The Search for Cinderella

Chapter 39

Well guess who was sitting on the completed epilogue for a full week before they had a breakdown and decided it was terrible. I deleted it and began again. I still don't like this chapter but if I didn't end the chapter here I could never post. Feeling extremely unhappy.

The official status of the story is back to incomplete.

NOT THE EPILOGUE
...

Dimitri tapped his clean shaven chin as he observed Jade's face. They sat in Jade's rooms at the palace in front of the blazing fireplace. The girl had just about given up caring about what people would say if they observed a lone man entering her rooms.

"Surely, I cannot look that wretched," Jade asked with a wry smile.

"Not quite. You're moping," The Prince's bodyguard answered as he politely sipped on his tea.

"Of course, I am. Ever since we've come back from the country I've been sitting here sipping tea with my new well-wishers while the only person I want to see is barred from meeting me," Jade swallowed the sudden burst of emotion in her voice and hoped she drowned it with the heat of her beverage, "His room remains empty every time I go check. I cannot stand it. Please tell me nothing ails him beyond the obvious?"

"As you know Prince's injuries were exacerbated by his long journey. He also kept hidden a broken rib in all the chaos. The Queen was breathing fire the last I saw her and will not let him off his sick bed despite his protests," The man repeated what he had already told her before. The pair had been separated as soon as they landed in the Palace from the country side, not that they had been allowed to travel in the same carriage in the first place. Jade had been discharged from the infirmary while the Prince had been not.

"How come he was able to sneak off before and travel a great many miles without being caught while now he cannot even escape his sick bed? I cannot believe we're talking about the same man," Jade shook her feathery hairstyle in disbelief. In the depths of her mind the doubt lingered whether the Prince wished to meet her at all.

"His mother has promised to melt down his crown if he moves an inch from his pillow but I digress. You are no longer in danger and obviously he was able to escape before because I let him," Dimtiri's smile was mischievous as he finished his last sip.

Jade glared at her friend. Despite the positive outcome It was the most idiotic thing for a bodyguard to put his charge in danger. Her fear for the Prince's life overran all other instincts.

"I knew he was the catalyst for this dreaded witch business. Without him you might have been taken over as you said as the clock struck midnight and done whatever she wished," The man waved his fingers about carelessly.

"I have submitted my report to Sir Elliot about the witch's plans. You may read it if you want the juicy details," Jade rolled her shoulders in an effort to feel relaxed. She was entertaining the third visitor of the day but the only one she welcomed.

"You're still deferring to Sir hoity toity? You're now significantly above his rank in the Palace. "

"We have a very important goal in common and it is to protect Luke at all costs," Jade pressed her lips and replied gravely.

Dimitri just watched the tenseness of her posture and the agitation in his friend's eyes, "Why don't you have a change of pace. When will your house be refurbished?"

"It's only just started. It could take years if we stick to Mr. Gepetto's exacting standards," The girl sighed. Having no opinion on trims and tea cosies she had given the older gentleman free rein over her house.