Storm Sisters

Chapter Five

 ~1~

Twelve years prior:

Jenilee

Jenilee's heart raced a mixture of excitement and fear. It was an electric sensation. For All her life she had been the good princess, always following the rules, and now here she was in this rundown little boathouse reeking of fish, waiting to commit an act that was tantamount to treason; The punishment for which could be imprisonment and even death.

But she couldn't worry about that right now. She had already made up her mind, and was committed to this course of action—there was no turning back.

After an agonizing wait that felt like forever, finally there was a knock on the door. She held her breath, it was as though her heart ceased to beat for a moment.

"Who is it?" her words trembled.

A man's voice answered back, "The fog has cleared and the tides are low."

It was the coded phrase she had been expecting, that her contact at the castle had taught her. Now she just needed to recite the appropriate response and all would be well.

"Then it would be a good day to sail past the Rhine coast." She had rehearsed the line over and over in her mind leading up to this moment, as to not mess it up when the time finally came. But even still she sounded unsure as she spoke it.

"Ok then, let me in." the man outside pressed. She opened the door and he rushed in, closing it anxiously behind him.

"I don't think I was followed." he spoke as he removed his hood, revealing a much younger and more handsome face then she had been expecting.

In her mind she had constructed what she thought a rebel might look like as an old, gruff and war-hardened man, with scars and the works. But this boy could barely be considered a man at all. He couldn't have been much older then herself, maybe seventeen or eighteen, with shaggy hair and strong blue eyes.

For a moment they were both struck dumb by the awkwardness of the meeting. "I'm Caden" the boy introduced himself almost blushing.

Jenilee resisted the urge to laugh; for such a serious task to be handled by this kid, but who was she to judge as she was basically just a girl herself.

"Pardon my lady, Ive never been in a room with a princess before." Caden smiled.

"They didn't tell me you'd be so... young." Jenilee said with an heir of condescension. She wasn't trying to sound rude but it came out that way anyway.

"They didn't tell me that you'd be so... beautiful." Caden replied with an unwavering smile.

"Oh you're one of those, huh?" Jenilee jested.

"One of which?" Caden played into her trap.

"Those types of boys who think that a cocky smile and a cheap compliment can bring any girl to her knees."

"I apologize my lady.. I didn't mean to offend, I just thought.."

"You presumed is what you did, but you forget yourself, I am the princess betrothed to the king."

"Of course." Caden walked around her to sit at a bench, then he took an apple from his pocket and began to eat it.

"So why are you here then?" He asked.

"Why?" Jenilee struggled to process the question.

"Like you said.. you are a princess betrothed to the king, so why are you here risking your title and the crown to help us, his enemies?"