Love, Lies and a Flash of the Past

Chapter 55

               “Thank you! I’d definitely get lost if I tried looking for it myself,” I admit sheepishly. “Oh! Wait a second! Are you supposed to be outside the door or something? Would showing me the way get you in trouble?”

               “No, my lady, no trouble at all. His Highness has us stationed all over this wing of the palace to ensure that you and your family are safe, my lady. But he has made it clear that any of your requests be made our priority.”

I blush at that and drop my gaze.

               “I’m sorry! Did I make you uncomfortable, my lady?” the guard demands earnestly.

               “Oh! No! Not at all...it’s just His Highness is going out of his way for me.”

The guard remains silent and leads me down the corridors before we finally reach the ground floor. “The stables are on the right once you exit through the front door, my lady,” he says, turning back to the stairs.

               “Thank you!” I call and I watch as he almost loses his footing. Is he really that shocked by a simple ‘thank you’?

Pushing the thought out of my head, I head towards the stables. What I didn’t expect was that the stables were a ten minute walk away from the front doors of the palace!

I finally get to a massive wooden structure which smells kind of funky. I’m assuming the smell must be how stables usually smell, not that I know though.

I push the wooden doors open and walk in, looking admiringly at the horses in their little....cubicle like things.

               “Can I help you?” a gruff voice demands from behind me. I clutch my chest in shock. God damn it! I nearly had a heart attack!

I whirl around and come face to chest with a rough looking guy. He’s huge, has reddish-brown hair and reeks of booze; definitely not someone I’d want to mess with.

God, please don’t let this be his stable. Knowing my luck, I may have wondered out of the palace grounds and ended up in some other person’s stable. Crap!

               “Are you lost, girly?” he asks, a lecherous smile on his face.

               “I should go,” I whisper, side stepping him.

He stops me with a massive hand on my shoulder and I swear, I very nearly cry in fear.

               “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to trespass!” I squeak.

               “Richard! Are you scaring someone again?”

That voice!

               “Haden!” I call as confidently as I can.

A second passes and Haden pops his head out of one of the little cubicles at the end. His eyes widen when he sees me and his curious expression is immediately changed into one of pure fury.

He storms over to us and Richard cringes, releasing me and taking a step back. Haden interlaces our fingers and takes a step closer to Richard.

Haden is shorter than Richard but the way in which he carries himself obviously intimidates the hell out of this huge guy.

               “This is my girlfriend,” Haden hisses gesturing to our interlocked fingers. “How dare you touch her?!”

               “My apologies, my lord! I didn’t realise,” Richard says, bowing down low.