Keditha's Beloved

Chapter Ten

I can't believe I managed to skip the greeting of King Cyril and his family. I explained that I had a headache and couldn't quite make it.

Emilie walks into the room, gasping when she sees me sitting on the bed. "Athena what are you doing? I thought you were meeting the royal family of Keditha."

"I didn't feel like meeting them. I was tried." I lean back, resting my hand on my forehead.

Emilie pulls me to feet, turning to go organize my table. "I thought you would've been excited to see Julian." She says, gathering up my papers.

"Emilie, you don't know what happened."

Emilie rest her hands on her hips, staring at me. "What could he have done that is so terrible, you can't bear to see him?"

"Well first off, he doesn't know my real identity and second, I don't want to talk about it." I sit back down on my bed, crossing my arms as if I were a child.

"Athena, you've been acting off lately. Are you sure everything is alright? Is it something with Philip?" She questions.

"What no, Philip is fine." I smile. "He's actually trying to earn my forgiveness."

Emilie frowns. "That scum?" She raises an eyebrow.

"I'm not one to hold grudges Emilie." I frown at her.

"Clearly." She says rolling her eyes.

"Listen, I'm going to the library to just think and relax. Please don't tell anyone where I am." I say.

"And what if your parents find you and realize you were lying." Emilie continues giving me a look.

"They won't, now stop giving me that look. I'm not going to apologize for giving Philip a chance." I move towards the door, ready to leave.

"Fine, I guess it's your life." Emilie motions for me to leave. I give her a huge smile before leaving.

I sneak down the hallway, careful to be as quiet as possible. Hopefully no one will see me and I can make it to the library without an awkward confrontation.

I quietly slip into the library and head up to the second story. The second story was my favorite. Extremely secluded so if you were trying to hide, this was the perfect place.

It's funny how I hate reading but the library was my favorite place in the entire castle. It has the feeling of an old dusty house.

I read through a bookcase that was almost overflowing with books. I believe most of them are gifts from old friends.

"Amy?" A voice questions.

No, I know that voice. I spin around. Julian stood only a couple feet away from me, his eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing here? You're suppose to be with my father." I gasp.

"What? You're father? Amy what's going on?" Julian almost snaps.

My jaw drops. I raise my one hand slightly, almost in defensive mode. "Julian, I can explain." I swallow, studying him. He seemed somewhat calm but you can tell by his eyes, he was livid.

"I'm waiting."

I sigh deeply. "Julian, when I said Amy wasn't my real name, that's because my real name is Athena." Julian stiffens, his eyes widening. "I'm the princess of Astoan."

"You lied to me?" Julian asks, glaring at me.

I laugh. "Lied to you? What did you expect me to do? Julian, I was taught to fear you. And here I was in the middle of nowhere without any guard. I was practically begging for you to kidnap me."

"I wouldn't kidnap a girl." Julian says, offended.

"How was I supposed to know that? We just met!"

Julian frowns, glancing away. "So I met your Fiancé. Very rich and handsome." He says bitterly.

"Like you aren't rich and handsome." Julian raises an eyebrow to that response. "I mean rich, you're just rich. I haven't noticed your... looks."

"Smooth." Julian mocks, glancing at a stack of books sitting on a desk. He picks up the top one, flipping it over to read the back.

"You never told me why you are here." I try to ignore what he said.

"I like reading, so I came here to do some. I suppose you lied about feeling unwell to avoid me?"

I scowl at him. "I didn't lie. What I said was true, you give me a headache."

A smile touches Julian's lips but then he quickly frowns. "I apologize for that." He places the book back in the pile.

"Athena, what are you..." Philip comes up the stairs, pausing when he sees Julian. "Oh Julian, I didn't see you here."

Julian opens his mouth to say something but then closes it, smiling. "Yes, I uh, I was just talking with Athena."

Philip narrows his eyes at Julian. He then looks at me. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" Philip murmurs to me. Julian rolls his eyes in the most dramatic way.

I place my hand on Philip's arm. "No, he was a perfect gentleman." I say, sneaking a dirty look at Julian. He only shrugs.

"Good." Philip says, glancing at Julian. "I care very much about Athena's wellbeing so I hope you don't try anything." Philip tells him.

Julian gives him a painful smile. "I would never hurt a lady such as herself."

Philip nods slowly, his eyes still narrowed at Julian. This time, I find myself rolling my eyes. "I should head back to my room. Dinner will be soon and I need to get ready."

Julian bows, only mutter a quiet "Your Highness". Philip however pauses, glancing at me. "Shall I escort you there?"

"No, no thank you, I'll be fine." I say rather quietly, though I did not intend for it to come out that way.

Julian gives Philip a smug grin while Philip frowns sadly at me. "Alright, I'll see you at dinner then?"

I smile. "Yes, of course." I swiftly make my way down the stairs, glancing back seeing if anyone was following and accidentally bump into someone.

"Oh I'm sor-" The familiar dark eyes filled with hate and dark red beard was enough to make me gasp.

King Cyril grins down at me, revealing a gold tooth. "It's good to see you Athena, you have gotten prettier since I last saw you."

I stiffen, unable to say a word.

Cyril frowns at my response. "Have you seen my son?" He asks me.

I swallow. "Which-which one, Your Highness?" I glance down in a sad attempt to escape his gaze.

"Please we're friends, call me Cyril. In fact..." Cyril reaches for me and I flinch back.

"Father." Julian says from behind me, stopping Cyril's movement.

Cyril looks up, glancing over my head. "Julian, I was looking for you. There's some things I wanted to discuss with you."

"Yes father." Julian walks past Cyril, who also turns following Julian out of the library.

I inhale sharply. Hopefully I can avoid Cyril for the rest of his visit here.