Chapter 17 A Quest
Chapter seventeen
A Quest
The Princess in the Tower knew only the walls of her prison, yet she never begrudged her tower. Still, the moment her feet touched the ground, she knew her life was just beginning. A world where anything was possible if she only had the courage to take the next step.
-Tales from Meridea, Volume I
Two days blew by like an eagle soaring through the sky, the wind beneath its outstretched wings carrying it ever closer to its destination.
If magic were real, then Luci would have asked it to stop time.
Tomorrow, Prince Ira would leave for a half-mad quest by himself.
A terrible idea in every sense of the word.
Yet Max and the prince believed in the vision of Cinderella and the vision with such devotion that they refused to entertain logic.
It was a curse of privilege as far as Luci was concerned.
Their whole lives, everything worked out just as they intended without consequence.
They just couldn’t see that it was spoon-fed to them by their lack of title and birth.
“At least bring a few guards with you.” Gladys urged.
Her light brown hair was braided on either side, much like a crown, while the rest cascaded down her back. Her eyes locked on her twin, who sat on the floor of the library, a shaggy-haired gray and black puppy between his legs, jumping paws out in an attempt to get the ball Prince Ira held.
Like nothing was the matter in the world, he tossed the ball across the room, and the puppy took off in a blur of speed, its feet skidding across the tiled floor as he fought to reduce his pace enough to avoid the bookshelf before him.
With a thump, he landed against the shelf, but his efforts were rewarded when he trotted back to Prince Ira, red ball in tow.
“The vision didn’t show other people, and I wouldn’t want to impose on them. I’m perfectly capable of surviving a week on my own, Gladys,” he said.
The princess crossed her arms and shot a glare across the room to Lucien, who sat beside Brielle in two high-backed chairs. He held up his arms and shrugged his shoulders.
“What do you want me to do? I can’t go with him, I’m the spare.” Lucien said.
A small snort broke from Brielle, though she never raised her head from the crochet of flowers she’d been tending to for the last hour of this nonsense.
Lucien leaned over and fixed her with a smile that made Luci want to stomp right over and slap it off his face.
“Imagine if you were engaged to Ira,” he crooned.
Luci stood from where she was propped on Max’s desk at the center of the library, but Brielle lifted her eyes and gently shook her head.
The infernal prince spent all morning flirting with Brielle, and though she didn’t encourage it, she didn’t put a stop to it either.
With her quiet smiles, Luci was almost inclined to think she was enjoying herself.
As if she'd forgotten how terrible the younger prince was and the awful things he said.
Luci remembered enough for both of them. Though the slap he’d dealt her years ago faded, she remembered the sting of it just as well. It didn’t matter that he apologized and pretended all was well. It was just another luxury of privilege.
Worse, Prince Ira didn’t mind in the least. He merely continued playing with Gladys’ puppy with only the occasional roll of his eyes at his brother’s attempts to pursue his fiancée. Only Gladys was appropriately annoyed, making Luci feel like she wasn’t going completely insane.
“Lucien, leave Brielle alone,” she snapped.
“It’s not my fault she thinks I’m funny,” Lucien said.
“She’s too polite to tell you that you are annoying.” Gladys frowned.
A crash sounded as the puppy rammed into the bookshelf, knocking off several books that landed on the floor with a thump while he scurried off with his prize back to Prince Ira.
“Goodness, Ira, for the love of stories, will you please stop throwing that ball!” Gladys said. “I think I preferred when you were allergic.”
The prince in question lifted his eyes to Luci, flashing a smile that should have been illegal.
“Thanks to Lucinda, I have a lot of catching up to do. I mean, look at Bertram. He’s adorable,” he squished the puppy’s face in answer.
Drooling from his outstretched tongue, Bertram wagged his tail happily.
“Yes, I know he’s adorable, but I can barely think between you and the dog and Lucien being insufferable,” Gladys said.
“But Lucien’s always like that,” Max said, lifting his head from his scrawling quill behind Luci.
“Even my little brother has turned against me.” Lucien sighed. “I fear all I have left is you, Brielle.”
Prince Ira laughed while Brielle’s cheeks flushed crimson and her hand subtly stuttered over the stitch she was working on. Luci doubted anyone else would have noticed, but this was quickly becoming problematic.
“You really are insufferable, Lucien.” Prince Ira chuckled.
“Tell them they're wrong, Brielle. I promise I’m being grievously misjudged. Yes, once upon a time in my youth, I might have been a bit of a prick–.”
“A bit,” Gladys and Prince Ira murmured as one.
“A bit,” Lucien said. “Either way, I’ve matured, reformed.”
“How can you be certain?” Brielle asked, lifting her head to him and batting her eyelashes.
If the world opened up and swallowed Luci whole, she would have been less surprised. In fact, it took several moments to register that her mouth was hanging open while she stared at her best friend, who was absolutely flirting with a man who was not her fiancé.
Lucien leaned forward. “Well, Miss Treveon, a moment comes in a man’s life when he begins to realize what is actually important.”
Gladys scoffed, but Prince Ira merely resumed playing with Bertram, who was quite content with this choice.
“And what is important?” Brielle asked.
Her lips curled up in a smile that mimicked when Luci and she would sneak out of Blythe and down to the lake when they weren’t supposed to.
“Why, love, of course,” he purred.
“Are you going to let him get away with this, Ira?” Gladys asked, holding out her hands.
The prince shrugged. “What do you want me to do about it? Brielle can hit him if she feels so inclined.”
Gladys shook her head, looking at Luci with wide, pleading eyes as if there was anything Luci could do about it. She was just as helpless. Holding out her hands, Luci threw them up and down because she never felt so helpless.
“Honestly, all of you are annoying. I don’t see why you all have to interrupt my work.” Max said, not bothering to look up.
Strange that a seven-year-old should have more sense than the rest of them, but then he was Max. Under no circumstances was Luci prepared to anger the little prince, given he was dutifully keeping her secrets, though when it was just them, he would ask her who she was that day.
“As to who should go with Ira– that is a matter entirely up to fate. Fate rarely cares about the input of others.” Max said.
Luci sighed. He and Brielle were beginning to sound an awful lot like each other. Glancing over at her friend, she found Lucien leaning towards Brielle and whispering something that made her laugh quietly.
They were all mad.
Luci pushed off the desk, folding her arms over her chest.
“Well, since fate is in charge, I’m going to the infirmary,” she announced.
Bertram crashed into the bookshelf again and shook his head, finally spotting the red ball. In a truly adorable feat, he settled on his back legs before leaping onto the ball like he was a predator and the ball his prey.
“Why?” Prince Ira asked, ignoring Bertram’s nudging the ball into his hand.
Luci stilled and stared at the nosy prince.
“Because I want to, but also if you would like more time playing fetch, you will need more elixirs,” she said.
He met her gaze, unfazed by the irritation in her voice.
“Noah can do it now that you’ve settled on the recipe,” he insisted.
“Noah has other things to do, and I enjoy helping,” Luci said slowly.
“He seems to have plenty of time on his hands. I’m sure he can handle it.” Prince Ira said, dismissing her and returning to play fetch.
Luci leaned over and retrieved Bertram just as he was about to go face-first into the bookshelf.
Goodness knew he wasn’t a clever creature.
The small beast flailed in the air, eyes pinned to the red ball, though it was a wonder he could see it at all with the long hair covering his eyes.
It might explain his lack of depth perception.
“Good thing I am not beholden to your permission, last I checked.” Luci snapped.
His wide grin and obnoxious dimples were the most infuriating sight Luci ever saw.
“Is that so?” he said.
Stepping forward, Luci cocked her head as she dropped Bertram into his lap.
“Change of plans, I am going to the infirmary to poison your elixirs,” she said.
His laugh was every warm summer day at the lake and the coziest of nights by the fire. It lit up his face until he shone like the sun. A prince who never knew a hard day, but instead bore the laugh lines to prove his happiness.
“I’ll go with you,” Gladys said. “This room is quickly falling into madness.”
Luci nodded and made for the door.
“Are we concerned she just threatened Ira?” Lucien said.
“He deserved it,” Gladys answered.
“Yes, but still–” Lucien drifted off.
Luci wasn’t willing to stay and hear her sentence given. Prince Ira was still chuckling as if this were all wildly amusing. How he would survive on his own traipsing around Meridea was a mystery. The first sign of discomfort, and he’d probably run home.
When the door shut behind Gladys, Luci slowed her steps to accommodate the princess even though her feet itched to run. Of all the royals, Gladys was the most bearable besides Max. She was practical while also being kind.
“Your dog is likely to get a concussion,” Luci said.