Hi y'all! Damn, your reviews made me laugh so much... I read them like 10 times each! ;D
Oh, and sorry the end of the last chapter was a bit fast, but I wanted to post that chapter before going out to the beach (yes, in Switzerland we have beautiful lakes!) to try STAND UP PADDLING... Ugh. now I have sore muscles... but it feels good to do some exercise, from time to time, right?
Anyway, I'll stop rambling about my boring life, and off to the next chapter^^
Chapter 11
While Casper was giving the boys some lesson on whatever he had planned for them during the morning, I decided to go read my book outside. I didn't go as far as the waterfalls, but I did go to my second favorite place, the rotunda. It was not very big, white and round — obviously — with rose bushes planted all around it, and a bench inside, following the round half-walls. I liked to come here to read. The roses' perfume enveloped me and I could imagine myself far away from the Palace.
I was reading, oblivious from the world around me.
"Hey." I jumped and lifted my eyes to see Max coming inside, his hands in his dark jeans' pockets.
"Oh, hi Max." I closed my book reluctantly, but was still glad to see him. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Prince Casper?"
"He let us go earlier." He shrugged. "I was wondering if you had finally found the answer to Felix's question to you on the last Report," he asked, with an amused smile, leaning on one of the rotunda's support.
"What question? He asked me so many." Although I knew which one he was talking about, because he had burst out laughing.
"You know, the 'what are you looking for in a husband' one?"
"Oh, that one." I rolled my eyes at him. "Did you seriously have to laugh at that?"
"Yeah, I couldn't resist. I mean, come on. After our little chat on the balcony during the Ball, this question came out as hilarious. And all you said was 'I don't know. I guess I'll know when I find the One.' Lame." He shook his head and rolled his eyes dramatically. "Because you and I know very well that you don't want to find the One, right?"
I shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."
"What?" He frowned. "I thought you didn't want to have a Selection."
"I still don't." I chuckled. "But no one is supposed to know that."
"Uh-huh." He chuckled and sat next to me. "But if you do find one you fall in love with, are you going to admit it? Or are you stubborn enough to close yourself to anything that resembles love?"
"I guess we'll have to find out."
He chuckled again. "You're really an unconventional Princess, you know that?"
"Yeah, I've heard." I caught a glimpse at his watch. "Come on, it's time for lunch," I said, standing up. He stood up, too and we walked back to the Palace to the Dining room. We both headed to our respective tables, and I was lost in thought, debating with myself who would be my next single date or group date — and not forget to mention it's a group date, this time — when the piercing sound of the alarm made us all jump and cover our ears.
The Rebels! They were here! The King shouted orders over the ear-splitting alarm, and guards flooded in the room. Half of them covered the ways in and out, and the other half guided us to the secret passage — they pushed a panel of the wall behind us, opening an unseen door — and making us run for the safe room at the bottom of the narrow stairs, three floors bellow ground. I was the first one in the safe room, and watched as the Selected and the rest of my family rushed inside.
Trent was carrying Matt, and Max was carrying Johnny; James had a crying Lizy in his arms, and some of them looked quite shaken and were pretty pale. When everyone was in — the Royal family, Prince Casper and the twenty-five boys, plus Lizy — the guards closed the door and left us all alone, going back up to fight whoever was there.
Eric and Hades were muttering to themselves, focusing on trying to keep calm, I think. We were used to attacks like these, but the last one had been severals months behind. It was not a 'used to' so we're chill kind of way, but more like 'used to' so we know what to do and won't panic too much.
I observed everyone from a chair in the corner. Aaron was sitting in a corner, his knees up, and his arms resting on them. He didn't seem scared or anything. He was a Seven. Maybe he was used to situations like this? Who knows…
Finn was sitting on the floor, his eyes closed, and muttering something. His lips were moving fast. Was he praying?
Harrison, Roy, Sébastien and Wesley were talking together in animated hushed tones, and James was hugging Lizy close, trying to calm her down, but her sobs were still loud, and she seemed to be in a state of panic or something. I felt so bad for her. She was so young, and had to go through this already.
Father was pacing the floor up and down, a concerned frown on his face. Mother was walking around the boys, asking if they were okay. I saw her kneel near James and Lizy, and talk to her in a comforting hushed voice. It seemed to help a little.
Alex had already claimed a cot and was taking advantage of the moment to doze off, because we could never know how long we would stay down there. It could be a couple hours, or a whole day. Or sometimes even more.
Matt and Johnny looked unfazed and were already playing cards — they always kept a stack of cards down here — and thinking of their game.
This safe room had been made to hold ten people, sometimes fifteen if we really wanted, so with thirty-three people in there, the place was pretty crammed up. There were only ten cots, and half a dozen chairs. Slowly, as everyone came out of his shock and had calmed down a little, we used the cots as seats — we could sit three or four people on them — and waited. There wasn't much else to do, to be honest.
The only sounds were Matt and Johnny playing, Lizy still sobbing softly, father pacing up and down, and everyone else breathing. I was sitting between Roy and Sterling.
"So, um, does this happen often?" Roy asked, cleaning his small round glasses with a cloth he pulled out of nowhere.
"A few times a year, yeah." I watched him carefully clean his glasses. I also looked at Sterling's hands and noticed he was wearing a ruby ring, which I thought was odd, because if I remembered correctly, he was a Six. And how could a Six own something like that?
"Is that a real stone?" I whispered to him, not wanting the others to hear our conversation.
"Yes. It's a ruby, and belonged to my mother. It was her wedding ring."
"Was?"
"She passed away a few years ago."
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry to hear that. I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'm one of your many boyfriends, after all, and you should know about us."
I smiled shyly and looked back at my own hands, not wanting to talk about anything. Then I went to the closet and pulled out a blanket. I spread it out on the floor and lied down on it, putting an arm behind my head.
Seconds later, Harry, Wes and Wattson stood up from their cot.
"Isodora," Wes said, "Take the cot, you'll be more comfortable."
I shook my head. "No, it's all right. But thanks." I smiled and closed my eyes to shut everyone out. People started talking and whispers became normal voices again. How long were we going to stay down there? No one knew.
I heard tiny steps walking around my head and smiled slightly, because I knew it was Lizy.
"Pwincess sleeping?" she asked. I grinned when I heard James say, "Yes. It's Sleeping Beauty, honey."
"A pwince must kiss her, so she wakes up," she said, walking away from me. I wanted to laugh, but I contained myself. This little girl was the sweetest thing that could happen.
And I just loved how she said 'pwincess'. It was so precious.
"Why don't you kiss her, honey?" I heard James whisper loud enough for all to hear.
"Okay," she said, walking back towards me. When she arrived close to me, she slowed her steps and tiptoed. She went down on her knees and planted a wet kiss on my cheek.
I slowly opened my eyes, playing along. "Who woke me up?" I asked in my most 'Pwincess-y' voice I could make.
"I did!" Lizy said enthusiastically. Everyone chuckled and I took her hand in mine.
"Thank you, My Lady. And who are you?" I sat up and leaned my back on the wall.
"Lizy."
"Hello, Lizy." She beamed and looked at her father with so much pride in her smile and in her dark brown eyes. Suddenly she ran back — her brown curls bounced all around her head — to hide in her fathers arms. He chuckled and picked her up and hugged her close. "Good girl," he whispered in her ear.
James looked at me and mouthed the words 'thank you'. I nodded and smiled. This little Lady was definitely tugging at my heart. Matt and Johnny had followed the whole scene, and Matt quickly made a paper crown from some paper he had in his pocket that he placed on his head. Johnny made a second one while Matt walked to Lizy who was still in her father's lap.
"Hello Lizy, I am the Prince. Do you want to be my princess?"
Her cheeks became pink like her dress, but the smile she wore on her sweet lips was the happiest. She nodded silently and climbed down from her dad's lap; Matt took her hand. Johnny placed the second crown on her brown curls and they both strolled around the room, for everyone to see. I could easily tell that she had won the hearts of every single person in the room. All except my father. But I ignored him for the time being.
An hour later, the General opened the doors. "All clear, Your Majesty," he said to father. "Everyone can go back upstairs." All obeyed, but I stayed behind with my parents to hear the report of the attack.
"Well?" father asked.
"Your Majesty," the General started, "it was a group of ten northern Rebels. No one was killed. They just turned everything upside down and broke a lot of things."
"Did you capture any of them?"
"We did, bur only one. He claims they just want to have some fun by scaring you."
Father chuckled. "Seriously? Last time those came, they said they forgot something here the time before and came to get it." He sighed. "At least it wasn't the Southern ones." He wrapped his arms around his wife's shoulders and he looked at me. "We'll talk about this tonight, on the Special Report, but in the meantime, I need you to have a date so we can distract the people tonight with that. Like I always say: Twenty percent bad news, eighty percent good news. You're the eighty percent. Got it?" He winked at me and walked up the stairs with mother.
I sighed. The General looked at me. "Sorry about that, Your Highness."
"Thanks. Let's go to work, then." I rolled my eyes and walked up the stairs, thinking fast at how I could possibly do a date in the little time I had before the Special Report tonight.
But as soon as I had hit the first floor and came out of the secret passage, I was greeted with one of the Selected.
"Ah, Princess," he said with a mischievous smile on his face.
"Yes?"
"I hope I shall get to know you better today, I imagine that once you know me you'll instantly forget about all the other boys, y'know?"
"Very funny, Ethan." I chuckled. "But since you're here, are you free right now?"
"I am."
"Good. Let's go outside, shall we?"
"Did you just say 'shall'?"
"I'm afraid, yes. I tend to do that sometimes, too," I said with smug face.
He laughed. "Very well, then, we shall go outside." He gave me his arms, and helped dodged the obstacles that littered the floor.
"Wow, that was quite an attack, huh?" he asked, looking at the wrecked hall.
"Yeah. But it wasn't lethal, thank goodness."
"What do you mean, 'lethal'?" he asked with a lifted eyebrow.
"Well, let's just say we were lucky it was only the Northern Rebels. They just come to mess things up. Southern ones come to kill."
"The Royals?"
"Yeah, and who ever gets in their way: guards or simply the staff." I sighed, not wanting to talk about it more. "So, tell me a little bit about yourself?"
"Me? Oh, um, there's not much to tell, actually. What do you want to know?"
"I don't know. Anything you want to talk about." I shrugged. We opened the door to the gardens and strolled down the gravel path. Unconsciously, we headed to the rotunda.
"Okay, um, I have six brothers and sisters, and-
"Six? Oh wow… must be a noisy home."
He chuckled. "Yes and no. My three older siblings already left the house, so I'm the oldest now, with a little sister and twin brothers. I'm an apprentice Construction worker and I love my job. Um, what else would you want to know?"
"What do you do in your free time?"
"I love to play pool, I love teasing people and flirting. You don't mind that, do you?" he asked with a sly smile.
"Nope, as long as I don't feel uncomfortable, in which case you'll know right away."
"Very well, m'lady," he said bowing and kissing my hand. We spent the rest of the afternoon talking about what we liked to do, and I was enjoying myself, I have to admit. His curly brown hair paired very well with his hazel eyes full of teasing and kindness at the same time.
But too soon, I had to go prepare for the Special Report.
So, what d'ya think? ;)
Okay, I have a question for you: do you consider yourself a PANTSER or a PLOTTER?
I am definitely a Pantser (with a general idea to where my story is going, with a few critical points along the way, but what happens in the middle is usually guided by the characters themselves^^...), so this Rebel attack was totally unplanned... LOL like all rebel attacks, right? ;) But I'm glad it happened, so I could intruduce more boys^^hehehe
Oh, and if anyone wants to do a second character for the last spot, feel free ;)
