts of the land eons ago:
Those who are naughty best be careful of the plague, for once darkness finds you, you can never be saved.
As creepy as that line was, it only led to a dead end. When I tried to ask some of the servants about it, they refused to give me a straight answer on the matter, citing some chore or task that they must get back to before making a hasty retreat. Once word got around that I had been asking questions the servants started avoiding me all together. I found food deposited on my bed along with my garments only after I had left my chambers and the halls strangely empty when I walked around. I am sure that they are probably still there on the outskirts watching me, but they are doing a great job of making themselves scarce. It is frustrating to know so little about the new place I am living, but it is quickly looking like that cannot be helped.This is definitely starting to feel like I have just hopped prison cells.My father also enjoyed keeping me woefully in the dark about information regarding Tikilium and the surrounding kingdoms, and I hate that this new king is acting similarly.
Sighing I pick up a pen, writing out a letter to Philos.She is sure to have more information than anyone on these matters.The watchfulness of this kingdom has me on edge. I have only let my elvisera, Addie, carry my letters to Philos instead of their smaller elvisera, which the king did provide for me about a week ago. Although Addie's size means the letters get back and forth a bit slower, I do not mind. It is better to have a carrier I can trust than a speedy one that might spill my secrets. Plus, Tikiliumdid not have such small elvisera, rather we used our full-sized elvisera to serve both the function of mail and travel carrying. I worry about the origin of the smaller ones and fear they might even be the babies of the magnificent creatures being put to work too early.I bite the edge of my pen, before shaking the thought away for the time being and continuing my letter to my dear friend.
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