War of the Ocean

Chapter 11

It was dark the next time the princess decided to leave her room. Dinner had been hours ago but this time she had spent the hour alone in her room instead of in the dining room with the prince. She cracked the bedroom door open and peaked out into the corridor before gently pushing it open wide enough for her to slip through. Stepping lightly, she padded out of her room and down the corridor towards the first hiding place she had found while walking with Kaiser.

There was a white marble statue of two boys with little crowns on their smooth, stone heads. The young princes were standing side by side, one a little taller than the other. Their blank pale eyes seemed to see everything around them, watching all those who passed by. If one were to look inside their minds, they would be able to discover almost anything they wished to; the statues were all-seeing and all-knowing.

Approaching the statue, she slipped behind it and crouched down to wait. What exactly was it that she waiting for? She was waiting for someone—anyone—to pass by. Why? Well, the palace staff wouldn't share gossip amongst themselves if they knew that another was listening.

Her legs muscles were beginning to cramp by the time the first few maids passed by. Their echoing footsteps could be heard well before they reached her hiding place, warning her well in advance. At last, the pair came into view. They both wore pale grey dresses with skirts that finished well beneath their knees and scuffed black shoes. Each of them had pulled their hair back into a neat bun at the back of their heads and held it in place with a black hair clip. Everything about them screaming tidy and organised.

'Have you heard anymore about that girl they found on the beach?' One was asking as they walked by the statue. Unless some other girl was found on the beach, she knew that they were speaking about her. She listened carefully, waiting to hear what they would say about her.

The other nodded, eager to share what she knew. 'Yes! Apparently she's mute,' she replied.

'Mute!' The first maid exclaimed. 'How on earth does she communicate then?'

'She writes down what she has to say on a piece of paper,' the second explained. 'She tried that with Cecily but of course she couldn't understand any of it, no one ever taught her how to read!'

'Really?' The rest of their conversation went unheard as the maids were too far away. Arelena waited until the next group came five minutes later, gossiping about one of the princes although she couldn't quite tell which one they spoke of.

'He's so handsome!' A maid said dreamily to one of her companions. 'Don't you think?'

'No, his brother is far more beautiful,' the other replied. 'Have you seen his eyes!'

The third, a young man who appeared to work near fire from the ash on his clothing—probably from the oven in the palace kitchen, rolled his eyes at the two women. 'Honesty, you two,' he sighed. 'Must you do this now?'

'Yes!' The second maid told him. 'Prince Kaiser is much better looking than Prince Reidan.'

'No, he's not,' the first argued. 'By the way, Prince Reidan's eyes are prettier than Prince Kaiser's! Right Jordain?'

Their male companion huffed. 'Go ask someone who actually cares,' he said, quickening his pace to get away from the bickering women. She couldn't blame him for she wished that she could escape them and their pointless arguing, too. Once the corridor was empty again, she rose and slipped out of hiding. Halfway back to her room, a door slammed in another corridor to her left. Feeling curious, she turned down that way to find out what was happening.

The corridor was one she had never been down before and it seemed a lot quieter than the rest of the palace. She could see that one of the doors was open slightly, probably the one which had been slammed but had reopened because of the large amount of force the person had used. Through the crack she could see a sandy-haired man pacing around inside it. Prince Reidan. He looked angry, almost as angry as Tristien was when he had been told that Soren returned from exile and it was scary. She couldn't help but wonder what it was that had driven the prince to become like that.

'It's been eight months! Eight months without a single word,' she could hear him saying. 'Now he decides completely out of the blue that he will return!'

Frowning, she dared to creep closer. Who was he talking about? Whoever it was couldn't possibly be on the prince's good side which hardly narrowed down the list of people it could be; Reidan didn't seem to have many friends.

'And he expects us to celebrate his glorious return,' he continued. 'It's absurd!'

Who could this person be? Her mind continued to wonder and she unconsciously crept forward even more until she was right outside his door. If he were to even glance towards it, he would see her.

'Arelena?' A woman's voice sounded behind her. Whirling around, she came face to face with Wendy, the cook. 'Are you lost, dear?'

Nodding, she pretending to be helpless so that the old woman would never guess that she was spying on the prince. She just hoped that the old cook was not one for gossip or every member of the palace staff would know about this tomorrow morning. Fortunately, she did not seem like the type of person to do such things but Arelena could only hope that her observations were correct.

'Come on dear, I'll take you back to your room.'

She followed her away, glancing back a few times to see if Reidan was still pacing about inside his room. Once she was back inside her room, she debated whether she should go back once the old cook was gone. In the end, she decided against it; what would Wendy think if she saw her outside her room again? Tucking herself into bed, she allowed her mind to drift back to when she had been standing outside Reidan's room.

When she fell asleep an hour later, there was one question on her mind; who had made the prince so angry?

Who do you think has gotten Reidan so mad? Any guesses?

Hope you enjoyed :)