Rebellion

Chapter 5

Aurae's POV

   I turn and rush out of the courtyard, my sneakers skidding on the polished castle floors as I run towards Nesterin's chambers. I knock loudly on his wooden door and it flies open quickly ot revealmy brothers, whose tunic is unbuttoned and hair flopping over his forehead.

   "What do you want?" He snarls, his tone bored and annoyed. Slightly out of breath, I gasp out my reply.

   "What just happened? What did that man do?" I wave my arms around in expression. Nesterin merely grunts before slamming the door closed in my face. With a sigh, I head straight for my own bedroom, needing to speak with Everest right away. When I get there, I tell him everything.

   "What an ordeal..." he murmurs, his head on my lap. I'm sitting on my bed, stroking my leopard's furry head as I wait for his reply.

   "What do I do Ev?" I question, suddenly feeling very tired.

   "You need to gather information of course!" He announces as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Walk around the castle and talk to people. If anything, sneak into your father's room and eavesdrop or something. I'm sure he's telling Dorane all about it." Everest was right, as usual. The servants love to gossip and I'm sure the news has traveled quickly; everyone in Chastershire probably knows. That reminds me of my little speech in front of the huge crowd. That will definitely be plastered all over the front pages of the Graeweth's newspapers. My brothers and Vulen will not forget to punish me with those all over the kingdom, that's for sure.

   Everest raises his head off my lap and I spring up, shifting into a butterfly. I don't want my brothers or Vulen to see me in fears that they will punish me for releasing the prisoners and my speech to the public, so I need something small. I also don't want to be killed by a servant, so a fly or moth wouldn't be a smart decision.

   After saying goodbye to Everest, I fly to the kitchen, where I sit on the rafters, shifting into a mouse to hear better. I spot Alwin kneading bread and many staff members bustle about, food aromas wafting through the air. With my ears trained down, straining to hear, I stay quiet. I sit there for minutes, and there's plenty of gossip wandering about. The young girls are talking about which of the guards are the best looking and which of my brothers are the most evil. Alwin adds in details and then the gossip heads to the servants in the castle. Who's been slacking, who's sleeping with who, etc. I get quite bored and eventually lay down on the thick rafter, waiting for any talk of the greeting with the soldiers or my speech.

   It eventually comes and I listen intently as the servants talk about my speech. Most of them are very surprised that I did such a thing as to release the prisoners, but they all speak highly of my actions, their words expressing gratitude, awe and pride. My heart swells at their kind words, even though they don't direct them at me of course. Alwin speaks about me the most, telling tales from my childhood and about me myself. The servants all jump in with their own stories and details. It's a bit weird to hear things about me when they don't know I'm here, but since all of the talk is good, I don't get offended or embarrassed, even when they talk about my lower points of my childhood, including all the soiled sheets. What they don't know is that I wet the bed because Dorane used to taunt me before I went to my room to sleep. He would tell me horrifying stories with gruesome details that led to nightmares while I slept.

   But sadly, no one has heard anything about the man. They talk about him being carried away to the dungeon and they all have their own theories about it, all of which are too outrageous to even be considered. Of course, these people have no idea why my father imprisons anybody in general, especially after I revealed their innocence. So they don't know why he was taken away either, I conclude as I shift into a orange butterfly and fly out of the kitchen. My only other idea is to sneak into my father's chambers. If I'm lucky, he'll be in his bedroom or study and I can gather some information.