Whoo! Second Chapter! (:
Chapter Two
I woke up in my bed, dressed in a night gown. My eye focused on my ceiling and I rose up slowly, my head spinning. Imogen was sitting on the floor talking to Eli who was sitting at my desk. A loud bang sounded and I jumped, falling out of my bed onto the hard marble floor.
"Princess!" Imogen yelled, jumping up. She knelt down next to me, brushing my hair back into place. Eli stood as well. "Are you alright?" she asked. I nodded smiling weakly. I fixed my nightgown and slowly stood up with help from Imogen. I walked to my balcony, pulling the curtains back. Imogen came and closed them again.
"I'm sorry Princess, but I have strict orders to not let you see outside or for anyone to see you inside" She explained.
"So I can't even let some sunlight into my room now?" I told her. "Great, first marriage, now imprisonment" I muttered under my breath, my eyebrows scrunching together.
"I'm sorry" Imogen whispered. I shook my head, place my hand on her shoulder.
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be rude to any of you because I'm mad at myself" I told her, sitting back down on my bed.
"Princess, shall we leave so that you may get ready for the day?" Imogen asked. I nodded and smiled, so grateful for her.
"Yes, thank you so much" I told her. She smiled at me and headed for the door. She left and I was about to strip out of my nightgown when I remembered, Eli was still here. I twirled around to find him leaning against my wall.
"Oh, don't mind me" he said. He smirked, winked and walked out of my room. "Good day Princess" he said, before closing my door. I blushed and sighed, stripping out of my nightgown. I found a beautiful knee length white elbow length dress and slipped that on. I put on my jewelry and socks. I checked myself in the mirror once, and made my way downstairs to breakfast. Breakfast looked the same as yesterday. Everyone in the same place. I took my place next to Ali and helped myself to two chocolate chip pancakes drowned in sugary syrup. The waiter poured me a glass of apple juice and I kindly thanked him. Everybody ate in silence, then Ali spoke.
"So I've heard about Reese and all that, but Father...what exactly did he do?" she asked hesitantly. Father sighed and looked at me. I nodded and he began talking.
"Reese was an old family friend. Clare and him were the best of friends for the longest time. Their long friendship soon turned into a courtship" Dad looked away, a smile on his face. "I've never seen Clare so happy in those months they were together. They were perfect for each other. Loving and kind. And I honestly thought, that he would be the King after my time here is up. I thought that Clare would want to marry him. But it turned out, he was only in it for that. Power" Father growled through his teeth. Then I spoke.
"But soon our loving relationship turned...bad. He became evil, mean. And abusive. Very, very abusive" I paused, holding back tears. "I didn't tell anyone for the longest time. I always had people do things for me. People to solve my problems for me. So I just thought that someone would find out and put a stop to it. It never happened. Then one night, after a really big fight we had...I snapped. I screamed and fought and threw things everyone. And finally the truth came out" I chuckled, remembering that night.
"That was a...interesting night" Father said, smiling a little. I laughed sadly.
"So that's it?" Ali asked me. I shook my head. "I wish. Sadly, no, that's not it. Before you Ali, I had a twin brother, Declan. He was next in line for King. And don't get me wrong, I had no problem with it whatsoever. Everyone knew he would make a great King. But as Father said, Reese wanted to be King. He wanted to marry me, and become King with the marriage. " I paused.
"So what did Reese do?" Imogen asked me.
"Reese killed my brother" I whispered. "At first, Reese made it look like Declan had killed himself. But we had a investigator come in one more time and we saw that, someone else had hung Declan, not himself. We found slight fingerprints on Declan's neck and got everyone in the palace tested. Reese was a direct match. That morning we were going to arrest him. But he was no where to be found" I sighed. "The guards looked for him for years, but then finally thought someone else had gotten to him"
"Apperantly we were wrong" Father said. I sighed and nodded in agreement.
"Can we change the subject please. I'd rather not be depressed during breakfast" I said, with a small smile. Father smiled at me heartily. "So Ali, how did you sleep?" I asked her. She laughed and set her glass down.
"Very good" she told me. I nodded.
"Eli, Imogen, Drew? How'd you sleep?" I asked them, a smile on my face at their shock expressions. Drew laughed as Ali did.
"I slept pretty good. No storm tonight" Drew said. I nodded my head in agreement.
"Very good" Imogen said, smiling. She looked at Eli and he blushed. What...
"I slept good as well Princess" he told me and I smiled.
We dismissed breakfast and Ali, Mother, Father, and I played a board game. We gave the servants the day off so the house was very busy with people enjoying a break. After about 3 hours, the board game finally finished. We laughed and I got up to use the restroom. As I walked up the hallway, Imogen stepped out of the guest room, a sheet wrapped around her torso. I stared at her.
"Oh, Princess!" She almost shouted. Her eyes went wide and her face paled.
"Imo-" I started.
"Hey, babe. Whats wrong?" Eli stepped out, shirtless. He smiled at her and when his eyes met mine, his jaw dropped. I shook my head and took a step back.
"Clare..." Eli started.
"Sorry...um...w-wrong timing. Have a good afternoon" I ushered out. I turned around and practically ran down the stairs.
"Wait! Clare!" Eli yelled. I didn't even flinch. I just kept going. I finally reached Ali's door. I knocked rapidly, almost in tears. Ali opened the door and I sighed in relief. She gladly let me in and I sat on her bed.
"I'm so stupid" I told her. She stared at me, and I let everything out. My whole crush on Eli, the weird eye connection between Eli and Imogen and what just happened.
After a good couple hours of crying and confessions, Ali helped me sneak back into my room. I fell down on the soft mattress my eyes open and wide. Right before I fell asleep, I heard the horn sounding again, letting us now that we could go back outside again. Because of that, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
I got up extra early the next morning. I slipped on jeans, a nice flowered tank top and riding shoes. I snuck down my balcony ladder and quietly ran across the pathway to the horse stables. I knew Drew nor Eli wouldn't be there so I grabbed Romeo, petting him lightly. I hoisted myself up on him and we galloped through the meadows and pastures. God, I love this horse.
We galloped for hours, my hair whipping around my face. Soon our little piece of heaven was ruined.
"Princess! Princess! Oh where are you Princess!" I heard Fiona yell. I smiled and raced Romeo back to the stables. I caught sight of her and galloped the short way to her. I smiled at her.
"Sorry. I probably should have left a note or something" I said, out of breath. "I've been out here ever since sunrise. It's so peaceful" I told her. She put her hand over her heart and let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh Princess, you certainly cannot do that. I nearly had a heart attack. You can only imagine how your Father is" she told me.
"Oh my Father! I'm so sorry Fiona! Did he yell at you? Oh, I better go talk to him. It wasn't your fault" I said. She smiled and waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh Princess, he didn't yell at me. He just kindly told me to go find you. I think he knew deep down that you were out here" she said with a smile. I smiled back.
"Well thank you Fiona. You may go back inside now, I'll be in as soon as I put Romeo away" I smiled at her. She bowed and left, slightly skipping. I smiled and hopped down from Romeo and took my time leading him to this stable. I grabbed a brush and slowly—gently—started to brush his hair back. His black matted hair soon turned smooth, shiny, and neat. I gave a few brush strokes to his mane and fed him some oats and a carrot. I petted his nuzzle, cooing things to him
"Hello Princess" Eli said, his voice smooth. I looked up at him and my heart broke at the sight of his slight hickey. I smiled warmly at him.
"Good morning Eli. How'd you sleep?" I asked. He nodded his head.
"Pretty good" he cleared his throat. "You know, if you would've called me I could have put Romeo away for you. Taking care of horses is not a job for a Princess" he told me. I laughed.
"Well believe it or not, this Princess, use to take care of the horses all the time" I told him, smiling. "And beside, I didn't want to bother you, or anyone for that matter" He chuckled and shook his head.
"Princess, I think you have every right to bother your servants" he told me. That's when I looked at him again and our eyes met. He smirked and I smiled slightly. I turned back to Romeo, brushing him yet again. The silence between us was usually peaceful, but after last night this silence was excruciating. Painful. "We need to talk...about last night" he said, after a good 15 minutes of silence.
"There's nothing to talk about" I told him, still brushing Romeo's left side. Eli sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"We wanted to tell you, we really did" he started.
"Eli you don't have to explain anything to me" I interrupted him. He opened his mouth to speak again, but then Drew came in sweaty and shirtless. Hmm...Ali was right. I blushed at my inappropriate thought. When Drew saw me he jumped.
"Oh, excuse me Princess, I didn't expect you to be out here. I would've been clothed if I knew" he told me, obviously thinking he disrespected me. I laughed and shook my head.
"It's fine Drew, really" I looked at Eli and he looked back. "I was just leaving anyway" I put the brush away and kissed Romeo on the head.
"Good day fellas" I called over my shoulder, as I walked up to the pathway. Simpson opened the door for me and I thanked him. "Father?" I called.
"In the dining room sweetie! We have company! Come come!" he called. I rolled my eyes and flattened my shirt. The door opened and Eli and Drew walked in, both fully clothed. We all three walked into the dining room and Eli and Drew took their seats. I stayed standing, eyeing the blue-eyed boy in the ridiculous outfit.
"Ah, Clare darling, your here" Father announced. I nodded my head slowly.
"I am. And who is this?" I asked. Imogen then walked in, bowing slightly, apologizing for being late. Imogen looked—excuse my being rude—terrible. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair was barely combed and you could see tear stains running down her cheeks. What happened?
My Father waved if off.
"This is Prince Mark" Father announced. Mark looked at me, and smiled and suddenly I felt like running away. His smile was so sinister...dark.
"Hello Princess" he greeted, bowing. He walked towards me, taking my hand in his and kissed it gently. His lips were rough and cracked. Not a very good quality.
"Hello" I said quickly. I caught sight of Eli and he didn't look to happy. He's eyes were in slits, glaring at Mark with a passion. His jaw was clenched tightly and his fist were balled up into on the table.
"I have picked Prince Mark to marry you" my Father announced. I gasped, ripped my hand away from Mark and took a step back. Everyone's jaw dropped and Eli's eye tightened even more.
"Marry?" I whispered, barely audible.
"Yes, marry" my Father said. Mark took my hand once again.
"Speechless, I see. A very fine quality in a wife. I'm sure you'll be the perfect wife for me. And together we will rule this Kingdom to victory" he purred. Father laughed giddily, and I couldn't disguise my horror-struck face.
"We shall make wedding plans, immediately" My Father clapped and he, Mark and Mother went off somewhere.
Ali stood up and walked to me, trying to stop my shaking. She pulled me into a hug and I immediately started crying.
As I cried, I could only think of one thing. One person really.
Eli.
Ohhhh Snap! (: Hehe. Um, I'm not really sure where I'm taking this story. I am NOT going to discontinue it, I promise you that. (I hate it when other authors do that) But if updates are slow, it's because of writers block. :/ Blegh.
And for all that are wondering (halfaheart52), No Adam will not be a FTM. And a humongous thank you to: jjpage! (: Your suggestion helped me soo much! (: Thanks you guys! (: So...review? (: