Beyond the Castle Walls

Chapter 2

*Moriarty voice* Miss me?

"Emmaline!" Emmaline hears a younger voice shout and she quickly yanks off her boots, pulling her heels back on.

"Over here!" she calls as she takes out her braid, slightly out of breath. Emmaline kicks her boots and Anna's dress under a bush, just as she sees her younger sister, Elizabeth, come towards her. Emmaline had just made it back over the wall, if Elizabeth was here a few seconds earlier, she would have seen her sneaking back in.

"Mother's looking for you, it's almost time for supper." Elizabeth states.

"Oh, thank you." She nods and Elizabeth looks at her curiously.

"She said she looked for you in the garden already," she says.

"Oh, she must have missed me." Emmaline shrugs and starts walking towards the castle, Elizabeth next to her.

The girls walk quickly to the dining room, heels clicking on the stone floors. A guard opens the door for them and Emmaline nods a thank you before stepping in.

Their parents were already seated at the table, their father at the head with their mother on his left side. The sisters took their seats on the other side, Emmaline on her father's right. Their parents are intimidating people, especially together.

Her father, Arthur, is a closed off man. He smiles quite regularly, but they're never genuine, only respectful smiles when meeting other royalty. His eyes are dark and send chills down your spine, but they always soften when trained on his daughters.

Emmaline's mother, Margaret, is a proper woman, but no less intimidating than her husband. She is always poised and appropriate, properties Emmaline lacked. Queen Margaret raised the girls for the most part, although they spent more time with the castle staff than her.

Emmaline wouldn't say her parents were in love per say, but they enjoyed each other's presence. Emmaline's books described love as something wonderful, something visible to anyone around you. Emmaline's parents seemed to her more like acquaintances, not quite strangers, but not extremely close either.

The castle staff places their food in front of them, uncovering it and serving them their portions.

"Emmaline," the king says, and Emmaline looks up at him.

"Yes, father?" She responds.

"You're turning seventeen soon, and I believe it's time you get married." He announces and Emmaline's eyebrows furrow.

She was never quite fond of the idea of marrying a prince, she'd rather rule the kingdom on her own. Of course, that was not an option.

"We've begun searching for suitors," he continues. "You're a beautiful girl, we'll have plenty to choose from."

"I thought I had more time," Emmaline whispers, looking back down at her plate.

"Emmaline," her mother cuts in. "We cannot wait any longer."

"All princes want a son, you need as much time to provide that as possible." King Arthur explains and Emmaline wrinkles her nose at that. A son? She could stand getting married, but a son?

Emmaline keeps quiet, knowing that objecting right now would be foolish. Her father already looks to be in a bad mood, she doesn't want to push him.

They eat the rest of their dinner in relative silence, her father occasionally speaking to her mother about current affairs.

The dinner ends later, and Emmaline excuses herself to her chambers. She wants to go back to the garden to get her boots and new dress, but decided it's too risky. It's dark outside, it would be suspicious.

Emmaline changes into a silk nightgown, taking a seat at her desk. She opens her book and attempts to read, but her mind keeps wandering to Anna. After having to read the same page for the third time, Emmaline gives up.

She sits on her bed, allowing her thoughts to drift back to Anna. She was quite peculiar, she had never met anyone with a personality like hers. That was probably due to the fact that everyone she's been close with has been either her family or the castle staff, who were required to be polite to her. Anna, on the other hand, spoke to her however she wished. It was a weird experience.

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Emmaline sat at breakfast, finishing her food as fast as she could to get back to the village. Her father raises an eyebrow at her, and she slows down. Her father seldomly gets upset with her, but it would be foolish to try and aggravate him.

The family finished their meal and Emmaline carefully snuck a loaf of bread from the table, tucking it under her book in her basket. She goes back out to the garden, making sure no one was watching before she pulled her dress and boots out from under the bush.

She changes her shoes quickly and stuffs the dress in her basket, deciding it wasn't safe to change on this side of the wall. Emmaline quickly scales the wall again before throwing her basket down onto the other side, jumping down after it. She takes out Anna's dress and changes quickly, anxious to get to the village.

She usually wouldn't return to the village so quickly, out of fear of being caught, but she wanted to see Anna again. She braided her hair and set out on the path to the village.

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Emmaline hurries down the cobblestone street to where Anna took her yesterday, not making any stops on the way. She knocks on the wooden door, which opens after a few seconds.

"Took you long enough," Anna rolls her eyes, but Emmaline can see a small smile on her face. "Come in."

Emmaline steps into the house, and this time there's a woman sitting in the bigger room, sewing a dress. The woman looks up at Emmaline, giving a bright smile before getting up and brushing off her skirt.

"Hello, who might you be?" She asks.

Emmaline glances at Anna, not knowing what to say. If she tells the woman her real name, she might figure out who she is.

"This is my friend, Emmy." Anna cuts in, making Emmaline look at her curiously. Emmy?

"Well it's wonderful to meet you, Emmy." The woman pulls her in for a hug, shocking Emmaline. "My name is Marietta, I'm Anna's mother."

"Hello," Emmaline smiles before Anna nods to the other room, motioning for her to go in. "It was lovely to meet you too."

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Hey guys, I'm officially back from my writing hiatus! Sorry for the One Direction fans I might've scared with that word (Don't worry it scares me too), but I'm going to be continuing my work in this book. Magic and Memories is still on hold for now, I'm not having a lot of inspiration with it :/

Love you all lots!