Jason's trip to Castle Seress was uneventful, and he had taken the utmost care to disguise his identity. For the most part, he travelled under his newly sewn cloak. With every sitch, magic was sewn into the cloth, and Jason had been exhasted for days afterwards, yet, he had finally completed it, and the cloak was finished.
Jason couldn't help but admire it. An invisibility cloak took a lot of work, and he had completed it within only a month. With the cloak's hood over his head, he was unseen as he travelled, until he reached the city. At the gates, he no longer wore it. As he approached the gates, he was suprised that no one recognized him.
But this could turn out to be a good thing.
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Meals at the castle had grown into a silent, tense situation for all of the girls and their father. King Thirsh tried his best to get them to eat something, yet, every one of them picked at their food. And no one spoke. The whole situation terrified the servants, who tried their very best not to break the eerie silence that was the dining hall.
As one particularly nervous servant struggled to bring in a pitcher to refill drinks, his trembling hand sent the platter and pitcher clattering to the floor. The noise was welcome, and Adelaide finally had the courage to speak.
"Father, you know what you're doing is wrong."
"Adelaide, what I am doing is for your own safety. You obviously do not trust me enough to tell me what's going on, and therefore I believe I deserve the right to lock your door at night." Thirsh's voice was calm, as if he had thought of what he was going to say decades before he did.
"But Father, you can't offer us up as prizes! Surely we're worth more than that!" Beliarosa chimed in, her own courage growing.
King Thirsh let out a heavy sigh, glancing to his two eldest daughters. "No. I've done what I felt was right, and I'm not going to change my thoughts just because you don't like it."
The table was silent until finally another broke the silence. "May I please be excused?" Camelai glanced hopefully at her father, but the King's answer was cut off as the door opened.
"My Lord.." A page dashed up to Thirsh. "There's another for the contest." This prompted a sigh from all of the girls. Adelaide just rolled her eyes.
"Send him in."
With that, the page scurried out, and the room was even more silent than before as they waited for this new arrival. Stepping into the doorway, Adelaide realized who this man was before he was even announced.
"Prince Jason, Crown Prince to the throne of..." The rest of the page's announcement was a blur in the Princess' ears, and she felt her face grow hot in rage. How dare he return after all this time. She thought, staring at the man in the doorway.
Her father, however, was more receptive. "Prince Jason! It has been so long, how fares your kingdom? And your studies? Surely you haven't come for the content.."
Smiling grimly, Jason nodded. "They are well, but I'm afraid I have come for the contest." He moved towards the table where Thirsh was standing and the girls were still seated.
"I pray, for your sake, that you are the one to win this contest then." Thirsh said, swallowing visibly. "You.. understand the, er, parameters of the contest?"
Jason nodded again. "I'm aware of the death sentance. That doesn't change my plans a bit."
Adelaide glared in his direction. "But it certainly changes mine." She turned, a whirl of silks following her as she fled from the room in the direction of the gardens.
"It's nice to see you too, Adelle." Jason called after her, but there was no response.
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The gardens always were beautiful in the evening, and tonight was no different. The moon and stars illuminated the pools that were artfully placed between rows of flowers, shrubs, and trees, all of which seemed to glow with unearthly beauty at night.
Adelaide found the garden soothing, and often her most difficult decisions were made with the water lillies for company. Seated by a shallow pool filled with fish, she trailed her fingers through the water, smiling faintly as some of the fish came up to try a nibble of her fingers.
Her reverie was broken as she heard Jason's voice again. "I thought you would've been a little happier seeing me again, Adelle."
She didn't look up from the pool. "Don't call me that. You are no longer my friend, and since you are not my friend, I must insist that you call me by my full name. Adelaide."
Jason winced. "Being a little harsh, aren't you?"
"I think I'm being quite rational for someone who was abandoned by her best friend when she needed him the most."
"Adelle, I told you that I had a great opportunity ahead of me and I couldn't pass it up."
"I told you not to call me that."
"Sorry."
Adelaide sighed, pulling her fingers from the fish and wiping them off lightly on the grass. "I don't understand why you came back, Jason."
Jason moved towards her. "I came for the contest. So I could marry you."
Her head snapped up at his words. "Marry me?! You think that I'm going to let myself be offered up as a prize to be won?"
Jason bit on his lip. "Adell--Adelaide, I didn't mean it like that, and you know it."
"I don't care! I don't care if you tell me you're in love with me a thousand times and that you'd do anything for me. Even if my father says I will, I won't just let myself be offered as a prize to be won! I'm tired of people running my life for me!"
"Adelaide, please!"
"I'm tired of people like you and my father trying to dominate me!" And once again, she fled, but this time to her room.
That night, both of them cried.