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Chapter sixteen.
Princess Constance watched from her window as her sister returned from the group activity with a few of the selected.
They were soaking wet to the point where Princess Brinley's curls had lost their bounce and were laying flat against her soaked shirt. Each of them had a different part of them that seemed more wet than the rest of them, except for Peter. He was dripping from every part of his body. That's when she realized that Ari was barefoot and holding his shoes in his hands as they also dripped water.
Constance laughed as she stood up and began to run downstairs to greet them. The closer she got to the palace entrance, the louder she noticed that they were. Not because she was getting closer to them, but there was just so much laughing and talking over each other that it sounded like there were ten people out there, not six.
"Oh, my god," Constance gasped when she saw them. From her window in her room, she hadn't been able to see just how ridiculous they had all looked. "What the hell did you guys do?"
Brinley laughed and leaned against Levy's shoulder to keep her upright, but it wasn't working out very well because Levy himself was shaking so hard with laughter that he was crying.
"Well, we had planned to go on a hike to a waterfall, but when we got there it was so horribly hot that Princess Brinley jumped into the lake," Peter said, and Constance couldn't help but notice that his normal, perfectly gelled curls had spiked up, leaving him looking like something had blown up in his face. "We all joined her."
"And Ari jumped in without shoes," Iskander told her, and then looked over at Ari who sighed in exasperation. Constance looked at the dripping shoes in his hands, and then down at his mud-caked feet. "He hiked the whole way back without shoes. He must've ran on hot coals as a kid because it looked painful as heck, but he didn't even bat an eyelash at it."
"Or a gravel driveway," Ignotus piped in. "Those suck too."
Constance rolled her eyes, and put her hands on her hips. "Okay, all of you to the showers, now," she said, and then pointed to Ari. "Except for you. You're cleaning your feet before you go into the palace."
Ari grinned at her, but it wasn't a normal, happy grin, but a sheepish one. He scratched the back of his neck. "Yes, your highness," he said.
Brinley reached over and patted Ari's shoulder. They both started laughing, and Constance rolled her eyes again.
"Get inside," Constance said as she stepped away from the door and watched as the selected and her sister walked inside.
She sighed and shook her head. Somedays, it was like she was watching toddlers, not twenty year olds.
Princess Brinley was drying her hair when someone knocked on her door. She adjusted her bathrobe and then cleared her throat. "Come in!" She called.
She grinned when the door opened and Constance walked in. "Hey!" She greeted, and then giggled when her little sister raised her eyebrows at her.
"What the hell was that?" Constance asked, but her tone wasn't angry or judgemental, it was curious and happy.
"What was what?" Brinley asked as she put down her towel and picked up her brush.
"You guys left looking like a normal group of hikers, and came back soaked, loud, and laughing," she said. "Now don't get upset, sis. I'm asking because it has been way too long since I've seen you that happy and I want to know how the hell they managed to bring out that side of you."
Brinley shrugged, and then winced as the brush caught a tangle in her hair. She would never regret jumping in the lake, but she had to admit that she probably should have braided her hair before she had jumped in.
"It's not that hard, Connie," she said. "I'm not always a stick in the mud."
Constance hummed, and Brinley continued to brush her hair. Brinley hated these silences between them, and it seemed like they had been happening more and more recently.
"I didn't mean it like that, and you know it," Constance said, and then sighed. "After you found out about the curse, you just… never seemed as carefree and happy as you had before."
Brinley sighed before putting down the brush. "It was easier to be carefree and happy when you didn't know that you were going to kill your true love…"
Constance nodded. "You say that, and then I see you come back from a hike soaking wet and leaning against other people to stay upright as you laughed," she said. "You hide behind your curse, Brinley."
Brinley looked up at her, and then down at her own hands. She knew her sister was right, but what was she supposed to do? Someone was going to die because of her, and there was no way to stop it. So yes, maybe she hid behind her curse, but hiding sounded better than accidentally killing someone.
"Yeah, maybe…" She said, and then stood up. "I need to go do something."
Constance nodded, but Brinley noticed that her smile had faded and her shoulders had fallen. "Okay," she said. "Have fun."
Iskander hummed to himself as he painted on his small canvas, beside him Noctus was curled up and sleeping.
He wanted to preserve the memory of the hike, so he had pulled out a new canvas and had begun to paint the waterfall from memory before it faded any more than it already had. The trip had been nothing less than magical, sure the walk there had been torture, but the beauty of the waterfall, and the relaxing feeling of the freezing water had all but made up for the walk.
Iskander sighed, and then leaned back on his plush bed. His body sank into the mattress almost instantly, and he almost fell right to sleep with the painting still laying on his legs.
Then he heard the footsteps.
He stood and placed his painting on the nightstand before walking towards the door. Right before he opened it, his chest squeezed with a sudden burst of panic, and he wondered if it could be the rebels again?
He shook the thought from his head, and opened the door. If it was the rebels, there would be an alarm going off by now and even if there wasn't, they would all be dead soon enough since there were no secret passages to safe rooms in the bedrooms of the selected.
"Princess Brinley?" He asked as he saw her knock on one of the bedroom doors. "What are you doing?"
She spun around, her silk bathrobe twirled around her with the movement. "Iskander, you scared me," she said, and then smiled her sweet smile at him. "Is something wrong?"
Iskander shook his head, and then took a step forward before closing the door to his bedroom and fully entering the hallway. "No, your highness," he said. "I was just wondering what you were doing."
Princess Brinley held up her right hand. It held what looked like four envelopes, but he couldn't figure out why she would be carrying them, and who they were to or from. "Oh, I just need to deliver these to some of the selected," she said. "Do you want to join?"
He nodded, and then walked over to her. "So, where are we going, Princess?" He asked.
"We need to visit Sebastian Seek, Kotori Begay, Milo Larkin, and Elijah Vaughn," she said. "We're going to be doing a group activity tomorrow afternoon, and I thought I would give them these little letters because I got bored in my spare time and made them."
Iskander chuckled. He hadn't realized that the Princess could even have spare time, so far it had seemed like she was always busy with something. "What do you five plan on doing?" He asked. "I'm pretty sure you won't be hiking, but that doesn't really narrow it down very much."
Princess Brinley laughed, and then shook her head. "No, I'm never hiking again, even if the water from the waterfall is as amazing as it was today" she said. "We're going to be cooking. I think it will be fun."
Iskander tilted his head. "Cooking?" He asked.
Brinley nodded, and her wet, loose curls bounced with the movement. Iskander wondered how many colors he would have to mix to get such a beautiful red color, or if it was even possible at all.
"Yeah, but like a competition," she said. "There will be judges and everything."
Iskander grinned, and then looked up at her. "Who will the judges be?" He asked.
She shrugged, and then knocked on the door of Sebastian Seek's bedroom. There was no answer, and after a few minutes of waiting, she turned to the guard stationed outside of Sebastian's bedroom. "Excuse me, but has Sebastian left his room?" She asked.
He shook his head at her. "No, your highness, or at least not since I've been here, but he might be sleeping," he answered.
Princess Brinley hummed, and then slid the note under his door. "It is late after all, there's no reason to wake him up if he's sleeping," she said.
Iskander nodded. He did find it strange though that Sebastian was still here since he had been kicked out of the classes, but he hadn't talked to him since he had walked out of class, and he didn't know if they had come up with an alternative way for him to learn or what.
"Maybe we should slide all of the letters under the doors, so we don't disturb them if they're sleeping," he suggested.
Brinley nodded, and then grabbed his arm. "Let's go," she said.
It only took a few minutes for them to finish the task, but the sneaking around and whispers reminded Iskander of being a child and playing with his siblings. Even though his siblings had been much more gentle with him than Princess Brinley was, not that she was being rough or anything.
"I really enjoyed the hike," Iskander told her as they walked back to his room. And it was true. He had truly enjoyed every moment of it, but mostly the moments at the waterfall.
Brinley looked over at him, and then smiled. Her smile was soft, and almost sad. Iskander couldn't help but wonder why she would look sad when she had so much around her to be happy about.
"I did too," she said. "It was one of those moments where everything seemed right, like there were no problems in the world. But that would never happen… It's impossible."
Iskander looked away as silence overtook the pair. His gaze floated to a window. Outside, the moon shone it's own rays, but seemed to only highlight the large objects in the garden below. There was a different kind of beauty to the night. It seemed more solemn, and reflective. Unlike the loud and joyus beauty of the day.
"Anyways, I should be getting back to my room, and you should be getting to bed," Princess Brinley said, her voice piercing the silent between them.
He nodded, and then walked to his door. "Goodnight, Princess Brinley," he said.
She smiled at him, this smile much less sad than the one a few minutes ago. "Please, call me Brinley," she said. "Goodnight, Iskander."
Iskander grinned at her, unable to believe that he had been given the permission to stop using the royal title. So far the only other selected who was constantly calling her by name without the title was Peter, but he had known her forever.
"Call me Iz," he said after a minute.
Her smile grew, and then she nodded. "Of course," she said. "Goodnight, Iz."
"Goodnight, Brinley," he said, and then entered his room after a quick bow.
He walked over to his bed and rubbed the top of Noctis's head, the cat purred in delight at the touch and it made Iskander's smile widen.
"Noctis," he began after he got under his blankets. "I think I might actually be able to pull this thing off. I might actually be able to become the One."
Noctis meowed, and curled up on one of the pillows beside Iskander, who, exhausted from the hike and ready to spend more time with the princess, had already fallen asleep.
This chapter was supposed to be a group activity or an elimination. Ooops. I hope y'all enjoyed! Please follow, fave, and review! I can't wait to know that you thought!
Thanks for reading! Love y'all!
