Sage in the Sea

Forbidden Kiss

We stopped for the night at a city located halfway to the facility. The inn that we stayed in was nice. There were red couches in the entry room. The old man at the desk seemed happy enough as he led us up the staircase and down a long hallway to our rooms.

Fergus entered my room with me, walking through the bedroom and the lavatory. I placed my bag on the end of the bed and sat down gingerly. I could tell from looking around the room that it was one of the nicer inns. There was a dressing cupboard, a four poster bed with two small tables on either side. A table with two chairs sat near the window on the wall beside the bed. Across from the bed was a fireplace, the wood crackling as the fire burned within.

"All clear," Fergus said as he joined me in the bedroom. "I shall be posted outside of your room for part of the night. Another guard will take over then. If you wish to have any visitors, I suggest you do so now rather than later."

"Thank you," I told him, smiling slightly before I stood up to unpack my bag. Lila would be coming along shortly to see if I needed anything despite me telling her to get some rest.

"Is there anything that you need to tell me before tomorrow?" Fergus questioned, not moving from the opposite side of the bed.

I shook my head, glancing up at him, before back down at my bag. "No, I think I am pretty set on the schedule of the day."

"I meant in terms of your speech," he replied. "I have done my fair share of speaking in front of crowds, so if you would like to practice, then I would be glad to be your audience."

"I think I have it under control, thank you," I said, pulling my dressing gown from the bag. "If you do not mind, I need to prepare for bed."

"Adelaide, if there—"

"My apologies, guard, but last time I checked, I am still permitted to give orders for those who are a part of my household," I told him, turning to face him properly. "If I said that I had everything under control, then I meant that I have everything under control. I appreciate everything that you have done, but I truly do need to prepare for bed. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow and I need my rest."

Fergus arched an eyebrow before he turned on his heel and stalked towards the door. "For the record, ma'am, the last time I checked, I believed that we were on good terms. Perhaps I was wrong."

"Perhaps so," I replied, watching as he glanced at me over his shoulder before he opened the door and stepped through, shutting it roughly behind him.

I let out a sigh of relief before I walked to the door and slid the lock into place. I did not need Lila to help me into a dressing gown.

I turned away, taking a deep, shaky breath as I walked into the lavatory. The tears rolled silently down my face as I began to take the pins out of my hair.

I could do it. I had been taught strength at the facility. I had been taught to overcome the tasks that scared me. It was all in the mind. If I could close off the part of my mind that terrified me, then I could conquer any task. The biggest obstacle was conquering the fear that attempted to prevent me from becoming successful.

As I undressed, I thought of how ironic it was that the facility was the place that I learned how to conquer my fears. I was about to turn their own teachings against them. For the past ten years, I had worn a mask. I had played the role that I needed to play. Now it was time to step into another one, to find my true self. It was time to stop hiding in the shadows, to stop letting fear control me.

I was time to be the strong princess I had been taught to be.

I quickly ran a cloth over my skin before I pulled on my dressing gown. As I walked back into the bedroom, I pulled my hair back and secured it with a few pins. From my bag, I with drew my notebook before I walked over to the table, sitting down and opening the notebook to a clean page. Piers had given it to me shortly after Lysander had showed him the other one I had filled with notes on how to stop the king.