The Royal Mistake

The Royal Mistake - Chapter Four

Four

I look at the clock hanging high on the wall, it reads twelve. One hour until I have to go get ready for dinner, or whatever it is I have to do. That means I have one hour to find the person i’m looking for. One hour to find the inventor the queen hired two years ago, to make stuff to once again, impress her friends. It seems like that’s the only thing the queen likes to do, impress her friends.

      I run down the hall to the, through the gardens and towards the servants quarters. That’s where Pierre lives, Pierre’s the inventor. I skid around the corner and run down the stairs all the while thinking: he better be there, he better be there.

      I come to a skidding halt as I pass by the door to my old room. I go in and run a hand over my dresser and when I lift my fingers dust is on them. I spin in a circle. “How come no one noticed I am gone?”

      I know the answer before the question even leaves my lips. The answers simple. It’s because i’m a servant, the queen doesn’t care about me. She only cares about her precious kingdom and her daughter. Maybe I should let that person, whoever they are, tell the queen about her dead daughter. I can run, I can leave now and they’ll never find me! And the queen will get what she deserves for treating us servants so poorly.

      I shake my head. I can’t do that. I can’t live my life like that, and no matter how much of a biotch the queen is to me I can’t let her figure out about her dead daughter. No one deserves that.

      I leave my old room and feel like i’m leaving a piece of me behind. That has been my life for, forever. It doesn’t feel right leaving it but this is better for everyone. It has to be.

      I mean, the queen doesn’t find out I killed her daughter, I get a better life, and maybe I could change some things around here. Slowly, so I don’t attract much attention. I smile at my new idea and my smile grows when I see I have reached Pierre’s room and he’s in it.

      I knock and he looks up from the table and smiles slightly. “Princess.”

      I nod. “Pierre,” I walk into his room and close the door behind me, I sit on his cot, which is identical to mine, speaking of, everything in his room is identical to mine. Well, my old room. “I need your help with something.”

      He looks up from his desk, his lustrous blonde hair spilling over the sides of his handsome face. His warm blue eyes urging me to continue.

      I open my mouth to ask him if he could invent something that could make a body disappear when I catch a glimpse of what he was working on. It’s a letter but that’s not what caught my eye. No, what caught my eye is the elegance of his writing, the intriguing curve of his S, the way his capital letters are bigger than the rest. I put my attention back to him. The inventor? How could he have possibly figured it out?

      I smile. “Could you make a lamp for my room? What that will match.”

      He nods but his look tells me he knows that’s not really what I wanted. “Yes, for sure Princess.”

      I nod and get up. “I have to get going; I have to be somewhere else.” I walk out of his room, close the door behind me and walk down the hall and once i’m convinced he thinks i’m gone I tiptoe back and put an ear to his door. I hear him murmuring to himself and have to strain to pick up on what he’s saying.

      I press myself harder against the door and smile as I can hear what he’s saying a little more clearly now. I didn’t think that would work.

      “Really going to? I can’t help you any longer. I will not be a risk to.” He abruptly stops talking. I hold my breath as I hear his chair screech and then footsteps. The footsteps get louder and I know he’s coming out of the room. I run down the hall and jump into the nearest room I can. I close the door and duck. Again, I hold my breath as he walks down the hall way. The sound of his steps start to get fainter and fainter and I let out a whoosh of breath as they disappear all together. I turn around and lean against the door while looking up at the roof. My gaze lowers a bit to the wall and my heart thumps in my chest. Just my luck to choose this room to hide out in. I should have known better!

      There’s a picture on the wall. Of me and my mother, we’re both smiling and our eyes are shining with pleasure.

      My gaze floats from the picture and lands on my mother who is staring at me with a look of full out confusion. “Princess Kianna? What are you doing here?”

      I push myself up and wipe off my hands. “I was just coming down to check up on how well you were keeping your room clean.” I wince, that is the worse lie ever! Mom’s not going to believe that and I wince again as I look at her face. She didn’t believe it.

      She crosses her arms. “Why were you running?”

      I give her a snooty look. “You are not obliged to know that.”

      “Oh, I think I am! This is my room! Now, tell me why you were running or I will go to the queen.”

      I can tell there is a look of pure horror in my eyes and my face probably reflects as to how much that sentence scared me. If she tells the queen about me running and barging into her room then maybe she’ll change her mind about thinking that i’m her daughter. Because I am absolutely, positively sure that the Kianna she knows does not converse with the help. Or runs from it from that matter. I look at my mom and feel a pain in my chest. I miss her.

      I push the pain down. “I do not have to answer your questions.”

      She takes a step towards me and I feel my composer start to break with each step she takes. She stops in front of me and looks into my eyes. She sighs. “Alana, I know it is you but my question is: Why are you pretending to be Kianna, and where is Kianna?”

      I choke on a sob and sink to the floor. “I’m sorry mom. I’m so so sorry. Kianna is in the woods, buried. I killed her. I killed her on accident. She was going to get me fired, I had to do something!” I bury my head in my knees and feel silent tears slide down my cheeks. Mom holds me in her arms.

      “I knew you weren’t Kianna when I saw the band-aids on your fingers. I had an idea as to what happened to Kianna when I realized there was blood, but I didn’t want to think about that,” she tilts my face up and wipes away my tears, “but hunny, you are not alone in this any longer. I will help you. Is there anything you need me to do?”

            I think about it. I look her in the eyes. Eyes that are worn out and eyes that are old, eyes that have wrinkles by them. Eyes that I love. I slowly nod. “Mom, could you please move Kianna’s body?”