I Must Save the Evil King

Chapter 23

A little to the left... I squint my eyes imagining the arc of the ball after it flies from my hand. Down a little... yes that looks much better... now to just stay stable on my follow through-

"HURRY UPPPPP!" Tillie groaned loudly, startling me. The ball fell from my hand, tumbling over the grass and.. missing the pins by a wide margin. I groaned, throwing my hands in the air in frustration. "Oops!" Tillie said cheekily, Camilla giggled from behind her.       

This old-time-y version of bowling had been one of the only things I could do at this house. Though even this I could only do when it wasn't snowing, once the snow began I would be trapped in the house until springtime. I had never been much good at bowling, to begin with, add to that the uneven terrain and Tillie constantly trying to sabotage me and I was yet to win even a single round. 

Taking my seat at the table I gave Tillie the evil eye as she effortlessly knocked over all the pins. 

"Yes!" She jumped with excitement. I groaned slinking back into my chair, looking at the grey sky. "TAKE ThAT YOU- my lady!" I jolted up surprised to see Emilee marching towards us. Tillie was already curtseying and Camilla quickly ran to her side. I on the other hand remained slouched in my chair.     

"Claudette." Emilee ignored Tillie and Camilla as she sat across from me. 

"Emilee," I said with a smile. "Isn't it a lovely day out? So glad I can enjoy it outside of my room."

"I don't want to keep punishing you. Legally you are my ward, I want to help you as one should help a ward." I had to stifle a laugh. Emilee did not know I had been a ward of the state for far longer than I had been a ward of her. People don't help wards. "But you keep making trouble for yourself." 

"Okay?" I had no idea where she was going with this. Had Cordellia started asking about her real father or not? Was I in trouble or was she trying to make peace? Though the latter seems highly unlikely. 

"So we are in agreement then?"

"Agreement about what?" I sat up, had I missed something? 

"You will stop making trouble, talking about things you shouldn't, and I will leave you alone to..." She looked over at Tillie and Camilla setting up the pins. "play children's game in the cold." 

"I guess... yeah?" 

"That's good to hear. I hope you can keep your word" With that she walked away. 

"That was... weird" I looked over to Tillie and Camilla who seemed equally as confused. 

"I don't try and understand why nobles do anything... much less Lady Emilee." Camilla shrugged taking her seat back.   

"If I had to guess it might be about Lord Durnburry not inviting her to his end of season ball. She had a dress made for it and everything but Durnburry heard from Countess Marksville - whose friend was one of the violinists at the royal ball, which is why she always knows everything- that Emilee argued with the Princess Royal the night of the royal ball." 

Huh? Who the heck is Countess Marksville? Tillie must have noticed my confusion as she sighed disappointedly. 

"No one appreciates good gossip anymore."  

"I appreciate your gossip, Tillie." Camilla smiled reassuringly, patting her hand. 

"Wait, Tillie, how much gossip do you know about the royal family?" 

"Oh, plenty!" Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "The king has an intestinal disorder which makes it hard to eat much and according to his chambermaid he gets incredibly bloated after eating bread, so everyone thinks he must be allergic or something but apparently he just keeps eating it anyway - OH! And last season a princess from a neighboring country asked for his hand in marriage but when he said no she still persisted so he sent her the body of a deer she had shot, with the arrow still in it which frightened her so much-"