Lord Theodore's Favorite Ritual
Chapter 236: First Life. Alice. (3)

Chapter 236: First Life. Alice. (3)

Princess Chambers.

The castle, Springton.

**************

A couple of minutes later, the court was adjourned as they decided to watch for the prince’s next move before they took decisive action against him and his kingdom. Alice had remained silent all through after getting what she wanted most.

She ran into her private chambers and shut the door. "Harley!" she called out. Her weight jumped and giggled as she waited. "Harley! You won’t believe what happened" she squealed the minute her eyes fell on Harley.

"I already know my lady" the maid materialized from a section of the room holding up another dress for Alice to change into "You will be seeing Springton in spring" she said with a smile.

Alice just stood there, mouth wide open, in awe of how her little maid came to know of something that had just happened a couple of minutes ago. Half the time, she suspected that Harley was a witch in disguise because this was too much.

"Palace gossip my Lady" Harley said as she smoothed the new dress on the chair next to Alice’s bed. "Never underestimate it" she warned when she noticed Alice’s suspicious gaze.

"Oh yes," Alice snapped out of her shock and went back to smiling gleefully. She twirled around the expanse of her room and Harley just watched her doing it "I am so happy" she confessed.

"I heard Conrad will be coming too" it was Alice’s turn to surprise Harley with information and Harley wanted to pinch her lady and best friend for getting like that over a glorified knight even though she knew she didn’t appreciate him.

"Who cares about Conrad?" Harley brushed past Alice as she began to lose the dress from Alice, "We will get to see spring as it rises over Springton" , her own concern.

"Oh my dear friend, you might only care about spring," Alice said, scanning the room for her pen and paper. She intended to document anything interesting that she saw. "but I care about him and the spring," she said. "He is the best knight we have got"

"And you are coming with" Alice held Harley’s hand in a way that always surprised her friend. Even though they were almost the same age, height and appearance, Harley still believed that Alice was a princess and hence higher. So she found it tasking to relax and enjoy Alice’s show of affection.

"I better go and get ready then, Conrad would not be an obstruction" Harley said, breaking their contact "Do you need anything?" her question, Alice didn’t notice the subtle act of disentanglement from her maid.

"Thank you Alice, I can manage," Alice said, still swooning over the thought of going out to see the famous Springton fields and how they are rumoured to come alive this period.

The door was closed shut and Alice wasted no time in getting ready. Before she left, Harley had loosened the hems of her red dress and all she had to do was get in the new one. She left nothing to chance, choosing to be ready before she was called to come down for her journey.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the horn was blown signifying that the royal carriage was ready to be in use. Alice frowned at her father’s chosen means of transportation when she would have chosen to ride on horseback but there was nothing she could do. She had thought she could go to the fields like a simple noble lady but he wanted her to go as a princess and refusing him now could mean that she might not go and her dream would be dashed this close to fruition.

"Shall we move? My ladies" came the voice of one of Harley’s least favorite people and the knight her all so considerate friend had agreed to guard them on this trip, Conrad.

It was a wise decision on the king’s part though but a game on Alice’s part. Conrad knew more about the streets than any other, it was even believed that he knew a great deal about the kingdoms they were at war with and that was why the king held him in high regard but he also teased Harley to death and she didn’t want that.

His brown hair and black eyes made him very appealing to the eyes and even Harley could not deny that but her problem with this particular knight of Springton was that those eyes were for everything that looked good on a dress.

"Princess Alice’’ he acknowledged the excited Alice before turning to the maid. "Lady Harley," he bowed low and Alice did not miss the blush that crept up on Harley’s face, she smiled, despite Harley not wanting it she too loved Conrad’s attention.

"If you are done with your pleasantries, could you get on and let us go" Harley replied after regaining her composure, she knew Alice was itching to be in the city streets so she didn’t care if she sounded rude, she was only stating what she knew her lady would want to say but is being too polite to say it.

"Oh, I won’t be on the coach my Lady" Conrad corrected smirking as he met her deviant gaze. "I would be on my horse, that way I get to see and extinguish any threat before they come to any of you, My fair ladies" he winked at her and her heart did a stupid skip before settling.

He was still smiling playfully when he turned and it was at the tip of Harley’ tongue to say that she was not his lady but Alice stopped her with an arm resting on her own. Harley always freezes at such shows of friendship and hence she decided to focus on that instead. They were outside and the princess’s governess could see them now but Alice didn’t care.

Soon the coach began to move and several horns blasted through the air but Alice was impervious to it all. Two more coaches followed behind them, with a good number of maids and guards Alice wondered what their purpose for this evening would be, all she cared about was finally being able to see the city even though she might be trapped inside a box the whole time.

Alice was breathing heavily and anticipation choked her. She glanced at Harley who was also looking at her side of the window.

Alice watched the grass go by, the sounds of cobblestones soothing because she never had too much of it to have enough of it, she kissed the air with her palm and for a moment hungered to have wings. She was going out and if she was being honest she didn’t care about the reason her father or the council let her out in the first place, she was going for fun, the neighbouring kingdom be damned.

It first came as mumblings but when Harley paid more attention to it, she could finally make out what was going on outside the coach and it was not what she wanted to hear at all.

"My lady, my lady, my lady" the knight’s voice rang time after time, it appeared the main reason Conrad had chosen to ride on a horse was so that he could easily fraternize with all the women they passed on the streets.

She found herself frowning, "My lady I suggest you have your father take off his head" she whispered to Alice pulling the princess out of her thoughts.

"No, Harley of course not" Alice grimaced before laughing at her maid’s discomfort, her voice came out as a little more than a whisper as she suggested. "I could have the king make you a duchess instead" but she exploded into soft laughter when a cute scowl came onto Harley’s face.

"Oh it would be easier to convince the king to cut off that pretty little neck of his though" Harley insisted. She could never understand what it was that ladies saw in Conrad, he was annoying, and she considered them too hard for her taste and Conrad was even worse because he wasn’t hard at all, it’s as if he skipped training to make him look unpleasant and just became a formidable knight overnight.

Alice preferred to swoon over trees, music, delicious food and a bottle of rum that society had deemed unfit for ladies of her stature to drink but one day she knew she would. Girls talked about boys and dresses but she had dresses and Love was the last thing she would get excited over but little did she know she was on her way to it.

The carriage stopped abruptly, surprising no one but Alice who was in a daze when the maids and male servants jumped down. She looked to Harley for an explanation only to see her maid getting ready to go out too.

"We are at the fields my Lady," Harley explained as she stole glances at Conrad though their eyes met, she’d scowl at him. "The handmaid needs us to fetch fresh fruits and vegetables for the Castle," she announced and Alice smiled at the opportunity, she looked around at the plenty of maids and decided they wouldn’t miss her if she suddenly went away. Her plan was solid.

"Why did you not tell me this vital information before now, Harley?" she pretended to be disappointed as she scolded Harley but it was tasking, too tasking because all she wanted to do now was scream in joy.

"I thought you knew" Harley had not caught onto her act and was frowning which only made Alice want to burst out laughing. "I’m sorry my Lady"

"As you should be" Alice continued the act, stifling a wicked grin "But lucky for you, I have a way you could make it up to me"

Harley, albeit suspicious, agreed to whatever channel it was that the princess had found to make her pay for what she did. Negligence of duties.

*

* *

*

Evening.

Field, Springton.

************

Alice emerged from the woods totally transformed. One would think that her elegance would reduce now that she was rid of fine silk and all those jewels that adorned her hair, her hands and clothes but she still stood with as much grace and beauty.

She had convinced her maid to make a switch that could possibly cost Harley her head but being friends with a lower class has never been this good, she did it for her. Alice did and felt a little guilty but if everyone were to go as planned, no one would lose their head tonight.

The princess looked out of place with her new simple clothes but it made her blend perfectly with the mass of people at the Springton fields. There was laughter, screaming and music and to any other princess, it would look like home, to Alice, it looked like home for her curious heart.

Harley had returned to the carriage dressed prim and proper while Alice picked a secluded path, deciding to stay clear of the people and guards. She did not know what Harley intended to do that would make her soldiers not think of her while she enjoyed the city of Springton but she would enjoy this place just as much as she hoped Harley would.

She was giggling with every step she took, her royal mannerisms forgotten as they had given way to her free spirited nature and now it ran through the expanse of the city.

She had a shawl covering her face and hence even her guards would have a hard time recognizing her. She was free to do whatever she wanted and this made her extremely happy.

Alice relished in the sights she saw as all of Springton was at its brightest and the lands were bursting with fertility and growth. If only she had rum, then her happiness would be complete.

A firefly caught her attention when she reached the section where people seem to be trying to capture the little beings.

With narrowed eyes and a head full of curiosity, she followed the lone firefly into the woods.

Soon she reached a herd of fireflies and her smile widened, her arms spread with her eyes fluttering shut, the wind in this area was more chill but she didn’t have the time to wonder why as she decided to enjoy the feeling of being nature’s princess.

She spun and spun around giggling with abandon, her feet too her around the trees, between the insects until she felt something wet and muddy under her feet, her eyes sprang open, she had been spinning next to a waterfall and at the last minute, she found out but she had gotten dizzy and she couldn’t stop herself, she found that she was falling down fast with no way to steady herself up. No.

This wasn’t the way she thought her end would come, she had never tasted rum, never cut her hair, never rode a horse, she had a list of things she had never done! she had never been seen naked by a man, never fallen in love! She didn’t fancy love now but she wanted it someday, this couldn’t possibly be the end for her. She wished to be saved!

She blinked, her mind coming to the notion that she hadn’t felt the motion of falling, she didn’t feel her head upside down or a rush to death. She actually felt warm, so she blinked again a few times to see that she wasn’t falling anymore, she was in the arms of a boy. A boy her age had stopped her from falling into certain death, his arms wrapped expertly around her waist and that was why she was warm instead of shivering.

The boy’s inviting lips opened and he whispered. "You have been saved"

"Princess Alice?" were the next words out of the most handsome boy Alice had ever laid eyes upon and it almost shook her out of her stupor. He knew her! He recognised her.

The moon had risen and was full on the sky, blessing the kingdom with its night light and helping Alice see her saviour’s face. Her saviour possessed golden locks which was strange for the natives of Springton, his eyes were as blue as the sky during the day and they threatened to drown her in their depths whenever she looked at them. And his face looked angelic; she hungered to touch it, his muscles rippled under her as she moved, his lips...

"Are you alright?" he whispered, cutting her thought right off, but every word he said thundered in her ears as her heart accelerated in seconds.

No. This was not her. She was definitely not alright but she could not say anything to the boy who saved her life and not because she did not want to, Alice found that her lips could not move and neither could her knees as she tried leaving his embrace.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.