Change your thoughts and you change your world.
- Normal Vincent Peale
The tournament was over. The party hall was lit up and buzzing. But Alexandra had no desire to join it that night. There was no Mark Fannel to hold her back from silly arguments anymore. Her year-mates were not serving this time. Kane had advised her to stay away from Blaise Quill for at least a year. There were a number of reasons. So, she quietly sat on the grassy lawn near the moat, the place from where the bridge to enter was lowered - looking up at the sky, identifying constellations and waiting for Fannel. But after a very long time, thinking about Liam. He had entered her mind while she'd been sitting in the commentary box - and now, he refused to budge.
Nevertheless, it was something she liked doing. Imagining how other people's life must be. What could the man be doing right now? Would he be at the court ... or the gardens? Maybe not the gardens, because he didn't like it, as he had confessed. Maybe in a meeting? Maybe he was thinking of his past. Because Alexandra was.
Betty had said the previous king ... his father, didn't think much of him. What could be the reason for that? He appeared all virtuous and genuine. Alexandra wouldn't go so far as to say "divine", but he was a likeable person. Good of heart and certainly not the type who would wrangle with his own father. Liam didn't give strangers a thing to complain about. Her own father, King Adelard, had (in secret, of course) been imagining how good it would have been to have a son like that. Somebody who had himself taken away all the responsibilities from the old king's shoulders, even before ascending the throne. And her father had seemed to know the King Ethan, Liam's father, pretty well. And he had always wondered how a person like Ethan had got such a worthy son.
Didn't that somehow point to the fact that Ethan himself hadn't been as admirable? Everything was all a mess of ideas in Alexandra's mind. She couldn't make head or tail out of it.
Women, as you might know, Sir, have a natural talent for digging up information.
Liam had said that. And Alexandra would prove it. Not dig up information, she would dig up the past. His past, to be more precise about. It was unfair that he knew all about her, right from flaws to strengths - and she? Alexandra didn't know anything of him. Maybe he had had trials. But what? Maybe he had suffered. But why?
Because the strongest spirits are tested the most, Alexandra. Mind enlightened.
That was right, but it was not Alexandra's own philosophy. She had read it somewhere, maybe in one of the books she had picked up from the stalls in the streets of Doveland. There were countless times she'd sneaked out of the Palace. Never leaving any clues behind, no trial. Nobody had any inkling that Princess Alexandra was absent. Somehow, she had always had the knack of spying.
And as far as the line was concerned, Alexandra felt it was the other way. She felt, that perhaps being tested a lot made one's spirit stronger. It was one of Alexandra's strange habits, but when had stamped something as "wrong" in her mind, she wouldn't change as notion fast. And with that habit, she had went ahead to push the book into one of the trashcans lining the streets. It had certainly not been Alexandra's favorite read.
Alexandra smiled to herself. Where were her thoughts going? From Liam, to his past, to women being information diggers, to a useless quote, to the book of quotes and finally to her own habits. If Betty heard her saying these, she would shake her head to claim that Alexandra had a big brain - and add that she didn't understand any of those intricate philosophies.
Liam would probably just shake his head. 'You really think so?' He would ask, making her indignant. He was only good at confusing people. But of course, Alexandra felt more closer to everyone at Idgard already, than she had to the ones she knew from birth.
Maybe this is how it was supposed to be. Maybe this is how it will continue. And this is how it will end... of course it will end.
'MABEL?!'
Alexandra instantly dropped out of her reverie. Fannel was shaking her shoulder hard - perhaps she hadn't been responding for a long time.
'Huh? Wait, when did you come?' She asked, standing up.
'A few months back,' Fannel replied, with a straight face. 'Have you lost your mind? I came just now, of course!'
Alexandra stared at him. His eyes looked a lot older, he was in need of a shave and his clothes were not all that clean. He was wearing his cloak the with the wrong side on.
'Your cloak...' Alexandra pointed.
'What? Oh,' he agreed. 'I was in such a hurry to leave.' He pulled it off and crumpled it, 'come on, wait by the lake, I've got to report first.'
* * *
'I didn't know I would hate Vellesmere so much.' Fannel confessed, staring into the distance. 'Wherever I went, there was some memory to haunt me. And the hills ... I could hardly look at them without my hands shaking. But, tell me one thing,' he said, turning to look at her.
'What?' Alexandra asked, she watched as Fannel talked and threw stones into the lake. Alexandra herself wanted to throw a few, but whenever she did, their stones flew till the lake, collided midway with an irritating clink and dropped down. So she'd ceded the stones to Mark.
'You know the King, don't you, Mabel? Master George said he recommended you to the Council. And he asked us to watch you well ... that is another thing. But you do know him, right?' He pressed. Alexandra didn't know what he meant, but she was rather sure that it was something to do with Vellesmere. She hoped Fannel didn't want to go and assassinate Liam.
'Yes...' She ventured, all the same.
'If you ever get the chance, thank him, for what he's doing - trying to wash off the sins of his no-good father. Vellesmere's never been so peaceful. It was almost like any other place.' He replied. Alexandra was only glad they were not indulging in any high-drama violence.
'It's his duty.' She reminded, 'we don't thank him. We do our duties well and that's gratitude enough.' And she then herself throwing a stone into the lake as Fannel nodded. Meanwhile, her pebble again struck his, the usual Clink noise emitted, which made Alexandra shudder uncomfortably. She shook her head. 'So, tell me more about Henry's new friend,' she offered, changing the topic.
Fannel sat up straighter, a certain mischievous gleam in his eyes. 'Her name's Ashley,'
'New sort of name,' Alexandra remarked, reclining and silently congratulating herself for having changed the topic.
'Yes, and he describes her ... wait, I have his letter, let me read it out. But don't let him know, he might break my neck...'
'Which will be good, you can have an excuse for a holiday and Henry will be fired so he can have more time with Ashley!' Alexandra quipped up. One of the non-sense topics she always broached, once in a while.
'You have evil thoughts, for a girl. And now don't fly at me with your arguments like girls can have as evil thoughts as boys. I was just saying. So yes, here it is. Agent Henry writes: She's so beautiful I cannot forget her for a single moment. Ashley is tall and her big, green eyes shine like lotus leaves. Her silver tresses, they runs down all over her black dress like strings of stars on a dark night. And her voice ... I can't describe it, low and melodious like a nightingale. Her confidence, the way she wears her heart on her sleeves and she's not afraid of anybody. Believe me, if there does exist perfection, it's her. She's perfection personified, Mark!'
'Henry has become a poet!' Alexandra exclaimed, giving a slight giggle.
'The letter is ten whole pages. You be the judge. Not that I'll sell my friend out completely...'
'Not even to your sister?'
'I wouldn't sell out your secrets to him either, so I'm a fair fellow.' He informed. Alexandra wondered what secrets of hers, he knew. She hoped it wasn't the one big, colossal secret she was hiding. No, there wasn't any chance of Mark Fannel, Vellesmere-born, knowing her past. Alexandra pushed the stupid idea away.
Just then, as if on cue, some men laughed loudly in the party hall. Master George's Office Lamp lit up.
'Danger.' Alexandra warned, her eyes widening.
'Don't worry, Sister, Master George will have his revenge in the classes. But he never interrupts the party.'
'Revenge in classes?!' She exclaimed, wide-eyed. 'That's even more dangerous!'
'Not so much for you,' Fannel said. 'You've won yourself his respect, Mabel. And Master George respects only a handful of people.' Alexandra had told him everything of the past six months. He had seemed proud, before anything else. 'In fact, now he expects high from you. Which is a great reason to put in extra efforts, dear sister. Because dashing Master George's expectations is a very bad idea indeed.'