The Search for Cinderella

Chapter 11

"Love potions, dream potions... Hmm..." Jade doodled in the margin of her borrowed notebook. She sat in the sunny part of the library once again as she poured over books that might improve her understanding. Her midnight encounter with the Prince made her more eager to get to the bottom of the matter. 

A shadow fell upon her parchment and she looked up with trepidation. They had a free afternoon and she hoped it continued to remain free since she had plans. The guard's forbidding face as he handed her an envelope made her sigh. Of course, that was not the case.

 

"You are summoned," The guard tonelessly, "Follow me, please." 

"Of course," Jade slammed her notebook shut. After ridding herself of her baggage at the librarian's desk she followed the guard out the gilded door with a sense of dread rising within her heart. Each step she took felt like lead. The footman outside Elliot's room announced her and ushered them in. 

"Well, you've officially made it into the royal circle if not royal employment for the time being," Elliot uttered from his desk as the girl shut the heavy door behind her in lieu of a greeting. Jade gave the room a quick inspection. It was generous in proportions and sparsely decorated. 

"How so?" The brown haired girl queried. She performed a ceremonial bow before accepting the man's order of taking a seat. 

"You have been invited to the royal horse race," The older man stated blandly and paused as if expecting some kind of acknowledgment of why that may be. 

"I haven't any notion as to why I would be invited to such an event. Watching prime horse flesh is a good way to spend-" Jade's free flowing words were clipped as soon as they ran in the danger of escaping her mouth. 

"Not watching, racing..." The secretary uttered gravely, "When I say it's a royal event it is because the Prince has insisted on organising a race he will be participating in."

"Prince Luke?" Jade was alarmed for the action was unlike her current estimation of the man.

"Stop being obtuse. If Prince Luke had invited you he would have ordered all of your companions, not merely yourself and he would have been more selective in whom he chooses as his spectators," Elliot replied gruffly. Clearly the horse race was not to his liking. 

"Why would the crown Prince want a horse race with me..." Jade trailed off feeling the fledgling of understanding seep through her stunned brain. Of course the man would be so petty as to try and humiliate her for the company she kept. 

"Not just you, there are others within his social circle who ride with him... Perhaps he has heard of your prowess on horses," Elliot commiserated with a pinched expression. He could not disuade the crown Prince once he had commanded his choice. He was even more unyielding than his own charge who was famous for his pig headedness. 

"Is Prince Luke to ride?" The girl wondered. The Princes never seemed close but it would be nice to ride with a familiar face. 

"He may, he may not," Elliot remarked mysteriously. 

"I should hope he feels well enough to," Jade muttered before she could curb her thoughts that found their way to her tongue. Elliot raised his grey eyebrow.

"And how did you come to conclusion? Surely not listening to common talk?" The man's tone was acerbic.

"I do not wish to spread gossip but I came across him after our sojourn in the library. Please have him followed, sir. I worry he might be a danger to himself because he was not in his senses," Jade wanted to keep the information close to her chest but Elliot's piercing eyes took the words out of her mouth.