TROUBLE IN THE PALACE

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: BIRDS OF A FEATHER ~ BROOKE BUTLER]

After resting the whole afternoon, Oriana finally left the shed, walking down to her room when she saw her sister who was waiting at in front of quarters.

"Oriana, where have you been?" Sophie asked, running to stand beside her.

Oriana furrowed her brows, pointing at where she had just come out from. "There?"

Sophie waved her hands dismissively. "It doesn't matter, let's go inside," she said, tugging her surprised sister's hand inside the palace.

"I heard from my personal maid about the Crown Prince," Sophie said, trying to suppress the excitement in her voice.

Oriana gulped. Had her sister finally found out the type of man the crown prince was and had decided to reject him?

"About him? He's not that bad..." Oriana started with a convincing tone.

Sophie hit Oriana on her shoulder, startling her. "What do you mean not bad! I heard he is very handsome, with this colored hair..." Her voice trailed, trying to remember the description the maids had given to her.

"They said it's more like a well-aged claret wine! And that when he smiled, twin indentations appeared in his cheeks," the crown princess said with a tinge of excitement in her voice.

Oriana nodded quickly in agreement, though she didn't agree with any of that. These people were yet to meet this man; he was a libertine who had no respect for women. "I'm happy for you. Why are you here then? You should be making preparations for his arrival," she said.

Sophie chewed on her fingers, which caused Oriana to raise her brows. Her sister was suddenly acting out of character.

"I'm scared that he won't really be interested in me," Sophie replied, her voice low.

Oriana folded her arms on her chest. "Since when did you start feeling like you're below someone?"

"I don't know, since today? You saw how The Queen of Avon spoke down on mother. And the way she looks at our palace like it's beneath her. I don't just want to lose this opportunity, and you're the only one who was able to speak up during lunch."

Nodding her head, Oriana said to her, "I know you'll do just well," while they were talking, Queen Saline walked towards them.

"Sophie, what are you doing here instead of getting your lessons to perfection?" Their mother turned to face Oriana. "Did she cause trouble again?"

The crown princess turned to look at her sister, remembering that she wasn't supposed to be seen talking casually with Oriana, since they were both in different leagues as long as titles were concerned . Sophie raised her chin. "I was making sure she didn't get into any trouble."

Oriana gave her sister a look. Without saying anything, she shook her head and smiled.

"Make sure you act right. What you did at the table though sounded pleasant but it wasn't right," Queen Saline said to her youngest daughter before turning to leave with her eldest daughter trotting behind her.

Oriana rested herself on the pillar she was standing close to, watching her mother and her sister exit the passage. She sighed tiredly.

"Now, where is my scaredy Bessie?" She muttered to herself when she noticed someone pass through the next passage. Oriana followed the shadow, thinking it was Bessie.

The person finally entered one of the open rooms. Oriana followed the person before the door could close. She noticed it was a woman but she didn't know who, with her father. Out of curiosity, Oriana leaned closer, with her ear on the door to listen to what they had to say.

"Your Majesty," the woman greeted with a sweet voice.

Oriana heard her father's voice. "I didn't know you would accept the offer so easily," her father drawled.

"It's been long I felt my body react for a man. But your hands did something to me, though it was just a simple touch. Let's quit talking and get down to what we came for," the woman's coy voice was heard faintly.

Oriana touched the knob. She thought her father had quit bringing his side women into the palace. And she wondered who it was who didn't dread the Queen but walked inside the palace fearlessly. She was almost pushing the door slightly when she heard someone say,

"You'll be traumatized..."

Startled by the voice, Oriana turned to look at the person who was puffing out smoke beside her. She waved her hand, trying to get rid of the smoke that was slowly creeping to her direction.

"I mean watching a hot show like that through a small hole? I don't endorse that. We should knock and ask them to let us in, the more the merrier," the crown prince said with a casual voice, walking closer to the door. Before he could touch the door knob, Oriana pushed his hand away and dragged him far from there.

"Look at that, you're touching your sister's husband casually. What has become of this royal family? Let me think of a good name, 'Help! I am in love with my brother-in-law,'"

Oriana pushed his hand away quickly, cleaning off her hand on her dress. "What are you doing here?"

Adric lazily stared at the girl. "Is that a new joke? You invited me of course."

The princess furrowed her brows. How did she invite him?

"Playing are we? You think I won't know of your little tricks. Writing letters to my kingdom trying to set up marriage between the two kingdoms. Dumb move, I must say," Adric gave her a small, insincere clap.

Oriana raised her brows. He knew it was her? How did he...

"How did I know? Your ideas are always dumb. Out of all the dumb humans I know, you take the trophy. With you in the game, everyone left the race. So it was easy narrowing down my suspicion."

Oriana balled her hands into a fist. This man knew how to effortlessly annoy her. "If you knew, then why did you come?"

The crown prince hummed. "I was bored, I needed something new and you gave me one," he said, walking forward to rest his body on a pillar.

"What about here, right now? What are you doing?" She asked. He didn't show up when he was invited, only to show up sneaking around in the palace. This man was bad news.

Adric pointed at the door they walked past. "You already know what I like, that was a good show right there and I was going to enjoy watching it. But you stopped me. Are you the stingy one around here?"

Oriana gave him a judging look. This man was worse than she gave him credit for. She decided to take a mental note of avoiding him. Once he gets married to Sophie, then her problems would be over.

"Can I have my necklace, the one you took from me?" Oriana finally asked.

"Can we finish what we started that day? I don't mind if you're still interested. See, I don't judge," he replied with a tinge of mockery in his words.

Oriana bowed deeply. "Goodnight, your Royal Highness. Enjoy your stay in Orion," the princess bowed. Not wasting any more time, she walked away from there.