CHAPTER SIXTEEN
They were invited to lunch and so they had stayed. Mrs. Haskell hummed as she prepared the table with the help of Aeras for Thalassa was still unseen. He wanted to ask Ms. Aeras about it but he hadn’t known how to open the subject.
They started to sit down on the table when it started to rain hard. Then, the opening of the front door took their attention. They all hurried down the hall to see who it was. They saw Thalassa soaking wet and covered in mud splashed, in the middle of removing her mask. Her hair wasn’t tied but it vanished beneath her clothes.
“Goodness!” her mother exclaimed. “Where have you been?”
“I was talking a walk through the forest when it began to rain,” she answered; obviously avoiding her mother’s eyes.
“Go on and clean up. Lunch is served,” Mr. Haskell commanded softly.
“Yes, papa,” Thalassa climbed the stairs, leaving a trail of mud in her wake. Aeras quickly set off to get a rug and a pail of water to clean the dirt her sister had left.
“Please, I apologize for my daughter’s behavior,” Mrs. Haskell started as she led the men towards the dining room again. They sat on the left side while Mr. and Mrs. Haskell sat on each end.
Thalassa and Aeras entered the room together. The former, newly dressed, sat in front of Mr. Pierce and Aeras at her side. The man’s eyes wandered to Thalassa’s neck to see how deep her wound was. But- it was covered with a choker.
They began dinner, and several discussions were opened. Though, Thalassa answered when asked, she wasn’t really participating on the conversation.
“Kind sirs, we would be honored to let you stay ‘til the storm breaks,” Mr. Haskell invited.
“Thank you, Mr. Haskell. We shall trespass on your kindness for tonight,” the prince replied.
And so, the day passed with Thalassa always missing from the house. The men were each given a room in the opposite hall of the ladies’. And as night ended, everyone turned to bed though Pierce could not sleep. He continued to stare at the ceiling and let the sound of strong wind and rain lull him to sleep.
But when he listened closely, he could hear the swishing of the sword every once in a while. Curious, he stood up and peeked out the bedroom window. And due to his trained, sharp eyes, he could perfectly see Thalassa repeatedly striking a poor, old tree.
On the second morning after the men left their home, a letter arrived for Aeras. She opened the letter eagerly. The joy and rush of her love proposing to her still had not fully sunk in to her as everyday felt like heaven. “Thalassa!” Aeras called from the drawing room.
Thalassa entered the room; curious as to why her sister was calling her when she should have been writing a reply for the letter that came for her. “What is it, dear sister?”
“The prince has invited our family to stay in the castle until the night of the engagement ball,”
Thalassa gaped at her sister’s announcement. She had to blink a few times before she managed to make her voice come out. “Dear sister, I do not mean to rain on your parade. But I have to ask; do I really have to go?”
Aeras noticed her sister’s strange reluctance. And she remembered the unfinished conversation between them the night of the bandit’s attack. She remembered Mr. Sinclair following her sister out the ballroom after everything. But- she saw how tense Thalassa had been. “Is this about Mr. Sinclair?” she asked. “What is it that the two of you talked about?”
Thalassa stared up at the ceiling. It was not what they talked about. Though it was partly that. But- it was because of what she remembered and what she realized she had lost. “It is not that, Aeras. It just- I’m just. . . ” her voice trailed off as she shook her head. “Forget about it, sister. I will come,”
With a few more words, Thalassa excused herself to go for a much needed walk. Aeras stared at her sister’s leaving figure and sighed. “Oh, dear sister, I wish you could confide in me like I do in you,” Aeras murmured to herself as Thalassa vanished from the room.
~oOo~
The Haskells arrived early in the morning and they used the time to settle into their given rooms. At lunch, the queen invited them all to eat with her, together with her son and favorite nephew.
“Thank you for your kindness, my queen,” the Haskells said as they sat.
“No, no. We will soon be of one family,” the queen answered.
She was sitting in the end of the table with Mr. and Mrs. Haskell on each side. Thalassa sat beside her father and her sister, on the opposite side of her, sat beside her fiancée. Mr. Pierce took the seat beside Thalassa. Only she and her sister, who was clearly watching them, noticed the hesitant way he did so.
Their food was served, and the queen started the conversation. She kept on asking about how Aeras and Thalassa grew in a house with no servants even though they were a member of a rich family.
Despite not mentioning, it was obvious that the queen particularly avoided voicing the rumors she had heard about the Haskells and why they removed every servant out of their house. She did not even believe it in the first place.
“My queen, our parents raised us to be independent. And living with no servants certainly served its purpose,” Aeras answered.
The queen smiled at her soon to be daughter-in-law. “Yes, I can see how you two grew up to be such wonderful young ladies,”
And the talk continued when it suddenly sifted into a more serious topic. The knights positioned at the outskirts of the town had been reporting troubles caused by bandits. It seemed like a very large group of bandits had been coming and leaving after making some destruction.
“That’s terrible news, my queen,” Thalassa answered. “May I inquire what actions are you going to take?”
The queen smiled at her. “I am going to send my best warrior to take care of it,” she answered, looking proudly at her nephew.
Thalassa’s eyes wandered to the man beside her. “Yes, my queen. I shall leave as soon as possible,”
“You are going to attend my engagement ball, are you not?” the prince asked. “I cannot bear to think of it without you, cousins,”
“Of course, Nicholas. I will be there,”
The talk had shifted to a more casual conversation. Aeras and Nicholas noticed the tension between the two people in front of them. Like- there were some things left unsaid.
Soon after lunch was over, Nicholas pulled his cousin aside and led him to the library with the intention of talking to him alone. “Cousin, what is it that troubles you? I could not help but notice the tension between you and Ms. Thalassa,”
“I just had the bandits in my mind, Nicholas. There is nothing for you to be worried about,” he answered confidently.
Nicholas shook his head at his cousin who kept denying what everyone could see. “Cousin, I have known you since we were kids. I know that is simply not the case. And I have noticed Ms. Thalassa’s behavior when you are around,”
“And what have you noticed?” Pierce asked with a light tone.
“You keep on avoiding each other,”
Pierce gave a short laugh. “We simply do not have to say to each other,”
Nicholas sat down on the chair by the corner and encouraged his cousin to do the same. Pierce sat down next to his cousin, curious as to what Nicholas would say.
“Could it be, dear cousin, that you have feelings of affection for Ms. Thalassa?”
Pierce had not managed to answer right away. Because Ms. Thalassa’s ten-year-old face staring straight at him with those eyes that could melt anything flashed in his mind. He wanted to talk to her. Have that connection once more but- he knew it was impossible.
At first, he could not believe that Ms. Thalassa was the very same woman who he used to play with by the falls. The very same woman who listened to his woes and did not judge and was not afraid to say her own thoughts about it. The very same woman who refused to say her name but had her fingers wrapped around him like she was the queen and he was nothing but a mere knight. But- those things were not coming back.
“I do not have time for affection, Nicholas; especially at a time like this,”
“At times like this, love is the most powerful weapon,” Nicholas said as he stood up. “Then, dear cousin, you would not mind gambling with me. If you really do not have feelings of affection for Ms. Thalassa, I shall see you dance with some ladies at my engagement ball,”
Pierce also stood up in front of his cousin. His eyes unwavering and confident. “If that is what it will take to convince you, cousin, I shall,”
Nicholas gave his cousin a soft laugh; a knowing laugh. “I do not need convincing, Pierce. Maybe you do,” he answered before he left Pierce alone in the library to think for himself.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
