Chapter 7

Audrey quickly got up from the ground and dusted herself, She was dirty and she couldn’t bear to be seen by anyone else while looking like this so she headed down stream looking for a river where she could wash herself and her clothes. Luckily She came across one and thanked the lucky stars. She headed down and removed her clothes against the bark of a tree and soon she was swimming in the clear water, washing her body as well as she could without any soap or brush. She also washed her hair and made sure that she removed all the dirt and sticks that was found in it, and soon afterwards she was done.

She swam back to the surface, making sure that nobody was watching her before she took her clothes. She wore her inner wears which covered her nakedness before heading on to wash her clothes. And then she hung it on the grasses so that the sun would dry it off.

Her stomach rumbled bringing her back into the present, she was hungry, luckily. She still remembered her chicken that she had stored in her shoes and brought it out. It looked mashed a bit but under than that, it was still good. She quickly munched on it hungrily as she tore through the meat without a second thought. If her parents could see her now, she was sure that they would be disappointed with what they saw. They wouldn’t believe that their daughter could do something as undignified as this. After eating, she went back to the river to wash her mouth and hands and also quench her thirst.

After that, she wore back her clothes which had gotten dried by the hot sun and straightened well. She didn’t know what to do. She had planned on heading to the next town to live a normal life as she had originally planned, but there was something that drew her to that cave,and judging by the weird dream she had the night before. She knew that it was no mere coincidence.

Meanwhile in the castle, the maids had gone up as usual to go and wake the princess so that they can start her morning routine as usual. She knocked on the door but there was no response. This was odd, but she shrugged it aside as she pushed the door and walked in. And to her surprise, the princess was still in bed as a lump could be shown under the covers. She went ahead to open the curtains to let the morning rays in and brighten up the room before she called out,

“Good morning Princess Audrey, it is time to wake up.” She said but there was no stir. The maid clenched her fists together trying to keep her anger at bay.

It was bad enough that she had to take care of an outcast and now the princess was pushing her luck. If she had her way, she would drag the princess out by her hair and give her the trashing she deserves.

“Think happy thoughts.” She murmured as she cleared her throat and repeated what she said earlier a bit louder but there wasn’t any difference. There was no movement or sound to show that she had heard her at all. The maid walked up to the side and pulled the duvet aside and her anger was replaced with shock. The princess wasn’t in bed. It was her pillow all this while that she had been talking to. Was she in the bathroom. She walked there and knocked first before opening the door but there was no sign of her there at all. Or any thing that would tell her she had been here but was not anymore. Still puzzled, she walked out of the bathroom and checked everywhere else.

After satisfying herself that the princess was indeed not in the room, she smiled and fell on her princess bed bouncing up and down on the soft cushion. She had known how long she wanted to try it for years and now she finally had the chance. It was different to the hard bunk she was made to share with the rest if the maids.

As she was carried away, she didn’t hear the footsteps of someone entering the room.

“What do you think you are doing?” A voice said cutting her happiness short as she hurried jumped out of the bed and went on her knees. It turned out to be the head of the maids.

“I am sorry, ma. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.” She said as the head replied,

“Where is the princess? And why are you not at your duty? Do you think you can slack off anywhere you want and not suffer the consequences.” She said as the maid shook her head and replied,

“No, I didn’t mean to. I was…the princess is not around. I was here to help prepare her for her lessons today and I guess I must have been side tracked a bit. Please forgive me.”

“I will over look this minor incident. You said the princess is not around, do you have any idea where she might be now?”

“Not a slightest clue, also I think she didn’t sleep in the castle last night. There was a pillow in her bed impersonating her, I believe the princess must either be kidnapped or had run away.

“Before you rush into conclusions, make sure first. Go and check everywhere, if you can’t find her, then we will raise alarm, now go. She may be somewhere reading a book upside down or something.” She said leaving as the first maid nodded her head and went to do as she had been ordered.

“I hope you are dead where ever you are.” The maid muttered as she searched for her. An hour later, it was safe to say that the princess was missing. There was haywire everywhere as people were looking for the princess so were the guards.

Queen Adeline could be seen crying on her throne beside her husband as the guards walked in and said,

“No sign of Princess Audrey in town sir. What should we do next?” The guard said. The king was torn between finding his daughter and consoling his wife who sobs were only beginning to get louder and louder.

“Find the princess, no matter what means necessary. Do not return without her.” The king yelled as the guard nodded his head and bowed before leaving.

“Dear, dear, don’t be sad. We will find her.” The king said comforting his wife as she blew her nose.

“I am afraid this is all my fault. I have been blinded. She was unhappy with all this and I forced her to do her duty and nothing else. I didn’t take consideration of her feelings and now she is gone, missing and we have no idea where to find her. If only I had talked to her, I would have been able to prevent this.” Queen Adeline said crying as the King patted her and said.

“Do not blame yourself for this. Ou were only trying to be a good mum, you didn’t do anything wrong. She doesn’t hate you, she will be found and she will be brought back, do not cry.” He said but the queen only shed more harder.

“It is all my fault. I should have been the one to watch her.” She said as the door opened again and Aunt Claire walked in without any invitation as the door swung behind her.

“What is this that I am hearing about my favourite niece gone missing?” She directed the question at the both of them but the king just rolled his eyes and said,

“Favourite? She is your only niece.” The king said as the aunt brushed his statement away with her hand and said,

“Either way, where is she? The guards are saying she is missing? How true is this? Was she kidnapped? Is there a ransom?” Aunt Claire said as Queen Adeline replied,

“We do not know yet. If she was kidnapped? No letters had been sent.”

“We are thinking it as more of a childish attempt to escape her duties and responsibilities we are about to bestow on her,” The king added as the aunt latched her eyes onto her brother and said,

“More responsibilities, what does that mean?” She asked as the king shrugged and replied,

“Well, we want her to become the ruler of the seven kingdoms. We told her about this yesterday but she disagreed vehemently and now she is gone with the wind. I believe she wants us to stand down or something.”

“You want to make her…..” Aunt Claire murmured trying to think this through as she chewed on her lips for a while before speaking,

“What a splendid idea, why we must find Audrey at once, I don’t feel at ease with her in the wild. This is a good opportunity for us all.” She murmured the last part so that nobody could hear her.