The Oreans

Chapter 34

Chapter 34
The Second Strange Dream

Still incredulous, Erin listened as Miel chattered happily about the welcome the Queen gave them. It had been a big surprise when the Queen called the princess and the two of them with their name, much more when the former had promised them that she was going to be their protector. It had been more remarkable still when they were called to an audience before the King Leonel and the prime minister, Lady Loreine's older brother, and were introduced as the Queen's nieces, not palace chambermaids and given the apartment right next to the royal quarters. She could not believe that Rafim had managed to reveal their identity to the Queen and Lady Loreine without anybody else knowing. She wondered if all the other Oreans knew about this.

"What's on your mind, Erin?" the princess, brushing her hair before a large mirror (something she insisted on doing alone), asked when Miel paused to catch her breath. "You're hardly speaking at all."

"I just can't believe this is happening, Your Highness," answered Erin.

"Don't address me as such. Remember we're sisters here."

"Oh, yes, I'll remember that, Se—Seana."

The princess smiled at her reflection and put down her brush. Then, she stood up to face them. Miel and Erin looked up at her from where they sat. Miel no longer spoke to give way to what she was about to say.

"Erin, do you know something about Rafim you're not telling us?" the princess asked unexpectedly.

"Why, Your—I mean, Seana! I hardly talk to h—him," Erin stammered, hating herself for having to lie to the princess.

"Since that day after you followed him to the cascade, it's been as if you're on guard with something," the princess said. "Have you found out his secret?"

Erin did not answer.

"I know—I can tell that Rafim has lots of secrets and that he's not an ordinary knight, not an ordinary person at all. What is he? Who is he, Erin?"

"Your Highness, we all know that Rafim isn't ordinary," Miel said. "But why do you think Erin knows more?"

Roseana looked at Erin intently. "She is the sort to whom one can open one's soul and pour out its secrets and find these secrets safe in her keeping even at the price of death. Am I right, Erin?"

Erin bowed her head and said, "Your Highness, I—I admit I know something about—about Rafim, but it's not of direct consequence to anyone here."

"I think it is to me," the princess said. "There's something about him that reminds me of... Oh, never mind." She looked away then. "I'm sorry, Erin, for my unwarranted behavior. You can keep Rafim's secret all right."

"You've done nothing that requires my apology, Se—Seana," Erin replied. "It's me who needs it from you. I'm sorry I can't tell you. I promised h—him not to."

The princess went to her and Miel, and to their astonishment, hugged them both. "Here in the RoilionPalace, we're sisters. And as the eldest, I'm telling you to go to bed now as it's getting late."

"What's that questioning about Rafim?" Miel asked when they stopped before Erin's door. "And what is his secret?"

Erin knew that Miel was dying of curiosity but did not dare ask within an earshot of the princess' chamber. She felt sorry that she could not enlighten her friend at all.

"So you're not going to tell me, are you?" Miel said as Erin unlocked her door.

"I can't explain the princess' behavior either, Miel. As for Rafim's secret, it's not mine to tell."