Dragon of Storms

Chapter 17

 Reyna and Marie quickly left the pub and watched from the shadows as palace guards swarmed the block. Neither of them wanted to stick around to watch the outcome, so they headed back towards the castle, with only the moon lighting their way.

The whole way back Reyna tried to talk with Helios, but he kept blocking her out, and after a while she gave up. Her mind wandered to the lady beside her. Marie was Reyna's best friend, and was willing to go to the ends of the earth for her, yet she didn't trust her with Helios for some reason. The silence between them killed the princess, and she realized that just as she was keeping secrets, so was Marie. And whatever the secrets were, they had created a rift between the two. A rift that Reyna was determined to destroy.

When the two got back to the kitchens Marie went off toward her own room, "Marie, could you come to my rooms?" Reyna asked, "There's something I wanted to talk about." Marie's eyes lit with interest and any sign of fatigue quickly faded.

"Alright, lead the way," Marie gestured toward the empty hall. Again, they walked in silence, but this time it was needed. 'The walls of the castle had eyes and ears' Reyna's mother used to say. As a little girl, she had actually thought they did, and swore that she felt them watching her from time to time, but as the princess grew up she learned the full extent of the metaphor.

The two ladies stopped when they heard shuffling from up ahead. Looking around the corner Reyna saw that it was Lord James. Briefly cursing under her breath, the princess slipped the engagement ring back onto her finger. "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." She whispered to Marie when the Lord noticed them and marched up to her.

"Good luck," Marie muttered before stalking off towards Reyna's rooms.

"Lord James, how can I help you?" The princess turned toward her fiancé and glared.

"I was hoping to ask you something." He looked tired, dark circles marred his usually flawless skin, but she didn't dwell on it.

"This late at night, I should hope it's a good question." Reyna silently cursed at her remark on the time. Hopefully the lord would let it go and not question where she'd been.

"Yes, well it is something that's been bothering me for some time." He muttered and ran his hands through his thick black locks.

"Well, out with it then."

"Do you have a lover?"

"Pardon?"

"You heard me, lover." The lord's eyes were alive with anger. "What other reason would you have for opposing this marriage."

"First, if anyone has a lover, it's you." Reyna knew his reputation, as did everybody else. "You've slept around enough to probably have an unknown child or two." The lord had the audacity to look shocked at her remarks. "Second, I'm opposing this marriage because you are a pompous ass," Reyna began mentally counting the things she hated about him off, "you are selfish and not strong enough to be king, especially not my king. You are the epitome of everything I hate about nobility." When she finished, Reyna felt a lot better than before. Getting that all off her mind felt good.

At this point she didn't care if the halls really did have ears because Reyna wanted the whole world to hear her, her complaints, her hatred, for the man in front of her. "It's late Lord James, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed." The princess walked away, leaving a stunned lord behind.

She reached her room in record time and closed the door. As the lock clicked into place Reyna spun around to face Marie. She took a minute trying to find the best way to start. "Out with it Reyna. I'm slightly drunk, and I want to go to bed."