Disclaimer: I do not own fairytales.
A/N: I wish I could reply to all your reviews – you've all been really great, but I have a physics test on Friday which I am deaded for. I have written this because you guys don't deserve to wait so darn long and because it's my relaxation. Love you all though. I promise I'll reply to reviews for this chapter.
:) Smile, becausemy world depends on it. :)
Love, sardine.
Chapter 7
No. I did not just hear that. In fact, I'm so sure I did not just hear that that I'm going to stick my fingers in my eyes and hum. Yes, that's right, hum… Gack, who's pulling my fingers out of my ears? Geric's worried face peers down at me.
"Jasper?" Geric frowns down at me. "Jasper, what on earth are you doing?"
"Nothing…" I squeak. Nothing at all… really!
"So what do you think?" He asks me. "Would you like to be Princess Melissa's maid?" Er… how about no?
"No thank you…" I manage to contain my horror to a bare minimum. Geric peers into my eyes.
"Come on, Jasper, I really need this from you." He pleads. I shake my head firmly. "Why ever not?" Geric asks, his puppy-dog expression still on his face.
Because she'll blow my cover?
"Because… I have an objection to working for royalty!" I blurt out. Geric tilts his head on its side questioningly, inviting me to continue. "Royalty is so spoilt, so pampered. They can barely raise a fork for themselves. And its not their fault either – they've been brought up to believe that, and if anyone tries to rebel they're either kicked into shape or thrown out and disowned!" The words come out in a rush. I stare at Geric unseeingly for a moment, trying to absorb what I have just said. I really didn't know I felt that way about… well, my family!
Geric surveys me thoughtfully.
"Is the monarchy at Beroe really like that?"
Beroe? What? Where did that come from?
"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.
"You said that you came from Beroe?" Geric prompts me, a slightly skeptical expression back on his face. One of his eyebrows is raised. That's not fair! I could never do that! He is still looking at me, so I shake my head and ask him to repeat his sentence. Beroe? Beroe… OH! I remember (at last).
"No… but I've heard stories about Polesvek royalty." I've never realized how strange the name of our country is. Polesvek. Polesvek. Ehehe, POLAR BEARS!
Well, I get the connection even if you don't.
"Oh." Geric considers this. "Well, the king and queen did seem a little… pompous, but Princess Melissa seemed nice enough."
That's because she doesn't have the brains to realize how high up she is on the social ladder.
"Really?" I trail off. Geric glances at me.
"Don't you think so?"
"Well, I've never met the princess." I've only spent my entire life with her. "But I heard something she did to her younger sister that wasn't very nice. At a ball."
"Oh?" Geric is interested. He even sits up and leans straight against the tree.
"Mmhm…" I murmur my assent. "But I shouldn't gossip." I continue primly. AGAIN I HAVE PROVEN TO BE THE BEST ACTOR… er… actRESS in the WORLD. Darn my gender confusion nouns.
"Oh." Geric is obviously too much of a gentleman to press the matter further. Hm, but not too much of a gentleman to patter innocent boys with leaves…
I stand up.
"I should get back to the stables to…" Run away from you! "…feed the horses."
"Oh…" For a moment Geric almost looks disappointed and I almost feel guilty. The emphasis is on ALMOST.
"Yes, well, see you!" I make to get away quickly, but Geric puts out a hand and catches my arm.
"I'll walk you back." He says gallantly, smiling.
"I'm fine." I tell him quietly. Why am I so… disappointed? Sulky? Why can't I tell what I am feeling? Geric hesitates a moment. GO, GO, GO, GO!
"Alright then." He finally answers reluctantly. "I will come to visit you soon. I'd bring Princess Melissa with me if I can get her to lower herself to a lowly guard."
Lower herself? Lissa's 'been with' males of lower social status!
"If it's you, I'm sure she will." I reply, beaming reassuringly. Geric laughs, a long clear sound.
"I'm flattered." He grins broadly. His hand is still holding my arm. LET GO! I wrench free.
"I have to go. Cam will be wondering where I am."
The grin disappears from his face in a flash. Wow, that was amazing how quick it went! Do it again!
"Jasper…" Geric looks so uncomfortable. "Jasper… don't let Cameron hurt you."
WHAT?
No, that's not completely out of the blue!
I'm lying – where on EARTH did THAT come from?
"Excuse me?" I gasp. Hey, it's slightly more polite than my original reaction… Geric squirms under my steely (I wish) gaze.
"Don't let him hurt you… he's much older than you. It wouldn't work."
Geric has gone far enough.
"Stop right there!" I cry. "Cam and I are friends. Nothing more, nothing less."
Is that true?
Go away! You're meant to agree with me!
But does Cam like you more than a friend?
"NO!" My hand flies instinctively to my mouth. "Sorry…" Geric shakes his head bemusedly.
"Er…"
Right. Cam. Back on topic.
"He would never hurt me. Never! He understands me – the way you never will!"
With that parting shot I spin around and storm off, fuming.
Geric is a hypocrite. How can he warn me against falling in love with Cam when he himself has fallen in love with Lissa? Lissa! But then Lissa was good at fooling people. She fooled me – her own sister! I looked up to her. Such a fool.
I have not gone far when I feel a tentative touch on my shoulder. I turn around abruptly. Geric is standing there, his eyes cool, but his stance contrite.
"I apologise. " He says formally, taking my hand. Ew! Boy germs!
"I accept your apology." I reply, the formality in my voice matching his, measure for measure.
"Good." He says. We stand staring at each other, neither knowing what to say next. I am the first to turn away.
"Good day, sir." With a barely civil nod, I turn and depart. I have just one question left:
Why on earth am I using court language?
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It is a week before I hear of Lissa's arrival again. During that time, Geric has not come, nor have I wished him to. Much. Damien and Wendy are really sweet. So sweet, in fact, that I have refrained from embarrassing them more than three times a day.
IT'S AN IMPROVEMENT! Really!
I am grooming Horse when Wendy comes flying past the stall.
"If you and Damien are looking for a place to engage in less than proper activities, then I'm sorry. This stall is taken." I tell her without looking up. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Wendy blushing. I smile quietly to myself before meeting her embarrassed gaze. Yet another one of my strong points: making people embarrassed. Wendy laughs – a short, awkward sound – before resuming her former enthusiasm.
"Jas! Guess what?"
"What?" I ask excitedly, making a list in my head of the things that could possibly cause Wendy this much excitement:
1) Damien proposed.
2) Damien proposed.
3) Damien proposed.
Perhaps that's not the most expansive of lists… but…
"Princess Melissa of Polesvek is coming to Kilmere!"
Oh. Is that all?
"REALLY? That's amazing!" I cry. "Is there going to be a parade in her honour? Are we going to be in the crowd, cheering, waving and acting the part of adoring fans?" Perhaps I'm exaggerating a tiny bit… but…
"Yes! It's on this evening! And Damien is taking me!" Wendy flushes again. She's just too cute.
"Really?" I smile.
"And Cam is taking you!" Wendy nods vigorously. Cam… oh dear.
"I don't have to go. The horses need to be fed and there are chores still to be done." I protest, turning my attention back to Horse. Wendy grabs my arm, making me drop the brush.
"Come on, Jasper! Honestly, you don't do anything at all – you don't go out, you don't see people, you don't get visitors – why?"
"I'm fine." I say stubbornly. Wendy seizes my shoulders.
"No you're not! Look, Jas. I'm not asking you to find a new dress, fix your hair or even bring out your beauty."
"Beauty – cough." I say sarcastically, unable to stop myself. Wendy glares at me.
"Yes – beauty! You are beautiful."
Please don't. I've had enough of these 'you are beautiful' speeches when I was living with Mother.
I let it slide – I'm far too tired to argue. Wendy takes this as encouragement to continue.
"You. Are. Coming. And that is that."
Not if I have anything to do with it…
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This isn't fair. How was I supposed to combat all three of them urging me to go, and eventually losing their tempers and forcing me to go? Why am I here? Lissa will recognise me, and scream and have me seized by guards. It's not fair!
Wow, I sound really whiny.
Besides, she won't see me. She'll be too busy ogling all the handsome fellows in the crowds. And perhaps the guard as well. Not that I care. As long as she doesn't steal Damien away from Wendy, I'm happy.
Now I stand in the crowd with Cam at my side. There is an expectant hush over the crowd as they 'wait with bated breath for the coming of the foreign princess whose beauty they have heard so much about'.
Please excuse the cliché. It is an extremely accurate one in any case.
Cam reaches out and grasps my hand with a brotherly familiarity. He looks across and beams at me.
"Having fun?" He mouths. I roll my eyes.
"As much fun as I can have when I'm forced to attend something." I retort, though a small smile is tugging at my smiling muscles. No! Resist at all costs!
It is rather hard when Cam is smiling himself…
"Oh!" I hear a little girl in the crowd exclaim, destroying the moment. I try to catch Cam's eye again, but his face is determinedly turned away from me. I sigh and strain to see the faint speck in the distance.
Lissa has arrived.
As the open-topped carriage nears there is a collective hush. And I have to admit, Lissa never looked better. Her long blonde hair is piled on top of her head in an effortlessly elegant style, which, with the bits of curls and braids everywhere, would just look untidy on me. She is wearing an emerald gown that sets her eyes off nicely. But since my absence from court, her manner of dressing has changed. Gone are the days of the simple, stylish gowns that distinguished her from the rest of the dim-witted courtiers. Now her gown has large amounts of lace and many glittering threads. Her neck looks strained to carry all the chains and pendants that hang on it, as well as her head, on top of which perches the heavy tiara that she received for her sixteenth birthday from Mother and Father.
The one that she swore she would never wear.
It is large and gold with diamonds, rubies and emeralds set in it. "To match your eyes." Mother had said, smiling benevolently. There are so many intricate patterns on it that the beauty of it is lost and merely looks rough. Everything about it screams wealth and status, and I suppose that is what Lissa was aiming for.
No, not Lissa. Lissa is gone forever. She started fading on the night of Anna-Maria's birthday ball. Now she is completely gone. She has become – as the courtiers insisted on calling her – Melissa.
I turn away, my vision clouded suddenly and inexplicably. Cam casts me a worried look. I try to battle my way through the crowd, but they refuse to budge. The little awestruck girl whispers to her mother again.
"Mummy, she's like a fairytale princess!" Her mother hushes her, but I fix my gaze on Melissa. If it were I, Jasmine, in the carriage, I would have laughed. Heavens, I wouldn't even have a carriage – I'd be on foot or on horseback. If it were Lissa in the carriage, she would have smiled. But it is none of those people. It is Melissa, and Melissa stares straight ahead, her fixed, perfect smile in place.
And then she disappears into the castle gates and we can no longer see her.
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Late at night, when a single tear slips out from under my eyelashes in mourning for a sister I never really had, I recall the look on Cam's face when he looked at me.
I don't know what it was, but it was all for me, and it is good.
And I slip out of my bed and pad softly out the door, taking care not to disturb the boys.
I look up at the moon. It has seen so much, and so many people have seen it, as demonstrated by the endless odes the poets have composed. Most go like this:
So many wonders the moon hath seen,
So many cities it has been.
Oh, that I were the moon so bright
That I would fill the sky with light.
Perhaps I'm not the best of poets, but that is basically what the poems are about. And it irks me to no end. I walk out and sit under a tree, pulling my cloak tighter around my nightshift. I know I'm not entirely decent, but if men are allowed to wander around with bared chests, why can't I sit under a tree in a cloak and a garment? I close my eyes as the thunder cracks overhead.
The first drop of rain slides down my face. I let the rain embrace me… and remember.
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"Why hello there, Princess." Lady Eileen smiles graciously at me. I stand at the refreshments table, getting myself a drink. I know my face is flushed from exertion. I have always enjoyed dancing, and there is no shortage of dancing partners here.
Of course, there is a great shortage of intelligent conversation.
"Evening, Lady." I smile and simper in exactly the same way as she does.
"You seem to be having a lovely time." There is no mistaking the jealous edge in Lady Eileen's voice.
"Yes, thank you."
"Allow me to introduce to you my cousin, Marcus." She beckons to a young man on the other side of the room. He makes his way across the floor towards us. I look at him. He is extremely handsome – he has curly, blonde hair and startling violet eyes.
I once heard that eyes are the windows to a person's soul.
His were continuously shifting and lightly skipping over objects and never staying in one position for long.
"Marcus, this is Princess Jasmine. Princess, this is Lord Marcus."
Marcus bows to me gallantly.
"Would you like to dance, milady?"
I nod, breathless all of a sudden. He offers me his hand and we walk to the floor. The last I see of Eileen is her triumphant smile as she walks over to join my sister and her gaggle of courtiers.
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The rain has gotten heavier now. A flash of lightening startles me. I glance over at the paddock.
Oh, heavens.
Horse is standing there, placidly looking at me.
Ergh.
I walk over to Horse, my eyes searching desperately for a lead rope. As I snatch one from the top of the fence, a grey light is spreading over the horizon.
Ha.
Ode to the dawn.
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