Love beats Evil

Chapter 14

The last couple of days had all blurred together in to one big whirl. The majority of my time was spent at the library, where I searched for hour upon hour for any type of answer or hint of what the Kings curse really entailed. Many times I would pick up a book, begin to read and realize halfway through that it had nothing to do with magic. After every disappointment I seemed to find myself at the grand piano, soothing my brain and letting my troubles drift away. Oddly enough, the King seemed to enjoy listening to my music. Erik would lean in the doorway, his eyes blank and staring, and he would stay that way, frozen still, until I stopped. At first it troubled me, but after awhile I adjusted to the queer behaviour.

The night before the ball me and Erik were having dinner, where once again we were playing the question game. It had become a sort of tradition during our nightly meals. It was my turn.

"Who was your best childhood friend?"

In a sense I was being selfish by asking it. During my 'captivity' I had began to miss my friends at home and for some reason tonight I had an overwhelming urge to talk about Jonathon and Daisy. But first Erik would have to answer. For a moment I didn't think he would.

"Well… I guess… If I'm honest I- I didn't really have many friends as a child. I didn't really have the time for playing and such. My mother needed help around the house while she was out plowing the fields."

To say I was puzzled would be an understatement.

"Help around the house? Did your palace not have servants then? And why on earth would a Queen need to work? Did Rolind have that bad of an economy?"

Erik face was plastered with worry, for a moment I even believed he would begin to have a meltdown. Suddenly his eyes shot from the table to mine, his gaze intense, and his features began to calm down. He cleared his throat.

"No no, nothing like that. What about your childhood. What was it like growing up in a castle- I mean a castle as small as yours that is?" He ended his question with an annoying smirk.

I wanted to press Erik more about his childhood but the chance to talk about my friends was too tempting to resist.

"Well my first best friend was a boy by the name of Jonathon, he was the grooms son and his mother had died so his father brought him to the palace everyday and we would play. At first I didn't associate with him, although I did use him to convince the maids that it was he who stole the cookies from the pantry, when in fact I was the one who had," at this point I stopped and chuckled at the memory, "One day he found out it was me spreading the lies and came to confront me. For some uncanny reason we became friends and from the point onwards we were joined by the hip.

 We would climb tree's in the orchards and run amuck through the kingdom on horses making up stories about being warriors on quests. Sometimes we would even sneak out at midnight and he would help me steal from the pantry, although I had to promise not to blame him if the maids found out.

 Then when I turned 15, father assigned me my first lady in waiting, Daisy. The dynamic duo became the three musketeers, although she would never play around like me and Jonathon, instead we spent our time spying and finding out the palaces secrets. When one of the maids had an affair with the gardener, we knew every single detail. The staff even came to us if they wanted to gossip, it was almost like being secret spies. Then at 16 Jonathon went off to be a knight and we stopped being friends…"

My throat began to close up as tears sprang to my eyes. Erik was watching me intently, his hand coming to a rest on my arm. I pulled away and rose from my chair.

"Please excuse me, I'm going to bed now" I said

He stood up, his mouth open to say something, but I was already leaving. As soon as I got to my room I tore off my dress and got in to the middle of the bed, holding my head in my hands as I crouched under the covers, my tears leaking out from under my fingers. Again I had let down my friends, my family, even my country, by letting that wretched man in. There we were, having a lovely dinner, chatting away like friends, while back at home no one but Jonathon knew what had happened to me. At some point I fell asleep and for once my slumber was deep and undisturbed, despite the bad thoughts.