A/N: This chapter actually cracks me up. I love Allodia. Really, I love all of my characters. (Except for a certain character you will find in later chapters. And I think you will agree with me.) Review por favor!
The next day, I met with Leo once again in the gardens, after school of course.
"Did it work?" he asked. I nodded.
"Barely. I'm a rotten liar. I don't know how long I can keep this up. Allodia believed me, however," I answered. Leo smiled.
"I knew you had it in you," he teased. I rolled my eyes.
"What, you knew I had it in me to be an awful person? How ironic is that, the Prince corrupting his people. Your character is simply wonderful, your majesty," I said mockingly. Leo glared at me in jest, then changed his mind, smiling mischievously.
"Oh yes, I simply live for corruption. That is all you may expect from me: wickedness and lies. Now bow down to me while I steal your money," he ordered. I clapped my hands approvingly.
"Very good, a liar and a cynic. You may be beating me when it comes to sarcasm and cynicism," I replied. Leo laughed.
"You can't possibly be sarcastic," he said. I shrugged, smiling deviously.
"You seem to have forgotten our first encounter, Your Highness," I replied.
"Oh I forgot. I must have mistaken you for someone who actually has a soul," he commented.
"I had it removed years ago to make room for so much sarcasm," I answered. Leo rolled his eyes.
"Come on, let's just go explore the castle," he said. I followed him, laughing.
Later that evening, when I arrived home, Allodia said nothing, although, my behaviors probably didn't help my cause of keeping up the lie.
"Ah, my little Ella. How was helping after school?" she asked. I nearly jumped, seeing as I was walking through the house quickly with my head down, trying to avoid Allodia. I did jump, in fact.
"Oh um, great. We did lots of um, work. At the schoolhouse. Where I was. Working, that is. I was at the schoolhouse, working," I said. Allodia raised her eyebrow at me. I wasn't twitching, was I?
"Very well. We will be eating dinner very soon. I will have one of the servants come and fetch you," she said. I nodded quickly, lowering my head.
"Yeah, okay, I'm, uh, just going to go upstairs," I said, pointing to my room, rather awkwardly, I must admit. My life is defined by awkward moments and irony.
I didn't talk all through dinner.
The next day, I met up once again with Leo. I was trying not to admit the fact that I liked him, and I would continue to avoid doing so until utterly necessary.
"Mari, I have decided to make you the Captain of my imaginary army. Shall you be Captain Sarcasm?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.
"Very funny, Leo. Come on, I have different plans. Allodia is supposed to be in Queric for the day. I say we explore the town. I take it you haven't gotten out much?" I suggested. Leo shook his head.
"I haven't. Mother won't let me do anything but study and supposedly dream of marrying a snobby princess. Queric isn't that far away is it?" he asked. It was my turn to shake my head.
"No, it's only a few miles away at the most. But it's far enough. She won't be back until dinner. So come on, let me go show you the capital of the country you rule!" I exclaimed, dragging Leo behind me. He smiled and followed me. We made a small stop at my house where I grabbed one of my father's cloaks and threw the hood over Leo's dark curly mop of hair. I pulled it down beneath his green eyes.
"Hey, I can't see!" he exclaimed. "Doesn't that ruin the whole point of this excursion?" I sighed, and adjusted the cloak.
"Fine, but don't blame me if your eyes give your identity away. Although, I'm hoping that people won't notice us, two children running around the city," I replied. Leo shrugged, and I proceeded to show him the highlights of the town.
It began with the view of the castle, high and slightly intimidating on top of that hill. Then we moved on to the numerous food shops, particularly the Euphoric Emporium, a huge and magical candy shop. Just as we exited the Emporium with tons of candy in hand, I spotted someone I did not expect nor want to see. I pulled Leo into a nearby alleyway.
"What was that for! I nearly choked on my licorice!" he exclaimed. I shushed him.
"Why is she here! She's supposed to be in Ryco!" I exclaimed. Curious and quite surprised at my exclamation, Leo peeked around the corner.
"Is that Allodia? I thought you said she was going to Ryco!" he stated.
"I thought she was!" I protested. I suddenly ducked, pulling Leo down with me.
"What are you doing?" exclaimed Leo in a hushed voice.
"She looked our way!"
"But why is she here?" he asked.
"If I knew that, then we wouldn't be in this mess! Come on, we've got to get back to the garden! We should be safe there. She's not expecting me home for at least another hour or so," I replied, looking through the streets.
"Oh good, she's gone," I sighed. Looking once more, we ducked through the streets and back to the gardens. I turned around to face Leo.
"We made it!" I sighed. "And Allodia still doesn't know about," I started.
"Allodia doesn't know about what?" asked a voice behind me. I knew that voice.
"Oh crumbs," I whispered, staring up at Allodia.
