Secrets of the Jewel: Silent Fire

Chapter Five: To Be or Not to Be

~Chapter Five~

To Be or Not to Be

The trumpets and horns blasted through the crisp morning air. Cassandra suddenly jolted awake. She had been staring off into space, half asleep and overtired from the previous night’s events. It wasn’t until very late that she got to bed, and everyone had to wake up at sunrise to prepare for the early games. Even when she had tried to sleep, she couldn’t. Aidan’s words kept repeating themselves in her head.

If it is love, then he must win, or I will be forced to marry someone else, Cassandra thought. But her faith in him did not waiver. Her only concern was Luke.

Prince Luke had been the best knight and swordsman in all of Ashborne since he was a child. As the prince, he had been given the best training. The only one that even came close was Cassandra, and that was because every night after his lessons, he would teach her what he had learned. Luke had taken pity on her after the death of her parents.

“A princess should know how to defend herself,” he told her one night when they were twelve, after she asked him why he helped her. She knew that Luke was a good person, but that didn’t mean she wanted to marry him.

The matches went by very quickly, and Cassandra was on the edge of her seat. She decided that she would find Cadence and talk to her.

“Excuse me,” she told King Godfrey, standing up. He nodded at her and she pushed her way past the rows of people cheering at a knight’s recent win. As she was heading over to the servants’ bench, Cassandra looked over and saw that Cadence wasn’t there.

Where could she be? she thought. Then it hit her. Jack. She was most likely helping him clean the horses and assisting the new squires in buckling the saddles. Cassandra headed in that direction.

The princess was correct. Cadence was near the tents, helping Jack. I’m glad I can give him some help, Cadence thought. She hadn't talked to him since the awkward incident in the stables two days prior. She looked at the long line of horses that still needed to be cleaned, and looked at Jack who was having trouble feeding a horse.

He needs all the help he can get, she silently told herself, as she chuckled. Cadence quickly finished grooming a beautiful dapple gray stallion, then went over to help Jack.

“Having some trouble there?” she inquired.

“Eh, nothing a big, strong guy like me can handle”, he boasted.

The Arabian horse he was trying to feed gave an enormous sneeze aimed right at Jack. Cadence stifled a laugh, and reached for the food bucket. She gently approached the mare and started to scratch behind its ears. The horse gave a satisfied look as it bent forward into the barrel.

“Wow, you should work at the stables instead of me,” he declared.

“Oh yeah, and would you be the one volunteering to complete the tasks and requests of Princess Cassandra?”

Before Jack could respond, Cassandra popped through the stable doors.

“There you are Cadence! I’ve been looking for you all over the grounds. I was worried to where you have gone and if you were safe,” Cassandra exclaimed. Cadence was still a little forgetful that she and the princess shared a friendship bond.

"Well, come on then!" Cassandra told the stunned maid, motioning her forward. Cadence snapped out of her gaze and followed her out into the broad daylight.

They walked for a while, and then, when they reached the far edge of the castle grounds, Cassandra turned around and looked at her friend.

"Do you really think that?" she asked as she sighed.