Switched ~ a Fractured Fairytale

Chapter Eight ~ The Storm is Brewing

'So, he proposed,' Cassy was still asking three days after my disastrous dinner. 'He actually proposed.'

'I keep telling you,' I said. 'He never made it that far.'

We were somewhere in the palace grounds, hiding behind a large oak tree. Cassy was avoiding Mother and I was avoiding Alastair. As the last few days had rained quite heavily, this was the first chance we had had to escape the crowded and stuffy palace. It was lovely to sit outside and relax. The grass still sparkled with dew and the air smelled fresh and clean.

'But that's what he was trying to do,' Cassy said.

'Yes, I think so.'

'That was fast,' she said.

'I know,' I said, biting my lip. 'Do you think it's too fast?'

'You've known him, what, two weeks?' Cassy said.

'Exactly,' I said. 'I don't want to rush into anything.'

Cassy turned to look me directly in the eye. 'Elia, do you love him?' she said.

'I like him,' I said. 'He's bumbling, but he's rather sweet.'

'Yes, but do you actually love him?' Cassy said. 'Or is it just a marriage of convenience?'

'That's the big question...' I muttered. I stretched out on the picnic rug and looked up at green leaves above me. Cassy lay down beside me and I rolled over to face her.

'How about you?' I asked. 'We spend so long talking about me, do you have anyone in your sights?'

Cassy opened her mouth, blushed, then shook her head. 'Nah,' she said. 'Not really.'

I raised my eyebrow and she burst out laughing.

'You look like Father when you do that!' she said.

'I do not!'

'You do so!' she laughed. She sat up and held out a hand. 'Come with me. No boys, no politics, just fun.'

I smiled and let her pull me to my feet. Dragging me along behind her, Cassy led me around the palace, through the nearly manicured paths and shrubs. Grinning, Cassy pointed to some hedges.

'It's a maze,' she said excitedly. 'Race you to the middle?'

Without waiting for a reply, Cassy ran ahead, and I followed, trying to remember what Bash had told me about mazes. Something to do with following the left path?

The hedges came to just above my shoulders, so I could the top of Cassy's head, but not the route to the centre. I came to a fork in the road and took the right path on impulse. Right, left turn, left fork, middle path, right... my head spun trying to keep track. I could hear the sound of Cassy giggling from the other side of the hedge and I began to run. Caught up chasing Cassy, I tripped on a protruding root and went sprawling in the mud. The front of my dress was ruined but I could hear Cassy crashing along ahead of me, so I ran on. I turned a corner and saw the centre of the maze: a large oak tree with a treetop platform. With a sigh of relief, I began to run towards it when something crashed into me.

'Aaargh!' Cassy yelled, barrelling into me, knocking us both into the hedge. Leaves and twigs tangled into our hair and clothes. Laughing, we wrestled around in the mud until I managed to squirm away and crawl towards the centre. Cassy hurled herself on top of me, knocking the breath out of me and together, we touched the centre tree together.

'I won!' Cassy cried, leaping up.

'You cheated!' I said.

Cassy grinned down at me. Without breaking eye contact, I reached beside me and lobbed a handful of mud in her face.