Twelve Romances: Kings Choice

History and Fences

You know what the problem with going to sleep at sunrise is, especially after napping for a few hours on a plane? Waking up well before the sun. 

I currently lay lying in my bed, surrounded by warmth, blue hues, the fluffy and soft comforter… and yet I could get no sleep. My brain has had enough of it. I grab my phone and glance at the world clock I had set up. In my hometown, Lakewood Washington, it was five P.M. maybe this was the thing people always called 'Jet Lag.' This was my first time traveling far so... possibly. I laid my phone back on the nightstand again. Then looked up at the faint light cast on the roof. It was the lights of the bright castle, the curtains were blackout so only the raised edge allowed any of that light in. It called me. It might be two A.M. but that didn't mean I had to stay indoors right? Start early! My first of the 13 fun days could be a super long one. I would just have to get some coffee in today or a nap later on.

I leapt out of the bed and went over to the wardrobe that was adjacent to the large four poster bed. I had already taken the time to unpack. I opened it up and thought to dress for the whole day despite it barely being day. It was gonna be hot. So I pulled on a swimsuit as my underthings and then a nice white flowy blouse and a short black skater skirt. Matched with a pair of comfortable black flats. I then clicked on the lights in the room and set to doing my hair and makeup. The girl in the mirror looking back at me made me frown. 

She looked so god awful young! I was twenty now, yet when I went to school lazily, with no makeup and wearing relaxed clothes, I would be mistaken for a highschooler. It was ridiculous. It was what my best friend Delaphine, called a 'baby face'. Meaning I had to work twice as hard to look my actual age. Pulled out my tools. Not a scalpel and stitches but in my mind it may as well be. My invisible platinum blonde eyelashes, that matched my platinum hair, were transformed into a black color that made the pastel blue of my irises pop. Then marked my cat eyes. Wings matching and on point… an upward point to be exact, if the tips pointed down I looked sad if they were flat I looked sleepy. They had to be exactly curved and pointed up. Then came the contour to rid myself of the baby cheeks. Lipstick to make my pale lips stand out and lastly a bit of highlighter for my under eye as without it I feel washed out.

I pulled my hair up into a high ponytail and then pulled on a denim jacket for the extremely early chill that was most likely present. Lastly I grabbed my small purse hung it off my body, shoved my hands into my jacket pockets and slipped out the hotel silent as a mouse. 

***

Here it was, the great, the infamous, Beinheim Castle! Owned by the notorious and ancient noble family that has ruled France since the 600s! They are exclusive and only the inheriting offspring get to keep the name. The spare children take the names of the families they go into. The first and original Beinheim was an amazing, yet dark, and powerful king named Anthony Beinheim. He gave life to king Henry, who gave life to king Jacques, and so on. The current king was named Jacques Anthony Beinheim the third. Quite the amazing history. Each king, except the three king Henry's and the two previous king Jacques, all lived to be very old. In the hundreds! The Henrys all only lived to be in the mid thirties. Each died of cancer. Quite tragic. Yet every Henry also made leaps and bounds in advancing France. Great kings that burn out bright. 

The current king Jacques was widowed tragically. Which is actually a break away from history. The previous two Jacques died in an assassination, very shortly after inheriting the thrones, and the surviving heir took his place. Not this time! He survived and his wife and kids died. How macabre, but, I wonder if he wishes he had stayed to history or was happy to have survived. I might get killed for asking though so I'll keep it to myself should I run into him.

Now then, back to the highly illegal reality.

I was balancing, poorly, on a large old fashioned horse carriage. It had been left, surrealistically, just outside the fence to the palace. Just out of sight for the guards stationed at the gates and right where, if I did this right, I could jump down and onto a large pile of hay! It was my one and only summer break right? I'd just break in… do a little snooping, no pictures or anything, just an off the charts tour of the unadulterated castle. Then I would slip in with an actual tour group in the morning and slip out when they did. It was really a brilliant plan. I was a massive history buff and I just had to know the REAL truths of this great castle. Not the fabricated stories they allowed into the public. For instance. What REALLY happened to the queen and heirs? A mysterious incurable sickness. I think not. Takashi-Freaking-Madarame lived here! He was world famous, he had created vaccines for crazy things, cured previously impossible cancers and sicknesses, and I wasn't falling for this cover up. The truth must be inside.

However 'the truth' was just beyond a pointy dangerous looking fence and a wobbly old carriage. I gripped onto the bars of the fence stabilizing myself and the cart. If my weight caused the thing to flip over, it would make a s**t-daises-ton of noise, and indefinitely make everyone notice me just … breaking in. It seemed to work, the cart stopped rocking for the moment. I slowly shifted my weight until I was on the very top of the carriage. Now the top of the fence was at face level with me. I was actually a bit nervous. Was I really going to hop this eleven foot fence? To an armed castle?? Was I really this crazy???

Obviously, yes I was. I grasped hold of the pointed tips of the bars, took a deep breath… and jumped! It took a crazy amount of core strength but my knees landed on the bars cross section, right in between the hand holds I had. There was an odd squeaking noise that made my heart nearly leap out of my chest. The carriage. It was rocking side to side from the force I used to push off. 

Oh my god!

It was going to summon a guard! Why was the damn-freaking-carriage so freaking loud! I glance over to the guards post. Someone was talking… about the squeaking! They think someone is trying to steal it! I move almost on instinct. Push up on my arms put my feet where my knees had been and throw myself down to the hay below!

Thud!

My body impacts hard with the hay and knocks the wind out of me. I blink seeing stars for a moment and sit half up. There is a guard coming on the opposite side of the fence. His little ball of light from a flashlight is aimed at the carriage suspiciously. I take a deep breathe and squirm backwards on the hay trying to stay out of sight, yet also to get away. I succeed greatly my upper body loses purchase with the hay and I flip backwards falling the last three feet to the ground. 

My headaches now. That was f*****g stupid! Why am I here? Laying on the ground I simply don't say a word. I hear the guard inspecting the carriage. Another guard seems to be accompanying him.

"Hey. Isn't that hay awfully dusty… There's like a plume coming off of it." One of them says.

"Aah, well that explains it."

"What explains, what?"

There was a pause, "There was a raccoon or something on top of the carriage and it jumped onto the hay. Then scurried off." This guard had the oddest voice and accent almost like a slight country twang, not pronounced, almost delicately. It was deep yet rich like a sweet syrup. It was easy to imagine that the owner of the voice would be a handsome man. Maybe a passionate down to earth guy. If I weren't a criminal right now, and apparently a raccoon, I might have liked to introduce myself to such a voice.

"What if it was a person? Should we go investigate?" The guard asked, making a lump appear in my throat.

"Nah, Jeffery. If it's a person, they are gonna walk right into Kubi, and he will have them cleaning up and out all road apples all day and night. He needs the help. Besides," another pause. "The carriage is fake, only used as a decoy for events. If an athletic guy tried to climb this thing it would fall apart right under them. So, it must have been something fairly light."

The two of them could be heard crunching away and I simply laid there letting my heart beat slow. My god… why did I decide to do this again? If this was the start, I felt it must be an omen for how the rest of this day would progress.

Who's Kubi? I pondered, while running the names of staff I had researched off in my head. Oh! The Gardner, that's right. Kubi Tsuru, a japanese military man turned humble french civilian. Employed full-time to attend the garden and landscape. He started working here when the old king married his second wife. Not much else was really known about him. Was he really going to catch me? I pulled my phone from my purse.

Ugh! 

I had left the brightness up at 100% and was momentarily blinded by the brightness of it. I quickly fumbled with the phone turning the brightness to 0%. None of that. I was currently 2:47 a.m. I had a strong feeling that no one was going to find me. So slipping my phone away and, blinking away the bright dots in my vision, sat up to investigate what life was really like on the other side of the gate… first of all. The grass really was softer and greener. Like, this Kubi character, was working hard. He needed a pay raise. I had never seen grass seem so alive. 

Obviously, right next to me was a giant pile of hay, behind me was a looming fence, far out in front of me to the left was a small yet well made cabin. The lights were all out and even from here I could hear a giant snoring. That must be Kubi's abode. Whilst on my far left was the castle as beautiful and elegant as ever. The tour only allowed you to see the front half of the castle. It showed you the public domain which was what I looked at right now. I wanted to see BEYOND that tailored veil. To do so I needed to stay out of those brilliant lights until I was out of the main area. So gathering myself I climbed to my feet and carefully ran over to the snoring giant on my left...