His Princess Mate

14 - Outing

დRoseდ

The past week had been much of a haze and the only two major things that caught my attention were Henry and my mother, who had moved out of the castle and was now staying at a motel in the kingdom. My father was a mess and truth be told, so was I. Nothing was as it seemed at Henry’s questions had only made things worse. I was going to have lunch with my mother at a famous restaurant just a few miles away from the kingdom. I was not sure why she had requested that; however, I was looking forward to getting out of the castle for the day. My father, on the other hand, was worried.

“Why that place?” he questioned again during breakfast, and I sighed as I placed down my fork and looked down the table at him.

“I already answered that question,” I said. “More than once,” I added under my breath.

“It just does not make any sense, Rose,” he snapped, and I sighed loudly once again.

“It does not make sense to me either, father, but she mentioned wanting me to meet an old friend,” I explained, again.

“Who is this old friend?” he asked, and I shrugged before picking up my fork once again. I had no idea who this friend was and although I suppose I should have been curious, I was far too excited to be going out for a bit. It had been a while and being stuck at the castle was not as wonderful as others thought it may be. It was boring and tiresome and with the current state of affairs, it felt more so like a cage than my home. “Just be careful, Rose,” my father suddenly said, and I glanced over at him and frowned. “That killer has still not been caught and I do not want you to put yourself in harm’s way,”

“I will be careful, father,” I said, doing my best to reassure him. “I will not be gone for that long and if it would make you feel better, Adam can accompany me,”

“And Viviane,” he added, and I rolled my eyes like some teenager but then slowly nodded in agreement. He seemed to relax somewhat, and we finished our meal in silence. I did notice that there was no newspaper this morning and I breathed out a sigh of relief. That meant no one else had lost their lives to the suspicious serial killer.

“Have you heard anything from Henry or the police?” I asked later as we sat in the sunroom, sipping on tea, and devouring the freshly made jam biscuits.

“Nothing new,” he replied, and I nodded before picking up another biscuit. They were the death of me, and even though I had just finished eating a healthy and fulfilling breakfast, I managed to find space for the delicious, buttery biscuits.

“Did Henry question you about my mother?” I then asked curiously. He nodded but gave me no comment on the subject, so I let it go. I wanted to tell him about my own meeting with Henry but since he was not going to share, I was not going to either. Childish, I knew, but I did not care. We sat in silence, and I glanced over at the window and smiled. Summer was slowly fading, and the fall was gracing us with its presence. The once green leaves were slowly turning a dark shade of yellow, and some were already a light shade of brown. It was quite something to see as the seasons changed, and I leaned back against my seat as I continued to watch the outside garden. “We should throw a garden party,” I suddenly blurted out and my father gazed over at me with a smile tugging on his lips, his beard needed to be trimmed and I blushed as I ducked my head slightly to avoid him seeing my embarrassment.

“If you wish, although the fall can be beautiful, the temperature will drop and you should take that into consideration,” he said as he too looked out the window. My mind started wondering about the possibilities and although I felt the nervous prickle run through me, I knew that at some point I would have to start doing things like this. The kingdom deserved their princess and from the way, things were going, their queen too. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to visualize the potential of what a garden party would look like, but I could not do it. I opened my eyes in frustration and then slowly stood up.

“I think I will start getting ready for my lunch date,” I said to my father who simply nodded before I left the room and headed to my bedchamber. My need to be alone was concerning but I wanted to prepare myself for the time I would spend with my mother. I had questions and today I was going to demand some answers.

Adam and Viviane both stood outside of the castle, at the bottom of the entrance steps and I smiled when I spotted them. Adam was dressed rather casually in a dark grey suit with a white shirt and grey tie. He looked rather handsome, although his age was pushing toward his retirement. I had to wonder if my father had considered this and if he was looking for a new butler and right-hand man. I glanced over at Viviane, who had opted for a pale green dress that hugged around her waist and flared out quite romantically. She had her hair tied back with a matching pale green bow and I thought she looked beautiful and elegant. I, myself, had chosen to wear a soft peach-colored dress that complimented my skin tone and flared out so mystically that each step I took felt like I was walking on clouds. I shook my head to clear my silly thoughts just as the carriage pulled up.

“Are you all set for your outing, princess?” Adam questioned as he held out a white-gloved hand. I threw him a grateful smile as I took the last step onto the gravel. The horseman jumped down and hurried over to open the door.

“Indeed, I am,” I whispered as Adam led me over to the opening. I moved over to the far side to make room for Viviane, who was being helped by Adam. Once she was seated next to me, Adam climbed in, and the horseman closed the door before heading back to his position. I felt the carriage move with his movements and I looked out the window as it slowly lurched forward. I felt a soft shake and glanced over to see Viviane was smoothing out her skirt. “You look lovely, by the way,” I complimented, and her cheeks went a dark shade of pink.

“Thank you, princess,” she said with a smile so radiant that I blushed. “It has been a while since I’ve been out of the castle,” she then added, and I simply nodded before turning my attention back to the outside. I had a list of questions in the back of my mind, and I was more than ready to face my mother. The trip outside of the kingdom was rather boring and void of any small talk, for which I was grateful and when we arrived at the motel, I was rather surprised. Granted, I had not been to a motel before, but I had not been expecting a building as grand as this! It had been built with clay bricks and the deep rich brown color was quite a welcoming contrast against the burgundy details around the main double wooden doors and the tall, squared windows that would allow the natural sunlight to brighten the inside. It was rather tall, I had to think that it was possibly three levels high, and I could see the chimney letting a soft trail of smoke which I had to assume came from the kitchen. The carriage came to a standstill, and I admired the garden that graced the front of the motel.

“Look, princess!” Viviane suddenly exclaimed as she leaned slightly forward and pointed her finger to the left. I followed the movement and smiled as I spotted the barn that housed a few horses. I was, once again, suitably impressed with this place as I had admittedly assumed motels were a place of work. However, it was clear this was not a place where women came to do a round of work for a bit of money. Adam promptly left the carriage and I watched as he walked up the dirt pathway to the front of the motel. The doors stood open, and I could not quite see how the inside looked from here and my curiosity was piqued as I considered getting out as well. However, moments later, I saw my mother exit with Adam following close behind her. I avoided her intense gaze as I shifted uncomfortably, I should not be feeling nervous, although I could not quite help it either. Adam opened the door for my mother and Viviane held her hand out to assist.

“Hello, mother,” I greeted politely.

“Hello, Rose,” she said as she settled in. Viviane kept her eyes downcast and mumbled some form of a greeting before Adam stiffly sat next to my mother. I felt the carriage lurched forward and I sighed.

“How far are we going?” I then decided to question. “And who is this friend of yours?”

“Not very far, she and I grew up together,” she explained. “She will be delighted to see you again after all these years,” she added softly, and I frowned. Who was this friend? Someone my mother had grown up with, all that told me if that they knew each other fairly well but then again when last did my mother see her friend? I decided to ask her that question and I watched as she frowned. “It has been quite a while, although we have kept in contact by letter,” I nodded as I turned to look out the carriage window. In the distance, I could see a cottage that sat on top of a small hill.

“Is that her home?” I asked, even though I knew she would not be able to see it from where she was sitting.

“The cottage?”

“Yes, it is sitting on top of the hill,” she nodded with a smile, and I looked back out the window. How wonderful must it not be to live in such a remote area? I settled back down against my seat and this time the silence in the carriage was not pleasant and I silently hoped we would arrive at our destination.

“Her name is Amelia,” my mother suddenly announced. “She was orphaned at quite an early age, and she was brought here by her owners,” I glanced over at her from the corner of my eye, listening closely to the story. “She was around five at that time, and my family welcomed them into our home,” she continued. “We did not live that far away from that cottage actually, although it probably no longer stands,”

“Hmm?” I hummed out in question. It was at that moment that I realized that I did not know much or anything about my mother's family.

“Ai, my parents were both killed before my sixteenth birthday,” silence once again fell between us; however, my mind was going crazy with questions and curiosity. The fact that I did not even know that was quite concerning but then again, my mother had abandoned me at a rather early age. The cottage ahead came into view, and I sighed as the nerves once again took hold. I was looking forward to learning more about my mother and her friend.