The Vengeful Princess

Chapter 19: Old Flames, New Gold

After the previous night's debacle, things around the palace seemed to have quieted down, at least for now. I had woken up to a pair of worried eyes watching over me. Ella informed me that after we got back to the palace, Alex had sent the royal physician down to check up on me. Apparently I had bruised my ribs. Pretty badly too, by the big purply-blue splotch that ran down my side.

I took a deep breath outside the double doors of the activity room. In. Out. Breathing through the stabs of pain that triggered with every breath. Muffled chatter escaped the heavy doors as I pasted a smile onto my face, readying myself for the barrage of pleasantries and carefully worded questions that would greet me.

It had been a while since I had properly spent any time with the other Privileged girls but I was sure there had been a significant decrease in number since I had last seen them. The room seemed emptier, in number and energy. The doors closed with a solid thud behind me, drawing the attention of all the Privileged, including Grace, who offered me a small smile. A small symbol of hope. I returned the gesture gladly, beginning to make my way towards her. Hopefully she had a change of heart.

"Oh, so Her Highness finally decided to get off her throne and join the rest of us peasants!" Clementine remarked sarcastically, drawing snickers from the group of Privileged that she was surrounded by.

Seraphina let out a small huff. "Speak for yourself. Though it is strange that Rosie here seems to almost always disappear at odd times at every official event."

"At least one of you knows their place." I replied dryly. "And for your information, I was with Alex for the majority of those events that you mentioned."

She stepped forward challengingly. "And what about the other half of the time? You never seem to spend any time in the activities room either. Please, do tell; what are you up to alone while all the other Privileged are gathered in the activities room?"

Seraphina had me there. How was I to approach the question? She was already suspicious of me and my identity. An arm linked around mine as Grace answered for me. "Maybe she simply doesn't enjoy being interrogated like this every time she's around everyone."

Grace led me away with a tug at my arm, in a hurry to get away from eavesdropping ears.

Never to miss a jab, Elizabeth followed us persistently, closely followed by Vivian and Clementine. "Aw Rose, don't leave so soon! Please do share; which prince is the better kisser?"

Taken aback, I frowned at the question. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, don't play coy. We all know about you and... you know." Vivian raised her eyebrows pointedly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Haven't you heard? There has been a rumour going around that apparently you came onto Charles, and well..." Kelly quipped, sharing a look with the other girls.

"Charles and I?" I scoffed, pointedly glaring at Seraphina. "And where exactly did you hear this rumour from?"

Vivian shrugged. "Does it matter? All that matters is whether it's true."

"I didn't realise that you were so naive that you would simply take everything you hear at face value, Vivian."

"So it's not true then?"

I rolled my eyes, irritated. "No, it isn't."

The other girls seemed to have lost interest after realising I wasn't planning on elaborating, swishing their hair over their shoulders flippantly as they turned their backs on Grace and I.

"Honestly, what does His Royal Highness even see in her? She's so uptight all the time." Elizabeth sneered loudly, making sure I could hear her.

Kelly sighed glumly in response, "At this point I'm just hoping to attract any suitor of class before my Privileged title is revoked and I'm sent home. Prince Alex hasn't so much as glanced at me in over a week!"