I walked into the dining room a little later than usual. Following the events of the nightmare, I slept in late.
Today, I was dressed super casual in a short white lace dress and my hair was left natural.
Both Mother and Father were sitting at the table as well as Kellan, who avoided my eyes.
I sat at an empty chair and a maid set down a plate of scrambled eggs.
My stomach lurched. I can't eat this.
"I'm not hungry, thank you," I told the maid. She didn't pick up my plate, but rather looked to my mother for approval.
"Braelynn, do not act childish. Eat your breakfast," she scolded.
She wasn't saying that yesterday when she told me to skip dinner, now was she?
"I really am not hungry. I think I'm becoming ill, I slept in late this morning," I continued, trying to get her to give in.
"You need to eat," my mother demanded.
"Elane, that's enough. She will eat when she's hungry. You may be excused," my father said to my rescue.
I slowly got up from my chair, and then practically sprinted from the room before they could change their minds.
Maddon trailed pretty far behind as I led him back to my quarters. Instead of going to my bedroom, I took a left and entered the empty room that had doors that opened to the observatory.
We climbed up the narrow steel staircase up to the observatory landing.
Now, what good is an observatory during the day?
The daylight shone through the huge windows and lit up the room. A few stray research books were scattered across the floor where I had left them last time. The telescope sat unbothered under the windows.
Along with the gardens, the observatory was where I went to be alone and think. I loved it the most at night, because I had a passion for stars, but it was beautiful during the day too.
I ran my fingers across the wooden desk where my star charts sat.
"What is this place?" Maddon asked from the doorway.
"It's an observatory. You mean you've never seen one before?"
"Not all of us are a privileged as you are," he said while concealing an eye roll.
"I get that. I just thought..." I started. "Never mind."
"No you just thought what? That we all have an observatory on the top of our house? That we all have a whole staff waiting to serve our every need? Because, news flash, princess! Not all of us are like you!" Maddon shouted.
I flinched backwards. Tears gathered in my eyes no matter how hard I tried to keep them away.
"From where I come from, you don't waste your food. You don't just say you 'aren't hungry' and walk away. You don't-
"I get it! Okay! I get that people aren't like me or that they don't have the same privileges! I know that. But news flash to you, Maddon, this is reality. Some people are treated differently than others. Life isn't fair, get over it. Do you think my life is all sunshine and rainbows? After all you've seen?"
"Well it sure is a hell of a lot better than mine!" he shouted.
"If your life is so bad, then why don't you quit? Go back home because you clearly like it there better," I countered, pointing to the door.
"I would if I could, trust me!"
"Leave, then! Get out!"
"Maybe I will!" he yelled.
"Fine by me! Maybe once you leave I'll be poisoned so you never have to see me again! I bet you'll love that. No more pretty princess to bother you, right?" My voice rose several octaves as I began to hyperventilate.
"That's not what I-"
"If you hate me so much then why don't you kill me yourself? You wouldn't be the first to try. It would make everyone a lot more happy, right?" I took the book that was closest to me and threw it as hard as I could across the room.
My breaths were coming in short gasps. I couldn't see through my tears. I was hysterical.
I threw myself onto the desk chair and put my head down.
The tears didn't stop, and no one came to stop them.
My sobs echoed around the room until they were the only thing I could focus on. Slowly, they became less frequent until I was just hiccuping. I slowly lifted my head up and wiped my eyes and nose with the back of my hand. I looked behind me to see Maddon sitting on the floor, his knees pulled up to his chest. He was messing with a chip in the wood. In this light, he looked incredibly boyish. His lips were set in a pout I couldn't help but chuckle at.
He looked up and immediately began to stand. I motioned for him to stay and sat down on the floor across from him.
"I'm-"
"I-"
We both started our apologies at the same time, causing us both to laugh. Maddon's sounded more nervous than amused.
"Let me go first," he said. "I mean, I yelled at the princess of Thanes and all."
"Okay."
He took in a breath and opened his mouth. Then he closed it. And opened it. And closed it.
"I don't know what to say," he confessed. "I just can't believe I said those things to you. I don't think they're true at all. I just- I'm just...jealous I guess."
"Jealous?" I asked.
"No. Not really. I don't know! I just got so...so annoyed and I let myself go. I am so, so incredibly sorry, Braelynn. So sorry."
He looked at me straight in the eyes and I knew he was speaking from his heart.
"It's okay. I'm not mad at you. In some ways, I think I needed to be yelled at. I guess. I needed a reason to get angry. I'm sorry it had to be at you." I said and played with the ends of my hair.
"It was my honor to have a book chucked at me by a princess; the highlight of my life," he said with a slight laugh.
We fell into a comfortable silence, both lost in our thoughts.
"Do you want to know the real reason why I didn't eat my breakfast?" I inquired.
"Sure. It's not what your mother said about being fat right? Because that is so not true."
I laughed. "No, no! Thanks though, I guess that was a sort-of-compliment."
"You're welcome. So what was it then?"
"That nightmare I had last night. It wasn't wine that poisoned me- it was eggs. Scrambled eggs. So I guess when I saw it, I just freaked out. I don't know, it sounds stupid when I say it out loud."
"Now you're making me feel really bad for yelling at you about not eating your breakfast. It's not stupid at all. I would be freaking out too," he said and looked at the ground.
We fell into another silence.
"Tell me about your home. Where you came from." I began.
"Well, I think I mentioned before that it was a small town, right out of Westwood," he said.
"No, I mean your home. Not where you lived."
"Oh. Well, it was just me, ma, and pa for a while. And then my little brother Adrion was born. He's...special. We're kind of like you and Kellan. We fight one minute and are as close as can be the next. You remind me of him sometimes. You both say what you feel and don't care what others think. And you've both thrown books at me," Maddon laughed.
"Oh my gosh, stop! I said I'm sorry!"
"I know. I'm just messing with you," he said.
I was so glad he was opening up to me. He was like a whole different person.
"Anyways, we lived in this small house, probably about the size of two of these rooms put together."
"That small?" I interjected, only half joking.
"Yes," he laughed. "My job was mainly to collect firewood or go to the town and buy things for ma. I worked for the butcher once, but that was short lived."
"What happened?" I asked, scooting a little closer.
"Let's just say I don't get on very well with chickens. I still have the scar today," Maddon said dramatically.
"Well, let's see this terrible scar."
He held out his hand and pointed at a small spot between his thumb and pointer finger.
"I seriously don't see anything."
"Are you kidding? It's right there!"
I saw the faintest white dot on his skin.
"That thing? That's your mighty battle wound? More like chicken scratch," I said, laughing at my own joke.
"Ha ha, very funny. Speckles was a mean bird."
"Speckles? You're afraid of a chicken named Speckles? I thought you were supposed to be macho!" I laughed. Maddon slapped my shoulder playfully.
"So what did this evil Speckles do to my poor baby?" I cooed and pinched his cheeks.
"Okay so I was sent out to get Speckles to be you know...turned into food. Speckles didn't like that. I chased that damn chicken around the coop for at least twenty minutes before I grabbed him. And then he bit me! Took a chunk clean off my hand. I resigned later that day," Maddon said like he survived a shark attack.
I couldn't help but laugh.
"Stop," he whined, but I couldn't. I don't know why Speckles the chicken was so funny, but he just was. "You're so mean!"
"I'm sorry! It's just so funny! How old were you? Ten? Eleven?"
"Seventeen," he mumbled, causing me to laugh harder.
We dove back into conversation about Maddon's home life. He was telling me about the festivals they used to have and how great his mother's cooking was. Maddon was finally showing his true self to me; and it was pretty incredible. He was so funny and sweet. We actually had a lot in common.
Suddenly I had an idea.
"Do you like to read?" I asked him.
"Yeah, why?"
"Come on! I have something to show you!" I shouted and raced down the observatory stairs.
We ended up back in the big empty room. The door to the courtyard gardens was opposite us.
"What I'm about to show you is top secret. You cannot tell anyone. Promise?"
"Well-"
"Promise!" I exclaimed.
"I promise!" he raised his hands in mock surrender.
I ran my hand under the tapestry on the wall and pulled open the hidden box, which revealed a hidden lever, which opened a secret door.
Maddon's eyes were wide behind me.
"Woah," he said, awestruck.
"I know right," I squealed and went into the passage.
We walked a ways downhill before we reached another wooden door.
"Welcome! To my secret hideaway!" I gestured and pushed open the door.
The smell of books immediately surrounded us. Two stories of shelves and ladders stocked to the brim with books met our eyes. A few chairs were set out on the floor as well as some lamps.
I turned on the nearest lamp, illuminating the dark room.
"Have you read all these?" Maddon asked with wonder.
"Yeah, it took me four years, but I read them all," I said while running my finger along the spine of the nearest book.
My heels echoed in the huge room as I walked over to a bookcase.
"These are all of my favorites. Have you read any of them?"
Maddon walked over and looked at the spines.
"No I don't think so. How did you find this place?"
"I found it by chance. I was playing hide and seek with Kellan one day and found the little cut-out in the wall. I used to come down here all the time, but not so much recently. I forgot how much I loved it down here." I said and breathed in the smell of books.
"You know, I'm not allowed to read anything that isn't politics related, so this library has been my source of entertainment for hours on end. There are every type of book you can imagine. I organized them all by type. Over there is fantasy and fiction. And over there are all the research and history books. And the second level is mainly romance and like, cooking and stuff." I explained.
"Who put all this down here? I'm just so amazed I don't have any words for this," he said.
"I don't know, but I'm thankful for them. You can look around if you want. I'll be in this chair," I said and sat down. Maddon roamed around the bottom level for a while before climbing a ladder to the second level and looking around there for a while.
"We didn't have many books in my town. Not a lot of people could read but my mother taught my brother and I when we were little. Most of the books were recipe books or history," he said while pulling out a book from the fantasy section.
"Really? I didn't know that not a lot of people in the towns could read."
"There's a lot you don't know about the towns. Have you ever been?" he asked.
"Nope. I've never been beyond that gate," I said. "Well other than right in front of it for announcements and public appearances and stuff like that."
"That's crazy. You rule a kingdom yet you've never seen any of it."
"I've tried, trust me. Kellan and I tried to escape when I was thirteen but we didn't make it very far," I smiled at the memory. The guards caught us before we even reached the gate and brought us back to Mother.
"We should probably get back. I don't want anyone coming to look for us. We can come back anytime, though," I said and stood up from the chair, brushing off my dress.
As we were walking back into the empty room, Maddon's stomach grumbles.
"Someone's hungry," I laughed.
"You would be too if you hadn't eaten in two days," he said. I stopped walking and turned to face him.
"Two days?! Why didn't you tell me? I'll go get you something to eat," I said and walked to the front of my quarters to tell a maid to get me a plate of breakfast.
"You really don't have to," he said.
"Maddon, you need to eat," I said, sounding like a concerned mother. "What about sleep? When was the last time you slept?" I asked.
"Two days. I slept a little when you were sleeping once, but not a long time," he said.
"As soon as you eat your food, you are taking a rest. I have a spare bedroom with a desk I can work at while you rest. And do not even try to argue with me on this," I said with finality.
"Thank you," Maddon said with relief in his voice.
The maid brought in a plate of food to my bedroom and I thanked her. Once she was gone, I carried the plate to the spare bedroom in my wing and set it down on the desk.
"I'll be right back I just need to grab some papers," I said and ran back to grab them.
When I got back, the plate of food was already half gone. Maddon was eating like he hadn't eaten in two days- wait he hasn't.
"How long were the expecting you to go without food or rest?"I asked.
He shrugged and kept eating.
"I'll try and sneak some food for you during meals. Or I can probably tell Holly to tell one of her friends to bring up a plate for you," I told him.
"You don't have to do all that. I'm fine," he said in a break between the bites.
"You have to eat and sleep to live Maddon. You can't get around that," I said while he scraped the plate with his fork. "Do you want more?"
"No thank you," he said and took a sip of the water they had brought.
"Now sleep," I ordered and closed the curtains to block the sun.
"Don't let me sleep too long. And wake me up right away if you feel unsafe or if you hear anything. Okay?" he said with worry in his voice.
"Got it. I'll be fine," I said and turned to my desk and began sorting through papers. The top one has my mother's handwriting on it. It was an instruction for me to plan a birthday party for my dad. It was supposed to be a huge celebration and wasn't until March, which was four months away.
I also had another party to plan. This one was a Christmas party. I decided to start on that one first.
Out of all the princess duties, planning parties was one of my favorites. I got to choose virtually everything about it. The food, colors, lighting, curtains, decorations, and more.
I decided I wanted a dark green and silver scheme, with hints of grays or reds put into the food. It would be more of a winter forest rather than Christmas.
I could put up frosted trees cut from the forest and have the silver chandeliers with the crystals that looked like icicles hanging down and I could have-
I was cut off by a snore coming from the bed. Maddon was sound asleep. I smiled and turned back to my work.
I continued planning the party for a while until I had a huge list of things to get. The chefs mainly had to make fancy hors d'oeuvres. I would put cranberries on the table for a pop of color.
I get way to excited for Christmas, as you can tell. I always decorated my quarters and even the rest of the castle with trees and garlands and everything.
I went through the rest of the mail and made a guest list for my father's party before Maddon began to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and stretched.
"Was I out long?" he asked.
"I'm not sure, let's see,"I said and opened the curtains. The sun was still out but it was low on the horizon.
"I think you slept through lunch," I commented.
"Sorry. We can still go down there right?" Maddon said, rubbing his eyes.
"Probably not. It looks like it's about five o'clock, which means I have lessons starting now, so we should probably go."
We walked out of the spare bedroom and across the hall to my lessons room. A piano sat in the center of the room instead of my usual desk and chairs.
I immediately groaned. I couldn't play the piano to save my life.
Mrs. Bruns usually put some music on the piano and let me practice for a while before she came in to listen. Today, it was Fur Elise, a new piece by some new guy that no one has ever heard of. I had been playing this for a while now and I still couldn't get it.
"Warning in advance, I suck at piano. Don't laugh at me," I said and played the first bit of the piece.
It was going pretty well until I played one wrong note. And another. And another.
I winced and kept playing. A stifled laugh came from behind me.
"Stop," I whined. "I know I'm terrible!"
"It wasn't that bad," Maddon said.
"Really?"
"No, it was pretty terrible," he laughed.
"Hey! Like you can do better!" I challenged.
"I probably could," he laughed.
"Have at it," I shifted over on the bench and patted the space. He carefully sat down.
Our shoulders brushed. I glanced sideways at his profile. His eyes were slightly squinted at the music and he was biting the inside of his lip. Heat rushed up to my face and I looked back at the piano keys.
"One issue," he said, turning towards me. I could see the little flecks of golden brown in his blue eyes. "I can't read music."
I slapped his chest. "Maddon!"
"Well, there isn't much practicing going on here, now is there?" Mrs. Bruns said as she strode into the room, another hoop skirt swishing around her.
Maddon jumped off the bench and walked back to the window.
"Let's hear it," she said and I began to play.
It wasn't as bad as the last time, but it was far from good.
"Well, it's an improvement from last time. Well done. That's all I have for you today."
"How's your daughter? I know you had to leave last time," I asked.
"Oh, she's fine. Just a cold. I'll be off, then. See you next time!" she said and scurried out of the room.
"Do you want to try again?" I asked Maddon.
"No. Someone else could come in," he replied.
"You're right. Well, let's be off to dinner," I said and we walked through the hallways to the dining hall.
Kellan was walking out as I was walking in. He avoided my eyes yet again.
The dining room was empty other than a maid clearing the extra plates from the table.
"Good evening. Could you please bring an extra plate of food for my guard?" I asked and she nodded.
Soon, two plates of food were set on opposite heads of the table.
There was an awkward silence as we ate. I looked up at Maddon. I found myself doing that a lot lately; looking at him. He was such a different person today than he was before. He was funny and playful and nice. We talked a lot throughout the day and I know who he truly is as a person. He's so similar to me, but completely different.
"You know, you're not what I expected you to be when I first met you," I commented.
"And you aren't what I expected you to be like either. I thought you were going to be just like your mother, but you turned out to be a really fun person to be around. I'm sorry if I seemed distant at first. I was upset that I had to be here and away from my family to follow a princess around, but you've changed my mind," Maddon said with an embarrassed smile.
"Thank you. That's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about me. And I thought you were going to be uptight and stiff, but you're actually really funny," I said back.
"It's funny how wrong first impressions can be," I commented.
"Yeah. Thank you for being so kind and feeding me and letting me sleep. I don't know what I would have done if I got paired with your mother."
"No one want to be paired with my mother," I laughed. "Thanks for giving me someone to talk to during the day. And someone to throw things at."
We both laughed before finishing our meals and heading back to my room.
"Goodnight, Maddon. You can sleep if you want to, I don't mind," I said as I crawled into bed.
"Goodnight Braelynn. See you in the morning."
I fell asleep feeling a little less alone in this castle.
~*~
QUESTION: What is your dream career?
Mine would definitely be a person that invents/distributes clean water and hygiene products to countries that need them. Or a marine biologists(if I wasn't afraid to go in the ocean past my ankles).