Grooming Weeds

Act Four

So this was the palace? Huh. When anyone thought of a castle they'd assume it was going to be big but this? This was huge! She had grown up in a smaller home and even living in one now sometimes it was cluttered, sometimes it was 'lived in'. Fighting for space or piling dirty clothes in a lump in the corner of the room wasn't out of the question, even as she moved into her adult years and home. How was Heather gonna deal with all of this space? Hell, even stepping through the echoing rooms was enough to make her uneasy.

Rye lifted her chin, eyes grazing over the fine art pieces and sculptures. Kids lived in this place? Hm, and everything was still in one piece? Amazing. While she hadn't heard any children yet the sound of other castle staff and guards speaking filled the air. At least there was that, she couldn't imagine a place that was completely silent.

"I must say your sister was quite determined about getting a job here at the castle."

The depth of Baileywick's voice caught the four-eyed female's attention. She shifted her chin down and straightened her field of vision to see the male's back. "Yeah, that sounds like her."

"It's nice to see that kind of dedication in a young person." He chuckled just under his breath.

"Runs in the family, our mom and dad are the same way. Stubborn, like a bull." Rye felt a smile grow across her features.

"Ah," The white-haired man lifted his chin and looked just slightly over his shoulder. "You're the same way then?"

"To a point I guess," She replied just as the older steward slowed his row, now standing beside her rather than in front. "I'm probably the least hardheaded of us all. Heather has a habit of going from willpower to stubborn to relentless. It can get her into trouble actually."

Again Baileywick laughed, this time equipping a small smile to accompany it. "But what about you? What do you do for a living Ms. Matthews?"

Oh. What was the sudden change in subject? It wasn't like she was here to talk about herself. In fact, she'd rather leave the subject of herself out of conversation all together! "I uh, work as a librarian. Head librarian." Rye turned away, moving her nose downward and eyes away from him.

"Quite an accomplishment for such a young lady." His tone lightened, almost as if he knew she were anxious. "Do you have any degrees?"

"Yes." Not that it was important.

"Very good."

At least he could take the hint that she didn't want to talk about herself. Maybe he'd experienced something similar in the past? Ah well. Better not think too much about it. Heather needed her to be strong at this point. How would it make her younger sister feel if she were a bundle of nerves or crying by the time she got to her? Hea would give up her job in a second. No, that's not what she wanted. They both needed to move forward.

"Your sister's things should be here any minute now," He spoke again, the subject of her home life long gone. "Don't worry about putting anything together; I'll have the movers take care of it."

"Oh good." Heavy lifting was not one of her strongest suits. "Does Heather know about Bug yet?" Best to ask about Hea's dog now and get idea of where this was all going.

"No not yet," Baileywick answered pretty fast, how did he know what she was gonna ask? "I haven't seen her this morning. I was planning on telling her when she gets here."

"I hope she isn't giving the guards any trouble." Rye clenched her jaw, the urge to laugh hitting her throat. Oh god, she better not bite anyone. That'd be the last thing they'd need.

"I wouldn't worry about it."

Because you don't know her. That Pomeranian could prove more trouble than expected. Sure, she looked cute but she had a bite on her. Then again when the guards arrived at the door the dog seemed pretty calm. Buuuut, that was before things started moving all around and the guards came into the house. Maybe telling them that a little chicken would sooth the savage beast would have been a good idea. It was something to remember in the future anyway, a bit of advice never hurt, right?

"King Roland agreed without much thought," Baileywick spoke once again.

"Thank you. I'm sure Heather will really appreciate it."

"It wasn't too much of a problem." He nodded.

Not too much of a problem? What did that mean? Agh. Stop over analyzing everything!

"I'd like to surprise her with the news," Rye said after taking a moment to clear her throat. "That way when she hears, Bug will be right there. Can we do that?"

"I don't see why not."

Good. It was gonna be hard enough to separate from each other as it was, at least Bug would be there to take care of her sis in the meantime. Heaven knew that they'd both need some comfort in the coming days. It was gonna take some time to get used to being alone. But if this promised a better future for their family, she could adjust.

XoXoX

Who knew that one princess could have so many tiaras or crowns or jewelry?! What time was it? Going through the museum of Amber took about thirty minutes max and even with her quick, clumsy, awkward exit she was still managing to run late. Gah! She should have been paying attention on the walk down to the kid's rooms! Damn, what was she doing the whole time? Sure she was yakking it up with James and Sofia but that shouldn't have distracted her that much!

How does a full grown woman get lost inside a building? Sure, it was a castle, the king's castle nonetheless but she should have more wit than to just get lost after a few long hallways! Everything looked so familiar at first but then things started to look very unfamiliar to fast! How many portraits of horses and pegasi did one palace need?! Eventually all the hallways would have to come together to form a single hall, right?!

You need to find someone, quick. Someone, anyone!

The child inside of her knew that running in any kind of hall whether it be in a school or a castle was wrong but this was a dire situation! Besides 'speed walking' wasn't exactly running, was it? As long as she got where she was going that was all that mattered! There was no one around to see her anyway! Just as long as she stopped 'jogging' before she saw Mr. Baileywick, she'd be safe.

Didn't that castle steward mention yesterday that they were overstaffed? If that was the case, where was everyone?! She just needed one person who knew their way around this damn castle, was that so much to ask f-

A sudden solid, warm mass slammed into her chest. The force of impact made the made fall back several steps but she recovered before falling on her caboose. Before she could regain her focus the sound of a deep grunt made her heart slam in her chest. Oh man, did she really just crash into someone? Sure, she was just literally praying for someone to come to her aide but this was not really what she meant.

"Oh, I am so sorry! I just, oh geez I'm sorry!" Heather was quick to plead her chase just as her eyes adjusted.

Starting from the floor up, the dark color purple made her blanch. Who? Her eyes skipped the majority of his legs and torso and went straight for his face. The odd combination of white and black hair caught her interest first of all. Huh, he didn't look like a butler or cook or even custodian, did he even work here? Maybe he was family to King Roland? Although he looked nothing like the big cheese.

Pale, tall and thin he stood brushing himself off almost like he'd been in a carriage accident. Oh man, she didn't hurt him by knocking into him, did she? He looked pretty frail for a guy. It was a miracle that he stood through the whole event!

"Could you watch where you're going?!" He snapped in a rather loud voice before even looking at her. "You nearly killed me!"

Heather's eyes narrowed. Okay, she could think all she wanted about how she almost snapped this guy in two but having him say it out loud was NOT okay! Did this guy not know how to talk to girls or something?

But, she had to bite her tongue. She had no clue who he could be and until she was sure she wouldn't lose her job over it, she wasn't gonna snap at him. "Like I said, I'm really sorry. I'm just in a rush and I…" She slumped forward. "Sorry…"

Finally he broke from his heavy concentration of fixing his robes and turned her way. His darker eyes landed on her face and for a moment he squinted at her. He then released his stare and retorted to giving her a smug, disgusted glare.

"You're new. I haven't seen you around here before."

"Uh, yeah. So, I have to go." Heather took several steps forward, passing the stranger.

"A bit of advice," She paused and glanced over her shoulder and watched as the male spoke without even turning to look at her. "Next time you're late for something, pay attention to where you're going and," His shoulders stiffened. "Try not to charge through the halls like a wandering rhinoceros."

Rhi…Rihno…Rhinoceros?! Her jaw dropped. How did he know?!

Big talk from the guy who willing walked into someone who obviously wasn't paying attention to where she was going! Who did that?! Did he think she would automatically dart to the left side of the hall just because he was walking on the right? Jerk.

Last time I talk to you…wait.

Ah man. Why was it when she needed one person, just one person, to ask for directions she had to run into this guy!? Ugh, if she weren't in such a pickle right now she'd try on her own again but who knew what time it was and how much of it she had left! Sure, he practically called her a rhino but she only had to talk to him one last time, if karma was on her side anyway.

Suck it up, Hea.

With her front teeth pressed down on her bottom lip, she whirled around. The man hadn't gotten far, only a dozen or so feet away, was that a good thing? He could have bolted. Ah well.

"Sir?" She called out and made a small dash toward the taller male. "Excuse me, sir?"

He continued.

Gah, was this guy a jerk or what?! "Sir!"

Finally he paused and moved his chin over his left shoulder. Heather seized the moment, catching up with him. Again he looked down at her almost like she was a piece of trash, what was that about? He had to be a part of the royal family or something.

"What do you want now?"

"I'm sorry again sir but I'm actually kinda lost. I need to get to the main hall. Can you tell me where to go?" She asked, a small bead of sweat moving down her temple.

He was silent for what seemed like a prolonged moment. His smug expression remained even as he began to speak, "If you want to get to main hall you'll need to continue down this one then make the first two lefts you'll see."

"Oh, thanks!" A wave of relief swept through her body.

Before parting, Heather dipped her head before the male. He was royalty right? He certainly acted like it anyway. Sure it hurt her huge sense of pride to bow to someone who called her a rhino but he didn't have to give her directions. It was the least she could do; he was saving her a lot of trouble and time.

"Excuse me." She said just as she lifted her chin. She then spun around and made a mad dash for the end of the hall.

She couldn't be late, not this time, not on the first day! She could get there in time, she knew she could. Just a few more halls and she'd be there then she'd get to see Rye! That was more than enough motivation.

Act End.

Author's Note: So this chapter was really short. I'm sorry. I really wanted to get out these two chapters because Cedric finally made his appearance! I know it is a bit strange that he hasn't appeared until this point but I wanted to set up the story a bit before moving to his entrance.

Anyway, I doubt that they'll be any more chapters this short, I try to make each one about 6-9 pages long. (This one came out at 5.)

I digress; from this point on he'll be the hugest part of the story, seeing as this is a fan fiction centered around his character. So I'll get to working on the next part ASAP. Thanks for reading you guys, the hits/favs/watches/reviews mean a lot to me. I hope you come back for chapter 5.

Much love,

CaBu12.