Chapter 11: Lies and Princesses
"Lady Irma, are you busy?" Cedric called softly. No answer emitted from the room behind the heavy oaken door. He pounded on the door again. "Lady Irma?"
The handmaiden who had began to serve Irma edged the door ever so slightly and peered out at him, gave a relieved sigh, and opened the door wider. "Oh, thank the heavens, Lord Cedric! Lady Irma has been ill for hours now. I can't help her--I don't know what to do!" She whimpered.
A weak voice emitted from behind her. "Roesli, thank you for your help,but I am feeling better now. Please, take my letter to a messenger and have it sent to the palace." Irma said faintly.
The handmaiden nodded and fair sprinted out of the room, clearly glad to be rid of her sick mistress and to have a chance to emerge from the bunker.
Irma sat down in a chair and took a sip of water. "Morning sickness." She explained. "Roesli just sits behind me and fusses the whole time."
Cedric joined her. "Uh-huh." He murmured. "Lady Irma...we have news that I have been urged to tell you. Prince Phobos has discovered that the Guardians have made plans to hurt you...and steal the baby as soon as it's born. Whether it's to kill the baby or not, we do not know."
Irma froze quietly. "No." She whispered. Her hand formed a small fist. "They wouldn't. They would never take the baby--would they?"
Cedric shrugged. "I think you need to ask yourself that, my lady." He said, trying to ignore the open hurt on her face.
Irma was beginning to cry, no doubt aided by her excess hormones. "I was hoping they would understand! I wanted them to return here to visit...it gets so lonely."
Cedric smiled thoughtfully. "Well...Phobos has discovered who his sister is. She'll move here soon..."
Neither Irma nor Cedric saw a small figure slidding away from them
Later...
"They plan to blame us." Caleb said in disbelief. "Why? We're Irma's friends; we wouldn't kill her baby!"
"That's what Cedric said." Will pointed out. "And we can't exactly e-mail Irma and let het know it's a lie...can we?" She flipped her reddish hair out of her face with a hand and stared bleakly at her feet.
"Irma shouldn't be that foolish." Hay Lin agreed. "I think the next person to sneak into the bunker should tell Irma, though, just in case."
"There's only one problem with that, Hay Lin." Caleb said darkly. "Phobos found his sister. He sent her to the bunker... and decided to put it under 5 month lock down."
"5 months!" Cornelia shouted. "We can't wait that long; Elyon will be completely turned against us!"
"Yeah, and there's only one other problem." Caleb said wearily. "Irma is due in 5 and a half months."
