Loving Rain (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 31 - The Lie

Loving Rain - Ch. 31

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               I was taking a calm walk through the castle, waiting for Cian to come out of whatever important meeting he was in with his father. Usually, he would invite me to these kinds of things, but this time he said that even his mother wouldn’t be coming. I supposed it was just male issues that needed to be discussed, and honestly, I wouldn’t want to be there for that anyway.

               So when I ran into Lynn and Lee, I didn’t even worry about taking time to stop and talk to them. I had been so busy lately with wedding plans and travel plans and meeting the townsfolk with Cian that I hadn’t gotten to see my friend much. “Lee!” I called out at her, just so she would know I was coming.

               A grin erupted from her face for a short second, and then her frown reappeared as she turned and muttered something to Lynn. He gave a grim nod, and then they both looked up to see that I was right there watching them.

               “What’s wrong?” I immediately asked. Something didn’t seem right about the way they were acting.

               “Nothing,” Lynn answered, his voice not giving anything away.

               “We just got back from visiting Cayla. She’s not doing well.”

               Turning to Lee, my face took on a frown. “I heard that she was sick. Is she getting any better?”

               Lynn shrugged. “She has her days.”

               Well. The conversation sort of died right then, and I wasn’t sure how to revive it. I was still rather suspicious about their behavior, but I didn’t want them to think I didn’t trust them. “So, are you two planning on going to the town centre any time soon?” Every couple of weeks or so, a few performers gathered in the town centre and put on shows for free. Cian tried to go as often as he could, but more often than not some job he was required to do kept him from it. We had gone once, though, and I always wanted to go back again.

               My favorites were the flame throwers. It amazed me that they weren’t scared of the force that I had seen before as deadly and devastating. Lynn had been there when we went, and he had to turn away at that point. The memories were too much for him. But for me, I just thought of the hot, blazing flames of Alan’s stable as it went up in smoke, and the way the men manipulated the fire seemed unbelievable.

               “Uh…” Lee began, looking at Lynn for some help. I didn’t know if they thought I was stupid, or if they really didn’t realize how obvious they were being. Either way, I definitely decided that something was up.

               “No, I don’t think we’ll be going. Lots of stuff to do before Gunter’s Journey,” Lynn replied quietly.

               That’s right. I had completely forgotten that in a couple of months, Gunter would be going to get his own prophecy. That might explain all the servants I would catch trying to sneak around without me seeing them, and the way Cian always changed the subject when I asked him how his duties were going. The prophecies were a sort of quiet tradition. If all the townspeople knew of them, there would be chaos. Some might try to follow the prince and do him harm, or some might go crazy at the words. It was better, Cian told me, if the common folk were left out of it entirely.

               Which I understood, but I still didn’t know if I agreed with it. I mean, wasn’t I just a common person, who wouldn’t be anything to this castle if their future king hadn’t been out riding in the forest that day I was there? The whole “common” versus “uncommon” labels threw me for a loop, because I didn’t know where I fit it. Perhaps the answer was nowhere. I was just a random girl who happened to be lucky.