“Good; at least one of us will be having a good time,” he remarked.
“You don’t have to be with Thane again, do you?”
The look on his face said it all.
“I’m sorry,” I told him softly.
He squeezed my hand. “Don’t be sorry, Ramsey. I don’t mean to sound so upset. It’s just.…” He shook his head. “Can I walk you to your room?”
“Of course,” I replied.
He led me up the stairs, Jacqueline close behind. I was just glad Thane wasn’t there. That would have been creepy; a weird guy that I hardly knew following us up the stairs would have been awkward. We didn’t speak as we walked down the hall. Stellan didn’t look like he was open to conversation. Sometimes he acted like a two-year-old, and his behavior was growing old. I didn’t want to date – or court – a two-year-old. I was about to say goodnight when we reached my door, but instead he turned to Jacqueline.
“Can we have a moment, please?”
Jacqueline looked uncertain. I nodded to her.
“Very well, I will leave you,” she said. “I will see you tomorrow morning, Ramsey.”
I nodded in response. “Thank you,” I said.
As Jacqueline walked away, Stellan took both of my hands in his. “Ramsey, I need you to promise me something,” he said.
“What? What is it?” I asked, bewildered by his sudden seriousness.
“I need you to promise me that whatever happens with Zora and Queen Taryn, you won’t forget that I care about you.”
“Why would I forget?”
“Ramsey, just please promise me. No matter what, I don’t want to lose you.”
I put my arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. I could see the fear inside them. Why was he so worried? Why did I have to make a promise that I knew I would keep?
“I promise,” I said.
I decided it was better just to make the promise. I didn’t want to make him worry any more than he already was. It didn’t matter if it was useless worry or not.
He pulled me closer as I kissed him, his arms wrapping around my waist, holding me tightly. For some reason, I was a little hesitant. One part of me felt carefree and content in his arms. Another part was worrying over what he meant when he said, “no matter what happens.” My head was buzzing with confusion. I could barely focus on the kiss. I pulled away from him and opened my door.
“Goodnight, Stellan,” I said. I was anxious to be alone, a first for me.
“Goodnight,” he replied.
He smiled, then turned and walked away from where I was standing.
I hoped I hadn’t revealed any of my uncertainty. I wanted to keep those feelings to myself until I had time to sort through them. I shut the door and walked into my room. I grabbed the nightgown I noticed hanging on the coat rack, reminding myself to thank Aditi the first chance I got. Her only task had been the gown, but she had obviously thought beyond that. If it hadn’t been for Aditi, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep very well.
I was about to change when I remembered my clothes soaking in the bathroom sink. I wanted them to be dry and ready for tomorrow, so I knew it would be best to take them out now. I walked into the bathroom and gasped, covering my mouth with my right hand and dropping my nightgown.
My clothes were no longer in the sink. They were hanging over the bathroom tub. I felt them, and sure enough, they were already dry. They were ready for tomorrow, but I hadn’t put them there.
Who had done this for me? Was it Aditi? No, I washed the clothes after she left, right before dinner. Who else could have gotten into my room in that short amount of time? For a moment, I thought of Eder, and then discarded the thought. It was silly. The elf was strange, but why would he hang up my wet clothes?
A noise came from the bedroom. I whirled around and slowly crept out of the bathroom.
Princess Brielle was sitting on my bed, her legs crossed and her hands clasped over her lap, her long hair pooling over her shoulders. She smiled at me.
“Hello, Ramsey,” she greeted.
“How did you…?”
“After living in a palace for sixteen years and only being allowed to go into the city on weekends, you learn to pick locks. How else would I get out of here?”
“Um…thanks for telling me how you escape from the palace, Princess.”
“Don’t act so surprised. I know you saw me last night at the tavern.” I bit my lip and felt my cheeks redden with embarrassment. I had hoped the Princess would forget that I saw her last night. “Yes, not my finest moment, I’m afraid, but it sure was fun to mess with Arnold. He was the guard who escorted me home. And cut the Princess stuff. It’s Brielle, all right?” she said.
I nodded. “Okay…why are you in my room…Brielle?”
“Well, for one thing, I had to hang your clothes. If I hadn’t taken them out, they would still be sopping wet in the morning. Do you even know how to wash your clothing?”
I ignored her snide remark and returned to asking my own questions. “How could you have dried them so fast? I saw you at dinner. You left only a few minutes before me.”
“Let’s leave that for me to know. The point is that they are dry,” she told me.
“What’s the other reason you are here?” I asked, feeling both uneasy and suspicious of her sudden appearance in my bedroom.
“I heard you were going to the city tomorrow.”
“And for some reason that interests you?” I asked.
“Want some company? Surely, you can’t be happy about Jacqueline following you all day. She is quite a bore. I mean, all serious and such. No real fun involved. Since tomorrow is Saturday, I can escort you. I won’t have to sneak out of the palace at all.”
“You must have a guard with you when you go to the city,” I said.
“We can sneak away. I’ll find Jacqueline and tell her she is off tomorrow. You can come with Danica and me.”
“Danica is your guard?” I asked.
“Yes, she is. Queen Taryn chose her because she is an elfen and not a shape-shifter.”
“Why can’t she be a shape-shifter?” I asked.
“Shape-shifters are needed on a whim for missions and tasks. The Queen said I needed someone who could watch over me.”
“Obviously Danica wasn’t the right choice, since you can slip away from her,” I pointed out.
“Don’t be too hard on her,” Brielle replied, playing with the folds of her gown. “Danica has more important things to do, like be with Thane, for example.”
“What?”
“Oh, you didn’t know? I guess Thane guarding that elf you are with takes up most of his time. You probably haven’t had a chance to observe them together. Usually they are all over each other. That’s how I can get away. Danica gets distracted by her fiancé quite easily.” Brielle smirked and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
“Thane is her fiancé?”
“Yes, their wedding is in July,” she told me. “They want to make sure they can never be separated, not that the Queen would ever even think of dismissing them, but it’s good to be cautious during times like these.”
“Wow, I had no idea,” I remarked.
“You haven’t been around the two enough to know.”
“You have a pretty good thing going then, don’t you?” I guessed.
“Sure I do! I can do as I please most of the time. It’s only when Queen Taryn is around that I have to act my best,” she explained.
“I see.”
“So how about it?” she asked.
“I don’t know….Couldn’t we get into some kind of trouble?” I asked her.
“Trust me, Ramsey. I know what I’m doing.”
“Okay,” I said. “Will you talk to Jacqueline and the Queen?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll see you in the morning. Come to my quarters at six,” she instructed.
“All right, I guess I’ll see you then.”
“Goodnight!” Brielle said and walked toward the door.
/> “Goodnight,” I replied. As she opened it I added, “And please don’t break into my room again without warning me.”
She laughed and shut the door behind her. I sighed and went back into the bathroom to dress in my nightgown. Looking at my dry clothes, I shook my head and walked back into the main room. I blew out all of the candles except for the one by the bed. As I got under the sheets, I thought about the Princess. Brielle was an odd elfen. That much was true. How had she dried my clothes? Why was she so secretive? Was it just what Thane said, that she was isolated?
More importantly, why did she suddenly want to spend so much time with me, when earlier she was so cold and uninterested? I didn’t even know why I had accepted her offer to accompany me into the city; I hadn’t been able to say no.
I decided there had to be more to her than mere social issues and I would have to figure her out sooner or later. For now, all I wanted was sleep. The day had been filled with too many surprises. My room was broken into twice, I met a fairy who was actually nice, I had a strange conversation with Eder, and Stellan said some things that totally confused me. What would tomorrow bring? I shuddered and blew out the last candle.
I would wait until tomorrow to think about that.
~17~
Party Like a Princess
That night I had disturbing dreams filled with confusion, blood, and horror. They included Zora. Her pain-stricken face swirled behind my closed eyes. I reached out to her but I couldn’t grab hold. She was slipping away. There wasn’t any time left….
When I woke suddenly, my eyes and face were wet with tears. Wiping them away, I got out of bed and ran into the bathroom. After being sick for a few moments, I washed my face and sank onto the bathroom floor. I shook from the horrors of the nightmare. Seeing Zora again like that and not being able to help had made me sick to my stomach. Burying my face into my knees, I tried to stop the sobs from coming. They rose up and out of my throat. I could do nothing to stop them. I stayed that way for a while. I didn’t realize how much time had passed. As my sobbing quieted and I picked myself off the floor, I finally noticed the time. It was five in the morning. I had only one hour until I met with Brielle.
I dressed into my newly cleaned clothes and rushed out of my room to the dining hall, trying to forget my horrid nightmares. On the way, I almost collided into Jacqueline. After my quick apology, she escorted me to breakfast. Addison wasn’t there when I arrived and neither was Stellan. I was relieved, and guilty for being content with their absence. I didn’t want Stellan to ask me for any more promises. I also didn’t want to reveal my nightmare to either of them. Nor did I want to be around anyone until I met with Brielle. I ate quickly and quietly. I didn’t want to be late to Brielle’s room. Whether she was strange or not, she was still the Princess of the Elf Realm. Being late would certainly not do.
Jacqueline informed me that the Princess had spoken with her and that I was to accompany Brielle and Danica to the city. I could see the suspicion in her eyes as I nodded and rose from my seat. After a polite goodbye, I was on my way to Brielle’s quarters. I was thankful Jacqueline trusted me enough to go on my own.
I found myself in Brielle’s “apartment” minutes later. She told me to make myself comfortable and she would be ready in ten minutes. I sat down on one of her plush brown couches and looked around. The room was beautiful. It was full of colors, and I admired how different it was from Lady Cora and Elvina’s. I guessed Brielle wanted the colorful guest rooms even more than Queen Taryn.
The bedspread was a shade of blue with swirls of red and green, with a blue canopy. The curtains were brown and blue, and she had two couches. One was brown and the other green. I looked down at the carpet and I swore I saw every color imaginable. Brielle was more unusual than I thought. Sure, the colors were beautiful, but they were also highly unnatural for any elf, straying away from the traditional colors of simple brown and green.
When she was ready, I asked her about her interesting room. She said she wanted color in her life. The thought of being trapped in a room during the week with no excitement made her want to gag. I laughed when she said it, but then I realized she was serious. Although she sometimes managed to sneak out of the palace, most of the time she was unable to leave.
“Danica is right outside,” she told me. “We should be going.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“Just a feeling,” she replied.
“Okay,” I muttered.
Brielle was getting stranger by the minute.
I followed her out the door. Just as she predicted, Danica was waiting for us outside. She led the way down the three flights of stairs and out the castle doors. As we walked over the bridge, I was once again taken aback by the beauty of the palace and what surrounded it. I could see the glistening streams and ponds more clearly in the daylight. When I looked back at the structure, I couldn’t believe I was a guest there. It was the most beautiful place I had ever seen, more spectacular than I had imagined it to be.
When Brielle saw I was lagging behind, she grabbed me by the hand and pulled me forward. Now walking very fast, I didn’t have much time to admire the scenery. However, I did come to one conclusion: Tarlore was amazing! New sights to see beckoned to me from every direction. We passed street venders, markets, and bakeries. Busy elves surrounded us.
The city wasn’t modern, but it was definitely a city. When I pictured Birchwood City, I thought of the nineteenth century. Looking at Tarlore was like going backward to the seventeenth century. Buildings were constructed out of stone or crude wood. Even though the shops and homes were rustic, they were also soothing, pure and natural.
Still dragging me along, Brielle walked around with an air of confidence, looking at things here and there. I wondered when we would try to break away from Danica, who was following close behind us. Brielle said we would leave her at some point. I pushed the thought away and focused on the city. Brielle could decide what to do about Danica on her own.
Twenty minutes later, I saw Thane walking toward us.
“Danica, we have a slight problem,” he said after they embraced.
“What is it?”
“You know how you wanted me to find the wedding invitations and send them off with a few of the shape-shifters? I’m sorry to tell you the invitations have disappeared.”
“How?” Danica cried.
“I have no idea. All I know is I have looked everywhere and they are nowhere to be found!”
I noticed Brielle was smirking. Did she have something to do with this?
“You probably didn’t look hard enough. They need to be sent out today if everyone is to get them in time. I’ll have to come and help you look.”
“What about Princess Brielle and Ramsey?” Thane asked.
“We can take care of ourselves,” Brielle interrupted. “I’ve been to the city numerous times. I can look after Ramsey.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Thane said.
“We’ll be fine, I promise,” Brielle reassured them both.
“We really need those invitations sent out,” Danica admitted.
“Are you sure we can trust them alone?” Thane asked.
“As long as Queen Taryn doesn’t find out, I believe everything will be fine,” Danica said.
“What if she does find out?” Thane asked.
“We won’t say a thing to her, Danica,” Brielle promised.
“All right, but remember to be back an hour before dinner, okay?” Danica asked.
“You can trust us!” Brielle called as the two ran off to the palace.
I looked at Brielle, completely stunned. How had she gotten to those wedding invitations? How had she known Thane would come looking for Danica? Moreover, how could they have fallen for her scheme?
“Don’t look at me like that! I told you we would get away, didn’t I? Well, we did.”
“But how did you…the invitations…how?” I asked.
“Lock picker, remember? I just
went into Thane’s room, took the invitations, and hid them. Don’t worry, they will find them in time. I just placed them in a place I knew Thane wouldn’t check.”
“Where did you put them?” I asked.
“I put them in Danica’s closet. You wouldn’t believe how disgraceful it is! She is quite a slob! I knew Thane wouldn’t have the heart to go through it, so I shoved them to the back,” Brielle said, smiling and obviously very impressed with her skills.
“You really are something, Brielle,” I told her.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she replied. She smiled and then took my hand.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“I’m going to show you the best parts of the city!” Brielle cried, pulling me along.
I kept up as best I could, though it was hard to run around so much in the early morning. My nightmare had deprived me of sleep, so I was still tired.
Brielle took me to various venders and shops. I helped her pick out some jewelry and learned she was a jewelry hoarder like Zora. It made me sad for a moment to think of my sister, but then I was whisked away again to another shop. Brielle knew how to keep me distracted. She also knew how to have a great time.
She even took the liberty of buying me a new shoulder bag, among various other accessories. The bag was dark brown with bright green floral designs and a large emerald jewel at the center. Her reasoning: my bag was too old and worn out to be seen in Tarlore.
After refusing her offer for more than fifteen minutes, I gratefully accepted it. I transferred all of my own money, jewelry, and Zora’s journal into my new bag and thanked her countless times. Later at lunch, she asked me about the journal.
“Do you think it will help you find her?” she wondered.
“I don’t know. But I thought I should keep it with me just in case,” I told her.
The Elf Girl Page 30