Royalty Exposed

Chapter 30

Carter led everyone from the tearoom to the bathrooms. Since there were plenty of bathrooms in the palace, everyone was able to go at the same time. And no one would have to wait outside while someone else was using the bathroom. There was a hallway that led to several rooms and bathrooms. Some of those rooms just held various artworks and sculptures and didn't really any kind of purpose, but there were a couple others that were meant to be offices even though I didn't think they were used very often.

Then there was the large room in the very back of the palace that Carter had said was a ballroom where the royal balls had been held before, which explained why there were so many bathrooms down this hallway. I also think Carter had mentioned that some of the servants had rooms down this hallway, but I don't think that every servant that worked in the palace lived in the palace. Some of them did have families that they wanted to go home to when they were done working for the day.

"Wait till you see the library here, Dad," I said to him after I had come out of the bathroom. He and Zach had been the first ones out of the bathroom. They were both waiting outside in the hallway when I came out of the bathroom a few minutes later.

The bathrooms were all scattered down the long hallway that was lined with only pictures and paintings, but Carter had been confident that everyone would find their way back to the start of the hallway. If not he would go find them and bring them back.

"I can't wait to see it. It's probably the biggest one in the city," Dad said excitement in his eyes.

"It probably is. There's a ton of books to look through. I haven't even gone through one shelf yet, but it's amazing despite all the books I still have to look at," I replied.

"I'm sure all the rooms are larger than every house in this country," Zach said.

"That's true. There's also rooms that really have no purpose," I said. "This place is huge and it's very easy to get lost in. It'll probably take me time before I'm able to find my way around the palace all on my own. I can get to library easily and some other rooms, but there's so many hallways leading to various rooms that if you make one wrong turn, you will get lost."

"Kind of like the room we were just in? And I can imagine you can get lost in the palace. It doesn't look big on the outside for nothing," Zach replied.

"That's called the tea or receiving room. It's where they receive all their guests before taking them anywhere else," I replied. Zach nodded his head but didn't say anything else.

About twenty minutes later we were all in the main hall, which really wasn't a hall since it was a large square room, waiting for the king to come back. Since I had seen this room plenty of times, I waited with Carter in the middle of the room while my family walked around and looked at everything that was displayed on the walls. I had already looked over everything in this room when Carter had first taken me around the palace to give me a tour.

Then there was the second tour he had given me after his mother had moved out of the palace and I was allowed to see every room that was in this palace, including ones that Carter didn't even know existed because his mother hadn't allowed him to go into them.

"I think our families like each other," I said keeping my voice low enough just so Carter would be the only one to hear me. I didn't think anyone was actually close enough to listen, but I didn't want to yell when there was no need to have a loud voice in a quiet room.

"I think so too. That's not surprising though. It probably helps that my mother isn't here," Carter said looking over at me and smiling. I smiled back at him and then said, "Do you miss her?"

"There are times I do miss her, but it's not a lot. I remember her being a lot more caring when I was younger or maybe I misread her actions," Carter responded, tucking his hands into his pockets as he eyes wandered over to a portrait of his family. It was one of the few I had seen before his mother had moved out. Now there were a few more here and there.