His Princess Mate

7 - Bizarre

დRoseდ

I could not believe my eyes, however, as I stared at her, I knew. It was almost as if I was looking into a mirror, she had the same honey-colored hair, although her’s was loose and wild and she had the same brown eyes.

“Mother,” I whispered as I continued to stare at her. I suppose I should have taken more notice of the fact that she was drinking directly from the bottle or the fact that didn’t seem to be wearing any clothing, with the exception of the coat or that her feet were bare. Questions filled my mind as I battled with what was happening.

“Rose,” her voice, so much like my own, held a hint of age and experience that left me with a cold chilling feeling rushing down my spine. “Are you, at the very least, happy to see me?” she then asked, and I nodded numbly.

“I do not understand, what are you doing here?” the question left my lips before I could stop myself and I continued to stare at the woman I had not seen in so many years.

“I came to see you, of course,” she answered. “Although, I do apologize for this bizarre meeting,” she added, and I shrugged as I finally started taking more notice of what was going on around us. The air had a chill that caused me to shiver and as the sun rose even higher in the sky, I already knew that today was going to be warm.

“Where have you been? Why are you here now?” the questions rolled off my tongue as I continued to wonder if this was all a dream.

“All will be revealed in good time, Rose,” she said with a soft smile. I still could not believe that my mother was standing before me. “Again, I apologize for this bizarre meeting, and I promise that I will tell you everything but for right now, I only need one thing from you…” her voice trailed off as she seemed to look past me. I wanted to turn around to see what she saw but I was rather curious as to what she wanted from me.

“What is it?” I pushed when she said nothing. My mother sighed as she snapped her attention back to me.

“You cannot tell anyone that I am back or that we met,” she said.

“Why on earth not?” I questioned in surprise. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by her request and yet, a part of me knew that something just was not right about all of this.

“As I said, Rose, all will be revealed in good time,” she smiled once again and then turned slightly. Her behavior was odd, and I knew that something was…off…however, I had no idea what nor how to explain it. “I must be going,”

“So soon?”

“Yes, Rose, however, I will return and the next time you see me, I will use the front door,” I could hear the teasing, joking tone in her voice but it was so unusual to me that I simply nodded. My mother leaned forward and kissed my cheek before she hurried back into the forest. I shook my head as I picked up the basket and empty bottle. I was surprised that she had managed to drink all of it and as I inspected the basket, I found it to be empty. Had I not been paying that much attention? I slowly made my way back to the castle as I thought about how strange it was to have seen my mother once again after all these years. She had promised to return but yet, the question was, when? I wanted nothing more than to inform my father of the strange meeting but on the other hand, I wanted my mother to trust me. She was the only one that could answer the questions I had. Once I was safely back inside the castle, I hurried upstairs to my bedchamber. Two steps at a time as I held onto my dark brown skirt.

“Madam?” I opened my mouth to scream as I spun around to see Viviane standing by the foot of my bed. I clasped my hand over my mouth while I stared at the girl. “Is everything alright?” she then asked. She pointed over to the bed, which was now perfectly made. “I came in to awaken you to find you were not in your bed,” although her tone held no notes of accusation, I felt guilty. I dropped my hand and ran them along the side of my skirt.

“I went for a stroll,” I lied. Viviane eyed me suspiciously and the desire to confide in her was quite overwhelming. I glanced over at the closed door and sighed as I hurried over to her. “I met with my mother!” I whispered firmly. I stared at her as I revealed the truth, however, Viviane did not seem surprised at all by my declaration.

“Madam are you feeling alright?” she questioned.

“Yes, yes, of course, why do you ask?”

“Is your mother not gone?” Viviane asked as she walked past me. I turned on my heel to watch her tidy up my littered clothing.

“What do you mean by gone?” I asked curiously. I had never thought about what other people knew or thought when it came to my mother.

“She ran away, did she not? I apologize, I am speaking under correction…” she stopped and faced me.

“She did run away,” I said. “But I just met with her,” I informed her again. “Just now, in the woods,” she smiled before she turned away. When she didn’t comment further, I groaned loudly. “Viviane, stop that!” I ordered as I rushed over to her side. “This is serious!”

“Of course!” she said with wide eyes.

“You cannot tell a soul, promise me,”

“I promise, Madam,” she said with a nod. “But…if I may ask…why is it that your mother has returned after all of this time, and it is to be a secret?”

“That is something I would also like to know,” I remarked. “Viviane, I do apologize for springing this on you, but I do not have anyone else to talk to,” I admitted sadly. “I hope that we can become good friends,” I suggested. Viviane looked taken aback but I stood my ground. When she finally nodded, I smiled with joy.

“Now then, will you be taking a bath this morning?” Viviane questioned and I nodded. “Alright, I will be back with some hot water,” she said before she hurried out of the room, carrying my dirty laundry. I smiled as I headed into the bathroom.

დ დ

“You seem like you are in an awfully good mood this morning,” my father remarked as I glanced up from my plate.

“Indeed,” I mumbled as my gaze caught Viviane. During my bath time, she and I had a bit of a chat and I liked her even more than before.

“And why is that?”

“No particular reason,” I said softly.

“And are you feeling any better? I have to assume that you are due to your joy,” he commented, and I sighed. I had completely forgotten about my little lie.

“I am feeling better, a good night's rest saw to that,” I said quickly. “What news do you have to share?” I then asked, hoping to divert the attention from me to something else.

“Most certainly nothing that can be discussed over breakfast,” he remarked with a chuckle. “However, I will say that Henry seems quite smitten by you…” I choked on a piece of toast as my father mentioned Henry.

“How on earth would you know?!” I demanded to know in panic. Had we been seen?

“He asked after you, Rose…” he explained as he eyed me curiously. “Rose, you are rather jumpy, is everything quite alright?”

“Yes, I apologize,” I said. “I was merely taken aback by your comment,”

“Hmm,” he hummed out as he turned his attention back to his meal. “I would say, Rose, you may need to work on your social skills somewhat,”

“Oh?”

“Many of the guests remarked on how standoffish you had appeared to be,”

“Hardly! I was feeling rather ill, and I know I should have tried harder, but you must understand, father, I am not accustomed to such lavish parties,” this was not a lie. I had no experience with any of this and although I had been taught certain things, it was far different in the real world.

“Understood, Rose,” he said with a smile. “Did you meet anyone that caught your attention?”

“You mean other than Henry?” my straightforward question made him chuckle and I blushed as I realized that I had admitted to showing some interest in Henry. “Oh!”

“Oh indeed, Rose, well…Henry is rather different, but he may be a good suitor,”

“Father!” I exclaimed. “I may have admitted to being interested but him being a good suitor is quite presumptuous, don’t you think?”

“My apologies, Rose, I simply meant that he would be a good suitor, not that you had decided that” I was rather surprised to see him roll his eyes and I giggled as I finished up my breakfast. My father, finished before me, stood up and excused himself.

“Mr. Henry was the gentleman in your bedchamber last night?” Viviane questioned softly as she started to clear the table. My eyes went wide as I realized she knew far more than I had ever thought. “Our secret, Madam,” she added with a smile. I quickly stood up and smoothed down my light pink dress.

“Secret,” I repeated as I hurried from the dining room. It would seem that the walls had eyes and ears and I would have to be incredibly careful of what I did or say. I did enjoy having a friend in Viviane, but I was not sure if she was to be trusted. As I hurried back to my bedchamber, I passed by a room and the door was slightly ajar. I could hear my father’s voice and I paused to listen.

“Find out everything you can about him, Adam,” my father instructed. “And when I say everything, I mean absolutely everything,”

“Yes, your majesty,”

“He may be well-groomed and overconfident but I do not trust him,” my father added and I wondered who he was referring to. “And find out all that you can about his assistant,” it was then that I knew that he was talking about Henry and Philip. “I know that they spent quite a considerable amount of time together out on that balcony,” I gasped in surprise. How many knew about that? And worse! How many knew about that awkward meeting with my mother's friend.

“And what of the other gentleman?” Adam questioned and I hissed out as I knew to whom he was referring.

“Probably just a potential suitor hoping to have a few minutes with the princess,” my father replied, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Rose did not mention him nor any interest in any other man, so I have to assume that she has taken a liking to Henry,” I had enough as I hurried away from the door. On one hand, I could appreciate my father looking out for me, but on the other hand, I was rather furious. This wasn’t how I would want to establish any form of a relationship with Henry and what if he were to find out that he was being investigated? I did not want to know as I hurried back to my bedchamber. I needed to think as I had many things to work through. Although I was secretly hoping that Henry would stop by during the day.