The Harvest || h.s.

Chapter 25

XXV. ESCAPADE

Lena

The piles of hay used to feed the stable's horses stored behind the kitchens were the perfect hideout Lena could find to read about Adwick's castle in remote peace. She was starting to learn more about its history, as the little she was able to learn up to second grade didn't really stay inside her memory anymore.

The history book was not as old as she would have guessed, but it needed some updates. She stopped at the pages with family portraits, Royal Family portraits. She recalled seeing the faces of the Kings in the castle's foyer. The last portrait - the only actual picture, as the rest were paintings - held a very familiar face. A little boy, as young as nine, was sitting down next to his mother, who carried a baby in her arms. The King was standing up behind them, full of power. That child looked extremely similar to Harry, but the picture dated to as far as 1850, so Lena assumed he must have been the late King Robert as a young child.

The numbered pages ended with the Royal Families' portraits, the section that came afterwards mysteriously had no numbers at the bottom of the pages, which was rather odd for an official book about the history and architecture of the Royal Palace of Adwick. Lena started to read through the section, about mysterious disappearances of maids who worked at the Court, screams that could be heard at night by villagers who lived nearby, sightings of white figures on the roofs of the Palace. All this sends shivers down her spine, just by thinking about Princess Alyssa's fate, and how she ended her own life by jumping out of Harry's master bedroom's window.

A door suddenly opening and hitting some of the hay startled her, the book clumsily fell out of her hands, and a pair of white, almost skeletal looking ones picked up the book for her. She looked up; a young, long haired boy with a butler's uniform was handing the book over to her. She smiled as she took it, muttering a "Thank you".

The boy smiled as well. "Any time, miss Lena. Sorry if I scared you."

"Not a problem. What's your name?"

"Peter, Peter Alby. At your service." He bowed his head, never making eye contact, slightly blushing at the thought of the gorgeous lady standing in front of him.

"Let me guess; Clarissa's older brother?"

Peter gave a shy smile. "So you've met my sister. I hope she has not said anything inappropriate, she has a tendency of not keeping her mouth shut."

"She has been lovely to me." Lena smiled.

"I'm sorry if I seem nosy, but do you come to read here often?" The small-framed boy asked politely. Lena shook her head, giving him space to sit down next to her. After all, they come from similar backgrounds. Peter hesitated at first, obviously aware of the fact that he was not supposed to treat Lena as his fellow, but sat down next to her anyway, charmed away by her. "I have never seen you here. I do come here regularly. Often during my breaks. It's the only deserted place I have found here at court."

"It's very peaceful." Lena added, Peter nodded in agreement. "I sometimes escape to the art room. Have you ever been there?" The kitchen boy shook his head, allowing Lena to continue to explain. "It's this huge room filled with paintings of Queens. Only Queens, no Kings, no Princes, no families. Only women. I find it inspiring, as well as interesting. I could sit there for hours just admiring them."

"Us butlers and cooks aren't allowed in rooms like that. Especially if they hold so much value in those walls. My place is to help in the kitchen and nothing else. Sometimes I cover one of the waiters if they are sick, but that's it. It helps cover the expenses back at home and my father's necessities, so it's no big deal."

"You and Clarissa used to live alone with your father?"

"Mother died when Clarissa was merely a baby. Consumption. Dad suffered an accident in the mines, he is completely deaf on one side and lost seventy percent of hearing on the other side. I had to step up for him, for the family. Clare  has been of absolute help as well. She had to grow up so fast, all by herself."

"You must be really proud of her." Lena said quietly, almost as if she were afraid of interrupting Peter's memories running through his mind. He looked down to his hard hands, sighing with a smile and nodded.

"I am." he confessed. They stayed silent for a couple of seconds, enjoying the cool breeze that swept their hair backwards. "My break is about to end," Peter finally said. "The company has been good. Thanks, Lena. I needed this."

Lena smiled, welcoming Peter. "I needed the company as well. My chambers up there can really lonely sometimes." Three bells rang in the distance, signaling the on call servants their shift was over, and inviting the resting servants to take their positions and continue with their work.

"That's my call. If you ever need company, you know where to find me." Peter said as he vanished again inside the walls of the palace.

Harry

Late that same night, still in his sleeping clothes, after the Prince had finished all his Royal duties for the night, he sneaked into the kitchen. He did not call it sneaking, it was his palace after all, and he has always done whatever he wanted inside these stone walls. He passed the kitchen and went down to the cellars, where his father used to store his expensive and ancient collection of wine, liquors and whiskey. He grabbed a random bottle of the first thing he could find, and started to head back to his room.

Bottle in hand, he stopped as he reached the hallway that separated his chambers from the ones of the other guests that stayed in court. He closed his eyes, and followed the lead of his feet, not even sure where they were taking him.

As he opened his eyes again, he found himself looking up and knocking on one of the two giant white doors that held the entrance to Lena's chambers. She opened them after a few seconds, her messy hair revealing she had already gone to bed, but was not able to sleep yet.

"Harry? What are you doing here? It is pretty late." She asked, covering up her barely dressed body.

"I am sorry if I woke you up, Lena. As I am too for treating you in such way earlier in the day when you visited my cousin. I want to make it up to you."

Lena smiled, noticing it was really hard for Harry to say those words. He was not the forgiving type. And much less the apolozing one, and she knew it. "And how are you going to do that?"

"Is that your sleepingwear?" Harry asked, and Lenna nodded as a response. "And are you comfortable in that?" Lena nodded again, a little bit worried now. She was comfortable in them, that is for sure. But she was not comfortable with Harry seeing her wearing only her sleeping clothes.

"Follow me." He quickly stated, grabbing Lena's hand and leading her out of her room.

"Why? Where are you taking me?"

"Just trust me. Who said Princes were not allowed to have fun?"

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