4 Chapter Four

Judy was taken away by how beautiful and colourful the interior of the castle was. It was Judy's first time to a palace. She had always dreamed that she was a princess living in a castle but her imagination palace wasn't as beautiful as this.

"Good day, your majesty and royal highness, the Queen and the King," she greeted. Her father had taught her what to say to a king and a queen when greeting them.

"Good day, littie child," the Queen said, "do you mind telling us your name?" the Queen smiled sweetly at Judy.

"Yes, yes ma. My name is Judy," she replied with twinkling eyes.

"Judy!" The Queen exclaimed, "hah! Hah! Judy!" She couldn't contain her excitement.

"Did your father send you to the palace?" asked the King.

"No, I came by horse alone. You see, I love painting and drawing. I was drawing things I see that seemed desirable to my eyes. I stopped to draw them and I continued my journey. It was when I reached here, the castle, that I discovered it was nightime so I decided to lay here till morning come, then I'll be on my way," she told the king.

The King smiled at Judy. He ordered for Judy to be cleaned and changed of her clothing. He then secretly sent a messenger to tell his son that his daughter was alive and safe.

Meanwhile in Judy's father house, not a sound could be heard. The Shepherd was sitting quietly on a rocking chair while the mother with torn clothes, sat on a sofa thinking deeply. June's mother was sitting on the same sofa with June holding her and dropping silent tears. They had searched the entire village but Judy wasn't found. The neighbouring villages had no report of her. Some said, she was eaten by a wild beast, others said, she might be kidnapped. June fainted twice when she thought of the possiblty of those words. While in thought, someone knocked on the wooden door. The shepherd stood up and unbolted it, telling the person to come in, thinking it was sympathizer.

"My Prince," he called and everybody looked at him, "my Prince, the King told me to tell you that the Princess is safe and alive. She is in the palace, with the Queen, your mother," he continued.

June and her mother Clarisse, thought their ears weren't working properly. They cleaned it with their clothes but it was exactly what the messenger had said.

"Thank you," the Prince replied, "Queen Clarisse, when are you planning on telling June, her real identity?" he asked.

"How-how, are you a spy?" she asked scaredly.

"No, I'm not," he replied, "you see, I'm like you forced into hiding and taken off our real identities. I am the born prince of Queen Madeline and King Mich. Some months after my birth someone told my parents that some people were scheming to kill me. My parents grew frightful and sent me away with the wet nurse..." he told them everything and of how he had been the one who gave her the medicine to take.

"You-you were that little boy? God! And I've been searching for him," she said.

"You are the boy my mother told me helped in her delivery?" June asked surprised and happy.

"Yes, I am. There is no need to hide our identity. You are a Princess too," and then Queen Clarisse told them what had happened and how she came to the village.

"We should leave at once, my Prince," said the messenger.