Dead Suitors Tell No Tales

5: The Carnelian Prophecy

To say Poppy was frightened would be an understatement.

She cowered in a corner timidly, watching the scene unfolding before her with undisguised fear. She wasn't quite sure how to react to this. It had never been included in her job description that this was a regular occurrence. Perhaps her overseer had forgotten to mention it?

Either way, Poppy contented herself with the fact that A), she was far out of target range and B), that she was not the cause of the Princess' raging temper.

She wondered idly when the princess would calm down enough to come down for breakfast.

Her question was answered a second later when a shoe hit the wall with a resounding THUD. Sighing, Poppy resigned herself to ten more minutes worth of Princess Amarantha's ire.

"How dare he?!" came the now familiar voice of the lady in question, who was currently marching around her bedchamber, fists clenched at her sides. "I should have known! I should've known he'd pull something like that the moment I met him!"

Poppy opened her mouth to inquire as to who "he" was, then decided that she didn't want a shoe thrown in her face if she interrupted, and kept quiet.

"Bastard!" The princess grabbed a hairbrush off her vanity and smacked it back down on the hard wood. "That sneaky, arrogant, deceiving little worm! He tricked me! Argh!"

The maid followed the princess with her eyes, wary of whatever object the girl decided to destroy next. She hoped it was nothing too valuable.

"I can't believe this!"

A hair tie was flung unceremoniously on the floor as the Princess Royal shook her head wildly, her brown locks still untamed as they hung haphazardly down her back.

"Stupid little prick. I'll show him! You don't mess with me and get away with it." Amarantha's eyes blazed as she turned towards one of the floor to ceiling windows in her room, her gaze drawn to the shape of the tiny buildings in the distance that made up Sagewick City. Poppy knew those streets well, for she'd grown up there. She hoped whatever the Princess had in store for this mysterious man didn't involve the city directly. Poppy was quite fond of her town, and didn't want anything bad to happen to her family back home.

She glanced quickly at her mistress, trying to gauge any changes in temper, pondering whether or not it was safe to suggest that the princess should get dressed. Breakfast was to be served soon, and Amarantha wasn't dressed yet. Poppy had, in fact, offered the lady the gown for the day, but that had all been forgotten once the Crown Princess had made an alarming discovery.

"Crap!" The girl had burst out, ignoring Poppy's shocked look as the curse word left her mouth. "Crap, crap, crap, crap." The princess had riffled through a chest of clothing, throughly ruining the neatly sorted piles Poppy and the other maids had made. "Where is it? I know it's here somewhere! Gods! It's got to be here!" There was more frenzied rummaging. "Please be here. Please, please be here."

But her pleas were in vain. Whatever the lady had been searching for was well and truly gone, and Poppy had a slight inclination to believe that it was very valuable, and the princess was in trouble.

Amarantha had abruptly slammed the dresser drawers shut, apparently reaching a dreaded conclusion. Slowly, she turned to meet Poppy's wide eyes. "It was him." She spat the words out with obvious distaste. "He stole it from me!"