Honor
Chapter Eleven: Part of Me
Meanwhile, Reva nervously paced the marble floor of Princess Annie's chamber. It had been hours since Annie left the castle. If Sir Auggie didn't return soon with the Princess, discovery was imminent.
The maidservant knew that Arthur stood just outside the door. He probably nursed thoughts similar to her own. Despite Arthur's reassurances that Auggie would return with Annie in tow, Reva still had her doubts. She, Auggie, and Arthur all knew the Princess was stubborn and she very clearly didn't want to marry Prince Jai.
On that note, Reva had her own suspicions about the nature of Auggie and Annie's relationship. She smiled at the revelation that marriages between Princesses and knights were not unheard of. They were rare, but not completely against the social structure.
Princes and maidservants however...
The door suddenly opened with a soft creak. Arthur walked into the chamber. Reva noticed a woman who stood in the hallway a few feet behind him. She was a little on the short side and had long blonde hair. She looked to be a few years older than Reva, but the maidservant didn't get too good a look, as Arthur slipped quickly inside and slammed the door shut behind him.
"We have a problem, Reva," he said in a rush, "A big one."
Reva raised an eyebrow, "Bigger than the fact that our Princess is missing? And who was that woman?"
"She is the problem," Arthur clarified, "Her name is Joan. I know her from back home. I used to see her around the castle from time to time. She said she was just sent from England."
Reva gave a nod. She was not sure she understood the gravity of the situation.
Arthur continued, "She was sent by Annie's father as a gift to his Princess. Basically, you have a partner now, Reva."
Reva looked mildly shocked, "Another maidservant?"
Arthur nodded slowly. He allowed a half-grin to creep over his face, "She's rather pretty, isn't she?"
Reva sighed and rolled her eyes at the guard before her, "Get your mind out of the sewer and think of something! Should we tell her what's going on?"
"I don't know," Arthur shrugged, "We probably should. We can't exactly leave her out in the hallway forever."
Arthur moved towards the large door. He waited for the maidservant's answer before opening it.
"I suppose we should. Let her in, Arthur."
Arthur swung the door open to reveal Joan standing in the hallway. She looked slightly confused. She gave Arthur a slight curtsy and searched his face for answers.
"These are Princess Annie's chambers, yes?" she asked quizzically. She glanced past Arthur to Reva who gave Joan a kind smile and brushed past Arthur to usher her inside. Arthur closed the door once she was inside.
"Yes, they are. These are Princess Annie's chambers. I'm Reva, her maidservant, and I've been told you've previously met Sir Arthur?"
Joan nodded. She looked around at the vast room, "Yes, we already know each other. We met years ago in the castle. We used to run into each other every once in a while."
"Arthur said your name is Joan?"
Another nod.
"Well, Joan, welcome to France."
"Pardon my asking, but exactly where is Princess Annie?" Joan asked. She turned to look Reva in the eye. Reva broke the stare and looked down. She suddenly preferred the floor to Joan's stern face.
"Actually..."
"She's gone," Arthur interrupted, and Reva sighed with relief, "She ran away this morning. Her other guard, Sir Auggie, is out looking for her now."
If Joan was shocked, she clearly didn't show it on her face. Reva realized that Joan was very good at hiding her emotions.
"But they should be back soon, I hope. In the meantime, we have to cover for them. If Prince Jai or King Henry or anyone else finds out about it, we could all get into a lot of trouble. Do you understand, Joan?"
She nodded as she spoke, "Of course. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Any response Arthur or Reva had was cut off by a sharp tap on the chamber door.
"I demand to be let in this instant!" It was Prince Jai's voice. And he didn't sound pleased. Reva gulped and moved to open the door; there was nothing more they could do.
"The jig is up," Arthur muttered to Joan.
Reva swung open the door and gave the Prince a low curtsy, "Your Highness," she murmured, "How can I be of service to you?"
The Prince suddenly took hold of Reva's upper arm, "You need to come with me. We have to talk. Down in the garden. Now."
Jai hauled Reva away down the hall before she had a chance to react.
"Well, that was interesting," Joan said. She exchanged a surprised look with her companion, "That was Prince Jai, I assume?"
"Yes, yes it was," Arthur confirmed with a nod, "This is an interesting twist though."
Joan crossed the large room to close the chamber door. Jai had left it open when he took Reva with him to the garden. She looked around and took in her new surroundings.
"This room is beautiful," she commented idly.
Arthur nodded, "Yes, it is."
Except he wasn't looking at the room.
Joan moved to stand next to the window. She stared out at the view.
"There's a lovely view of the garden from here," she commented idly, "It's very pretty."
Arthur rushed over to join her, "Yeah, you can see it really well from up here. Hey, look, there's Reva and the Prince!"
Reva followed the Prince out into the sunlight. She worried over what he needed her for and at the same time was ecstatic that she was alone with him. He led her out a ways, down a winding path, before he finally stopped and quickly spun around to face her.
"When did she leave?"
Reva paled. He knew.
"This morning, your highness. How did you find out?"
She knew it was wrong to question her superior, but Prince Jai either didn't notice or didn't care. He gestured to the rope of bed sheets that hung from a window high above them. Reva gave herself a mental slap in the forehead. They had forgotten to pull up the rope! How could they have been so careless? Too late to fix it now; time to deal with the consequences.
"I'm sorry, your Highness. I should have stopped her. I shouldn't have let her leave."
"Why do you say that? It's not your fault at all," he sighed, "Annie is a strong-willed and very stubborn woman. Besides, I'm actually glad you let her go."
This earned him a very confused look from the maidservant.
"Look, I am just as unhappy about this engagement as Princess Annie is. However, as I tried to explain to her, we are both honor-bound to complete it to its full intent. This little stunt has freed us both. Am I to assume that since one of her guards seems to be missing that he has gone after her?" Reva nodded to confirm, "And I suppose he is in love with her as well?"
"Well, he hasn't exactly said anything on that subject, but Arthur and I are fairly convinced he is," Reva smiled. She was just thankful that the Prince wasn't angry with her.
"Good. Then no harm will come to her. They should be happy together. I hope she can live out her days as a simple village maiden," He said it with such a wistful voice that Reva gave him a puzzled glance.
"You sound as though you envy her, Sir" the maidservant noted.
Jai nodded, "To be truthful, I actually do. I have my entire life planned out for me: from what I will eat each day down to whom I will marry. And my father always gets what he wants. My life is not exactly enjoyable," he scowled at some nearby flowers, "I'm not free. I can't go where I want to go or be who I want to be. I have to conform to what others think I should be; their ideal Prince and, eventually, their ideal King."
"But you wish to be free. You want to be happy and free and fall hopelessly in love with someone else?"
Jai thought for a moment, "Yes. Doesn't everyone wish they could live their life for love instead of for honor?"
Reva smiled, "You sounded quite a bit like Princess Annie just now."
The Prince looked down at her and grinned, "Do you really think so?"
"Of course I do. So why don't you do what she did? You should take a stand for what you want."
Jai grabbed her hand in excitement which caused the maidservant to blush a royal shade of scarlet.
"Perhaps I should. Thank you, Reva. It was a pleasure talking to you."
Reva was about to answer when, suddenly, two more figures entered the garden.