Lost Royalty

Chapter15

Chapter 15

When James reached the palace he had to beg a guard to let him in.

"Please sir, you don't understand. I simply must speak to Mr Oscar Pavey urgently." He said.

"We can't let you in. We've been instructed by the king that there are to be no visitors."

"I must speak to someone in the castle," James insisted.

James' journey had been easy enough. He had only stopped once, in the mid-afternoon, for a quick snack and to stretch his leg. He hadn't thought that getting into the castle would be so hard.

James had been begging them to let him in for so long, that when the head guard came out he was sure that he would be arrested.

"What do you want?" He asked James, looking him up and down.

"I must get into the castle!" James said. "I need to speak with Mr Oscar Pavey as soon as I can. It's a very important matter."

"What is your name?" The guard asked.

"James Parson." He answered.

"Are you the one from Grea?"

"Yes." He said, confused at the odd questions. How on earth would the head guard at the palace know who he was?

"Oscar has spoken about you. Follow me and I shall take you to him."

The guard started walking, and James almost had to run to keep up.

James was too nervous to pay any attention to the beautiful castle that he was in.

He was led to a set of big, rather grand, double doors. The guard knocked, and another guard opened them from the inside. James was lead into a room where the royal family was seated around a table. Oscar was sat with them.

The guard bowed, so James quickly copied him.

"Rise." The King instructed. When James and the guard were stood up straight the king asked them why they were there.

James looked at the guard who nodded to him, encouraging him to speak.

"I needed to talk to Mr Pavey," James said. "I have some information that may be of interest."

"What information?" Oscar asked. Clearly he was not afraid to speak bluntly in front of the king.

"It's about Elle Winters. I think she is who you are looking for." James replied, trying to keep the information at a minimum until he could speak to Oscar alone.

"James, we've already assessed her. It can't be her." Oscar said.

James looked around the table. He could only see half of the occupants, as the others were all facing away from him. As he was looking, a young girl of around eleven turned to face him.

She looked just like Elle. Her eyes were the same, and her features were identical. It seemed almost like James was seeing a memory of young Elle.

"I'm certain." He said, nodding his head.

"What do you mean, 'she is who you are looking for'?" the king asked, a flash of hope in his eyes.

Oscar was the one to reply. "He thinks that she is our lost Princess."

"How would you know this? If you are playing a joke you will be punished." The king said, all of a sudden defensive.

"I-I knew something wasn't right, so I went to her home. I overheard two men discussing it. They are going to hold her for ransom. Mr Winters said that he would send her away in two days' time." James replied. He turned towards Sophia. "You look just like her."

This was all it took for the Queen to break down into tears.

"But we assessed her." Oscar said, worried that he had made a crucial mistake.

"But you never even saw her. She asked me to make an excuse as to why she couldn't come to the party. But I don't think that she even knows that she is the princess. I'm sure she would have told me if she was." James said.

"We'll go at once and find her," Oscar declared, as he stood up from the table.

"No," the king said. "You will wait until morning. There is no point going now. You will likely be stopped by thieves or bandits on your journey. If you go tomorrow you will be more prepared. I'd like Andrew to go too. He's been very active in the search, and he can check for certain that it is her."

"Are you sure, sir?" Oscar asked.

"Yes. Now, young man, come and sit down and have some supper. You look like you need some energy." The king said to James.

James sat down in an empty chair opposite a boy around his age. He also had the exact same eyes as Elle and the younger girl.

"Are you sure it's her?" he asked, looking James in the eye.

"Absolutely certain," James replied, slightly nervously.

"I want to come tomorrow too." He said, turning to the king. "May I, Father?"

The king was deep in thought for a few moments.

"No, Daniel. I don't think that is a good idea." He replied.

"But..." Danny said, only to be interrupted by his father.

"I said no. Don't question me." King Jonathan said sternly, clearly indicating the end of the conversation.

Danny hung his head, and tried to blink away the tears of disappointment. He wanted to see his twin sister so badly, but now he would have to wait.

He would usually have argued, but he knew that this was serious and his father was highly unlikely to change his mind.

He wasn't even sue if it was actually Eliza. It had been so long and now it was so difficult to believe. He had all but given up hope of her return.

The rest of the meal was eaten quietly, and much of it was left untouched.

The only clear plates in the room belonged to Oliver, who could eat in any situation, and James, who was certain that Elle was the girl that they were looking for, so he had no worries.

Except of course his fear that they would send Elle away soon, and then they wouldn't be able to find her in time. He didn't want Elle to be hurt, and he knew for certain that if Elle was sent away to whoever the boss was, she would be hurt.

Of course, if Elle was the princess, he would surely be forgotten about, and she would live a happy life in the castle. James knew that Elle deserved a happy life, but selfishly he was disappointed in the fact that he would never see Elle after she had returned to her family.