Of Winds And Quakes

32. The Bridge

Year of the Roses
Floral Season
The Dining Room
Altsas.

Alysia

LYSIA'S BLUE EYES ARE PIERCING from across the table. Apparently, we were late for breakfast and the rest of the royal family had had theirs an hour ago.

She is expertly stoic and her features are blank. I try not to let my eyes linger on her face for too long and busy myself with chewing my food.

Before us are platters of  boiled fish, brown rice, salad made up of dices of carrots and slices of lettuce, baskets of bread rolls, jugs of milk and mead. The array of food overwhelms me. I try not to seem greedy and limit my plate to two bread rolls, pieces of spicy fish and the salad.

I bite into the soft warm bread and my taste buds sing out in delight. The bread is sweetened with honey and contains resins and thin slices of coconut in them. I gobble them down and gulp a cup of milk to accompany it.

I eat up the peppered fish but pick at the salad. The princess still hasn't said a word. Rosa's request comes to mind. I know that I'll have to initiate conversation. So bracing myself, I open my mouth and let the first thing that comes to mind roll out.

"Where is everybody?" I am not expecting an answer from her so I'm very surprised when she replies.

She sighs and without looking at me she says,"you will get used to not seeing anyone around."

I quickly recover from shock and form words. "How do you cope with it?"

Her eyes are still on the plate in front of her but she has barely touched her breakfast. "I'm used to it. I spend most of my time in my bedroom anyway."

"That is so sad," I blurt out and clamp my hand over my mouth but it's too late.

The Princess raises her captivating eyes and I can feel myself squirm under her stare. "My life is sad."

"I-I didn't mean it... Like that, Princess," I say quickly. I don't want her to get the wrong idea.

Her laugh is forced and pained. She doesn't take her eyes off me. "I'm not offended, Alysia. And please, call me Lysia."

I nod. She forces a fork of fish into her mouth and chews. It's the first time I've seen her chew since I came down for breakfast.

"How was the dance yesterday?" I ask carefully, watching her reaction.

She paused, freezes for a slight moment and resumes chewing. Something flashes across her features so fast it seems like I imagined it. "Fine," her reply is vague, a faint whisper that I wouldn't have caught if I wasn't straining my ears to listen.

"How did you like it?" Her question catches me off guard and I stutter as I try to come up with an answer.

"It was interesting," I say. "But I didn't stay after you left because I was really sleepy."

"And how did you sleep?" She raises her cup of milk and takes a dainty sip.

"The soft pillows did justice to my aching back," I say lightly and I'm rewarded with her pained smile.

I want to ask how she slept but I know better than to do that. From the dark circles around her eyes and the heavy bags, it is obvious she barely had any sleep. Rosa was right. But what troubles her? I imagine her to be carefree and filled with joy always, the privileges of royal life should overshadow worries. But she is as human as I am. There can never be a life void of pain.

So instead of asking how she slept, I ask why I can't find anyone in sight.

"My father is probably having a meeting with the members of his Royal Court, mother can be doing anything from having breakfast with prestigious ladies or sitting beside my father in his meetings. Kyan can be out of the four walls of the Kingdom for all I know." She puts another forkful of fish into her mouth and chews with a grimace.