ANDREW BLACK

Chapter 30

Audria Highmore

Audria pulled on her boots looking at herself in the mirror. Her hand traced a threaded bird that was patterned across the simple cream coloured dress she wore. The milk-coloured birds sown in flight to several unknown destinations. 'If I could fly away too, maybe some place across the sea,' she thought stretching her arm horizontally against her body and flapping her hands, ruffling the ruffles on her elbow length sleeves. The ruffles fluttered like wings. The high self-made slit made with a pair of scissors and a needle and thread, rising to the top of her dark brown riding pants almost revealing her skin. Her hands fell limp to her sides. Seconds later a frown emerged on her face. She wasn't a bird and that ridiculous thought nearly made her cry.

'Aren't we a bunch of emotions today,' she internally said mocking herself, pulling on her bottom lips with her teeth chipping off the lipstick and staining her teeth. She released her lip, licking her teeth clean and took her wig off the dressing table by the mirror and placed it over her braided and tied hair. The earth brown wig had been braided on either side, falling past her shoulders, and framing the golden necklace with a diamond oval pendant that hid under her dress. "I can't go out with this," she commented taking off the necklace and placing it on her dressing table. She left the earrings on they were small enough to go unnoticed, but if they fell, she was certain she'd make someone's day, polished diamonds weren't just found lying on the ground. She took in her appearance one more time, from her hair to her face, to her patched red and pale pink lips from when she bit her lips, to her dress, riding pants and worn-out brown boot. Like that she had transformed from Audria the princess of Wruning to Audy a commoner with work at a tavern and Audy loved her red lips she thought applying back the lipstick and tossing it on the dressing table. Her lips were brightly coloured, but that did nothing to lift her mood.

Her red sun beaten chest felt heavy because she failed to remove the image of her cousin's face from her mind. It wasn't a look of sadness. Instead, it was exhaustion, like Merlissa had given up and that scared her as much as it worried her. She was afraid she'd come back one day and Merlissa will just have vanished into thin air. It had happened before. She wasn't going to lose anyone else she loved. She was going to save Merlissa whether Merlissa wanted her to or not and she was going to start by destroying those rumours linking her cousin to the deaths. Even in death that nameless man was still causing trouble. She walked to the open window and began crawling out of it with her face to the door in case anyone came in. She had told the guards outside she was resting. Her eyes wandered to the pillows under the cover cloth that were supposed to be her. She stuck her left foot out the window trying to find the ground, when she felt something solid under her foot she brought out her second leg dropping it to meet the first. But once again, she had underestimated the height of her window from the ground and she fell backwards with a low grunt her head being buried in knee tall shrubs. she heard footsteps rushing towards her. 'That is it I have been caught' she sighed to herself.

"Princess Audria?" The voice asked and Audria felt relief flood through her.

"Anthony?" She questioned back bringing out her head from inside the bush. He held out a hand to help her up, she took it pulling herself from the bush and her feet from under the mountain of leaves that had deceived her. She noticed he wasn't dressed in the blue, gold and grey uniform of the royal guards. Rather he wore a greyish-black-whitish- Audria couldn't quite tell the colour- sleeveless vest on top of a grey long-sleeved shirt, black pants tucked into black boots that competed in usage with the ones she wore and a black leather waist belt with a matching pouch. Audria noticed how the dark shining leather belt stood out amongst his older clothes, it had to have been recently purchased. An idea struck her immediately. It wasn't safe after all for her to go on her own for various reasons. One, the recent deaths. Two, the person the public considered the guilty party. "Follow me," she commanded marching off. As she walked ahead, Anthony noticed a stray leaf on her back, but he couldn't dare touch the princess unless necessary and he didn't think this would be considered necessary.