Secrets of the Heart

Chapter 8

I don't know how long I've been here. It could have been minutes, but it could have just as easily been hours.

My dress is wet on many parts of the hem because I keep using it to wipe the tears from my eyes.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and look up, expecting to see Mother. But I'm greeted by a familiar face, one who I'd much rather talk to.

"Alice," I whisper. She runs her hand through her long black hair, and looks at my pitiful state. Her sharp green eyes sadden at the sight, and she crouches down to the floor, wrapping me in a hug.

"What happened this time," she quietly asks. I sigh, and attempt to explain.

"Pier... he's angry at me because I went to the barn with Leonardo alone, and he doesn't trust me, and I was defending Leonardo, and... and..." I can't finish my jumbled sentence before I break into sobs again.

"Who's Leonardo?" she asks curiously.

"He's the one who saved me from..." I say, but I trail off. I don't know what to call the people who attacked me.

She nods, understanding where I'm going with the sentence.

She sits there with me while I cry, until I finally pull myself together. After a while, I try to stand up, but the pain in my side bars me from doing so.

Alice stands up, and takes my hands, helping me up.

"It's almost supper time- do you want to eat in the dining room with your parents, or eat in here," she asks.

I really don't want to be around people right now... I hate that I feel like a broken mess, especially when I determined that I don't love Pier.

Well, maybe I do. If I fell this awful after a fight, maybe it means that I do love him.

That would make everything so much easier, wouldn't it.

I'm getting off track- I need to answer Alice's question.

"I think I want my food brought up here tonight," I quietly reply. She nods at me, and goes to tell the chef to send my meal to my room.

I accidentally glance at myself in the mirror, and gasp. I look awful- so, so terribly awful. How could Alice even look at the horribleness of my appearance?

My hair looks like I've had birds making a nest in it, my dress is crumpled and has blotchy wet spots all over it. My eyes are wet and puffy.

I grab my hairbrush off of the vanity, and start to brush out the mess that is my hair. After much hard work, it's returned to its usual, straightness.

Then I go to my bathroom and blot my eyes with a cool, damp cloth, trying to get rid of the red, puffiness. It works a little, and my face looks much better. Now I just need to change clothes...

I probably won't be leaving my room today, so I slip on a clean, red night gown. It goes down to my feet, and has an ornate design on the bodice.

It's my favorite nightgown, and I'm only wearing it to try and pick myself up- when you feel horrible, dress like you are the happiest person alive. Fake it till you make it.

Moments after I slip into my bed, and pull the covers up so they almost cover my shoulders, my door opens.

Alice waltzes in, and following behind her is Giselle, my favorite maid. She's carrying a tray of food, and I can tell by the smell that it's my favorite meal- Chicken Breast in white wine sauce, with sautéed green beans. And if I'm lucky, she brought me a slice of blackberry pie, my favorite desert.

As she lifts the lid on the silver tray, I see that she did. They must all know I'm upset if they made my favorite meal.

Did Alice tell them? No she wouldn't.

Oh God. What if everyone heard? Were Pier and I really that loud? Oh this is just so embarrassing, I feel like I may start crying all over again!

"Thank you Giselle," I mumble, before she curtsies and leaves the room, closing the door behind her. As soon as she's gone, I ask Alice, "Did everyone hear the fight?"

"If I say no, will you believe me?" she replies, her expression sad, although she gives me a forces smile.

I groan, and bury my face in the pillow. I would stay like this, but the smell of my favorite meal is enough to coax me out of my state of depression.

I hungrily scarf down my food, not using any of my carefully practiced manners. Mother would be so ashamed- but I don't even care.

And Alice, she doesn't mind. That's what I love about her- I can be myself around her, and she won't judge me or disapprove.

Once I've finished, she takes my tray and sets it on the floor. Then she sits on the edge of my bed.

"Okay, now explain to me everything," she demands.

"Well... today I had Leonardo escort me down the barn so I could see Echo, and ask him about the men who attacked me," I start.

"Let me stop you right there- I have two important questions. One- what did happen to the men who attacked you, and Two- this Leonardo, is he cute," she asks, wiggling here eyebrows. I playfully smack her shoulder, and she pretends to wince in pain.

"To answer your first question, he took care of all of them- except two. Two got away," I quietly whisper. She gasps, but I don't want to get into that, so I move on. "When we got back, Pier was here, and he was furious with me. Something about me forgetting he was my fiancé, and that I'm too flirtatious. The whole fight is sort of a blur to me."

"I'm thinking maybe lover boy Pier was getting jealous," she chuckles, but her face is serious.

"Well he has no reason to be- I'm only having Leonardo escort me so I can see Echo... there's nothing there," I weakly reply, but even I know I don't sound convincing.

"It sounds like Pier does have reason to be jealous," she quietly states, before taking on a more serious tone. "Clara, you know I love you, you're my best friend. But you can't let anything happen between you and this stable boy- I think it's probably best if you don't see him again."

"That may be a problem- he's going to be taking me to the barn to see Echo until I've healed completely," I say. Alive shakes her head a little.

"Be careful Clarabelle, you don't want to dig yourself into a hole you can't get out of. Just remember you kingdom- you have to make sacrifices. Being a princess means you have to do things you don't always want to. Just... be careful, okay?" she worriedly warns.

"You're right," I sigh. I hate it when she's right.

We hug for a few minutes, before she leaves so she can go home. She does technically live in the castle- her mother is a lady in waiting. She's best friends with my mother.

When I'm Queen, Alice will always be taken care of. She's like my sister.

I drift to sleep with a jumble of thoughts running through my mind.

A/N

How did you like this chapter? It's much longer than most of my chapters, but it's mostly a filler. The next chapter will be better, I promise.

Oh, and thanks for giving your opinions on the new title. I chose Secrets of the Heart... I decided I'm actually going to use 'Breaking Free' for a different book =]

Thanks for reading my lovelies.

Comment, Vote, and thanks for reading