18 The paintings of the royal family

Princess Arya could be seen wandering the halls in free time before dinner. Sometimes she would let Muriel off so she could eat in her room if she wanted. Even during her free evenings, however, Muriel still ate with the princess, mostly because the alternative was lonely but also because she wanted to watch the princess as much as possible.

Who could say what was in the princess' mind?!

Once, Muriel, all alone, was walking and admiring paintings and tapestries on the walls. The old family's portraits had been removed. New portraits, or rather, portraits of the princess and her family members were there. There were even some paintings of her siblings and parents, the now late king and still alive queen of Junjaia.

Muriel paused her walking and talking to look up at one painting. It was of the princess' mother from maybe five years ago, or at least that was what she remembered Princess Arya saying. That queen was so old, terribly old, not that Muriel had any problems with old people.

She said to herself, "Poor dear. She looks like she's melting, which means she might look even worse in person." She shrugged. "Well, I have no right to judge, now do I?"

"Hm hm hm hm!!"

Humming, muffled laughter?

What the ...?

Muriel whirled around as she tried to find the root of the noise, but she found nothing.

That wasn't her imagination, was it?

Muriel walked on and stopped at a portrait of two boys. These were the princes back when they were children. One was bigger than the other. The bigger boy had his breeches. The smaller boy was still in a dress. For practical reasons, the tiniest of boys often wore simple dresses instead of complex breeches.

They were adorable little boys!!

Their skin was only a bit lighter than their mother's. Their eyes were brown and sparkly. Their hair was black. They really did look like brothers. Muriel grinned up at the painting and said, "Oh, what sweet little bobbins they are!"

She moved to the next painting. It was of a young man, probably one of the brothers. She didn't know which one. The man was standing in front of a tall lattice nearly coated by vines and flowers. His hat was in his hand, black with gold details and a white feather. His coat and matching breeches were a dusty pink color with silver and gold embroidery forming dandelions and leaves. His waistcoat was a pale gray. His cheeks were sharp. His chin and jaw were strong. His hair was loose and black.

Such a handsome man!

Muriel actually blushed.

But she didn't want to say anything about it.

She mumbled to herself about how pretty dandelions are and went down the halls. Then she stopped again because she realized she was lost. She groaned and slapped her own brow. It was time to find a servant and ask for help.

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