Chapter 14

Deryn was disgruntled. She'd been led around the whole castle, and back. Twice.

"Jaques. Where in blazes are they?" she demanded huffily.

"I assume they are headed twoard the maze, Highness."

Deryn stared at the Frenchman in shock, before recomposing herself, although inside, she was boiling.

"Barking spiders, man! Why didn't you take us there in the first place? why in blazes would you take us on a giant tour of the castle when you knew where they were the whole time? Are you daft?" Okay, so she was seething outside, too.

"I assumed the young princess would refuse. You see, the young princess and her sister- I mean, you, got seperated once, when you were smaller. You were always so adventurous, but the young one, always clung to your mother's side. She was afraid." Jaques covered his mistake quickly, but not fast enought that Deryn missed it.

He said 'her sister'. That's got to mean I'm not really the long lost twin! Deryn felt relief, but was still suspicious. She thought for a minute about whether to confront the Frenchman about it, then decided she'd better learn a bit more before making wild accusations.

"So, who is this bloody prince, anyway?" she asked, changing the subject.

She didn't miss the shared look between the young maid and the creepy Frenchman.

"We weren't privy to the details, Miss," this time it was the young maid, Mazie, who answered.

"Then, why is it so barking important that I meet him? According to you two, there's already a barking princess here for him to meet. He can marry her! She's better at the princessing anyway!" Deryn cried, turning away from the empty room and heading in the opposite direction than the way they'd just come.

She'd only walked a few paces, when she was suddenly flanked by her always constant entourage. Resigned to the fact she obviously wasn't getting much privacy here, she continued on her path, pushing the heavy, wide doors open, blinking in the blinding sunlight.

Shading her eyes, she peered around, discovering that she had found the garden. It was beautifully kept, and her mother and aunts back home would've been amazed. Looking around, she saw lots of colors of flowers and fruit and vegetable.

"This is barking brilliant! So many colors and smells at one time!" she was thoroughly thrilled, enjoying the strange sight of flowers, when a strange, deep voice broke through to her.

"Hello, Diana. You look lovely, although that is a very different style."

Deryn ignored the voice, thinking the voice was speaking to someone else, when a light tap on her shoulder had her spinning around in surprise.

She was immediately searching for an escape route, just in case she couldn't fight her way out of her predicament, hen she remembered, she wasn't on the Leviathan. She slowly straightened out of her crouch, searching for the source of the tap, her eyes coming to rest on the man in front of her.

He looked to be about Alek's age, with brilliant dark blue eyes, and brown hair that curled slightly around the nape of his neck. He had a strong jaw, and a dashing smile.

He was very handsome, indeed, and Deryn couldn't help but take an interest in him.

She must have been staring because the young man unwavering gaze slowly became confused.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I'm midshipman Dy-Uh, I mean, I'm Deryn Sharp. Who are you?" she flushed as she realized what a mistake it would've been to introduce herself as the midshipman Dylan Sharp. She might've had a boys' haircut, but she obviously looked like a girl at that moment.

"William Avery. I'm the groundskeeper here at the Castle. What are you doing in my garden?" he asked, his nature instantly becoming suspicious.

"Jaques and Mazie were taking me to meet some daft prince. Something about a barking maze and a princess name Diana..." she was instantly cut short.

"You say that Diana and a prince are in the maze? Oh, that's not good! let's go!" William cried, looking panicked.

He quickly threw down his equipment, which he had been using to dig a hole, and offered her his hand. For minute, she stared, then boldly slipped her hand into his, allowing him to pull her towards the perfectly kept entrance to the maze.