Ladies, Lords, & Liars

Chapter Thirty: The Beginning

   "It's a shame we don't have a royal seal from Rindenglade. That would put the icing on the cake. We'll just have to improvise with that bit. But I already have the entire letter in my head. An urgent request. We'll keep it vague. Something to do with family matters." She nodded to herself, her eyes zoning out.

   He nodded back, though he was sure she didn't see him anymore. This was a game to her, like chess. Strategy and players. Make the right moves, win the game.

   "I can't believe I'm actually going home. It almost felt like I'd be here forever. Just a couple of days ago. It's not hard to imagine it going on and on and on..." he heaved a sigh, already imagining the papery feel of the letter in his hands as he rushed in on the royal family and frantically waved the note around before shoving it at them to read.

   The queen, he knew, would be more than willing to let him go. She would help him pack if given the chance. He would be going home, exactly as he said he would be, but he wouldn't be going to another palace, far to the south; he would be going to a cheaply-built excuse for a mansion and his crazy mother and the father that did nothing to stop her.

   "Could I come to visit? I'd like to meet your mother. We could talk, play chess. I really don't care. It would be a breath of fresh air, no matter what we did." She laughed again.

   "Of course you could, but we can't get ahead of ourselves."

   "Who said I was?" she smirked, pulling a small bag up from the floor and placing it on the table. The laces were untied and a pile of stationery was suddenly sitting there instead. Pearly, pinkish paper. Wax, a candle, the stamp. A quill and a dainty flask of ink.

   "We're writing it now?" he knew that his surprise must have shown clearly on his face.

   "Of course we are! We need to get you out of here before someone else picks up on it. Actually, now you've told me the whole story, I'm surprised that no one else has found out." she snatched up the quill and popped open the ink.

   "What are you going to say?" he peered over at the paper, though he knew it was still blank.

   "Like I said, urgent but vague. More flowery than the royal gardens." She flourished the quill as she began writing. "Overly formal, way too many words for what's being said. The usual around here." she offered him a sideways glance and an equally sideways smile. The words melted off the tip of her pen, swirling, and almost illegible.

   More flowery than the royal gardens.

   She hadn't been kidding. Not in the slightest. It was almost funny how accurate her description was, and equally as sad. Did no one else realize that it was ridiculous? It was the kind of thing he imagined to be Kyra furious with.

   "You can shatter the seal," Odette said as the words continued to appear on the page before her. "It will still be there, but they won't be able to tell for the life of them if it came from a palace or a brothel."

   "That's smart. It'll work." Knowing how oblivious the king and queen always seemed to act, he was sure of it. Something would finally work.

   With one last flourish of her quill, Odette jotted down the last letter.

   "Thank you." Aeric watched as she folded the paper and slid it into a matching envelope. "I can't believe you're helping me. I always imagined that, if anyone ever found out, they would go crazy and proclaim it from the rooftops or something. I always would up either dead or in jail, in my head."

   "The pleasure is all mine, I'm sure." She grinned over at him, already starting to set up the wax to melt over a candle. "I'm just glad that, now that something's finally happening, I'm the one right here with you. Everything else is just so... boring.

   "Not that I mind it!" she amended almost before the last words had left her mouth, if that was possible. Regret crossed her face. "I know that there are people out there so much worse off than I am. Obviously I'm grateful. It just... gets old..." she grimaced. "I probably sound so spoiled right now."

   "You don't. I understand perfectly."

   "It's funny. After months, I know you better than anyone in this whole palace and we only met this morning." she chuckled. Her eyes, carefully tracking the progress of the melting wax, lifted for a single moment to meet his gaze.

   "Funny how that works." He smiled.

   "I'm glad. I don't know what I would be doing now if I hadn't met you, but I'm one hundred perfect positive that it would have bored me out of my mind." She reached up to tuck a single stray strand of raven hair behind her ear. Her eyes had never stopped their shining.

   "Same here."

   "When do you want to deliver the urgent news?" she suddenly asked, puffing out a breath to extinguish the candle's tiny flame. The wax flowed like molasses onto the front of the letter.

   "Tomorrow? I don't want to disturb them too late." the thought of waiting even one more night was almost painful, but it probably had to be done. He didn't know why, but it might seem suspicious if he showed up with a letter tonight... it was probably in his head.

   "Makes sense. Before breakfast? After?" she looked up at him as she pressed the seal onto the blob of crimson.

   "Before. Where are they before?"

   "Their quarters, I would assume. But I know where to catch them on the way. You should pack up tonight." The excitement rose in her voice until he almost thought it was her going home, instead of him.

   "Hopefully this won't be too hard to pull off..." the doubts suddenly crashed down with all the force he was used to. He'd been foolish to think that he would get away more or less carefree. It was in his nature to worry about every little thing, no matter how much he hated it.

   "You'll do great. I'll be there to see you off." She smiled softly, sympathy in her gaze.

   He nodded, slowly taking in a deep breath through his nose as he stood. "Thank you."

   "You already thanked me." Her eyes sparkled as she held out the sealed letter.

   "I can never thank you enough, honestly. I was rather stuck before you came along." He carefully grabbed the rosy paper. It felt like he was holding a sheet of pure gold. It was his ticket home, his ticket to life.

   "Nonsense. You gave me something to do for a couple of hours." A teasing smirk. Her eyes remained skillfully away from his own gaze as she started packing up her stationary.

   "If you say so." He chuckled and turned to leave.

   One blur of excitement later, he stood in his room. He couldn't sit, so he turned to his bedroom and immediately searched through everything he'd been given for the things he'd brought with him originally. He would slip in a few garments, at the very least. A small thing was better than nothing when it came to his mother. She would be furious, but the offering might just appease her until he could escape her clutches once more.

   The meager bag seemed even more ridiculous now than it had so long, long ago. Two months... it felt like years. He felt almost bad leaving.

   Kyra would never forgive him.

   The thought was a blow directly to the center of his chest. He paused, his hand over the unlatched clasp of the bag before him.

   He would have like to reconcile with her... but that would be impossible. The morning would come before he knew it, and he would go his whole life knowing that the only thing that made Kyra sane had turned her even angrier, and then left entirely.

   That wasn't the best parting gift he could give... but it was better for everyone that he left. The drama would be stirred anew when the real prince showed up with actual proof that he was the prince, but by then, Aeric would be long gone. He would even be gone from his mother's house, if things went well.

   If they actually managed to track the path of the lost letter from the prince to his house, he wouldn't be there. He wouldn't care what happened after he left.

   His mother had added one straw too many to the donkey's back, and Aeric wasn't about to stand still long enough for it to break.