The Prince and the Count's Daughter

Chapter 4 - Beware

Mrs Parrish

Lord Beckett

I spent the rest of the day on my sofa, watching feel good films and eating junk food. I still aren't sure whether I was in the wrong or not. I probably should've called my friends to talk about it but I just didn't want to talk about it. I wanted to pretend like nothing had happened and focus on whatever film with a guaranteed happy ending I was watching. When I finally got too tired to continue, around 1am I think, I finally made my way to my bedroom.

I pulled all my clothes off, dumping them on the floor and climbed into bed. I'm not sure why but as I was about to fall asleep an image flashed into my head; the Prince.

The next morning I pulled myself out of bed, despite never wanting to leave my bedroom again and lethargically got dressed. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun, not wanting to deal with it and put only very light makeup on. After a long debate I decided on jeans, another oversized jumper and abandoned the jewelry I usually wore.

Instead of going down to eat breakfast with everyone else I ate some of last night's leftover pizza and decided it was time to talk to my friends. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and selected Kate from my contacts.

"Where are you?" Kate's voice rang through the phone, alarmingly.

"What's wrong?"

"The advisors are making some big announcement, Mrs Parrish is on her way to get you. I think it's serious." Kate said gravely.

"Shit, I haven't brushed my teeth yet. I have to go." I jumped up, panicking.

"Er, sure. Goodbye." Kate replied then put the phone down.

I ran through to the bathroom and was still brushing my teeth when Mrs Parrish walked in.

"There's an announcement, them advisors sent me to get you." Mrs Parrish called through to me. I finished brushing my teeth, wiped my mouth and then ran back through.

"Just let me grab my bag." I called on my way past her.

"I'm sure they can wait long enough for you to walk." She quipped as I pulled my bag from the floor where I'd left it the day before.

"They'll get angry, you know that." I said with a sigh. One day Mrs Parrish might just accept I'll never be boisterous and confident like her.

"I've told you before not to let them put you down like that. You're the one with the right to rule, not them." She remarked and turned to leave as though not expecting a reply. "Come on then." she called back as I trailed behind her out of the room.

When I reached the hall it was packed. People stood crowded together in every direction, whispering to each other. The royal advisors, as they were still called despite not advising anyone royal in their life times, were gathered at the front on a platform with stern expressions. Kate and Kira were squeezing their way through the crowd to stand with me and Mrs Parrish.

Kate was clearly about to say something to me when the room turned deathly quiet. We turned to see that Lord Beckett had approached the front of the platform to stand behind a podium.

Lord Beckett was shorter than the average man and at least seventy years old. He only wore the finest clothes, but in old man style and held himself with a clear arrogance. He had an olive complexion, a large nose, beady eyes, a large white mustache and a small, wrinkled face.

"I'm glad I have your attention." He began with an air of superiority. "I have an announcement to make. It seems in recent weeks some of our fellow citizens have come to an untimely end. It pains me to say that for the first time in several hundred years the castle is once again under threat."

Gasps and whispers broke out around the crowd.

"In recent weeks many guards have gone missing and some have even returned dead." he continued. "The guards were all last seen in the grounds behind the abandoned wing. I urge you to think twice before choosing to go there and to forbid your children to play in the vicinity. For now I am relying on people to all make the best decisions for themselves and their families but if deaths begin to include civilians I will render the area off limits until further notice."

Lord Beckett paused giving me the opportunity to have a good look around the crowd. Mothers were clinging to their children, elderly ladies appeared fearful and I noticed some of the men appearing to disagree with Lord Beckett's suggestions.

"This evening a vigil will be held in the main ballroom," he began again. "We owe it to all of the brave guards who have recently lost their lives and have vanished in the line of duty. Again I will not force you to attend, but be warned it will look badly on you indeed if you decide the men protecting your lives don't deserve to be honoured in death. Thank you for listening."

He stepped down from the podium and immediately whispered into the ear of Lord Ainsworth. The crowd began to frantically talk amongst themselves. I've never had much time for gossip so I started to plan my escape route when I realised Lord Ainsworth was headed straight for me. For god sake!