A Collection of Short Stories

Stolen Throne: Chapter 5

I wake up to June opening my curtains. I groan and throw a pillow at her as I cover my eyes against the blinding light of the sun.

"Time to get up, sunshine!"

"What time is it?" I grumble.

"9:00."

I cover my face with my arms. "Too early."

"Well I've waiting long enough to hear about your night. Get dressed, we can have breakfast in the garden."

I sigh as I hear my door shut. She won't stop until she gets her way. So I drag myself out of bed and put on a tunic and pants before applying a bit of makeup and putting my hair back into a braid.

I walk out of my room and down the hallway. I try to walk normally, but a reminder of my stranger is in the form of a soreness between my legs. I go down a staircase and as I round a corner, I almost run into someone. I step back and look at Prince Ryle, shocked.

"Prince Ryle," I say before clearing my throat as he stares at me, hands clasped behind his back, "You're a day early."

I stand up straighter, his height making me feel short. "Yes, well I sent word that I would be, Your Majesty."

His voice is as deep as I remember but his eyes dance with an amusement that I haven't seen before.

"I never received it," I tell him, I glance behind him at his captain if the guard, "Is your father with you?"

The amusement drops. "No. He's recovering from an ailment."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you," He says quickly, "I'm here in his place to negotiate some sort of treaty."

I nod. "Alright, then I'll see you tomorrow."

I take a step to go around him.

"Queen Wren."

I stifle a sigh as I look at him with a polite smile. "Yes?"

"Would you mind showing me around your castle? No matter how many times I come here, I always get lost."

I glance from the doors and then back to Prince Ryle.

He looks over his shoulder at the doors and then back at me. "Unless you have duties to attend to?"

This is not how I want to spend my morning. But if I want tomorrow to go well, I should at least pretend to like him.

"No," I breathe, "I have about an hour. Shall we?" I motion to the doors behind him. I walk to the doors, Prince Ryle and his captain right behind me. "So these are the castle gardens. My mother was a lover of all things pink so it's mostly pink flowers." I try to keep the boredom out of my voice. I spot June and wave at her. She politely waves back, failing to hide her shock. "That's my lady-in-waiting, June," I say over my shoulder.

"Do you keep the pink flowers in memory of your mother?" Prince Ryle asks.

I glance at him and then back in front of me as we head to the courtyard. "Yes, she was a wonderful mother and queen. So her pink garden stays."

"Do you like pink as much as her?"

I suppress the urge to give him a weird look. "I do not."

We round the corner and it opens up into the courtyard where a fountain was built in the middle. It's surrounded by benches and bushes and walkways. Members of my court are walking around and I wave to a few of them.

"This is the courtyard," I say, motioning to it. I stand and look from the Prince to the courtyard. He meets my eyes.

"Any meaning to the fountain?" He asks, amusement filling his eyes.