The Curse of the Goblin Prince

Chapter Four A Secret

          

He smiled at her.

"So, what's your name?" She tilted her head to the side.

"Uh... it's Len." He studied a rose petal that had fallen to the floor.

"Len. That's a pretty good name. Really strong. I like it." A soft smile played on her lips.

"Thanks." He picked up the petal and fiddled with it.

"Um. Are you okay?" She scooted closer.

He stopped moving. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it looked like you were in a lot of pain. Why were they hurting you? Does the king know about what they're doing to you? If he doesn't"

"He knows so you don't need to worry. I'll be fine. So don't tell him anything. He cannot find out that you know about me. You have to promise me that you will keep it a secret." He crushed the petal in his fist.

"Okay. I promise." She could see that he didn't really want to talk about it. "So, this is your room?"

"Yes. For now." He dropped the crumpled petal on the floor.

Concerned about what he said, she asked, "Are you going somewhere?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

"If I get better or not."

She thought for a moment as she chewed her thumb. "Will you at least say goodbye to me before you leave?"

He looked pointedly at her. "You will be the first person I come to see."

She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "I don't know anybody else here. I haven't even seen any others our age. Honestly, I'm really lonely. It's really different here. I don't know how I'm going to adjust."

He nodded. "Tell me about what it's like at your home. You live in a forest kingdom, right?"

She lit up. "Well, for one thing," She shook her dress. The layers fluttered in the breeze. "The weather is a lot warmer so we don't wear as many layers. Oh! And we don't wear any binding. It's so hard to breathe with this thing on. It's too tight!" Exasperated, she pointed to her head. "And my hair!"

"What's wrong with it? I think it looks nice." He reached up and gently lifted the soft light pink ribbon in her hair. "The ribbons complement the color of your hair. We don't see your hair color here very often."

She blushed at the compliment.

"What else is different about your home?" Len sat with his legs crossed and his hands in his lap.

He seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say. It helped her feel relaxed and at ease. "Um. As you know, we are known for all our flowers. We provide healing herbs and flowers for the neighboring kingdoms. It's our main source of income."

He nodded knowingly.

"Actually, I was wondering about that rose bush." She pointed out the flowers behind him.

"What about it?" His tone was suddenly clipped.

She hesitated. "You see, they are only grown in our kingdom." She glanced up at him.

His eyes were hard as he stared at her. "What are you implying?"

She bit her lip. "It's just that, of all the plants we sell, there are only two that are so rare and precious to my family, that we have never sold them. One is the King Protea flower and the other is that one there. The Royal Blood Rose. They can only be found in the Azalea Kingdom's royal garden."

"I will have you know that those roses were a gift from King Eden to his friend, King Ashvin. If you don't believe me, why don't you write to your father and ask him?" He scoffed. "Although, I'm sure he will wonder how you found out about it since it was a personal gift. As you said, the other kingdoms are not given the opportunity to own them, so you just might inadvertently cause a war to break out. All because you were curious." He leaned closer. "Is that really what you want?"

She shook her head. Fear was present on her face.

He stood and walked to the door. "I think you should leave now."

She got up and nodded. As he was turning the doorknob, she stepped up to him. She clenched the skirt of her dress in her hands. Her head down. "I'm sorry that I made you upset." She looked up into his eyes while streams of tears stained her blotchy cheeks. "Can we still be friends?"

He let go of the handle, looked towards the ceiling, and sighed. "I'm sorry, too." He gave her a small smile and wiped her tears. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"Then can we still talk? You haven't told me anything about you or your kingdom yet."

"Dahlia, I"

A knock on the door cut their conversation short.

He put his finger to his lips, warning her to keep quiet.

"Just a moment," Len yelled at the door. He grabbed Dahlia by the arm and pulled her back to the balcony. "Stay here and don't make a sound. I'll be back as soon as it's safe." He whispered to her. Then he left to answer the door.

"What took you so long?" It was the voice of the head nursemaid.

"I..." He started.

"Oh, never mind! You know I have to check your vitals after every infusion. I don't know why you make me wait. This is all for your benefit. I'm only trying to help you." She was stern and overbearing.

Dahlia could hear the rustling of the nurse's dress as she walked to the secret room and opened the door.

"Well? Come along. I haven't got all day! Honestly, if something goes wrong you will lose your mind! Is that what you want?" She was practically yelling at him now as he walked over to the medical area.

"Forgive my procrastination. I was wrong, Dame Zella."

"Hmph! What's the point in apologizing if you're just going to keep doing it?"

"I will work harder."

"As you should! Now hold still. I don't see why you force us to restrain you every time."

Tears spilled from Dahlia's eyes as she heard Len cry out in pain. She covered her mouth with her hands to muffle any sound that might escape. She slumped down and covered her ears to drown out his screams.

She tried to think of anything else but what was happening at that moment, but Len's face was all she could see when she shut her eyes. Why were they allowed to hurt him? He said the king knew. Why did Zella say he could lose his mind? Was he sick too?

The more she thought, the scarier the whole situation became. She wanted to go home. Where children were loved and cherished, but most of all she wanted to take Len with her.