Chapter 3: Meetings Part One

Stephanie walked past Evan, why was he sitting?, and went to her room. Once she was in, she closed and locked the door. Her room was in the east wing, most of the servant's quarters were. She didn't know why the Prince decided to put his room here too, but she dropped that thought and went over to her wardrobe. She changed into one of the silk shirts Meredith gave her, as well as pants, and collapsed on her bed. She looked around her small room. Most rooms were bigger than this, but she had wanted it. It was decorated the same as the other rooms, well the same as the guard's rooms, a bed on the south end of the room, a desk, a window looking over the front lawn of the castle, and a wardrobe. She had moved the small bed to the south-west corner of her room and put the wardrobe facing north at the foot of it, then she had moved the desk next to the wardrobe so the entire north wall was bare.

A while later she heard a knock on her door, she opened it and one of the maids stood there. "It's time for dinner." she said in a soft voice. She was looking at the ground, and had her hands clamped behind her.

"Thank you, Catharine." she answered and stepped outside so Catharine could lead her to the dining hall. She knew the way, but the maids and servants insisted on escorting them. Once she sat down she waited for the others, they probably hadn't gotten dressed yet. She took her seat on the right side, where the Princess sat at the head, about two chairs from the head. The next in was Jenna who sat to the left of Stephanie, then Evan who sat across from Stephanie, then Alyssa who sat on the right of Stephanie next to the head, and then Cory who sat across from Alyssa. There were more girls at the table than boys, but none of them minded. Then they got up to address the royal siblings, once they were seated the cooks wheeled out the food. They were having turkey, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, mac and cheese, mixed fruit, ham, and for desert chocolate pudding. When everyone had a plateful, the talking began. First Cory who talked about the army, then Alyssa who talked about her idea, the Princess approved and the Prince was silent, Jenna had nothing to report as did Evan. Then all the attention was on Stephanie who always made the first joke of the evening. She glanced around, drank some water, then suddenly jumped up. Everyone else got out of their seats as well thinking she was in pain. Her face was contorted and she was gripping her throat. Then finally she screamed out, "I'M MELTING! MELTING!" then jumped up and cackled. Most everyone laughed, except for Billy who was still poking his food and being silent and Cory who did not take part in jokes.

When the show was over regular conversations popped up all around the table. Stephanie cracked the occasional joke, Alyssa added her quirky remarks, Jenna played a prank on Evan who just laughed along, and Meredith acted confused at everything that happened. Billy and Cory were whispering to each other, no one really noticed except for Stephanie. She saw Billy suddenly get up, as if he was sick, and run out of the room. Meredith and Evan both got up to go see what was wrong, but Stephanie spoke up.

"Let me talk to him, your highness. He knows I'm stubborn he'll tell me." Meredith nodded and the joker ran out to find the Prince. Her first guess was his room, he wasn't there. Then she went to check the servants quarters, he hid there when he was upset, nope. Finally she checked the castle library, one of her personal favorite places. It was small, but had two stories of books. She saw Billy's head hide behind a tall bookshelf and she heard some shuffling. She chuckled and walked over, but went in the aisle next to the one he was hiding in. Then quietly she used the ladder to climb to the top of the shelf, when she was up she could see him. He was looking around the corner, looking for her probably. He didn't call out her name like he usually did, so he most likely didn't know it was her. She walked on top of the bookshelf looking down at him, once she was right over him she quietly climbed down the shelves and when she was at falling distance she let go. She landed on top of him, she quickly pinned his arms down and put her knee on his stomach so he couldn't get away. She smirked as he struggled against her. "It's no use, your highness, you know perfectly well that I am stronger than you." He gave up at these words and looked angrily up at her.

"What do you want, Jester?" he called her that to annoy her. "Assaulting your prince is against the law!"

She moved both his arms to one hand and shushed him, "No yelling in the library." When she saw his pout she laughed and moved off him, "Why don't you tell me why you ran away from dinner?" she asked as she made herself comfortable on the shelves. He sat next to her and sighed in defeat.

"Cory told me of a threat that was coming toward the kingdom." he said and tucked his knees closer to him.

"A threat?" she asked surprised. The kingdom rarely got threats, it didn't have much recourses so no one tried to take it from them.

"Not a big one, just someone trying to scare us I guess."

"Then why run away and not tell anybody?"

"My parents, they died with a threat. It was a death threat and they were warned not to anyone. They did and they paid for it."

"Oh." she didn't know what to say. She thought the King and Queen had died from old age. They were nearing their time as it was.

Billy got angry and stood up. "'Oh'? That's all you can say?! What if it's a death threat against me!? Or even worse, my sister!"

Stephanie stood up and grabbed his arms, gently. "I didn't mean it like that. I thought that your parents had died, differently." she said in a calming voice. "I am sure it was not a death threat. Even if it is, you can count on us to keep you safe. I promise." she smiled and gave a quick hug. "Go back to dinner."

"What about you?" he asked walking towards the door.

"Oh, I'm full. I might read for a bit." she smirked and turned to look at some books. Once she heard the door close her smirk faded and she looked over her shoulder. Gone. She slid down the shelves and hid her head in her arms. Silent sobs could be heard through the library.