FAIRYTALE

7

      Ivris woke up the next morning and looked around her room; she couldn't remember how the rest of yesterday went.

Suddenly she heard a loud growl.

She jumped in fright, only to realise that it was her stomach that produced the growl, she was hungry, really hungry, she burst into a fit of laughter when she realised this.

She stood up shaking her head and took a bath then dressed up and went down for breakfast.

She was shocked at the sight she was met with.
  
There were a lot of maids working downstairs, scrubbing and cleaning everywhere.

When she got to bottom of the stairs they all stopped what they were doing and stared at her murmuring between themselves.

They were more than surprised to see her and she was just as surprised as they were.

She opened her mouth to speak but she didn't know what to say, just then Prince Stephan came to the rescue

"You're awake" he said smiling, "And I see you've met the castle workers, let me introduce you to them, they're just surprised to see you that's why they are staring, so let's clear that up now"

He then turned around and said

"Call the others for an introduction"

One of the maids ran out and came in after few minutes with the rest of the castle workers following behind, they all stood looking at the Prince expectantly for an explanation.
 
"Standing here before you is who we all know as Ivris the great sorceress, she was summoned by the Queen and Lord Lurve to help with all that's going on in the kingdom now, she will be here for quite some time, until her mission is completed"

After his speech, all the castle workers bowed in respect to Ivris

Ivris was known in all the kingdoms, many had seen her but majority hadn't and prayed to do so sometime

She rose to limelight at an early age, mostly when people heard the name and title attached to it they expected to see an older person but were shocked when they saw her, most said she rose to the top quickly because of her connections and background but those who knew her and had seen her at work knew better, they knew she rose to the top by hard work and diligence in what she does and this earned her a lot of respect from people across the various kingdoms.
 
Ivris asked them to rise, one maid looked at her excitedly and was about to say something but Ivris motioned for her not to and she nodded and kept quiet, no one noticed their silent exchange.

Prince Stephan then dismissed them and took Ivris hand and they left to the dining room for breakfast.

They got to the dining room first and took their seats and almost immediately Ivris stomach growled again

She covered her face in embarrassment while Stephan laughed

Just then Heidi strolled in

She immediately sat beside Stephan and wrapped her arms around him looking at Ivris and smirking

Ivris rolled her eyes "Typical Heidi" she muttered

Stephan shook his head and silently peeled her arms off his body, she turned as the Queen and Lord came in and put on a smile, she greeted them and they responded.
 
The Queen's face lit up when she saw Ivris

"Beautiful morning it is my Queen"

The Queen smiled and said

"Indeed it is Ivris, and I'm happy to be sharing it with you my dear"

She stretched her hand across the table and held Ivris hand, Ivris in turn put her hands over the Queen's hand and they looked at each other smiling, Stephan watched them smiling
 
"I know no one notices me... not that I mind" Lord Lurve said, at this Ivris and Stephan started laughing while the Queen kissed his cheek smiling

Ivris was shocked at this gesture but she didn't say anything.
 
"You're such a baby Lurve" the Queen said still smiling

"But you love me anyway" Lord Lurve said tucking a strand of hair behind her ear

The Queen looked down blushing, suddenly interested in the silverware before them on the dining table, this caused Stephan to laugh even harder, Lord Lurve joined in the laughter and the Queen blushed even harder.

Ivris didn't know what to make of what she just witnessed but she kept quiet and didn't let it show on her face, she decided to ask Stephan about it later.

Just then Bell and some of the maids came in with breakfast and set it on the table

The maids left and Bell sat at the table with them, it had become a regular thing now

He sat beside Ivris and she bent a little and whispered

"Sorry I couldn't help with breakfast today, I slept in"

Bell smiled knowingly and said, "It's okay, we still have other days to catch up on our cooking"

Ivris smiled and nodded, they said grace and started eating.
  

***

  Prince Stephan was in his office attending to some royal matters when he heard a knock on the door

" Come in!" he said

His face lit up when Ivris came in and sat down, making herself comfortable in his office.

"Okay, spill, what's the relationship between Lord Lurve and your mother, I'm really curious" Ivris said after she had settled down

Prince Stephan chuckled and said, "I knew you'd ask that sooner or later, 5 years after my dad died, mom found love again just when we thought she never will, and she found it with Lord Lurve, he moved into the castle to help her in the ruling of the kingdom since dad was no longer around, and that's when and where it all began, we only found out later that they had already met before he moved in but they grew closer when he came, he has made my mom so happy ever since and I'm grateful for that, I support them wholeheartedly, and when all this is over they're getting married, it's going to be a grand ceremony".

"Wow" Ivris said smiling, "That's really good stuff, okay second question"

"Go on" Stephan said

"The castle workers, I'm surprised to see them, are they newly employed?"

"No, they're old workers, they have been working here for quite some time now, they were sent on leave a week before you arrived that way rumors that you are coming won't spread around from the castle workers to the villagers, thereby avoiding any form of complications, they were told to come back to work yesterday evening, you came back late and slept off without even having dinner, so we didn't get to introduce you"

"Oh, I see" Ivris said, "Well I guess that;s all for now, I'll just get a book from the shelf and read while I keep you company, I want to keep my mind off things for now and since I have nowhere to go and nothing to do today I've decided to spend the day here reading while you work, better than reading alone in the library" she finished.

"Now that will be nice, I really like that idea, it's also better than me spending the day here alone you know" Stephan said smiling

Ivris smiled back and stood from the chair

She went to the bookshelf and picked a book

She looked at it and realised it was a book about the origins, history, creation and first kings and queens of the kingdom down to the present ones

She put it back and picked another book deciding to read that one some other day

She sat back on the chair and made herself very comfortable then started reading while Stephan carried on with his work.