Remnant of Power

Chapter Eighteen

Yavenna

Arielle stood in the doorway. The princess thought quickly. "Oh, it's you," she replied and stared at Arielle, lifting her chin up and making sure her shoulders were well back. Then she just waited, her mind whizzing, as she tried to think of any excuse that might be at least slightly plausible. Why was she here? How could she have known Yavenna was in the study? There was only one way she could have known - Arielle must have been following her.

There was silence for at least two minutes as the two of them stared at each other.

"It's probably best if we go somewhere else to talk," said the auburn-haired girl, taking a quick look behind her in the corridor. "You wouldn't really want to be discovered coming out of the King's study, would you?"

Yavenna raised her eyebrows as high as they could go. "The King's study?" she asked in a shocked voice, walking out of the room. "This is the King's study? I would never have guessed this was His Majesty's room. It doesn't look much like a King's study. Back home in Tarhasta, my father's study is littered with crowns. He has crowns all over the place. His best crown made almost entirely of diamonds, for very important events, three medium value crowns so that if he has occasions on three consecutive days he can change and have a different one each day, and then a few less ornate crowns for wearing about the palace when lower status visitors come." She lowered her voice till it was only a whisper. "You probably wouldn't want to be discovered going into the King's study either, would you?"

Arielle raised one of her own eyebrows, but other than that her expression was inscrutable. "We could go to your suite, Princess. I'm sure it's absolutely magnificent. Wouldn't you like to show it to me?"

Yavenna narrowed her eyes. What game was the girl trying to play? Until she knew, it was probably best to try to keep her happy. She nodded. "It would be a pleasure to show you around." Yavenna led the way to her suite on the floor above.

Arielle's face didn't change as she walked into the sumptuous room. "I've been in this one before. I thought you'd be put in here." Her eyes flicked to Yavenna's. "Are you looking forward to marrying the King, then?" She looked the Princess up and down curiously. "How old are you? Surely you're only the same age as me, or a bit older?"

Yavenna eyed her. There was no way she could tell her the truth. Arielle was Breanna's daughter, no matter how stroppily she seemed to behave with her mother.

Almost as if she could read her mind, Arielle spoke again, quickly. "You think I'm going to tell my mother everything, don't you?"

Yavenna didn't say anything, just carried on looking at her.

"Well, you're wrong. You'll see that if we get to know each other. I feel sorry for you. There's no way I'd want to marry the King. I've seen how he treats people." She raised her eyes to Yavenna's. "But quite often I feel sorry for myself too, because I don't like my mother very much, and I don't really think I trust her. In fact, there's very few people in this castle you can trust. They're all scheming about something." She stood up. "Thanks for showing me your suite. I'll go to bed now. If there's anything you want to know you can ask me. And I won't tell anyone you've asked either. Goodbye, Princess, if my mother lets me I'll come to play croquet with you both this evening."