Sanity

5. Recovery

On the second day, she was feeling well enough to walk, so she decided to try make it to the palace gardens by herself. But since the Queen had basically assigned William to her side at all times, she almost made it to her door before he found her.

"There you are," he announced from the doorway, and Jaelyn cocked her head sideways.

"Where else would I be?" she asked dumbly, to which he just shrugged.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Probably wherever it is you're going now. Need a hand?"

"Nope," she shot back, and continued to wobble towards the door. He stepped back, hands in the air as he allowed her to pass him before finally dropping back to walk by her side. She was slow, but that didn't seem to bother him.

They walked through the palace for what seemed like ages until finally Jaelyn managed to make it outside. It was refreshing; she hadn't been outside in over a week, even though she wasn't actually conscious for most of that time. It's like her body knew that it had been deprived from real sunlight, because relief was all she felt.

"Aha, that's more like it," she mused, closing her eyes before letting a deep sigh slip from her lips. "I feel better already."

"Honestly," William announced with the slightest hint of amusement in his tone, "I didn't think princesses liked to be outside, either. Or in nature altogether."

Jaelyn turned her head to him, not bothering to hide the wide grin that spread between her cheeks. "I'd like to know what kind of princesses you talk to," she shot back in disbelief. He laughed, and she widened her eyes. "I'm serious! First, princesses don't read. Now they don't like the sun?"

"I must admit," he sighed, "a lot of what I think comes from the books I read." Jaelyn smiled.

"Ah, yes," she mused, a sly smile playing at her lips. "Books are a great form of entertainment and knowledge, but they corrupt their readers into believing the fantasies they are written about. They are dangerous weapons indeed."

"Are you talking about a book or a battle-axe?" William snorted, and Jaelyn saved a small smile.

"Regardless," she announced, "your knowledge of your female equivalent is quite disconcerting."

"Well, all the princesses I have met have proven me to be right," William shot back with an eyebrow raised. "So who's to say you aren't wrong?"

"I am," is what she wanted to say. She was not even a princess; she highly doubted the real Kamryn Matzen shared her conflicting interests. Instead, she just smiled at William and shrugged.

"No one," she admitted, a glint in her eye. He shared her amusement with a sly smile of his own, his eyes lingering on hers. Jaelyn could have sworn they lingered a few seconds longer than normal, but she looked away quickly as she realised her own eyes were doing the exact same.

This man was more dangerous than she ever could have anticipated.

"I thought we could go visit my mother now that you are well enough," William announced suddenly, forcing Jaelyn's eyes to return to his. "My parents were both shocked and disgusted at the idea of someone trying to assassinate you so soon after your arrival. Although my father is still away with Noah, my mother remained. I feel she would like to speak with you about the... incident."

"You mean she wants to know if I have any more information." Jaelyn corrected, tilting her head sideways as she studied William's dark eyes. "I told you everything I remember, Will. I do not know who wanted to do this to me. All I do know is that they were not trying to kill me; if they wanted to, they would not have used Blue Pettle."