The Princess Bride

Chapter 28

"But, you can't just-"

Raising my eyebrow in annoyance, I silenced the servant girl.

"I have been fulfilling obligations all day," I said irritably. "I don't think it's too much to expect a moment for myself. Do you?"

"No, Your Highness," she said meekly.

"You will go back and tell Roberta that I wasn't here when you arrived."

"Yes, Miss."

"You may go."

The girl curtsied and scurried away as I scowled at her. Roberta didn't actually have any authority over me any longer, but she still liked to pretend she did by planning an endless number of appointments.

I might not have been so irritated if I hadn't been kept running from one appointment to the next all day already. Apparently Roberta wanted to keep the trend going. Even if I hadn't planned to meet Alex already, I wasn't about to subject myself to more of that today.

Shaking it off, I grabbed the book I planned to give to Aunt Keira for Mother before heading out the door.

Normally I'd have wished to spend more time with my aunt than the few minutes she had to spare to meet me for the book, but I hadn't had much time with Alex all week. He miraculously had some free time this afternoon, so we were going to spend a few hours in our hiding place after I met Aunt Keira.

A minute after I'd reached a more central hallway, I felt someone behind me and turned to look.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness," the man said with a bow. I thought he looked a little familiar, but I didn't know him.

"Hello," I answered.

"On your way to the library?" he asked pleasantly.

Surprised by his intuition, I stared at him. The library was not the first place that anyone would guess a woman would be visiting.

He glanced pointedly at the book in my hand in answer to the question in my eyes.

I was still a little puzzled about his assumption, but I said, "just briefly." Even hidden as our secret room was, I didn't want anyone thinking of looking for me there. Especially since Roberta might try to send me another message.

"Have an enjoyable time," he said before bowing again.

Something in his smile was off, so I was glad he didn't plan on walking with me for any length of time. I smiled and nodded before continuing on down the hall.

As I walked, that feeling didn't go away, and after a few more minutes I turned around to find that he was still behind me. He just smiled again and said nothing.

I guess it wasn't the strangest thing in the world that he was going in the same direction that I was, but it just felt odd to have him walking behind me.

Quickening my step, I continued toward the library. When I checked again a few moments later, he was still following me with that odd smile.

This couldn't be coincidence, could it? That he'd needed to make all the same turns down the various hallways that I did? And that he had needed to match his pace with mine? I really didn't think so and I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable with his presence. Especially since this section of the castle was pretty deserted.

Turning the last corner that led to the library, I hurried toward the guard who was apparently patrolling the area.

"I think someone is following me," I said looking back toward the corner.