CORRUPTED FILE [Lumina Chronicles Past Drafts]

Level Thirty

[MAGGIE'S PoV]

After my mortifying time in the fountain with Cas, I was escorted back to my room. The mermaid trio giggled the entire time they dried, redressed me, and fixed my hair.

"You really are Siaboran, drawn to the water like that," Arenya snickered.

"And in His Highness's lap too, lucky girl," Dori sighed. Her cheeks flushed when Solana hissed and shot her a glare.

"It was so embarrassing," I muttered. Nearly an hour had passed, but my skin still hadn't reverted back to its normal shade. "I also just... don't feel that way about Cas, and I think the Queen got the complete wrong idea about me."

Dori gasped. "But he's the prince! And he likes you!"

"Eldoris," Solana put sharp emphasis on her friends name. "We are Lady Jacintha's handmaids. Stop gossiping."

Dori responded in the most ladylike fashion, by scrunching up her nose and sticking out her tongue.

Once I was dry and beautified—again—I thanked the girls and sent them off. I had only a short moment of peace to contemplate what I should do next, when Carlyle poofed into existence in front of me.

"There you are!" I gasped.

"...Miss me that much? I'm flattered dear, but surely you can handle yourself for a few hours..." Carlyle tutted.

"Handle myself? Quite the opposite. I just took Casimir swimming."

"...The palace doesn't have a p—ooohh..." Carlyle broke into a fit of cackling.

I threw myself onto the bed in the most dramatic fashion I could manage. "This is a disaster."

"...Cheer up, it's only the beginning..." He probably meant that as encouragement, but to me it sounded like assurance that I had plenty of time to make an even bigger fool of myself.

"So where have you been all day?" I asked.

Carlyle sat on the edge of the bed, his weightless form not disrupting the blankets in the slightest. "...Oh, all over the castle. I've made a mental list of all the places I think you should see in person. Care for a tour..?"

"Well, Raini said something about tonight's event being a play, so I guess I can do whatever I want until then." I sat up. "What sort of places?"

Carlyle ticked off his fingers as he spoke. "...the king's chambers, a spying portrait that leads to a web if hidden passages, a freaky warded door... fun places..."

"Oh cool, places that'll get me in major trouble if I'm caught. I have nothing better to do, lead the way." I hopped off the bed and stretched my arms above my head. Luckily the dress the mermaid trio had chosen to put me in was a nearly neon shade of pink—that would totally help me evade the notice of palace guards.

I followed Carlyle out into the hall, listening as he babbled all the way to the first point of interest. I tried to stroll casually, like I belonged. The few servants we passed along the way kept their eyes down and didn't even glance my way.

"...I found Queen Amaranth's closet during my searching. Now that's a woman of culture. So many beautiful gowns, so many shoes..!" Carlyle sighed. "...She should give the other ladies of the court some fashion advice..."

I nodded, watching another servant stroll by with a massive bundle of laundry stacked precariously in her arms.

"...The king and queen don't share a room it seems, and the kings chambers look like they've been unoccupied for years..."