A Knight's Princess

Sibling Meeting

Chapter 11:

(Clio POV)

I went through the house looking for Henry or Issac. I went into the library and of course I found Issac. He had always been the bookworm among us. He glanced up when he heard me come in but brought his attention back down to his book. I sat down next to him quietly. I looked around and said, "I'm calling a sibling meeting." He stiffened. No one called them besides Andrew but this was important, "Tell Henry, I'll tell Elijah. Meet at the usual spot." He nodded and I stood up leaving the library. I had already told Elijah that I was planning on calling a sibling meeting and he was headed to the spot. It felt strange coming here without Andrew but, it felt good that they all came. We all arrived at staggering times to be a little less suspicious for Mother.

It was silent for a few moments, "This is weird." Issac said breaking the silence and getting us all to laugh. We all sat down and it felt better now that the tension was broken. "So why are we meeting again? We haven't done this since... Andrew." Henry asked looking around. I took a deep breath, "I'm going to try and get out." Issac and Henry's jaws dropped, "Clio are you sure?" "Mother is going to kill you." I looked at them, "I can't do this anymore. She wants to marry me off to some Crown Prince and force me to be a Queen somewhere." Henry was confused, "Don't you want that?" I shook my head, "I have never wanted that." Issac looked up at me, "You haven't?" I shook my head. "Look, I know this sounds insane. I know it should be what every princess wants, but I don't. I want to be a performer and travel the world. I want to be able to marry the man because I love him not because he has a kingdom. I am the only one that Mother is forcing to do this and you all know you would feel the exact same way in my shoes." They all hung their heads low as they listened to me. "I am not asking you to risk your necks out or do something to ensue the wrath of Mother but, I am asking for your support." Henry and Issac exchanged looks, "What's your plan?" Issac asked. I smiled and went over to them wrapping them in a hug, "Thank you. Both of you." They nodded and we separated.

"Clio, you know you only have one shot at this. Mother is pushing me to pick who I want an alliance with and she is not relenting on the fact that it needs to be a Crown Prince or even a King. How do you plan on getting out of the castle and away from her?" Elijah asked. "Look I have money from all those tours I did after school. It's not much but, it should be enough to buy somewhere to live. Problem is I can't risk getting caught looking for a house" I started. Issac turned to face me, "I know somewhere you can stay until you find a more permanent solution. It's not a great place to live but, Mother won't think to look for you there. I'll start setting it up so it will be ready when you go," I nodded. "Also, when I do leave Mother is going to try to find me and she might even disown me. I won't be able to come back or talk to any of you for a while." They nodded their head understanding what I was saying. Henry asked, "When are you going to go?" "A week, maybe two. I need to get my affairs in order first." They all nodded and we started going back to the castle one by one.

Henry and I were the last ones to be at the spot when it was my turn to leave. I stood up and turned to head off, "So who is he?" I turned at the question, "Who?" He rolled his eyes, "Clio you may have been able to hide it from everyone else but, I know that you have been meeting someone."My eyes widened as my face flushed. Henry sighed and stood up, "Look, I'm not going to say anything and you don't even have to tell me but, is he the reason that you are doing this?" I looked up at him, "He is a part of the reason. Really he just gave me the motivation to finally do something." Henry came closer, "Well if he makes you happy and he is the reason that someone is going to stand up to Mother I'm all for it." I laughed. Henry was always the one who wanted to get out from under Mother, it was just that none of us besides Andrew felt like we could. He was walking away when I said, "James." He turned back, "His name is James." He nodded, "Well one day thank James for me."

I went back to the castle and found another Ball invitation waiting for me in my room. I opened the envelope and saw:

The Kingdom of Corinthia is cordially invited to the Royal Prep Reunion Ball will be hosted by their children Princess Amber, Prince James, and Princess Sofia

I smiled. I hadn't seen James in a couple of days and this would be an opportunity to see him and tell him about my escape plan. I was going to need his help if things were going to work.

(James POV)

I was walking with Amber to see Sofia, we hadn't seen her all day. "Hey Sof, you didn't come down for breakfast or lunch are you ok?" I asked. seeing her surrounded by old memory books "Yeah I'm fine just, reminiscing a little." Amber and I sat down and we all hashed out what we had been bottling up from each other and pretty soon Amber and I were regaling stories about the last 2 years to Sofia and I found myself stopping whenever I was about to talk about Clio, "So you and Prince Desmond?" Sofia asked looking at Amber. "He worked closely with James as an alchemist and we ended up spending a lot of time together." She blushed and soon their sights were set on me, "What about you?"I didn't want to lie to my sisters but Clio and I were both not ready for anyone to know, "I have been courting a princess. Before you ask Yes you know her, and know I won't say who she is. It is still new and I don't want anyone else involved." Sofia was satisfied with my answer but Amber, "You see me every day and you didn't think to tell me is it Hildegard or Clio or...or" I needed to get out of there "Goodnight Amber." I said as I walked out of the room.

I couldn't help but smile as I thought about Clio. I hope she got her invitation to the Ball. I needed to see her soon. Something wasn't right the last time we talked and I needed to find out what was going on.