50Chapter 8:
Correcting Common Misconceptions
The man that had entered the room looked exactly like Christian.
Sarah turned to the man sitting on her left. He was definitely Christian. So, who was this impostor?
Christian saw Sarah's confused face and laughed. "He looks quite a bit like me, doesn't he? He's Scarlet's brother, Damon."
Sarah turned back to Damon, ashamed a little by her reaction. She noticed that he didn't look like Christian as much as she had originally thought. He was shorter, wider and his hair was a bit darker. They both had the same eyes but Christian's skin was more olive. They still looked very alike though.
"Hello, Damon. You always like to make an entrance." Christian sniggered.
"I just love all the attention." Damon said sheepishly. He then went over to Sarah and greeted her.
Sarah's heart beat faster as he took her hand to kiss it. Christian and Damon looked like brothers, not cousins.
However there was something off-putting about Damon. Maybe it was the way he avoided making eye contact and when by pure chance they did manage to lock eyes, Sarah shivered. She blinked and the room before her transformed into some sort of dungeon. The damp, cold air clung to her skin. She could hear somebody screaming from intense torture. Sarah squinted and could see the back of the person that was suffering. Before Sarah could see anymore, the room disappeared and she was back in the dining room.
She had had another vision. She hadn't had one while she was awake in years. She looked around to find everybody studying her with concern. She wanted to tell them what had just happened but decided to save this information for the King and Christian.
Sarah could see Damon and thought that he looked worried – whether about Sarah or what she was thinking she did not know.
At least Sarah had found a possible explanation as to who was with the blonde girl that other night – it was most probably Damon. She almost felt guilty about her mistake.
"Are you alright?" Scarlet peered at Sarah with concern.
"What- um, yes, of course. I'm just a little tired."
The rest of the dinner was quite uneventful, though the conversation was by no means boring.
"Rapat has many spies. They're everywhere. One must be careful that he doesn't know of our plan." An old Duke was saying.
"Yes. It has even been rumoured that there are spies within the palace." Another person offered.
"What nonsense! This palace is the most heavily guarded place in all of Linnarch. I would know if there was a spy inside it." The King cried defensively.
Sarah, on the other hand, looked doubtful. What if there was a spy in the palace? She must be on her guard. It was becoming more and more apparent to Sarah that she was in an extreme amount of danger.
The topic shortly changed to a more frivolous subject - that of the upcoming Annual King's Ball.
"Everybody gets dressed up in lovely clothes! It's a masked ball and at midnight, the masks come off." Scarlet reminisced.
Sarah grimaced. She didn't have a great experience at her last ball.
Even Christian looked remotely excited. "The Ball is going to be really great. Remember the last one? Court Adviser Ryan drank so much that he ended up being sick in the middle of his speech."
"Just as well! He was saying just about every single vulgar joke that he could possible think of during it." the Queen put in.
Sarah was a little startled. The Queen reminded her so much of her mother. She suddenly became homesick again. She so badly wanted to see Majestia and her family again. She never knew that she could miss something so much.
Dinner ended a little after midnight. Sarah's head felt heavy and she desperately wanted to get some sleep. Christian was evidently thinking the same thing because they both hastily made their goodbyes and left straight away.
Once they were alone, Sarah told Christian about the vision she had had.
"What do you think it means?" he asked.
"I think there's something about Damon-"
"How can you even suggest such a thing?"
"I'm just telling you what I saw." she explained, trying to sound calm.
"Damon's like a brother to me. He's a good person and would never do anything that would harm Linnarch." Christian's eyes were blazing.
Sarah looked down away from Christian. Why didn't he trust her? She walked on ahead.
"Hey, wait!" he yelled.
Sarah quickened her pace. She didn't see the object that was lying on the floor in front of her and tripped over it. She started to fall but Christian caught her before she could land on her face.
"You should be more careful. How many more times do I have to tell you that before you finally decide to listen?"
"Be quiet." Sarah was now facing the prince's chest, gripping his strong arms and becoming very away of the powerful size of him. She breathed in deeply trying to catch her breath and found that he smelt of the forest and of cologne. He roughly shoved her away from him and Sarah winced. He really can't stand me.
Sarah turned her focus to the object that had caused her to fall: It was a dirty mop. "Shouldn't your servants be more careful where they place such things in the first place?" She retorted, kicking the offending item out of the way. She stalked off angrily with the prince choosing to walk behind.
When they reached Christian's bedchamber, the strain between them was stronger than ever.
"Goodnight!" She practically shouted.
"Goodnight yourself." Christian said gruffly, just as he was taking of his shirt. Sarah whipped around and fell onto her bed, cursing him under her breath.
And that was how the night of the dinner ended.
The following morning, Sarah was arguing with Christian yet again. She wanted to have some privacy while she was having her bath. Christian insisted that he was her bodyguard and could therefore not leave her.
"You're just saying that to annoy me! Can't you leave me alone for just a few minutes?"
"A few minutes are all it takes for something bad to happen." Christian shouted back.
"That's not your real reason – you just want an excuse to irritate me, admit it. Or maybe you just want to see me without any clothes-"
"Dream on!"
It was at this point in their bantering that Lydia walked in. Sarah askedthe maidto make the prince see some sense. They finally agreed on the prince just waiting outside while Sarah cleansed herself with Lydia to look after her. Sarah threw a pillow at the door as it closed behind Christian.
"He always gets on my nerves!"
"Most men do get on people's nerves." Lydia concurred.
Sarah took off her nightgown and crawled into the hot water that the other girl had poured for her.
"I wish I was very small again. I want to go back to the good old days when my biggest worry was whether I got whatever doll I wanted at the time." Sarah confessed.
"I know what you mean." Lydia comforted her.
Sarah wanted to ask Lydia a question. Sarah felt that the servant might know something that was bugging her. After all, servants usually gossiped to each other about their masters and mistresses. Sarah knew that the servants in Majestia did.
"I noticed that Christian and Damon look so alike." she started hoping that Lydia would take the hint.
Lydia's face took on an expression of eagerness. "There's more to that than just coincidence. I don't know whether I should tell you this." she whispered so Christian would not be able to hear what she was saying.
"You don't have to if you do not want to-"
"Oh, never mind that. The present Queen was actually in love with Damon's father, John. They were even going to get married. They were poor aristocrats - much closer to peasants than other nobles. All they had were their titles.
"Apparently, the Queen was in the city markets one day and the King happened to see her. She was incredibly lovely and he at once fell in love with her. He wanted her to be his wife.
"He asked the Queen's parents for their daughter's hand in marriage and they jumped at the chance – it's not everyday that you get offered to marry the King. The Queen was devastated. She wanted to marry John and was actually crying at the wedding altar. She tried to stay away from him but they still indulged in a very scandalous affair.
"A few years later the Queen was pregnant."
Sarah's eyes grew as wide as saucers.
"It's rumoured that John was the father of Christian, not the King. Damon, Scarlet and Philip and the twins are all siblings of Christian. That's why he and Damon look so much alike."
Sarah looked stunned. She remembered how when she had first met Christian and Scarlet she had thought that they were a couple. She knew now that such a thought was ridiculous.
"Are you sure? Maybe they just look alike."
"I can understand that there might be some family resemblance between cousins, but Christian and Damon look too much alike. Besides, pretty much everybody in Linnarch knows about the Queen and John."
Sarah wondered if Christian knew about his Mother and John. If he did know, then how did he feel about it?
"Enough of this sordid talk now. Lets discuss the upcoming ball." Lydia suggested, not whispering anymore.
"Do you know if the dancing in Linnarch is very different to the dancing in Majestic?" Sarah inquired.
"I've no idea. But I'm sure that Prince Christian will be willing to teach you any dance steps that you don't know. He's quite the dancer, and if I may say so myself, quite the charmer." Lydia's eyes sparkled.
Sarah imagined herself dancing with Christian. It seemed highly unlikely; he was barely speaking to her at the moment.
"I can't wait to sort out what dress you'll wear. You'll be the most beautiful lady there..." Lydia rambled on about the ball until Sarah's ears started to ache.
She soon finished washing herself and then got dressed. She wore an orange dress that on most people would look atrocious but on Sarah looked striking. She had another dispute with Lydia over her hair. She ended up wearing her hair tied back at the nape of her neck in a simple knot.
When she exited the chamber, she noticed that the Prince was still there, sitting on the floor.
"Good, you're finally here. I can't wait to have breakfast." he barked.
"You're so impatient. I can't wait till my lesson with Tom starts if it means I don't have to put up with you."
"I feel honoured. And I believe you are supposed to call your teacher Mr. Lastrange, not Tom."
Sarah clenched her fists. Why was it that he always had the ability to make her upset? After breakfast, Sarah decided to go for a walk. Christian had to walk several paces behind her, even though she wanted to be by herself.
She went outside the palace gates gleefully breathing in the fresh air and followed one of the numerous garden walkways.
A boy that Sarah recognized from last night blocked her path: it was Scarlet's younger brother Philip.
"Hello, how are you?" she greeted him politely.
Philip turned around to check whether Sarah was talking to him or whether there was somebody else behind him. When it turned out that it was indeed he who she was talking to, he blushed. Sarah looked at him and suddenly the truth dawned on her. It was she that was causing him to blush.
"Hello. I am well. I trust you are as well?" Philip responded hesitantly.
This was the longest sentence that he had ever spoken to Sarah and he looked quite proud of this achievement.
"Yes, I am. The weather is lovely. Quite good for walking."
"Indeed it is. Where are you going?"
"Nowhere really. I'm just walking around. Would you like to join me?" Sarah offered. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Christian had stiffened.
"Y-yes." Philip stammered.
They walked together down the path which turned out to lead to the sea. Sarah did most of the talking - Philip was incredibly shy.
Christian hung back and at certain times she could hear him grumbling behind them.
He finally interrupted them, "Sarah, I'm afraid that it's nearing lunchtime, we have to go." He may have spoken the words politely, but Sarah could tell by the expression in his eyes that he was not happy.
Philip said goodbye and before Sarah could say anything back to him, Christian dragged her away.
"Why do you have to be so rude?" she snapped.
"It was sickening having to watch you two for the past few hours."
"If I didn't know you any better, I would think that you were jealous."
"Me, jealous? I don't think so. I just hate having to wait around for ages, bored out of my brains." He reacted spitefully.
Their conversation continued on in a similar manner until they reached the palace again. There they were greeted by Lydia who was breathing heavily.
"Sarah! You must come and see the Queen quickly, it's important!" she panted.
Sarah's heart filled with dread. She ran as quickly as possible inside, dragging Christian along so that he could show her where to go.
She eventually stood before the Queen, who was looking gravely at Sarah.
They were all standing in Her Majesty's royal chambers. Sarah had been surprised to find that the whole room was red – the curtains, the floor, the bed.
The Queen handed over a small slip of paper to Sarah. "I received this from one of our spy's today." Sarah's hands shook as she opened it.
The letter read:
Queen of Majestia attacked. Dangerously ill.
"Was it Rapat who attacked Mother?" Sarah choked out.
The Queen nodded. "Most likely. It was either he or a follower of his. They must suspect if not know definitely who your parents are. I've sent for the King but he's out at the moment."
"I have to go and see her." Sarah pleaded.
"I'm afraid that we can't possibly do that. It would be too much of a risk. What would happen if you were attacked?"
"But I have to! My mother could be dying."
"No!" the Queen boomed.
Sarah wondered how she could be so heartless. Before she could stop herself, she yelled out, "How could you possibly know what it is to care so much? You're the one who had an affair behind your husband's back!" Sarah covered her mouth with her hands in astonishment. She had not meant to say any of that. She would have liked nothing more in that moment than to disappear.
But she was then stunned to see the Queen actually laughing, and Christian along with her.
"So is that what they say? That I had an affair. Well it's true that I was at one time rather fond of John, but that feeling disappeared a long time ago when I met Christian's father – who is despite common belief, the King. I know Christian and Damon look alike but they're just cousins, nothing more."
Sarah didn't think she had ever been so embarrassed in her life. Me and my stupid mouth.
"For a princess that's supposed to save our kingdom you sure are naïve." Christian insulted her snidely.
"Christian be more polite!" the Queen attempted to sound stern but she still had tears of laughter in her eyes. "That rumour was probably started by simply folk with nothing better to do than spread lies."
"I apologise." Sarah began.
"Don't worry. I was being very harsh, I deserved it."
Sarah's face suddenly brightened. Does this mean what I think it does?
The Queen saw Sarah's hopeful expression. "Yes, you may go."
"Thank you." Sarah gushed.
"But you must be very careful. It's very dangerous and so I'm sending Christian with you."
"What?" That was Christian.
"Christian you must go with her. No matter the danger Sarah has every right to see her mother when she is so close to-" The Queen stopped talking but Sarah knew what she was going to say: when she is so close to death.
She hoped against hope that it wasn't true, that her mother was going to be fine. But then why was there a small part of her saying that this wasn't the case?
Sarah saw Christian staring at her and turned to face him. He seemed to be looking at her with, wait a minute, was that pity?
"What is it?" she blurted.
"She's going to be fine." He uttered so softly that Sarah wondered if she had misheard him. But then his face immediately became scornful again and Sarah became certain that she had.
Or maybe she was just going insane.
Author's Note: Hmm... Not too sure I liked that chapter. Please review - I'll give you all a virtual cookie lol! As you probably noticed, I did eventually decide to keep this story here in the Romance category mainly because I thought that it might avoid some confusion and also because I think there needs to be more stories of this sort in the Romance section.
Replies –
SkepticCritic: I have roughly the first 18 chapters in total of this story pretty much written with just a few edits to make (which is about half the total content of Saving Fate, if not a bit more). And while I do have the rest of the story planned out, it's not actually concrete yet. As it's holidays for me at the moment, hopefully I'll be able to work on the rest of the story. Yep, it is Ck90's guess that is right. You guys are just too good. As for this story having a happy ending... I love happy endings but whether I write one or not you'll just have to wait and see! (I can't give too much away). As for the rest of your predictions I really can't say much. I might be able to email you about one or two things though. Thanks for the really nice comments and thanks for reviewing!
Ck90: Firstly, thanks heaps for always leaving something nice to say. As for your guesses, there is going to be a bit of a "love triangle" which will become more apparant in the next few chapters involving Sarah. Your prediction about who Sarah will end up with is very correct (though it's probably going to be extremely obvious in the next few chapters - like they won't be completely in love with each other or anything until the very end, there'll still be lots of obstacles in the way).
saisjura: lol. I was worried for a few seconds when you mentioned Ck90 but I'm glad it turns out that you're friends. As for the Sarah thing that's pretty cool, unlike the Christian thing. At least at the moment Christian's a jerk (though this may all change by the end, hint). I used to know a guy named Christian who was also a bit of an arrogant prat but he was also really charming at the same time. Do you and Ck90 really compare thoughts - because now the pressure's on to make sure my writing's up to scratch! Thanks so much for your very nice comments and for the very long review!