Lost Royalty

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Breakfast the next morning was much more upbeat. Oscar was sat with the family, and they were all laughing together.

Elle was seated next to Sophia. They hadn't spoken much yet. Elle felt Sophia watching her, and sure enough, when she turned to look, two eyes were staring back. Elle could really see the likeness of her and this girl.

"Do you remember anything from before you went missing?" Sophia asked.

"Nothing at all. Do you remember what I was like?" she smiled at Sophia.

"No. I only really knew what you looked like because of the portrait of us."

"There is a portrait with me in it?" Elle asked, slightly in shock.

"Yes, it's the whole family, just before you went missing. I usually go and see it at least once a week. I wanted to know what you looked like."

"Do you think you could show me it? After breakfast, of course."

"Definitely!" Sophia beamed.

Their conversation quickly came to a halt when the king stood and began talking.

"I'd like to announce that there will be a ball. We need to celebrate the return of our princess." Everyone cheered slightly, an Elle blushed in embarrassment.

"Ah, you'll finally get to attend your party, princess!" Oscar teased, making Elle laugh slightly.

The others all looked at them with confused faces.

"Do you think I could wear the dress that Mrs Ovens made me?" She asked him, giggling slightly at the idea.

"Ah, that would make a statement! 'The lost princess goes to her first ball in a dress covered in mud and that smells like a horse.' I can already hear people talking about it." Oscar teased.

"I suppose I will have to ask her to make me another one!" Elle said.

"That you will! I think you'd have even been underdressed wearing that to the village party. Imagine that at a royal ball."

"It would be funny. It was nice of her to make it for me, though." Elle said, smiling at Mrs Ovens' kindness.

"Are we missing something?" Danny interrupted them. The whole family had been watching them closely.

"We had a party in Grea for all of the young people. I wanted to see all of the girls together. But Elle managed to escape from it." Oscar told them.

"How?" Danny asked.

"I just didn't go, and I told James that my father wouldn't permit me to anyway."

"But didn't you want to go?" Sophia asked in shock.

"I didn't have a choice," Elle replied, sadly.

"Ah, but you would have loved to have gone. You could have danced with a certain someone!" Oscar continued to tease.

Elle blushed deeply, "But they were too busy with Delilah anyway."

"Who are you talking about?" Sophia asked, excitedly.

"No one," Elle replied, pleading with her eyes for Oscar to not say anything.

"Elizabeth, we are going to take a walk after breakfast. We have something that we would like to show you." The Queen said.

"Okay," Elle replied, and then sent a look of apology to Sophia. "Do you mind if you show me the painting later?"

"Of course I can. I completely forgot that we had plans!" Sophia grinned.

After breakfast, they all collected their coats and met in the entrance hall. Elle still had Delilah's coat, which was very warm.

"I thought you didn't have any clothes. How did you get such a lovely coat? It looks rather expensive." Rachel asked.

"It's Delilah's," Elle replied, blushing slightly.

"But I thought you and Delilah weren't friends," Oscar said. He had decided to accompany them. Elle could tell that he was part of the family.

"Her mother donated it to help get rid of me," Elle blushed.

"Oh, right."

The walk took around twenty minutes, and Elle could see they were headed to a hill. It reminded her of Grea.

It wasn't quite as steep as her thinking hill, so Elle easily walked up it. The views were simply stunning.

From one side you could see the castle, standing tall and firm. The other direction led to little villages and forests.

"It's beautiful." Elle gasped.

"It was your favourite spot when you were younger. You would beg us every evening to let you come and watch the sunset." Her father said, smiling at the memory.

"That's interesting. In Grea, I would go up to a hill behind the bookshop as often as I could to watch the sunset."

"You even walked here in the middle of the night once. One of the guards found you fast asleep. The doctor said that you were sleep walking." Her mother laughed slightly at the memory, "That really scared us."

"We made a memorial for you up here." Andrew muttered, "I guess we don't need it anymore."

"You did?" Elle turned to see a plaque surrounded by flowers. The sight brought tears to her eyes. It was very overwhelming.

"Of course," Danny said, coming to stand next to Elle. He put his arm around her shoulder and she edged closer to him.

All this time that she thought that nobody cared about her, they really did. Elle just wished that she hadn't had to spend so much time alone.

They stayed up on the hill for an hour before their father had to return to his duties. Elle was sad for it to end, but she was sure that they would have family times like this again.

The family weren't at all what Elle expected. She had expected strict parents and having to spend all of her time learning embroidery and arts. It wasn't like that, though.

She had much more freedom than she had anticipated, and although she had just arrived, she knew that it would remain that way.

As they began walking back, Elle caught up with Oliver and walked alongside him. They had spoken very little, and Elle was adamant that she would be close with all of her siblings.

"What do you spend your time doing around here?" she asked him.

"We usually have lessons each morning, and in the afternoon I often spend time in the library or gardens."

"There is a library?" Elle asked, excited at the prospect. She had hoped that there would be one, but she hadn't heard it be spoken about so she assumed that there wasn't.

"Yes, of course. Do you like reading?"

"Yes. I have lived in a bookshop for the last nine years. Reading was my escape from reality."

"Do you want me to show it to you?" his eyes were shining with excitement. "None of the others love reading as much as I do. They often have to drag me away from the library!"

Elle laughed with him. "That would be wonderful if you don't mind."

Oliver just smiled at her. He had thought that his sister would ignore him, and just spend time with the older siblings. But already she had made plans with both Sophia and himself. It was so much better than she had expected.

A/N- Hey people! Next chapter might be about James again, but I'm not sure :) Comment what you think!

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