Chapter 7
Deryn awoke at the feeling of someone shaking her. It wasn't a pleasant feeling because the movement was moving her ribs and her head wasn't stable.
"Barking spiders, Newkirk! You daft middy, what is it? And stop, barking shaking me, you Dummkopf!" she exclaimed, struggling to open her heavy-lidded eyes.
"Excuse me, your Highness, but your mother, Her Royal Majesty, the Queen, is ready to see you," a young timid voice called from somewhere above her.
The unexpectedness of the voice made her pop her eyes open and sit up quickly, her head spinning and her ribs screaming all sorts of profanites at her. She instantly regretted the decision to open her eyes.
Deryn Sharp was no longer in her cabin bunk, nor was she on the Leviathan any longer. The room she was in was spacious and gold, a very grand room. Not even the captain had a cabin this nice.
What really caught her attention was the fact that she sat in an actual bed. Not a Leviathan cot, but a bed with a mattress. What's more, the bed had soft, clean linens and a heavy bedspread. But what surprised Deryn the most was the fact that there was a gold gilded canopy with a pink pulldown curtain.
"Where in blazes am I?" Her eyes showed her the one thing her mind just wouldn't believe.
"You're in the Queen's Royal Palace," the small voice said again.
Deryn swung her eyes to the voice to see a small young girl, probably sixteen, a year younger than Deryn herself. She was dressed in a simple black dress with a white apron and a ridiculous looking hat on top of her pinned back brown hair. Her dark brown eyes were large and innocent.
"Barking brilliant. Who was the bum-rag covered in clart that brought me here?" She demanded, pushing back the bed covers, relieved to find her middies uniform still in place, linking her to her beloved ship.
"You were brought here by Jaques, Princess," said the young girl, her eyes glued to the floor, her hands twitching nervously.
"You ninny, did you just call me 'Princess?' And what is your name? I can't keep going around calling you girl!"
"I'm Mazie," she said, the english lilt in her voice much different than the german ones she'd grown used to.
"Aye, of course you are." she mumbled under her breath.
A knock came from the other side of the heavy looking door.
She waited for the person to enter for a long time, becoming agitated when no one came in.
Mazie spoke softly once more, "They're waiting for your permission to enter, Princess."
"E-enter?" she called, unsure.
The door opened and a tall, balding man stepped through, bowing as he did so.
"Hello, Princess," the man said. He had and French accent, this time.
Does everyone have a barking accent here? she wondered, annoyed.
"I am Jaques Jean Luc."
"So, your the one who brought me here," Deryn said, launching herself off the bed at the man, who easily caught her and pinned her hands behind her back. She struggled, but couldn't get free.
"Princesses don't act like common airmen."
"I am a common airmen!" She declared, angry at the insult. Her anger gave her the power to break free from the hold and make a mad dash for the door, ignoring her screaming pains, but not being able to keep the pained grimace off her face.
She ran out the door, slamming it with all of her might. She forever down the unending hallway until it did end, then she made a split decision of going left.
There was a door at the end of the hallway. She figured it might be an exit. She ran for it, putting on a burst of speed, despite her burning lungs, hateful ribs and pounding skull.
Her panting was heavily audible to her ears, and the used the last of her strength to push open the gold doors and stood in the door frame panting...