The Forbidden Princess [Paused]

Chapter 7: Jesse Gives Me a Kiss

When I burst into the kitchen, Nina was sitting at the table talking to the head guard in a low voice by candlelight. They both turned to look at me, embarassment clearly on their faces. Nina stood up and the guard followed her motion.

"What's wrong, Charlotte?" she asked.

"I want to know about Arthur. Now," I demanded.

Nina gestured for me to sit down so I pulled out the chair and sat down. The guard and Nina sat down across from me.

"Princess," the guard began. "There is only so much information we are allowed to disclose to you at this time. I would love to tell you everything. I'm sure Miss Nina would too, but we are not allowed to. If your father finds out we told you, or you even know, we could be executed. Possibly you too, my dear Princess."

What was the deal with everyone? Did they not trust me to not tell? And what is so important that I can't know about it? "Tell me whatever is allowed, then," I compromised.

The guard was preparing to speak when Nina stepped in. "Let me, sir." She turned to me. "Arthur Lewis was not born a commoner. He is still not of commoner kind. He thinks he is, but he isn't. He is actually-"

"Miss Nina we can't tell her anymore," the guard interrupted.

"Oh yes. Quite right. How silly of me." She looked out the window to see the sunlight disappearing from behind the mountains. "Oh dear, it's getting late. Charlotte, you best be off to bed. You have school tomorrow."

I gave them both a suspicious stare before disappearing back into my bedroom. I slammed the door shut as hard as I could just to make the point that I was angry at them.

I leaned against the door, slowly sliding down and finally landed on the ground, my dress scattered around me. Why can't I know what happened to Arthur? Why doesn't Arthur know who he is? What are they hiding? I am the princess of Harling, I should be able to know who is in my kingdom and why!

I decided I wouldn't get anywhere while sitting on the ground. I stood up and jerked open my door to find Nina standing in front of me, a tray full of various cheeses and grapes in her hands. Her facial expression was sorrowful but she wore a small smile.

"I thought you would want to eat your favorite dish while we talked. Unless you did want to sleep right now," she said.

I didn't want to sleep. And it was true, that was my favorite dish. I absolutely loved cheese and grapes. It's a very simple dish, but I used to eat it all the time. Some days when I was little, that's all I would ever eat. Mother would sometimes come in my room while I was practicing violin and make me take a break. We would go out to my balcony, sit down at the set of table and chairs I had ordered to be placed out there, and eat the whole tray of cheese and grapes Mom would bring me. We would listen to the birds chirping in the garden, which were right below us, and I would name each one. Mom would smile and tell me I was very intelligent for such a young child.

After we were finished with the tray, she would tell me I could go practice again, but I would never go back to my instrument that day. I always followed Mother around. We would go to the kitchens and return the tray, thanking the cooks for the food and Mom would talk to them about dinner and other meal plans. After she was finished, we would head to the garden and I would jump into the pond, attempting to catch any fish I could see but always failing. Mom would laugh at me for being silly, then tell me to get out of the water because I was ruining my dress. I would reluctantly step out of the pond and she would grab a towel, wrapping it around me so I would dry off.

And that's how I would spend my days: with my mother. I never wanted to forget anything about those days because those were the best days I had ever experienced...until I was exiled from the palace. That's when I met my two new friends, Arthur and Jesse.