Emergency Princess (Under Editing)

Chapter 14| Midnight Meals with Marco

Chapter 14: Midnight Meals with Marco

EMILYS POV

I peeped through the keyhole. The two guards who had been assigned to my room had left briefly-apparently the head of palace security had called them all for some sort of emergency meeting, conveniently enough for me. It was about who was going to be my personal bodyguard permanently; at least that was what I understood from the little I had overheard. Either ways, it was all working in my favour--I was free as a bird.

I had never snuck out before. Ever. That was Rose's forte, and I always covered for her when she left. She hadn't done it often, but when we were grounded and there was a pair of shoes die for--her words, not mine--then rules just didn't apply anymore. She only got caught once, thanks to a fishing net, duct tape and our overly-inquisitive neighbour, Mrs Parker.

Why exactly did I have to sneak out of my own room? After Louisa's fainting spell, Mum had called upon all the powers in the mom-niverse and grounded me, telling me to leave the room only under the threat of death. It seemed like I was cursed to stay in the room forever; a punishment I had partly inflicted upon myself, since I had been the one to lock myself in here first for four days straight.

Another part of Mum's punishment was that I was not allowed any visitors. King Richard had had nothing to say, and since no matter which country or planet we were on, my mother still had complete control over me, her words were final. The only human contact I had was with Adwoa and the two huge bodyguards outside my door: Kyle and Samuel.

I talked to Adwoa when she was bringing me my meals. In the short span of three days, I had got to know a lot about her, like the fact that her grandmother, her mother and little brother lived on the outskirts of town, and she only got to visit them once every fortnight. She loved to sing, though she was too shy to do so in front of me. I had actually considered threatening her to, but I felt it would completely derail the progress I had made in getting her to see me not as Princess, but as a normal human being.

She was a Christian, or so she said. When she had told me this and about how she had first discovered Christ, I couldn't help squirming. The topic of Christianity made me uncomfortable. I had nothing against Christians themselves, it was just the whole concept of believing in a supreme, all-knowing, all-powerful being that I couldn't even see seemed like some sort of fallacy.

The Christians back at school hadn't helped much. I mean, there were one or two who had been extremely kind, and never made me feel inadequate, but the others; they were a completely different ball game. They were so sanctimonious and made the rest of us feel dirty and as though there was a special place waiting for us in hell.

Fortunately for me, Adwoa had noticed my discomfort and deftly changed the topic.

Kyle, Samuel and I had stimulating conversations through the keyhole. Initially they had mostly comprised of me talking their ears off, and they giving grunts and groans as answers, but, somehow, their hardened exteriors had worn away, and I had discovered that they were both softies at heart. Kyle loved to bake, and Samuel had taken ballet for five years as a child. He still volunteered as an instructor at the local dance centre sometimes.

Back to the present though. I slowly opened the door, wincing when it creaked. I held my breath, hoping that no one was around to hear that. Luck seemed to be on my side for once, since it didn't seem that there was a soul around.

Feeling confident that nobody was present, I made my way up the corridor stealthily, hiding behind tapestries and doors when the occasional guard or maid sauntered by. My mission--the kitchen. It was midnight and I was craving a snack, but my fridge was running on empty and Adwoa hadn't been around for hours.