"What's your name?"
"Lillian, your highness," she quickly answered, still in fear of her rudeness being reported and her head being chopped off.
Castella pursed her lips in disapproval, "Please call me Castella, from today on we're friends, fear not, and as I said, I'm not like the uptight snobbish royals in the court."
Lillian's shoulders eased, her chest falling; she released the breath she held in unconsciously for fear of angering Castella.
"Lillian is such a lovely name." Castella complimented her.
"Thank you, your..high.." Castella's eyes narrowed at Lillian.
"I'm sorry, thank you, Castella," Lillian slowly spelled out, rolling the name on her tongue.
It felt familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Something felt off and new, because if Castella was the princess, then where was the second prince?
Shannon remembered writing three siblings in the book, and they were all male. Truly, the book had taken a twist of its own.
Breaking Lillian's train of thought, Castella took her arm. "Come, let's head back to court." She tugged her toward the garden entrance of the throne room, but Lillian resisted, holding her weight back.
Lillian's brows furrowed, "Why?"
Castella looked at Lillian, "What do you mean by why?"
Lillian was an open book to Castella, puzzled as to why she needed to return to the court. The king had already seen her.
Castella asked, "Do you know why you're here?"
A wrinkle formed on Lillian's forehead as she tried to guess why she was at the palace. "I'm not sure, but I think it's something about forming an alliance of some sort?"
"Well, it is an alliance, but it's a marriage to my brother, the second prince, and also a possible bride for my elder brother, the first prince," Castella explained.
The light in Lillian's eyes dimmed. "The second prince? the one next in line for the throne?"
"Yes." Castella responded.
"What about the third prince? The middle forgotten child?" Lillian blurted out.
Castella let out a sigh, "There's no third prince, and I'm the middle forgotten child, well, not so forgotten."
Blood crept up Lillian's neck, "I'm sorry for asking such an intrusive question."
Castella let out a sigh. She placed her hands on Lillian's shoulder, "I said we're friends now, and that's fine, stop saying sorry." A faint smile rested on Lillian's lips.
"Your highness, the announcements are about to begin, and your presence is needed in the courts," came a soft, yet firm, gruff voice from the corner of the garden the girls were in. A man walked out from behind one of the rose bushes, making Lillian jump.
She placed her hand on her chest to calm her frantic beating heart. Castella let out a light chuckle, "Don't worry, it's only my trusty aid, Blaine."
"I'll be there soon," Castella relayed her message. Blaine gave a slight nod to Lillian before he left.
"Can we head back, now that your questions have been answered?"
Lillian nodded her head. Castella took hold of her arms once more and led her towards the garden entrance of the throne room.
____________________________________________________________________
"Fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five, fifty-six."
[Ding, 200 points for pushup completion, distribute points?]
Letting out a sigh of relief, the man replied, "No, no distribution, I'll get back to it later."
He got up from the floor after completing his side quest, he grabbed the towel on the edge of the table, and he used it to wipe his forehead before walking towards the bathroom doors.
He got into the bathtub when a knock came through, "Sire, your father requests your audience in the throne room."
Oh yes, the dreaded day, Jameson wasn't expecting it in the literal sense, the day in which the king picks eligible wives for his son or sons, it has, of course, been the usual tradition of the Livingstons, since his ancestors came into power a long time ago.
He didn't want things done this way; he knew his father was getting him married so that his burdens would shift to someone else to bear, while his most shiny trophy son gets to take over the kingdom and handle kingdom affairs. He truly was the cornerstone that was rejected.
Jameson let out a sigh, "Daniel, let me have my bath in peace, I'll show up at my own time, it's not like I'm the star of the show," he replied.
"I shall relay your message to the king's aid." Before Daniel left Jameson's room, he picked out the prince's attire.
Daniel was more of a fatherly figure to Jameson, taking care of him from when he was just a boy, since the accident that happened to the prince's leg that left him disabled for life, which made his father hate him and his sister so much.