Page 46 of Royal Lies

"So, umm, we're having a ball in a few days and stuff to celebrate you and your friend's welcome party, if you didn't already know… W-Would you mind joining me for a dance?" Flynn asked, snapping my attention back to him and his tomato-red face. His lips pressed thinly together for what?

Don't ask me, I don't know.

Hmm, what is it that he was hiding back there?

Why the secrecy?

I needed to get my hands on whatever it was. Leaning slightly to the left, in a manner where his flushed cheeks and bashful eyes couldn't catch me, I finally managed to look around his body. Ahha! Finally a good look. Hmm let's see that glow, the color, it's quite, feathery? Oh, I know what it is, a Phoenix feather! Grinning, I happily nodded to whatever the guy was saying. What do the feathers do again? More importantly, how should I obtain one just secretly snatch it from here or I could just pluck one from Lucarious. He was a Phoenix descendant, after all, Eli told me. But he couldn't shift so there was no plucking off feathers there. Only the strongest of fae could shift. So let's see if there were more Phoenix feathers stored around here. They were rare but then again this was a castle, so they should have at least a few stored up here. The royals do love their rarities, feathers and all. If they have enough money to embroider sapphires into every little thing that they own, theywill have Phoenix feathers. I'll come back later tonight to steal some and then go off to experiment some more.

Happy with my brilliant plan I enthusiastically nodded, "Sure! But hey, I'm feeling a bit tired today. How about we postpone our experiments until tomorrow?"

"Really? That's great! I'll send a dress to your room in two days. I'll be looking forward to our dance," Prince Flynn looked kinda excitement, his smile for one was way too big to be normal, leaving me puzzled.

Dance? What dance?

More importantly, how would I sneak back into his library- I mean bedroom without ruffling any feathers, haha, get it feathers. No but seriously how will I get back in without alarming any guards? Especially considering the prince's status and mine? Sneaking into his room would kind of be rather suspicious, but if no one spots me it’ll be fine, right? On that note how do I sneak out of my room without Eli noticing? The man just had to sleep in the same room as me.

Sigh

Oh well! I shrugged inwardly. I'll just cast a sleep spell on him and the guards. It's not like locked doors have ever been an obstacle for me before. Plus, when I got in just now, there were no guards outside of the prince's room. Odd but hey, works for me! Will it change if it's nighttime? I get why there are no guards in the morning with all the servants walking around but when it's nighttime with nobody walking around wouldn't it be natural for guards to be posted where royalty is?

As the prince practically beamed walking me to his door, an enormous smile etched on his face, I couldn't help but wonder why he was so ecstatic. What had I unwittingly agreed to? Did he just say a dance? I hope I haven't agreed to anything I'll regret. Naw, whatever it is I'm sure it'll be fine. Things will work themselves out. But first I’ll need to prepare an excuse for Elijust in case. It is rather late and with how on guard Eli is with me there’s no telling what mess I might get into with him. Hopefully not too much.

I was screwed. The moment I stepped into my room, a glowering blond-haired boy greeted me, his wolf-like eyes narrowing on me. Ok, so maybe I might have stayed longer than was appropriate for umm, getting a lay of the land. Cause that was totally what I was doing.

Oops.

But then again he should have expected I would be late given how massive this castle is. It wasn't as if he knew where I was right?

Ya, so maybe he might have known I would have chosen the opinion of ruins over physically doing the scoping. Which means, I did need a viable excuse from my late night coming home, or coming back to my room in this case. Wow, talking with Eli really makes me feel like I'm the naughty kid and Eli the mom.

"I was going for a late-night snack.”

I noted the shape of his pristine, well-manicured brow as it cocked in skepticism. Did he have it re-shaped after the meeting?

Determined to justify my actions, I continued, "Umm, I cleaned up before coming back up. After all, it would be rude of me to have crumbs on my new bed. Plus, I didn't want to sleep on crumbs—" Before I could finish my excuse, Eli, always quick on the uptake, ready to cut me off.

He didn't even allow me the courtesy of presenting my side of the story, even if I knew it wouldn't make much of a difference. Oh and how I was able to tell this lie, well it wasn't a lie. Remember that excuse I mentioned? I might've actually gone down to the kitchen and grabbed some snacks before coming uphere. Then feeling slimy from all my grunt work today, I took a bath.

"I checked the kitchen; you weren't there. What's more, I happened to overhear some maids going on about one of the new female guests wandering into the prince's room." He was doing that thing he loved, that thing where his eyes narrowed further without really squinting more. Ok, so maybe I was only in the kitchen for like ten seconds to grab my treat of an egg tart then retreat, get it, retreat,treat. I'm just full of jokes today. So, maybe I wasn't as sneaky about finding the prince as I should have been. I shrugged nonchalantly, feigning innocence, secretly hoping to salvage the situation even with as little hope as there was.

Eli sighed, his exhaustion apparent, and I couldn't help but wonder about the source of his constant weariness. It couldn't possibly be me. I'm a beacon of sunshine and rainbows. "Everetta, we're in a castle right now. There are hundreds of servants and peasants with ears and mouths. Do you understand the implications of a girl visiting a boy at this late of an hour?!" Eli sounded as if it was carrying the weight of the entire world's responsibility.

I rolled my eyes. It wasn't so late. Geez, old man much? It was barely past-shit, it's midnight. Ah, magics! The time must have gotten away from me.

I visited the prince in the afternoon, and oh, ya, I guess staying with a prince from noon to midnight doesn't really entail good things, does it? Even so, he doesn't need to lecture me like some child. I'm a grown-ass adult!

"Imagine the gossip and the rumors; we don’t need that now. As much as we should be revered, we do not need our identities to be exposed at the most inconvenient of times! Everetta, I beg you to mind your impulses for even just the barest of days, or at the very least, cover your tracks. They'll think you were tryingto seduce the prince, and before you say anything, I know that's not what you were trying to do. But others will think so. This. Is. A. Castle. Everetta. In other words, this is a bloody political battle every day. To win this battle, we must avoid any negative gossip. We must stay hidden, invisible enjoyers. Don't worry, I've already made sure to erase those questions of yours from the maids. But honestly Everetta-" I rolled my eyes at his ongoing never-ending rebukes towards me.

And always always on me. Why me? It's not like I'm a child. I knew what I was doing. He didn't need to do that to the maids. If he had told me I would have cleansed their memory myself. Yes, yes yes, it is a forbidden magic but necessary for certain things like this. On the other hand, it does have dire consequences. This is why some say it's better to just kill the fae or human than have their memories wiped continuously. Or better yet just erase it completely. Depending on the period that memory has been in the mind the effect might be nothing or severely life threatening.

Clenching my fist I just couldn't take it anymore.

All do this, do that, ugh! For crying out loud, I know! I could handle my fucking self! But, hold it in, don't fucking let him see, else he'll try and 'help me' fix that side of me too. Eli would be all too happy to reprimand me on that. He'd scolded me about how we should learn to maintain our posture and composure in front of others, the hypocritical bastard. Cause he sure as hell was just as prone to burst into his own little fits of rage as me. Yet, hereIwas never judging him for his faults.

So instead I smiled, seizing this as my perfect opportunity to get him out of my room.

“And what would servants think of you in my rooms? Eli I think you're right we need to be discreet. They'd have a whirlwind of gossip if an unmarried man slept together with an unmarried woman in the same room. Oh magics, the horrors!Therefore you should sleep in a separate room from now on. What do you say, good? Alright!"

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