Peas and Princesses Page 4

  A maid had helped me dress out of that uncomfortable gown they put me in earlier and gave me a satin nightgown to wear, and I must say the nightgown was much preferred.

  It was late, but I still sat in front of the unlit fireplace. I stared at the cold wood in the hearth, made visible by the moonlight shining through the room’s window. The same thoughts ran through my head over and over again: Was my sister worried about me? What will become of me? But most of all, I was wondering about what information Joseph was going to give me tonight. Was he going to help me escape, even though that seemed highly unlikely? And where was he? What did he mean by “I will come to you?” Was he going to come to my room? I rubbed my temples with my fingers, head starting to pound.

  A rap sounded at my door. I leapt up, startled. Hesitantly, I walked over to the door and pulled it open a crack. I saw Joseph peeking through at me.

  “Mildred,” he said. “I think everyone is asleep, but I can’t come in. Leave the door cracked. I have to stay standing here, just in case someone comes by. You sit by the door.”

  “Okay,” I replied, leaving the door open an inch and sliding to the floor. “Joseph, are you guarding my room?”

  “Yes,” he replied. “I requested it. I told Minerva you seemed like trouble, and that I wanted to keep a close eye on you.”

  I chuckled. “She bought that?”

  I could hear the smile in his voice. “Yeah, she doesn’t like you. She says you’re impertinent.”

  “All I do is ask questions!” I huffed.

  “All the same, I think you’ve been chosen.”

  “What?”

  “Hush!” Joseph hissed. “We’ll both be in a lot of trouble if they hear us.”

  I shook my head, frustratedly resting the back of my head against the wall. “They chose me? Already?”

  “Like I said, they don’t have much time.”

  “Seriously, Joseph! Time for what?”

  “Look, I don’t know much,” he whispered through the crack, “but I do know that they wanted to have a new princess picked and trained by next week. There’s something the Princess was supposed to do, but then she disappeared. No one knows what she was supposed to do. Well, except for the King.”

  “Why me?”

  “You’ve done the best so far, and they need someone chosen now, so they can focus on one girl for the rest of the training.”

  I sighed. “I don’t want to be the Princess.”

  We sat in silence for about two minutes. I had so many questions, but all I really wanted was to not be there.

  “Joseph, aren’t people going to wonder when they have a new Princess all of a sudden?”

  “As far as the people will be concerned, the Princess will have never disappeared. Her being missing is just a rumor outside of the castle.”

  “But I don’t look anything like her!”

  “Mildred! Please keep your voice down.”

  “Milly,” I said.

  “Huh?”

  “Please call me Milly.”

  “Milly,” I could hear tenderness in his voice, “I really don’t know the answers to everything.” He paused for a moment. “You actually do have a bit of a resemblance to the Princess. You have the long, blonde hair, for one thing. Besides, I don’t expect them to be parading you around everywhere.”

  “What about the girls who failed the testing? What happened to them?”

  He fell silent.

  “Joseph?” I asked.

  “Do you really want to know the answer to that question?”

  His tone sounded dark.

  Tears welled up in my eyes. “Laura and all those other girls…”

  “Yes,” he whispered.

  I started sobbing. I felt sorry for all those girls, but ashamedly more sorry because I didn’t know what was in store for myself. Joseph stepped into the room to sit next to me, ignoring what he had said earlier, and pulled me into an embrace. The hilt of the sword in his belt poked me in the ribs, but the hug was comforting all the same.

  “I’m so scared,” I croaked through my tears. He held me tighter. I felt his heart pounding against mine. Joseph intrigued me. I couldn’t quite figure out why he was trying to help me.

  “Milly, I’m going to be here for you in whatever way I can. I don’t like what’s going on, either.”

  “Then why are you here?” I said, pushing him away.

  He frowned, furrowing his dark brow. “I want to make a difference. I dislike the tyranny just as much as anyone else.”

  Tyranny, I thought. I actually hadn’t thought of King Leopold as tyrannical. Scary and a ridiculous spender, yes, but never tyrannical… Until he kidnapped me, that is.

  “Why?” I asked, wiping away my tears. “Aren’t you a noble?”

  He nodded. “But that doesn’t mean I like the way things are done. One day I’m going to be captain of the guard, and I’ll make sure things change.” His expression went dark. “No matter what I have to do, it’ll change.”

  I leaned away from him against the edge of the door, starting to feel uncomfortable.

  “Sorry,” he said, playfully pushing my shoulder. “I can get intense sometimes.”

  I chuckled nervously. “What would you change?” I asked.

  Joseph rested his forearms on his knees, interlocking his fingers. “Well, I wouldn’t tax the people nearly as much. And I would help the less fortunate a lot more than they are helped now. I also think our judiciary system is highly flawed. I’ve seen so many innocent people killed just because the King said so.” He clenched his jaw. “Like my father.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, touching his shoulder.

  Joseph shook his head. “It was a long time ago.”

  “What happened?”

  He looked down, shuffling his feet. “My father refused to kill a man who couldn’t pay his taxes, so King Leopold had them both killed.”

  I gasped. “How terrible!”

  “I want things to be different just as much as anyone, Milly,” Joseph whispered, holding back tears.

  I put my hand on his knee, hoping to comfort him.

  Joseph smiled his charming smile. I blushed.

  “I think we’re going to be great friends, Milly,” he said.

  I nodded, trying to hide the reddening in my cheeks.

  “Joseph,” I said, “is it true that Princess Amelia ran away with a servant boy?”

  He laughed unexpectedly. “Yes. And thank goodness they made it out, too! That boy would have been killed.”

  I hesitated before continuing, not sure if I could really trust Joseph, but the fact that he had just opened up to me was a good sign.

  “I saw her,” I whispered.

  Joseph eyed me. “What?”

  “The night she ran away. I let her buy my horse and helped her escape.”

  Joseph’s eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open. “Are you serious?”

  I nodded, and he started laughing again.

  “What’s so funny?” I urged.

  “That’s pretty ironic, don’t you think?” he said.

  I guess it is...

  “I better get back out there.” He stood up, then helped me to my feet. “I’m going to make sure you stay safe.”

  After shutting the door behind him, I tiptoed over to my bed and slipped into the covers. I gasped as the softness surrounded me. My bed at home was like a board compared to this! I slid myself deeper under the blanket and welcomed the warmth, but sleep was the furthest thing from my mind. I kept replaying the words, “I’m going to make sure you stay safe.” I knew he meant more than just by standing outside my door. It was comforting to know that I had someone on my side.

  Chapter 10

  I stood with one other young woman on the palace grounds with a few guards as companions. The well-manicured lawns and the uniform trees were impressive. There were gardeners posted all around us tending to the landscape, and each time a colored, fall leaf blew off a tree, one of them rushed to catch it before it hit t
he ground. That seemed a bit unnecessary to me.

  I glanced at the young woman beside me, and she caught my eye. She was smaller than me, but we were still roughly the same age. She seemed to be having a hard time breathing, and I wasn’t much better off. We were both absolutely terrified. At the crack of dawn, we had been, for lack of a better word, dragged out of our beds and taken outside.

  This must be the final test, I thought. There are only two of us left.

  The air was chilly, but I couldn’t tell if my body was trembling from the cold or from fear.

  The sound of grass crunching behind us startled me, and I whirled around to find the source of the noise. Minerva briskly headed towards us, Joseph close behind with a large target in his arms. Another guard, much smaller than Joseph in comparison, was on their heels with three bows and a sheath of arrows in hand. I raised an eyebrow. Bart had a bunch of different archery pieces at his store in Marviton, but I had never actually tried shooting a bow and arrow. I felt sick to my stomach and looked over to the other girl. She looked just as nervous, if not more than I was. She started biting her fingernails.

  “Petunia!” Minerva shouted at the young woman. I had never actually heard any of the other girls’ names until now. “Biting your fingernails is not princess-like!”

  The poor girl’s lip began to tremble as she threw her hands down at her side.

  Minerva ordered Joseph to place the target a few yards ahead of us on the grass. As he went by, he gave me a quick smile. It helped calm me down a little bit. The other soldier with the bows and arrows placed them down in front of Petunia and me.

  “Princesses are good at lots of things,” Minerva said as she paced in front of us, “and one of the things that princesses are good at is archery.” She gestured to the weapons at our feet. “In Mardasia, archery is a common sport and pastime for all noblewomen.” Minerva squinted her beady eyes at us. “You can see why it is important that the Princess knows how to shoot a bow.”

  It seemed pointless to me, but I wasn’t about to argue.

  “Pick up a longbow, each of you!”

  We did so, and Minerva picked up the third one. She then proceeded to demonstrate how to hold the bow, place the arrow, draw back the string, and twang! She hit the bullseye on the first try. My jaw dropped to the floor. She made it look so easy. I stroked the elegant, smooth wood of the bow. She had called it a longbow. It was definitely long… I was afraid I wouldn’t even be able to hold it up, considering how small my arms were.

  “Petunia, you go first,” Minerva said. She snapped her fingers and a guard rushed over to take the bow from her outstretched hand.

  I could see her throat move as Petunia gulped. We all stepped out of her way as she took position. She struggled to place the arrow just as Minerva had. It kept slipping out of her grip, and she didn’t even get to pulling the string back before Minerva got impatient.

  “Good heavens, child!” she said. “You have the coordination of a blind man with no thumbs!”

  I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from shouting at the woman. How dare she expect us to be perfect princesses within a week?

  “Mildred, you go,” Minerva snapped at me.

  Pressing the bow tightly against her chest, Petunia backed away, trying to hide the tears that spilled down her rosy cheeks. I felt my heart grow heavy for her, understanding completely how she felt.

  I stepped slightly forward and took a deep breath. I lifted the bow to position, struggling against the weight. I reached into the sheath of arrows as Minerva and Petunia had and pulled one out. Placing the arrow wasn’t the hard part for me, it was trying to draw the string back. My arm shook from the strain, and I found myself grunting as I tried to pull it back to my cheek. Without warning, the string snapped and hit my left arm. I cried out from the pain, dropping the bow and holding my arm as tears stung my eyes.

  Minerva sighed. “I have so much work to do. Someone take Petunia away. Both were terrible, but Mildred was better, even if by a little.”

  I gasped as two soldiers ran out of formation and hooked Petunia’s arms into their hands. She didn’t scream, she didn’t cry. She just bowed her head sadly, seemingly accepting her fate. Completely forgetting the pain in my arm, I watched in horror as they dragged Petunia through the grass and towards the castle. I couldn’t feel happy for being chosen— I just felt guilty.

  “Joseph, lead Princess Amelia back to her room. She has a long few days ahead of her.”

  Did she just call me Princess Amelia?

  Joseph saluted to Minerva, jaw clenched. I couldn’t read his expression. Minerva left just as fast as she had come, and the rest of the soldiers followed her back into the castle, leaving Joseph and me alone.

  All of the pent-up anger I had been pushing away for the last few days came boiling up inside of me. I turned to Joseph, fuming.

  “How could you let this happen? How could you let them just take her like that?” I charged at him and pushed at his shoulders. He didn’t budge.

  “Milly,” he whispered, grabbing my arms and holding me still. “We can’t talk here.”

  He jerked his head to the gardeners surrounding us. Each of them stood watching me, shocked from the outburst. They all knew I wasn’t the real Princess, but my anger was still surprising to them. I wanted to scream, but I relaxed my body and let Joseph direct me back to my bedchambers.

  It had been hours since Joseph had taken me to my bedchamber. I was alone, pacing from end to end of the room nonstop. Joseph told me to stay calm right after the archery test and locked me in from the outside. Is this how it was going to be? Be the new Princess, but always stay locked away like a prisoner? I threw myself onto my mattress and screamed into one of the million pillows on the bed. A part of me would have almost preferred to be dragged off and killed like the other girls.

  I perked up as I heard the doorknob to my room jiggle. Someone was unlocking it. I looked out my bedroom window, studying the darkness outside. It had to be close to midnight. No one had come in to give me orders, food… nothing.

  “Milly?” Joseph said as he pushed the door open slightly. The one candle burning on my nightstand came close to blowing out from the air in the hallway.

  I sat up in bed, arms folded. I was still wearing the gown a maid had dressed me in this morning, so I could barely see Joseph over the mountain of dark, green skirts surrounding me. I glared at him, saying nothing. He craned his head back to see if anyone was near us outside, then, satisfied, tiptoed into my room, leaving the door open just a crack.

  “There was nothing I could do, Milly. You have to understand that.” He stood at the foot of my bed, hands clasped in front of him. He seemed tense and kept his eyes at his feet.

  I swung my bare feet over the mattress and jumped off, which was quite a feat, considering how far it was from the ground. I made my way over to the window and stared out over the castle grounds. They were illuminated by the moon, it being large and yellow that night. I stared at it, wondering how far away it was and how I could get to it: to just keep going towards the moon and never stop…

  “I hate it here,” I whispered.

  Joseph hesitated, but then inched towards me. I flinched as his hand touched my shoulder, but I didn’t push it away. Earlier, I wanted nothing to do with him, but in that moment, I desperately needed a friend. I turned to him, tears welling up in my eyes.

  “Joseph,” I said, “Why me? How am I supposed to live like this?” I threw myself against his chest and sobbed into his uniform. The wooly material scratched against my cheek, but I didn’t care. I welcomed the warmth of his arms as he wrapped them around me. He stayed silent, but I knew that he felt sorry for me.

  Chapter 11

  The next few days were excruciating. As the chosen “Princess,” I had hours upon hours of training to do. Reading, horseback riding, archery (which I was actually getting better at), more reading… It was endless! But every night I got to talk with Joseph. After a tiring day of work, I always had tha
t to look forward to. But I was going through an especially tiring day. Minerva had me read a few hours’ worth of books, and then I spent a few hours with the tailor to size me for a plethora of gowns and dresses. How much clothing did one girl need?

  “Knock, knock,” Minerva said, bursting through my bedroom door. “How are the fittings coming along?”

  “They could be better,” the stingy tailor said.

  “Oh?” Minerva eyed me disapprovingly.

  “I didn’t do anything!” I gasped at my own outburst, expecting Minerva to punish me. She just eyed me, seemingly annoyed.

  The tailor put his hands on his hips and flipped his blond bangs out of his face. “She is so skinny! It’ sickly! I have to take in all the Princess’s dresses. Do you know how hard that is?”

  I set my jaw and clenched my fists. This little man was so irritating, but I was afraid of what might happen if I spoke up again.

  Minerva clicked her tongue. “Lord Plum, do as you’re told! And she is the Princess! You will refer to her as Princess Amelia.”

  He grumbled.

  “Oh, heavens!” Minerva cried, clutching her chest. “The things I have to deal with around here! Maid!”

  My maid, yes, my maid, was sitting in the corner. She leapt up as she was beckoned. “Yes, m’lady?”

  “Kindly dress Princess Amelia.”

  The maid curtsied.

  “And Princess?”

  I looked at the woman, trying not to make my distaste of the entire situation seem too obvious.

  “Kindly report to the library in half an hour. You have a lesson on tea time.”

  “I need a lesson on tea time?”

  Minerva pursed her thin lips and glared at me. “Of course you do.”

  I groaned inwardly. All I wanted was a little sleep.

  Minerva and Lord Plum stepped out of the room so I could start changing.

  “What would you like to wear, Princess?” The maid stepped over to the enormous, mahogany wardrobe in the room. The heavy-set girl struggled as she tried to pull the doors open.

  “Patty?” I said to the maid.

  “Your Highness?” She curtsied.