The Devil in Disguise

Chapter 1 ~ "New world family" 1492

The Morning was brisk and cold, a small frost had formed on the windows from the night before. This was the first sign of summer ending and autumn starting.
This was my second week back home, I had spent 10 years away in Scotland. Our Home of Leeds was attacked when I was 8 years old, my Grandfather was the King, until he was slaughtered in battle.
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My Dad then came to the thrown immediately, his first priority was getting me and my younger brother as far away as possible before it got worse. My older brother, Henry, had to stay behind and fight. We went with the other children from the Kingdom and fled. As hard as it was to leave home, in England all the children became good friends. We spend our days playing the Gardens of Edinburgh castle and helped the maids with their day work. Some had issues with the children of royals do the work of the servants. My best friend- Damon, and I never minded though. We liked being able to focus our attention on other things other then worrying about home.

Damon and I became close on the ride over to Edinburgh. His Father, Giuseppe Salvatore, was the general of our army, best friends with my Father. I never quite understood why though, Giuseppe was an ass and my dad was a sweetheart.
Anyways, Damon and I had always known each other before the Journey to Edinburgh, but hadn't much talked. I think because of everything that was happening back home helped us connect; we didn't have anyone else.
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After waking fully, I called my maid Anne, not because I needed help getting dressed, I had dressed my self for years in Edinburgh before my Dad sent Anne to me. I just enjoyed her company and we are good friends now, we talk about anything and everything.
"You hear the latest news?" asked Anne. "No? I haven't yet. Why what's going on?" I asked back.  "There's a family from the new world coming to stay at our Castle! Can you believe that! I'm not sure how we got so lucky!" Anne said as she brushed my hair. I was confused considering most of the people who lived at Leeds had just gotten back. Why are we hosting such a high profile family already? I can't imagine us being ready.
"Wow that's amazing! I wonder why us?" I said. Not wanting to ruin the excitement for Anne. "I'm honestly not sure, it seems so sudden, but I'm sure they have a good reason. Maybe they want to trade with us? Seems like they have lots of Gold!" Anne said happily. Truth is after the latest attempted siege, our castle has been struggling. So if what Anne says is true, this would be great for our economy. I'm sure just loads of people might even travel just to get a glimpse of the "New world family".

After getting dressed and ready Anne and I headed down to the hall. The table was full of fresh fruits, freshly baked bread, cake, assorted meats and cheeses. The smell never got old. This was one of the things I had always missed about home. I spotted Damon, Anne and I both sat down next to each-other. We had all become kind of a group, along with Caroline, another girl who was close to our age. We did a lot together, in Edinburgh we had such freedom, no politics to worry about. Now that we're home, we have to worry about our futures. So we make the most of the time we have alone. Mostly at night. Every night since we've gotten back, we've gone up to the watch tower to see the stars. Caroline would sneak wine every once in awhile, if she could get  access to it. (Her mom is the Chaplain so she gets pretty good free reign of the castle.) All of us get along with the Kitchen staff well, we've started to help out some days a week for extra snacks. This of course isn't allowed so we have to sneak down most of the time, but totally worth it.
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*clink* *clink* "Good morning everyone, before we start eating I'd like to make an announcement." King George (my dad) said. "In two days time we will have some very special guests staying with us. They are from the New world! They are coming to England to escape the recent attacks in there city and need a place to host them before they may find it safe to return." Said King George. Many gasps and murmurs broke out in the hall, some seemed excited to have company and others looked confused. This thankfully wasn't a shock, the staff got the word before the rest of the court. "How come they are staying with us?" Asked Lord Philip. "We have just returned, surly there are other places they could stay that may equip them better." More murmurs in agreement broke out in the hall, others also seemed to be questioning why they are staying with us. Me being one of them. "As all of you are fully aware of our financial situation.." began King George "This is a very high profile family, which is partially why they must flee, they are the main targets in these attacks in the New land.
They also are very wealthy and have offered to pay for the stay here. As long as they need it. This will help us grow back into what we used to be."
As I looked around I could tell everyone looked at lot more sympathetic, I think they started to remember that not to long ago we were in there shoes as well.
"I expect you all to greet them with kindness and hospitality. We of all people should understand what they are going through." Finished King George. "Let us eat!"
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That night I made my way up to the roof with my lantern. The cold already filled the stairwell on the way up, the air was chilled but fresh, I could already see my breath. Anne and Caroline were already on the roof. The flickering candle from they're lantern got closer as I made my way over to them. "Look what I gotttt" said Caroline happily as she swayed her way over to me. She pulled out a bottle of wine from her dress to present it to me. "Good job Care." I said with a grin. Anne was already eating some extra cake from the Kitchen and looking at the stars. They were extra bright tonight, they almost looked like little eyes looking down at you if stared to long. "Where's Damon?" I asked after taking a sip of wine. "He's usually up here by now." Caroline shrugged, "not sure what's keeping him". "Wait, you guys don't know?" Asked Anne confused. "Know what?" Asked Caroline and I at the same time.
Another thing I love about Anne is she seemed to know all the gossip. As she worked in the castle, many got careless as to what they said around her. They simply saw her as just "the help". She doesn't mind though, she lives for the gossip.
"There's a new girl here, she's from somewhere In Europe. Not sure exactly where though. Anyways, Damon seems to have fallen for her, and I think she likes him too." Explained Anne. "That's probably where he is tonight." She smirked at us. Caroline and I looked at each other in shock. Damon was my best friend, why wouldn't he tell me this? "How long have they been "courting"." I asked with sarcastic emphasis on the "courting". "It's been a few days now, I thought you knew. I figured Damon would have told you." Shrugged Anne. "Whatever, he'll tell me if he wants to, I just hope she's good to him." I added. I didn't care that Damon was "seeing" someone, I was just confused as to why he wouldn't tell me.
Caroline broke my thought, "Honestly it's kinda nice without him. We got a nice girls night out of it." Caroline giggled happily as she took another sip of Wine. "You know what, I agree." I said. "Cheers to that!" All of us took a another sip out of the bottle of Wine.
We stayed out for about another hour just drinking and chatting. None of us wanted to leave from the amazing view of the stars, and even though the night was cold the wine keep us warm for the most part. But sadly we had to go down before the watch crew came up and caught us.
We made our way down as quietly as possible to get back to our rooms. "Goodnight!" I called in a whisper to Caroline and Anne before slipping into my room. "Goodnight love!" They called back as quietly as they could.
I slipped into my warm Bed very much ready for sleep now. Before I made myself comfortable I remembered that in 1 day we were to host a very wealthy family. A wave of anxiousness swept over me, I have no idea what to expect. I just hope they turn out to be nice I thought as I slowly drifted to sleep.