Caged (Book One)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

"That's the king?" Kristine asked, watching with everyone as Malik entered his castle.

"That's him alright." Fred answered, gently ushering the girls to walk towards the tall doors.

"Not on good terms with him, are you Prince Fred." Eveleen stated.

"From now on, please address me as just Fred." He sternly looked between Kristine and Eveleen. Kristine blindly nodded at him, completely mesmerized by the structure of the castle as they entered.

"This place is beautiful." Kristine complemented. Eveleen sighed, not bothering to observe the area. Her focus stayed on Fred as he led the girls down a corridor.

"I have the perfect rooms for both of you, right next to each other." Fred told them, raising his hand out to gesture to the doors on their right.

"Thank you, Fred!" Kristine slightly bowed, before opening one of the doors. She glanced back at Eveleen for permission. Eveleen nodded, letting Kristine enter the room. Once she shut the door behind her, Eveleen snapped at Fred.

"You knew King Malik was returning today, so last chance before I find a way to sneak out of here, cause believe me I can and I will," Eveleen took a step closer towards Fred, lowering her voice, "Why did you bring me and Kristine here?"

Fred stared at her, watching her be so calm yet so furious.

"Get settled in, we're having lunch with my father in a few hours." He tilted his head at her, turning and walking away.

"So that's how it's gonna be." Eveleen mumbled. She swung the door open before slamming it shut behind her.

~~~~~

Philip sighed, seeing the large crowd covering the whole entrance of the castle. King Malik stood on top the steps waving to the whole crowd. Philip carefully got closer, listening to what King Malik was announcing,

"It's certainly such a delight seeing all of you here! I'm very happy to be back home, and can't wait for the party tonight for Alecario!"

"They have parties for this day too?" A voice spoke up beside him. Philip turned to see Aiden casually standing aside him snacking on popcorn.

"Where the hell did you storm off to?" Philip snapped at him. Aiden rolled his eyes,

"Gee mom, just walked around."

"Yes, they have a whole party for Alecarico Day. I think people just like the day off." Philip explained, "But that means we'll know where the girls are gonna be."

"Cool. So there is a way to get into the castle without notice." Aiden told, pointing to the side of the castle. Philip focused, seeing a group of kitchen people waving to the king.

"Seems doable, but I think we should lay low and wait for the party."

"Coward." Aiden mumbled. Stepping forward he shoved the bag of popcorn in Philip's hands before walking away from him.

"Child." Philip spat. He watched Aiden walk two steps in front of him before disappearing in the crowd. Aiden didn't even plan to use the kitchen workers to get into the castle, he simply followed the two delivering men right next to them. They didn't bat an eye as Aiden grabbed a random crate and walked with them to the near back entrance.

The two chit chatted as they started dropping everything off by the storage room. Aiden set the crate down before heading off down the castle halls. He may not know the castle, but it didn't take long to find the main entrance. He quickly backed away to a different hall when he saw King Malik had finally entered the castle.