Element Sense

Chapter Five- Sickness

The path back to the castle always seemed to last forever compared to the trip to the village. The destinations probably played a part in this, Alyss mused to herself, in an effort to remain calm. Worrying wasn't going to help her now. She needed to think, and she could only do that with a level head. More relaxed now that she was thinking clearly, she contemplated what she was going to do next.

The man she was informally racing against would be slowed by his cargo-the hostage-along with whatever items he had brought with him. However, she was light and agile. She had the advantage in this competition. In addition to this, he didn’t even know how to reach the castle. She smirked. The moron had deserved her reaction.

Lost in her thoughts, Alyss reached the backdoor of the castle and entered, hurrying up to her rooms. Josselyn confusedly met her at the door, unused to her presence at this time of the day, and Alyss hurriedly instructed her to assist her in changing to her sleeping attire. Josselyn bit back what she was going to say and did as she was told.

After she was dressed, she told Josselyn in hushed tones what had transpired. She gasped at the mention of the assassin and nodded when she was informed of her plan to pretend to be sick. Alyss sank back into her goose feather mattress, grateful for Josselyn being her chambermaid. She allowed herself to fall asleep, knowing that once she woke up, her face would look flushed. This detail would simply help convince her parents she didn't feel well.

She was frantically woken a couple of hours later by Josselyn, who put a finger to her lips. Alyss immediately shut her eyes again and still appeared to be asleep. She heard voices, and the door being opened. There were two sets of footsteps. She dared open her eyes just wide enough to take in who had entered. 

Alyss suppressed her initial reaction-surprise. The King and Queen themselves were there. They usually saw her only at dinner, being too preoccupied with other matters throughout the rest of the day to see her. That was fine with her. Actually, she preferred it. It gave her freedom and allowed them to have time to make good decisions for the people of the kingdom. It was a win-win situation in her mind. 

This had become a regular schedule between them and visits in between were rare. She was a little curious as to why they had come. She doubted that it was just because of her supposed sickness. No, it had to be something more. Had the man ratted her out? But how could he have possibly known? Things didn't seem to be adding up in her recently woken, cloudy mind.

The Queen spoke, "Juliana, you must prepare Alyss to go to dinner. We want her to be dressed in the finest dining clothes possible. We mustn't look as though we are vying too hard for attention, but she must still look beautiful."

The eternal "we" was something Alyss was used to when speaking to the Queen, or rather having the Queen speak to her. She was also used to the Queen's habit of forgetting the names of those who were ranked below her. These were the first thoughts that popped into her clouded mind. Then, she wanted her to come to dinner? And look nice for it?

Josselyn began to protest, but the King said something quietly that stopped her. She cleared her throat and politely said yes while simultaneously opening the door and awaiting their departure. Once they had left, Josselyn walked over where Alyss lay and sank to her knees.

"I'm sorry. It's ju-just that," she gulped, not looking her in the eye, "the King had this look in his eye." Alyss nodded, not understanding, but making it seem as though she did.

"It's fine...hmm...what was it? Juliana?" That earned her a small giggle. Alyss smiled at her and rose. "Well then? Help me get dressed for dinner. We don't want you getting flogged, do we?" Josselyn nodded gravely at her attempt at a joke and began to dress her and make intricate designs in her hair.

Alyss glanced in the mirror, and examined what she was wearing. A dress that was the same pale blue as her eyes and was cinched at her waist with silver lace stared back at her through the mirror. She had silver earrings on with a matching necklace and a few bracelets. Lastly, a tiara was placed on the work of art Josselyn had transformed her dark hair into. She definitely wouldn't be wearing this down in the village; there was absolutely no need to. She desired a life of simplicity like that one day...

Alyss made her way downstairs and toward the dining room, hoping that the man had already left and would not see her. Her eyes downcast, she entered, taking solace in the thought that she looked almost completely different now compared to earlier that day; even if the man was there, he surely wouldn’t recognize her in her new attire and hairstyle. Alyss glanced around the room, her eyes landing only on the usual array of nobles seated at the tables around hers, relieved to find that her fears were completely unfounded.

She sat down next to Sadon and proceeded to poke him with the fork when no was looking their way. He in turn, jabbed her with his spoon every so often. Alyss quietly filled him in on what had happened during the day while they continued with their game. She also gave him an accurate description of the man, as she had a photographic memory, which Sadon chuckled at. "Just how long were you staring at him, Princess?" he teased.

Alyss blushed and accidently jabbed him harder than she'd meant to. Sadon yelped out loud, causing a few curious stares to be directed their way. His cheeks flaming, he muttered that he had eaten his quickly too soup. Then, mortified at what he had just said, he simply sat quietly. Alyss skillfully smothered her laughs with coughs, although she doubted Sadon believed they were real.

She smiled and said, "That's forking terrible." She burst out laughing at Sadon's grimace, but was silenced quickly by a loud cough from the King. Alyss glanced at Sadon's face first, and found shock and surprise written there. She turned and heard the King's voice introduce her, as if from a distance, to the Crown Prince of Alternor, Merek. 

Alyss stood there for a moment gaping, and then gained confidence when she found no trace of recognition in his sapphire eyes. Alyss smiled and introduced herself then, sure now that her guise would fool him. However, at the sound of her voice, he froze. She saw the awareness in his posture now and began to mentally panic.

He knew. She felt a slight pressure on her arm, and noticed a metal utensil there. She glared at Sadon, who, she could tell, now understood who this was. Sadon looked back innocently and asked, just as sweetly as his current demeanor implied he was, "Too spoon?"