Dragon Rider Trilogy Flames

Chapter Six

6

WILLOW TREE

HOW COULD HE LIE and be so calm! How could she possibly believe him!  Then I realised what he’d done and I panicked, he’s crazy!  How could he do that!

“As for what she said to Prince Oscar.  She did not mean it, she was just very upset, we apologise your majesty, but we didn’t want anyone to know.”  Simon and Oscar were shocked but when I looked at Marcus he looked relieved even though he hid all most all expression from his face.  I stared at Simon and Oscar to tell them to go with it, even though I couldn’t close my own mouth and had to struggle to keep hold of my anger.  My hands began to hurt from the metal that held my down.  Commander Williams looked away from me and had a horrid frown across his face.  So much was happening it made my head ache.  Queen Elena inspected Peter and inspected me.  I wanted to close my eyes because she wouldn’t believe us, but I didn’t for the sake of the act.

“You’re both terribly young to be getting married,” the queen mumbled to herself.  “Well, I will believe you both and let you go on this occasion.  But if I’m not convinced and find at least one flaw, you’ll both be seeing a lot of bars,” her voice was calm now but she, like the commander, didn’t trust me at all.  I looked up at her as the guard walked away and Commander Williams hastily opened the metal chains and stormed away.  I rubbed at my now painful wrists and picked up Peter’s hat from the clean marble floor.

“Thank you Lady Queen.” I tried to be polite, but there were tears on my face and I was a mess.  She turned away from my face abruptly.

“Don’t talk to me, unless I ask you to, girl!” this queen, definitely hated me.  She left us with her guard close behind but stopped right outside the door.  “You are all to join us at a feast this evening for the prince’s return, then you may speak with the king about your problem.  Commander Williams will show you to your temporary rooms.” The commander was not happy to hear he was in charge of getting us settled for he was so determined to leave us. 

“I am not a servant, but I shall show you to rooms for it is my orders.” He glared at me and I looked away.  I realised Oscar was no longer with us, he had been escorted out by the queen’s guard, most likely to get changed from his ‘filthy commoners clothes’, as I had heard the queen say after leaving, but I hadn’t paid much attention, I didn’t want anything to do with him anymore. 

The rooms we were brought into weren’t nearly as gorgeous as the throne room, but they were better than my room in Kaiden Village.  They had balconies with clear glass doors; the view was amazing; it looked out at a forest that I could probably walk to.  The bed was extremely comfortable, all white with grey floral tapestry curtains that would open and close around the bed.  There was a wooden desk by the bed with a plain candle that sat in a small metal candleholder, which seemed so handy.  There was a beautiful fur carpet on the wooden floor that was so soft I wanted to just curl up and go to sleep there, but I had a bath first. 

The bathrooms were lined with white stone, which looked interesting.  The water was warm; it was nice to not have to fetch my water from the village waterfall I loved so much.  People called it the Ruby Waterfall but I didn’t care to call it by its name to often.  Koji City was known for its special filtration and pipe system that made it so easy for them to get water.  The royal family had also figured out how to heat the water, but it still cost them so much that they were the only ones to use it.  The water I normally had to bathe in was lukewarm only when heated by the sun. 

 I felt relaxed, like I might be able to escape what had happened in the throne room.  But I kept remembering that I was now considered to be Peter’s fiancé.  Peter.  Ugh! He made me so angry.  I slapped at the water’s surface to calm my mind.  After I had had my bath I got out and dried myself.  I lay on the bed dressed in only my towel; my hair was all around me.  I had absolutely nothing to wear and I had to attend a feast with the King.  What was I supposed to do?  I curled myself up to keep warm.  I thought of Midnight, how I needed to talk to her, but I had no idea where she was; the commander had sent someone to fetch her for me and move her to the palace stables, but I didn’t know where that was.  I sighed, it was only afternoon and I could only hear the screeching screams of silence.  I pulled myself into a small ball.