The Wanderers [Old Version]

Chapter 30: Reunited

Bryn's POV

I woke up and got out of bed. My bare feet hit the cold wooden floors of my bedroom and sent a chill up my legs.

I slipped my feet into my house shoes and tied my robe tighter around my waist. I walked to the window and wiped the frost off with my sleeve. Lightstone was covered in a blanket of snow, and snow was still falling.

I heard a tap at the door and the butler, Adolf, walked in carrying a tray of food. "Good morning, Miss Elric. Your mother and father are at the High Court this morning. They have told me to make sure that you do not go outside in the snow for any reason."

I sighed, "Oh, Adolf. Will my father really ever know that I went outside? If he is at the High Court, he'll be there all day. What will an hour or so in the snow hurt?"

"I'm sorry, miss. But if your father found out, it would be my head. It would be better to just stay inside. We wouldn't want you to become ill on your birthday, now would we?" Adolf's eyes twinkled. It seemed he was always the only one who ever remembered my birthday.

Occasionally, civilians from the city would bring gifts to the castle walls and leave them for me, but the guards would always scare them away. It was as if my father didn't want people to remember my birthday.

Adolf pulled the cover off of the tray of food, "As you requested, 16 miniature pancakes."

"Thank you, Adolf. I'm pleased you remembered."

"Miss, if I may add, last year you didn't eat all 15 I had made for you, are you sure you'll eat all 16 this year?"

I sat on my bed and tapped the spot next to me, "Here, sit with me, Adolf. Share some breakfast with me."

Adolf shook his hands in front of him, "Oh, no, Miss Elric. I wouldn't want to eat the Princess' breakfast."

I lowered my eyes, "Adolf, please, just eat with me. After all, it's my gift, and what I want to do with it is my choice. I choose to have you eat with me."

Adolf smiled and sat next to me, "Thank you, Miss Elric. You are too kind."

"Call me Bryn. No need for formalities."

We shared the breakfast and I asked Adolf to tell me about the snow and what it was like playing in it. He avoided my question by telling me it was time for him to put away my dish.

Adolf left my bedroom and I shut the door behind him, and locked it. I needed to change into my formal wear.

I stripped and looked at myself in the mirror. I turned and looked at my backside. I had a cute butt. I pulled on my red formal dress and slipped my feet into a pair of black high heels. My hair was a mess, but I would have Yana fix it for me.

I used the intercom on the wall and buzzed in Yana. She came into my room and helped me fix my hair.

When it was done, she looked at me in the mirror, "Such a beautiful young lady you have grown up to be, Princess. I can remember when you were a small child. You always got lost in the castle, you could never remember your way around. I would always have to come looking for you. Haha, I remember one time, I found you in the kitchen, stuck inside a barrel of mead. Luckily you didn't drink any."

I smiled. I never knew that I had been stuck in a barrel of mead. I didn't remember that story. Maybe that's why I hate the smell of mead now that I'm older.

I walked with Yana to the Grand Hall and took my seat in my throne. My mother and father's thrones sat empty. They truly had missed their only daughter's birthday.