Princess Lily

Chapter 34

It came to a point that Sasha became so annoying in the infirmary that she got kicked out. She miserably went outside. The rest of the men had just come out from digging through rubble, trying to find a few more people rumored to be trapped inside. Georg taking advantage of his dirt clad clothes ran over and hugged Sasha.

 "No!" she exclaimed. "First James and now you!" 

 "How’s James?" asked Georg. "Are his wounds healing? " 

 Sasha shrugged. "How should I know, go look for yourself!" she snapped. 

 Everyone ran towards the infirmary as Sasha walked on. She saw a couple of girls playing in the mud. One girl seemed to be trying to wipe the mud off of herself. 

 "Hello." Said Sasha eyeing the blade the girl was using to wipe mud of her shoes. "Mud is an awfully annoying thing here." 

 The girl shook her head. "I like mud." 

 "Then why are you taking it of?" asked Sasha as the girl took the mud off and put it in a bucket.

 "So I could do this!" the girl exclaimed and threw the bucket of mud at Sasha.

 "Aaauughhh!" Sasha shrieked ,and went back towards the infirmary. 

The children's laughter rang in Sasha's ear, making her feel embarrassed and infuriated. She slammed the door open where Edisson, Georg, James, Carl and Jonathon were. James and Jonathon were shirtless, their chests bandaged heavily.  

"James we're leaving!" she exclaimed. She grabbed his shirt with her index finger and thumb. "Put your your shirt on now and let's go back to the palace!"

 "We can't leave yet Sasha," said Georg. "Some men are still trapped. James is in no position to travel and Jonathon was hurt pretty badly. It'll take a lot of money to get him better. Money only we can provide." 

 "I don't care," said Sasha. "I want to go home!"  She then promptly began to cry. 

 "Calm down Sasha," said Carl trying his hand in placating her. 

 "Why isn't Lily here yet?" asked James impatiently. "She didn't even reply to my letter." His face was etched with worry. "Did she even get my letter at the palace?" 

 “I wouldn’t put it past mother to keep her from coming,” Carl warned. “When she told me to make my way here and help you, I told her it would be good to take Lily but mother said this was no place for a future empress to be staying.” 

 "I don't care about Lily!" Sasha shrieked. "I want to go home!" 

 "Listen I'll go with Sasha," Said Carl. "And I'll write to you you once I find out about Lily." 

 "Thank you Carl,"  James    said quietly.

 "Don't mention it. Come on Sasha," said Carl. 

 * * * 

Lily felt dread creep into her heart as they passed the palace gates. What terrible things would the Empress do to her now? She stepped down from her horse and at once felt a great pressure on her left arm. It was the Empress. 

 "Chain her horse up!" she screamed in a fury. "She shouldn't even be allowed to come visit it! Counselor Vesky , take away her parrot!" Lily felt Sophia's grip tighten on her arm as she led Lily into the castle and threw her into her room.

 “He’s a lovebird!” Lily exclaimed as Empress Sophia slammed Lily’s door behind her.

 * * * 

 Carl arrived home happily. He walked in and went to Lily's sitting room. He knocked on the door, asking her servant girl to seek her mistresses permission for him to enter. 

 "Whoever it is, can come in." came Lily's subdued voice. 

 It was morning and Lily sat on her couch watching the sun rise. The rays of light shined on every right spot on her making her look like an angel. Carl, not for the first time, felt jealousy course through him at how lucky his brother was to have her. She looked up and her face was filled with happiness.

 "Carl!" she exclaimed and stood up. She ran and hugged him. "Carl I missed you so much! You just ran off without even telling me you were leaving! Where's James?" 

 "James is still at the village," supplied Carl. "He was needed there."

 Lily nodded. "I understand. But sit. Tell me about your adventures with the villagers."

 So Carl talked on and told her about what happened to James. He watched as her look of horror at James wounds turned into relief as Carl assured her he was O.K.  

 * * *  

"Oh that Lily!" Sasha exclaimed as she tried to write a letter. 

 The first thing Carl had done upon coming to the palace was go see Lily. All Counselor Vesky could talk about was Lily's perfect parrot. The palace was in an uproar over praise for the future Empress. Well, Sasha would see to it that things changed soon.   She finished her letter and sent it off.

 "Keep a look out for the Baron to come within a day or two," said Sasha airily to her servant. 

 * * *

 It wasn’t until late evening that Lily ventured from her room , it was in the dining room that she saw a tall attractive black haired dark green eyed girl sitting next to Empress Sophia. Lily suddenly remembered how James had mentioned girls at court with elaborate gowns and nary a hair out of place. Lily suspected he’d been alluding to this very girl for she seemed the epitome of perfection and grace. Lily absentmindedly patted down her hair. "Who's that?" asked Lily to Carl as she sat down next to him for dinner. The girl was fanning herself haughtily and was looking down on everyone. 

"That's Sasha, she's a real nightmare. She's mothers pet,” Said Carl. "She lives in the palace with us. Ever since we were six." Lily absorbed this news, realizing that this was the girl the empress wanted her heir to marry. “Had her eye on my brother since forever but he’s always stayed far away from her,” Carl assured.

 Lily’s heart clenched painfully over the reminder that James wasn’t here. She quietly ate her dinner, meekly obeying the empresses one word instructions whenever she made a mistake when it came to dining etiquette. 

 Lily didn’t notice Sasha’s smug smile every time Lily made a mistake.