Catarina and The Prince | Tales From The Court Of Ravaeryn #1

02 | aquamarine

And with that, Marguerite was left gaping like a fool while Julian disappeared from sight, escaping into the hallways.

Count le Prince's daughter was known to be sweet-tempered and mild, and her smile did not falter when Julian ran away from her, but for a very brief split-second, her exquisite, well-maintained mask cracked, and disdain shone through her narrowed blue eyes and gritted teeth.

          The kingdom of Ravaeryn was far down south, and it rarely snowed here, sparing its people from the delights of avalanches and freezing to death.

However, it would rain heavily from November to March, and thunderstorms were all too common.
Julian could already imagine his mother crying upon seeing her ruined rose garden the next morning, and his head began to throb.

His mother could have chosen to plant other types of flowers that would not die as easily, but of course Queen Isabel had to favour the delicate, fragile roses the most.

In fact, they died so often that Julian wondered how it was even possible. Perhaps, there was a gnome living in the gardens, who would pluck out all the rose petals out of spite and water the bushes excessively so that they would die.

Julian never thought about the supernatural, but when standing in the dark hallway alone accompanied by only his thoughts, the thought of the spiteful gnome did make shivers run down his spine.

Squelch!
                       Splish!
                                                 Squelch!

Julian's heart began to somersault, and a drop of sweat trickled down his forehead despite it being a very, very cold evening. The sound came from behind him, and slowly, it drew closer and closer to him.

He could already hear the heavy, ragged breaths, and Julian imagined a vengeful gnome dirtied with mud standing right behind him.
 
                 Splish!

      "Mama!" he inadvertently cried out, and almost immediately, he heard a loud, ridiculing peal of laughter.
  
    "Oh dear, you really are a Mama's boy," the voice panted between laughter, and the red-faced Julian turned around only to see a soaking wet Catarina, teeth chattering from the cold, yet still able to make fun of him.

       "Lady Catarina!" he exclaimed in aghast, not knowing of how to act in front of her despite having been actively searching for her for the past hour. "You are here..."

And you are soaking wet. Why are you soaking wet ? Julian wanted to add, but the words never left his mouth.

      "Did your cousin come along ?" he asked, curious as to why Catarina was there alone. Her nosy maid was nowhere to be seen either.

       "Well yes."

       "It will be nice to see him again," Julian said to drag on the conversation.

Disinterest flickered in Catarina's eyes, and she said, "Judging by how excited you are to see Rafael, one would assume that you were in love with him, Your Highness."

If Julian had been drinking something at that moment, he would have sputtered and choked, which would have brought on a bit of a dramatic effect. But he had not, so he was left chuckling awkwardly.

       "No, not at all, Lady Catarina. I was wondering why you are here alone. If Rafael were here, surely he would accompany you?" Julian quickly interjected.

Catarina let out a loud sigh. "When we were travelling in town earlier, our horses were spooked and ran off, but not before crashing our carriage beyond recognition first. Father and Rafael are chasing after the horses, and Rosie is somewhere in the palace, searching for towels to dry ourselves with."