Chapter Thirty-Two

FREDERICK

The night had seemed longer than it should have been with the rain dragging the darkness of the night out longer than it should have. It was sometime early morning when the rain finally stopped. Frederick's worry and concern only grew with each passing moment and lack of Adam's appearance. He had said that he would be back by morning and with the terrible storm that flooded through the area Frederick prayed that Adam was actually able to keep his word. The roosters had already crooned their morning and song and still there was no sign of Adam anywhere. He could not help but to look down the halls every now and again to see if he had slipped into the castle yet. He even carefully pressed his ear to the door on the off chance he had managed to get in her room with some sort of magic.

Adam still hadn't arrived.

Frederick had stood at his post all throughout the night and was glad that neither Florian nor Grimhilde tried to come in the dead of night to do something. The maids and other servants were already leaving their rooms and bustling about doing their chores. Five o'clock was the earliest an of the staff and servants were up, which meant the rising of dawn was not too far behind. He glanced down the halls again but saw no one and heard nothing.

Adam still hadn't arrived.

Frederick gripped the handle of his halberd tightly and avoided thinking about the dreaded things that could have even remotely happened to him. He had the utmost faith in Adam to keep his word and to actually save the princess, but where was he? He pursed his lips and released a sigh. He wanted to hold out for Adam and his coming, but the odds were not looking very likely. Despite not seeing Adam he wanted to hold out, as if he knew he was going to come for her at any second. But the seconds passed by, the minutes, and hours and already transpired and there was no sign of him coming to rescue Snow White. He took a deep breath as he glanced at her door. He was going to have to tell her that Adam wasn't coming.

He turned to her door and had his hand ready to knock on it, but he saw that his fist was shaking. He withdrew from the door and looked down either hall in one last fatal attempt in telepathically trying to call to Adam, to let him know that he needed to hurry, that he should have been here by now, that the moment was perfect and he needed to show up; but he never showed.

He tried again and this time his knuckles made contact with the wood, ever so softly did he knock. Almost as soon as he knocked, did Snow White's pretty little face appear on the other side of the door. His heart ached as he saw that she had soft gray bags under her eyes and that she had the most utterly disappointed look that he had ever seen. Her hair had been done up with a pretty red ribbon and she was wearing her dress that she had been working so hard on. The blue velvet of the bodice seemed to make her appear even paler and the yellow skirt gave her a touch of youth while the white collar that lined her neckline made her look very regal. It made him want to cry for her. She still smiled up at him, a forced smile, as she leaned on the door and almost clutched the frame for support. It pushed the door open ever so slightly to show that she had two small bags packed and ready for her early morning departure.

"He's . . . not coming, is he?" Her tired brown eyes threatened to let the building waters within them fall.

"I . . ." His mouth felt dry and he felt terribly guilty. "I don't know. He's not here yet, but I know he's coming -!"

"Thank you, Frederick." She hiccupped quietly as she smiled so sadly up at him. "But I think it is rather obvious that he isn't coming."

"Princess he wouldn't just leave you here." He spoke softly, but sternly to her. "Prince Adam is a man of his word and he would be here if something weren't keeping him."

"I thank you for your kind words and encouragement, Frederick." She stood straighter, but seemed to be like a wilting flower. "But I think I'm tired of hope right now, I'm just very very tired. . ."

"But princess – " He tried to argue, but she closed her eyes and turned her head into the door.

"Please, Frederick." She whispered in such a pained voice. "I have decided to accept my fate already. Don't give me any false hope that he will come for me, I don't think my heart can take much more. . ."

He quickly shut his mouth and could only watch as the princess who had been through so much already took yet another emotional beating. She sniffled and wiped her nose with a handkerchief before stepping out of her room and into the hall. She tucked the handkerchief in her pocket and forced another smile on her face. "Let's go to breakfast, shall we?"

She kept her hands placed in front of her and held them tightly together as she walked down the hall. Not having any words of comfort or anything to provide her a peace of mind, Frederick quietly followed her and escorted her to the dining room. Only their footsteps made noise as they walked down the halls to the dining room. She said nothing as she walked and looked a hair gray, as if all the hope that had been taken away from her had taken away her personality and life too.

They entered the dining room and much to Frederick's surprise both Florian and Grimhilde were at the head of the table chatting things up happily discussing the day's plans. They said nothing to Snow White as she took her seat and monotonously began to eat. Frederick could do nothing but watch as the other two continued their conversation without so much as glancing her way. Frederick had quietly hoped that perhaps Adam was here and was greatly disappointed that he was not, and could hardly imagine how disappointed she felt. She ate her bowl of porridge in silence and did not speak unless she was spoken to.

"Yes, I'll be looking forward to it today." Frederick laughed airily before returning to his own breakfast. "Oh, good morning, Snow White." He flashed a terribly obnoxious smile at her. "I didn't know you were there."

"Yes, I didn't even hear you come in." The Queen blinked in honest shock. "Well, don't you look nice." She looked Snow White up and down in her dress. "The dress simply came out marvelously!"

"Thank you, your highness." Snow White forced a smile and spoke weakly. "It took me most of the night to finish."

"That explains why you look so haggard." She tutted and cut into her eggs. "You'll need to freshen up and make sure to grab your cape when we leave."

"Yes, your highness." She nodded her head in response and continued to eat. Frederick wanted nothing more than to scoop the poor girl up and take her back to her room so she could sleep and mourn in quiet. She was so depressed and just kept seeming to lose her light.

"We will be going into town today to finish the festivities with the peasants." She took a sip from her goblet. "I'm sure after last night's rain that it will be quite muddy and very slippery out. But the day has shone such promise for a lovely day that I refuse to not have the annual picnic."

"Is that such a good idea, My Queen?" Frederick spoke up and cleared his throat. Those dazzling green eyes finally looked his way.

"Are you questioning me, Knight?" She raised a thin eyebrow at him. As much as he wanted to challenge her and defy her to try to speak some sort of sense into her, he knew that would do no good for both he and Snow White.

"Not questioning, My Queen." He stood at attention as he looked down at her. "Merely wondering if it is truly safe to go out today. Although there is a small window of sunshine today I do believe that it will rain again later this afternoon and I would hate to see you get drenched – "

"You can predict the weather?" She smirked at his challenge and stared at him over her goblet. "Surely you jest."

"Merely trying to look out for you, My Queen." He held her gaze steady. "I would surely hate to see anything bad happen to you on our endeavors today."

"Indeed." She scoffed for a mere moment before drinking her goblet and pushing her plate aside. "Well, that is why it is your duty to ensure that nothing happens to me, Sir Knight; to all of us, in fact." She gestured to her right where Florian sat and blatantly excluded Snow White who sat on her left. Oh how he wished Adam would just hurry up and come and get her!

"Yes, it is my duty, My Queen." He held her gaze and could see the faintest shade of pink rising to her cheeks. "I will protect you and keep you safe until my dying breath."

"Well now, aren't we being a little dramatic." Prince Florian snorted as he looked to Frederick. "You make it sound as though it is a love confession."

"It is an outward action of showing loyalty to my country and My Queen, Prince Florian." He cut his eyes at the prince of Franca. "It is something you should probably show a little bit more to your fiancée and your country."

"How dare you – " Prince Florian slammed his hands on the table and stood ready, like a rabid dog ready for a fight. The fool had proven to be a man of his word and had a nasty bite as his bark but Frederick knew that he could take him, kill him even if it truly came down to that.

"Now that we've all had our fun." The Queen spoke up and slowly stood herself. "I shall be getting my cloak and I expect the rest of you to get ready for the picnic as well."

Prince Florian looked both livid and taken aback that she had spoken over him and sat back down in his seat like an angry child. With nothing left to be said the Queen waltzed out of the room with Florian in toe behind her. Snow White, on the other hand, carefully took her time to finish picking at her breakfast before slowly standing and wordlessly walking back down the halls to her room. Though she wore bold and bright colors, as she walked to her room the colors seemed to become more muted and more monochrome. She quietly slipped into her room without bothering to close it behind her and pulled on a faded lavender almost gray cloak and draped it over herself.

When she exited the room Frederick stood in front of her and made her stop.

"Princess." She dazedly looked up at him and he saw that the abundant life in her eyes had dulled to such emptiness. "He is coming."

She tried to smile but it looked more like a wince and her tiny hand went to her chest and rested over it.

"Please, Frederick." She spoke ever so softly. "I need not think any more of him today. . . Besides, I'm engaged to the Prince of Franca. I'll soon be married and won't be allowed to think of him ever again. . ."

Frederick carefully and gently used his index fingers to prod Snow White to actually look up at him in the eyes. The faintest life reflected back but burrowed back down into whatever hole it was hiding in.

"I'm just as confused as you, Princess." He spoke gently to her, almost fatherly. "But I promise that I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise that I will keep you safe until your real prince comes to save you."

"Thank you, Frederick." A faint flicker of a real smile formed on her face. "I truly do believe that you will keep me safe, but I don't know if I really should let you. I've already resigned to my fate."

"And I refuse to allow you to make the biggest mistake of your life." He said firmly. "You deserve so much better in life than what you've gotten. I'm so sorry that I haven't done much more until now. . ." His guilt gnawed on his stomach. "But I will protect you and keep you safe and will keep you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

She only smiled up at him in response and he watched as the light hid away one more time. Without another word she turned on her heel and started walking outside to the carriages. She very mechanically joined the others in the carriage and sat in silence the whole way there. While riding on the back of the carriage he never heard her even mumble a syllable as they rode into town.

Frederick had never seen such a sad or more depressive thing before; not even when Grimhilde's mother died did he see someone so sad as he saw Snow White. While both Queen Grimhilde and Prince Florian flocked about and enjoyed all the festivities, Snow White walked around as though she were in a limbo seeing things but not properly looking at them. Nothing caught her eye, nothing made her stop and stare, she just wandered about as if she were ready for something terrible to happen.


Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you're enjoying the story so far!

Please feel free to leave me reviews or message me with questions, suggestions, or even requests for future stories or characters that you would like to read about from the Recruits. I do have a few things planned out, but I must finish my current stories before I will publish any of my new works.

Thank you so much for coming along the journey with me, stay tuned for more!

Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter