Flames?

Chapter 3

"Your Highness, please, I can't do that." I say, starring directly at him. He's not saying anything.

"Alright, then you're going to face the consequences yourself. It might involve the king." He says with no sense of emotion.

"What do you mean?" I ask, definitely sure that he won't tell me, but I just have to.

"I don't know, maybe a little bit of report should be sent to the king by tomorrow, telling him about some behaviours in his kingdom." He says.

"Look, Idris, I cannot share the same bed with you. If you want me to stay here, then I'll have to sleep on the couch or another bed." I explain, hoping he will understand.

"Really? Alright, you have it your way, but don't let my father know about it." He says.

"Why are you doing this to me? I just don't understand." I say, looking at the concrete floors and just imagining what will happen to me.

I don't think I will have a good night. Maybe I should negotiate.

"Idris," I say and he snaps his head in my direction. "How about this, we share the same bed with a suitable distance, but it will never happen again? Huh?!" I ask, but he just sighs and moves to the right side of the bed, tucks himself under the covers and looks away from me.

"Goodnight, Idris." I say an tuck myself under the covers and look straight at the ceiling.

I can't sleep, so I take this time to think about my parents, how they are fairing. I realise I haven't gotten a reply from them. It's been two days, maybe the letter hasn't been delivered.

I wonder what the time is, I guess it's not too late to take a stroll to the balcony, far away from anybody.

♤♤

I'm in the balcony, leaning on the concrete wall. The cool breeze brushes my skin and blows my hair arrogantly, but I don't mind. I mean, I enjoy it. The crescent looks stunning. I can see its reflection on the lake. Pretty.

I can see the short grasses move in rhythm of the wind. Exquisite.

The sky with the grey clouds, slowly moving is making my heart flutter. Peaceful.

After a few minutes of sitting with nature, I turn to head back to the room, but I hit a figure. Idris. What is he doing here? Is he scared?

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Nothing." He says and I just stare into his dark eyes. The way the blue light from outside is reflecting on them, so satisfying.

"Okay, I'm going back." I say, but I want to stay longer and look into those dark eyes of his.

I reach the room and crawl into the covers and enjoy its warmth. I finally sleep.

Its morning and I wake up, feeling different, everywhere. I notice my surroundings are not the same as my room. I know where I am, Idris' room.

I don't see him in here, so I'm just going to take my bathe and change into something else.

The doors to the bathroom are opened and Idris walks out. His hair wet and the drops of water are dripping down to his neck and to this chest. The has a towel wrapped around his waist which makes it even better to look at.

I get up from bed and run to the door.

"Eretria." He calls.

"What?!" I ask and he gives me a confused look. No other option do I have than to stare at him.

"Where are you going?" He asks.

What the f**k?! Are you blind or something? Can't you see I'm about to leave here?

"To my room, where else?" I say dryly not even looking at him but the fireplace in his room.

"No, you're not going anywhere."

"What? Why?"

"'Cause I say so and there's nothing you can do about it." He says, his voice making my ears tingle.

"Ugh! Please, just let me go. You've had a shower, so why can't I?" I ask.

I wouldn't be like 'am I safe,' or 'did he do anything to me while I was sleeping,' no.

He knows that he obviously can't do anything to me without my permission. With that, I leave the room and go to mine. I sit on the bed, my head buried in my palms. A loud groan escapes my lips and I shut my eyes.

I take a shower and change into my uniform.

My mind's empty right now, but they are filled up with the thoughts of my parents. I really miss them.

I will take permission to visit them. I need help and I know just the right person to help me.

Princess Anne.

I rush out of my room and run towards Anne's bedroom. I knock three times and wait till she opens it.

"Hey Eretria, how are you?" She asks with a warm smile on her face and she hugs me.

"I'm good your Highness. You?" I ask.

"I'm good too. So, if I may ask, to what do I owe this visit?"

"Uhm, may I come in first?" I ask.

"Yeah, sure."

With that, we both enter her room, taking a seat on her bed.

"Well, I'm here to ask for your help."

"Is it my brother?" She asks.

"No, it's something else," I say.

"Good, 'cause if it was something about my brother, I would have beaten the s**t out of him." She says and we both laugh.

"You see Princess, I wrote a letter to my parents two days ago and I haven't gotten a reply since then. So I came to ask if you could accompany me to meet your father in order to obtain permission from him to see them." I say.

"Yeah, sure, I'll come with you and yes, don't be so formal with me, okay?" She says with that same warm smile she had earlier.

Why didn't Idris have the same kind of smile as did Anne? What a pathetic asshole.

"So, when are we going?" She asks.

"Uhm, the day after tomorrow."

"Isn't that a bit too late? I mean that will be delaying." She says and she is right, but I have to gather courage.

"I just need more time to sum up the courage to talk to your father." I say looking down to the wooden floors while fiddling with my fingers.

"What? Why are you so afraid of my father? C'mon, we're going now." She says and immediately drags me off from the bed. I have no time to stop her or try to stop myself from moving.

We finally stop at the doors leading to the main hall - in which the King and the Queen stay for the rest of the day. The guards standing there opens up the door for her and we both enter the hall.

"Good day your Royal Highness," I greet the two of them - if the King and the Queen are together and you have to greet them, then you will say 'good day your Royal Highness,' if they are not together, the you'd say 'good day your Highness.'

"Good day father, good day mother. I have come here with a friend of mine in order to seek your permission. You see, my friend here, Eretria, has come with me to seek your permission to visit her parents." She says and there is an awkward silence in the hall.

"Oh, Eretria dear, I give you my permission to go and visit your parents and send my greetings to your mother." Queen Azora says and she looks over to King Kendrick. The hall's silent again because we all are waiting for him to reply.

"As you wish, Eretria. You may go visit your parents, but be back before curfew. We do not want to risk your life." He says.

Be back before curfew? I don't want to come back today, I want to stay with my parents a bit longer.

"You do know why I have asked you to come back before curfew, right?" King Kendrick asks and I shake my head. "Its because you are still a maid her and you have to serve the Prince."

Right, I forgot about that problem.

Now I think spending some hours with my parents is better than not going at all.

Princess Anne and I leave the hall. I bow before leaving and she does the same.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for your help Princess Anne, you're so sweet." I say while jumping and screaming nearly at the top of my voice.

"Oh, it's okay I'm your friend anyway. I'll always be there for you." She says and hugs me afterwards. This girl is an exact replica of her mom, Queen Azora.

I run as fast as I possibly can to reach my room. I take a few things I will need while travelling, even though I will come back this evening.

I finish setting up my stuffs and go outside. While walking I see Idris. I won't mind anything but him stopping me to ask me where I'm going.