Aideen's Answer

~Chapter Eleven~

Aideen slowly began making her way back to the castle. She heard a rustling behind her that made her jump and comb the darkness with her eyes. Her heart pounding, she turned and began setting a much faster pace toward her destination. Was there someone out there?

'No, no,' She thought, 'That is simply not possible. No one else knows of our clearing. No one could have seen us.'

But what if they had? What if someone heard Kevin's proposal and reported it to the king and queen? Aideen suppressed a moan as she thought of what such news would do to her father in his already weakened condition.

The rustling sounded again and Aideen started as she realized she had stopping walking, lost in her thoughts. She heard it a third time and whirled around, ready to face the intruder.

Only to find she herself was the intruder as a red fox bounded past her. Relieved to find the cause of the noise, she continued on her path.

Nevertheless, she still could not seem to let go of the feeling that she was being watched. She then rounded a large oak and realized how close she was to home. Casting a look over her shoulder to the dark woods, Aideen let her instincts take over and ran as fast as she could to the gate.

Much to the amusement of the cloaked figure in the shadows.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Aideen?"

She slowly opened her eyes, then groaned and rolled over. Covering her head with a pillow as she did so.

"Not yet!"

"Aideen! It is almost noon!"

"Samantha! Have a heart!"

"i already do, which is precisely why I waited so long to wake you. I know you had the last shift with your father last night and that must have been unbelievably difficult. But we were all up last night and you must face the world sometime," Samantha's voice was muffled on the last words, as her head was in Aideen's wardrobe.

Aideen buried deeper under the covers as she tried to shut out the events of the past day. Especially when pictures of her father flashed through her mind. He had looked so pale last night as he'd slept. Even more pale than he had in the office, right before they had argued...

'No,' she thought. 'Do not go there.'

'I know that," Aideen finally answered her cousin, 'but I do not have to be happy about it!' She muttered under her breath before sticking her tongue out at her cousins back.

Samantha withdrew a lavender gown with a flourish, 'Here now! This one is quite lovely, I do not believe I have ever seen it before."

Aideen stared at the gown draped in her cousins arms, as Kevin's face swam in her minds eye.

'That gown you are wearing today is beautiful, my dear,' She could hear him saying on their very first meeting in the clearing. 'The color makes those lovely blue orbs of yours stand out even more than normal.'

Aideen had blushed scarlet and quickly changed the subject, babbling something about the beauty of the scenery. Kevin merely smiled at her discomfort and wisely allowed the abrupt subject change.

"Aideen?"

She blinked to find Samantha waving a hand before her eyes.

"Is something the matter, Aideen?"

She looked at Samantha, who was watching with concern etched all over her face.

"Oh, Samantha," Aideen moaned, sinking onto her bed and wringing her hands together. "How on earth has everything gone so wrong?"