To Keep a Promise

.14.

There was less fear in the air now that preparations for my fathers arrival were going on. The most decorated rooms were aired out, a large menu was organised with cook, and all the Kings advisers spent hours pouring over the history books in order to do things in the way that would not bring offence to the kingdom of Nadora. I waited to see if they would notice certain things, like needing to have fruit upon arrival to greet royalty, but they quickly had a handle on it all.

I still had not received a letter from anyone, and while I felt uneasy, I reasoned that I would continue with my current orders until I heard otherwise. Now that I knew that father was responsible for the attack on Mason, I felt guilty by association. Even more worrying was that my father had not written to warn me of his plans.

This morning lying in bed I realised that I had let myself forget who I was for too long, and unfortunately the Nadimi had reminded me. Aria and Mason had drawn me into their family and yes I had felt connected, but they were not my family, and I needed to remember that.

On top of that, the feelings I had for Mason were impractical and potentially dangerous to Nadora's future, so I had neglected our training sessions for the past two nights. His note reminding me to come last night sat on the dresser beside my bed, torturing me even as I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.

With him bring so busy I had managed to keep out of his way, and I was sure that with Fathers arrival today, Mason would be too busy to approach me.

Since it was the day they expected Father to arrive, I dressed for the day a little more carefully than usual. Due to the weather picking up today, the dress I wore the first evening here was appropriate and had sleeves to cover my arms.

A ladies maid arrived at mid morning with my breakfast. I had taken to eating in my room after the run in with Mason where I was dressed as Anthony. It was a safety strategy so that I would not run into him in the corridor. Then I would wait until I was sure he was occupied before I would find Aria and we would amuse ourselves in places I knew he would not venture.

The breakfast was Nadoran fruit in honour of the visiting guests, which I enjoyed immensely after barely having it since I had been away at school. The maids chattered freely as they cleaned my room, after I had assured them I did not care if they made noise. They rarely asked me questions but I now had to keep an ear out for any information about the prisoner.

'Did you hear about Lydia?' The taller one, Quinn, asked the shorter one, Maria. While I ate I listened closely, since I knew that Lydia was the queens maid. 'No, what did she do?' Maria was intrigued.

'She came out of the Queens rooms with torn up dresses! And Gerald heard someone yell to bring back better clothes more suited for visiting dignitaries!' Maria was the perfect audience and gasped in all the right places.

I reached for a book that was on the table in front of me, pretending not to listen. 'What did she do?' At Quinn's hesitation I flipped to the next page, skimming the lines and moving my lips but barely taking in what was written.

'What could she do? She's worked for the past two nights straight to have something ready for the queen. I was sure she'd drop from exhaustion but I helped her with the last dress and now she's in bed recovering from a fever!'

Again, Maria gasped. I abandoned any pretence of reading and turned to Quinn 'Is the Queen alright'

She looked a little nervous and her reply was stilted, still not the most comfortable talking to me 'No, ma'am, that is to say, I don't think so, ma'am. She seemed mighty unhappy by Lydias account' I nodded in thanks and told them they could leave now, I would finish the rest of the room.