Beauty and the Bird

Chapter 8: "Budapest" by George Ezra

Rowen went up to her room trying to process what just happened. She glanced down at her hand and looked at the red rose. She looked around for something to put the flower and found an empty perfume bottle and used it as a vase.

Just then she heard a knock. Rowen panicked and looked around her room. She scrambled to hid the books Asa had given her about how to act as a human. When Rowen as satisfied with how her room looked, she went to open the door. 

As the door opened, two servants came rushing in. "Sorry My Lady but we had to come in here quickly before anyone had the chance of seeing us here."

Rowen was confused. "What are you doing here?"

The older servant spoke. She was a middle aged women with brown hair, "The King has instructed us to take care of you and give you your meals. Don't worry, we are the only ones who know about you and won't tell anyone. We are very good with secrets. Especially Chip here." She pointed to the scrawny, younger servant who had pale blonde hair. She just nodded her head as the older servant continued, "Chip doesn't talk much."

The servants arranged Rowen's breakfast neatly on her desk and left. Rowen marveled at the food. She was served a crepe, a bowl of food, french toast with butter, and a muffin. Even though she only what the bowl of fruit was, she still dived into the food and found her taste buds exploding. She had never tasted such flavorful food. She was used to seeds and fruits that she had to find in the forest and sometimes if she was lucky, she would find bread left from some hunters. Usually she would of eaten worms and insects, but because of the curse, it was forbidden. 

As Rowen filled her mouth with food, she heard a knock on the door. Aiden walked in and laughed as he saw Rowen and her mouth full of food.

"Someone's hungry I see." he chuckled. 

Rowen nodded, embarrassed. 

"I have some exciting news. Both Liam and my father are going to be busy this morning so it gives us the perfect opportunity to sneak out."

Rowen finished chewing and swallowing her food and replied, "That's great Aiden! When do we leave?"

Aiden got up quickly, "Right now!"

Rowen was reluctant to leave her breakfast but Aiden grabbed her hands and a cloak. They ran out of the room before Rowen could notice that a petal had fallen from her rose. 

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Liam's heart raced. His muscles were sore. But he was focused on his target. He welded his sword in his hand as he watched his opponent circle him. Liam had missed the thrill of fighting. Training used to be his favorite thing to do. He loved building his muscles. He loved the feeling of a sword in his hand, the power it gave him. But he hadn't been able to train ever since his father started finding potential brides for him. Liam had always been alone ever since his mother died. He didn't need anyone and he liked it like that. 

His opponent lunged at him and Liam disabled his attack and stabbed the man's breast shield with his shield, which indicated that Liam had 'killed' him and that Liam had won the match. His opponent, another guard, and Liam shook hands and the guard excited the training arena. Liam put his sword away.

Liam was alone now in the training arena. He took of his shirt, wiped off the sweat from his brow, and began to hit a punching bag stuffed with hay. As he was hitting the bag, he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye. Dressed in another black, glittery gown was Princess Alexia. When Liam made eye contact with her, she smiled and sat in a seat watching him. Liam didn't know what to say to her so she continued boxing. But from the corner of his eye, he could see that she wasn't keeping her eyes off. This made Liam uncomfortable. He knew exactly what kind of person Princess Alexia was, which was a spoiled, selfish, self absorbed princess who could manipulate anyone to get what she wanted. She reminded him of his father.