Chapter 5 Little butterfly
Ariel felt goose bumps roll on her skin as a wave of excitement and anxiety filled her entire being.
The second prince!!
She could hardly believe it as a lone tear made its way down her angelic face. Her entire being was in chaos at this moment that she uncontrollably shook. Biting on her lower lip, she sneaked from her mother's side who was busy looking out amidst the helpers to ensure all of them were ok and present, also baby Adam kept squirming in her embrace from being uncomfortable in the clothes he had wet and this gave her a chance to escape her mother's hawk eyes and slowly, she joined the group of the female house helpers with whom they had hidden in the secret escape room and successfully disappeared from among them.
Her little feet led her through the dark tunnel and she kept looking back to ensure that she had not been followed and proceeded on her way which was erieely dark and super creepy with cobwebs all over and insects along side some reptiles crawling but surprisingly, she was brave enough not to scream. Straining her eye sight ot adjust to the darkness, she held onto the walls for support as she made her way through the tunnel.
The second prince was her long lost mission, her reason to be given another life!!! She was going to make things work out this time round, she was not going to fail!! Her entire being longed to get closer to him, she didn't think, she just followed her heart which encouragingly supported her to go forward to go to him!!
After walking for a while, from a distance, she saw the cave exit, the sun luminated the pathway. This gave her more courage and she ran with her tiny feet her heart raced with excitement and nervousness and a smile threatened to bloom on her lips, tears freely fell from her purplish eyes, too overwhelmed with emotions, she accidentally tripped and fell to the ground. She let out a yelp and her tiny fingers became scrapped and started to bleed. The front hem of her dress ripped aswell but she had the least time for that. Standing up almost immediately, she messily dusted her small hands and winced in pain because of the small pebbles that had stuck in her wounds. As she was still trying to attend to herself, she heard a few voices. She immediately hid.
"I have provided him with the wrong information as you had requested and luckily, the second Prince's army had surrounded the perimeter so he won't manage to find out the truth." A young man's voice that was oddly familiar reported.
"Good, am impressed with you Edmond! You have made me so proud of you. Hahahah." The other person said smugly.
"So, you won't harm my wife and child?" Edmond's voice shook with fear.
"I won't youngman, am a man of my word. So, this is the exit of his escape tunnel, you said?"
"Yes it's this one."
"Good!!"
"Sir, the house helpers are innocent, can you please not hurt them...the children and women especially."
"Go back, make sure they don't notice or suspect anything till this plan is executed or else I'll send you the bodies of your wife and unborn child." The man replied with mirth dripping from his mouth. He hated being told what to do.
Left with no choice, Edmond dipped his head in a bow and went away dejectedly. "I understand."
The people present finally finished their deal and went separate ways, however, one of the men stayed. "Eric, Eric, Eric.....today, your time is out. The king will not think twice when beheading you and your family for your betrayal!! Hahahah!" He sighed. "What a beautiful day!! I never knew I could get any smarter. You colluded with the second prince?...am gonna love all of this....lalalalalal" he went away humming happily.
Ariel came out from her hidding place pale and sweating profusely, sneakily, she walked to the entrance and inspected. Making sure that no one was present, she dashed out maniacally.
'It's a conspiracy, they are trying to implicate my father. They want us dead!! I must seek help!! The second Prince, he'll definitely help, I must find him!!' Ariel dashed through the familiar thick forest not minding the harsh slaps she encountered from the branches, not even minding the endless falls she fell, all she knew was that use had to do something. She'd not manage to meet her father as he was busy and moreover her mother wouldn't want her to get involved in the elders fights, hence she searched for the only person she believed will help. Yes he would help, from what she remembered, the second prince hated using his name for one's own selfishness and if one dared, he'd see to it that what was labelled on his name came true. And now they had claimed that he had collided with her father and was planning to kill the king yet it was probably a conspiracy from the royal court itself. They were going to pay.
After running for a while, she managed to come across a camp area where men in casual wear were patrolling, others were having a merry time but though dressed casually, for a girl who knew how the aura of a soldier felt, she knew exactly that they were not mere citizens and her doubts were confirmed when she saw a different royal emblem badge on one of the tents entrance.
They were without a doubt the second Prince's army. Drawing closer stealthy, she looked and happened to see familiar faces but that was not why she was here and besides she was aware that these men wouldn't let her anywhere near the second Prince's tent hence for that matter, she sneaked through the camp without being noticed thanks to the concealment art she had learnt from her father's training book.
Successfully reaching the back of the tent, she let out a sigh of relief and carefully flipped the material and crawled into the tent. It wasn't any big or fancy of the sort, it only had a small table to the left and a sleep area where she noticed the sleeping prince.
Seeing him again, she found herself straightening her posture and a small smile graced her face, her tiny brows furrowed as she tied not to get emotional. With light steps, she trailed to his side, careful not to wake him up and when she reached his side, a small whimper escape her lips.
It was truly him!!!
That fine jet black hair, spotless creamy skin, those thick brows and long lashes, his well endowed nose and thin pale pink lips, that firm jaw, he was well sculptured by the heavens. He was still the same the only difference was that he lacked the masculinity. She giggled at her silly thoughts but immediately covered her small mouth and inspected him further. He was still young. she noted.
The second prince felt like he could hardly keep up his act of being asleep. Someone had actually snuck up into his room but he had not yet unsheathed his sword to them!! That was a first!!
Maybe because he didn't sense any killing intent form the intruder hence he waited patiently to see what the intruder would do. However, when he heard a small whimper, he was tempted to open his eyes. It sounded like a female!! How did she manage to get to his tent?! Had his men lost their sense of danger that they didn't know he was being attacked?!!! They were going to talk it out with him later. He again heard a small giggle and this time, he couldn't help opening his eyes and was bewildered by what he saw.
A small girl!!!!!
The little one was probably in a daze as she seemed not to have noticed he was awake. He sprung up to a sitting position and the small girl fell back with a scream.
Lots of love from litto-ways ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️