Chapter 9: Running Off For Information
~Flerbery’s P.O.V.~
“Flerbery? Where are you? I can’t see you anywhere. Flerbs?” I’m doing something important, I don’t have time to hear Waonde gushing over Prince Cadarum, so I don’t answer and I block my thoughts. She missed out by not coming, so she shouldn’t get to cheat through my thoughts.
I reach the stables and stand in a- doorway.
“Hello?” I call. I hear shuffling. Then a boy leans out of one of the stalls with a pitchfork in hand. When the soldier said stable boy, I didn’t realize he meant a boy not much younger than me.
“Your Flabulousness,” he says with a bow, “How can I help you?”
I curtsy back. “Flerbery’s fine, I’m no more flabulous than anybody else. Your Byronn, right?” He nods. “I came to ask you about my mother. I hear you have been in contact with her.”
“Yes,” He answers, “I have. I drove the carriage she left in and traveled back and forth delivering messages for many years.”
“Did you know her well?” I ask out of curiosity.
“I like to think so. In a way, I was sort of her adopted son. My mother was a kitchen maid, and my father the stable man. They both fought to protect flabnoria, and were both killed.” He tells me solemnly.
I say, “I’m so sorry. They died proudly though.”
“Yes,” he says with a nod. “And because of their loyalty, your mother took me in. She found me a nurse and provided for me. Then she gave me this job. We used to play together when were were children, you princesses and I. You’re only a year older.”
“I don’t remember.” I say.
“That’s because--” He starts to say.
“Flerbery?” Says Woande. I turn to look at her.
“We need to be inside, like, now.” She says.
I turn back to Byronn and whisper, “We have to go. Can we come back later to talk about this?”
“Of course, I’ll be here all night. Just wake me if need be.” He says.
When we get back in, our father gives a speech in our honor. It is so loving, and yet his love for mother has driven him to take away our will. This makes me want to cry, but I hold it in, hoping that nobody notices.
Then we sit at the dining table and talk politely (Well, I talk politely. Woande is more on the flirtatious side) with the princes. Then I subtly excuse myself and Woande, saying that we’ve had an exhausting day and need our rest. Stellan and Cadarum will be staying a few days as guests, to help us get to better know our future husbands.
“Okay, Woande, let’s go down to the stables.” I urge Woande.
She replies, “Okay, lets go.”
We jog stealthily through the servants exit and courtyard to the stables. I walk into the stables and call out, “Byronn?”
He doesn’t answer and he’s nowhere in sight. Then I have an idea. I hoist my nightgown over my knees and climb up into the hayloft. He lays in a pile of straw, sleeping. His pixie-like features look so innocent.
“Is he up there?” Calls woande.
“Yeah, come on up.” I reply. She climb the ladder and sits next to me.
“How do we wake him?” Asks Woande.
I lightly hold his shoulders and whisper, “Byronn!”
He wakes with a small start. “Oh, hello.”
I mentally catch Woande up to speed by sharing my memory of the conversation earlier.
“So what were you going to say earlier?” asks Woande. He looks confused.
So I explain. “I told her.”
“Oh. Well, I was gonna say that you don’t remember because your father had all memories of your mother or anything to do with her wiped from your head.” He says.
“What?!” Woande and I exclaim.
“So this whole time, I wasn’t allowed to speak to you or I would be hanged. Your father is bitter because I helped your mother leave. They both loved her, and the two countries were always tense, but she chose Flabnorius. Gorongl eventually found the right woman, but a few years after she bore both her sons she became ill and died. The Queen felt awful, so she went to visit and see if she could help make him happy. He tried to convince her to leave Flabnorius for him, but she refused. So he threw her in the dungeon. Now, she is prisoner there and was forced to mother the Princes. One of them, the younger one, truly believes she is his mother, but the oldest is as cold and cruel as his Father.” He explains elaborately.
“And you have to marry him?!” demands Woande in disbelief.
My heart sinks. I do fall for intelligence, but he is also brutal and bitter. I don’t want to spend my life with somebody like that.
Then I come up with something. “No, I don’t!” They give me funny looks. “We can find a way to save our mother without joining the countries together!”
“How?” asks Woande.
“I know!” I exclaim. “I could say that I want to see Goronglia before we’re married. So we could be engaged and I could go stay there and find a way to bail mother out of there!”
“Where would Cadarum and I be?” She asks.
“You could stay here or come with me, but Cadarum wouldn’t be much use. Unless… we’ll have to tell Cadarum all of this!” I petition.
“Don’t forget about me!” says Byronn. “I’ll go with Flerbery just to be safe.”
“Okay, but now tell us more about Mother,” pleads Woande.
“Flerbery? Where are you? I can’t see you anywhere. Flerbs?” I’m doing something important, I don’t have time to hear Waonde gushing over Prince Cadarum, so I don’t answer and I block my thoughts. She missed out by not coming, so she shouldn’t get to cheat through my thoughts.
I reach the stables and stand in a- doorway.
“Hello?” I call. I hear shuffling. Then a boy leans out of one of the stalls with a pitchfork in hand. When the soldier said stable boy, I didn’t realize he meant a boy not much younger than me.
“Your Flabulousness,” he says with a bow, “How can I help you?”
I curtsy back. “Flerbery’s fine, I’m no more flabulous than anybody else. Your Byronn, right?” He nods. “I came to ask you about my mother. I hear you have been in contact with her.”
“Yes,” He answers, “I have. I drove the carriage she left in and traveled back and forth delivering messages for many years.”
“Did you know her well?” I ask out of curiosity.
“I like to think so. In a way, I was sort of her adopted son. My mother was a kitchen maid, and my father the stable man. They both fought to protect flabnoria, and were both killed.” He tells me solemnly.
I say, “I’m so sorry. They died proudly though.”
“Yes,” he says with a nod. “And because of their loyalty, your mother took me in. She found me a nurse and provided for me. Then she gave me this job. We used to play together when were were children, you princesses and I. You’re only a year older.”
“I don’t remember.” I say.
“That’s because--” He starts to say.
“Flerbery?” Says Woande. I turn to look at her.
“We need to be inside, like, now.” She says.
I turn back to Byronn and whisper, “We have to go. Can we come back later to talk about this?”
“Of course, I’ll be here all night. Just wake me if need be.” He says.
When we get back in, our father gives a speech in our honor. It is so loving, and yet his love for mother has driven him to take away our will. This makes me want to cry, but I hold it in, hoping that nobody notices.
Then we sit at the dining table and talk politely (Well, I talk politely. Woande is more on the flirtatious side) with the princes. Then I subtly excuse myself and Woande, saying that we’ve had an exhausting day and need our rest. Stellan and Cadarum will be staying a few days as guests, to help us get to better know our future husbands.
“Okay, Woande, let’s go down to the stables.” I urge Woande.
She replies, “Okay, lets go.”
We jog stealthily through the servants exit and courtyard to the stables. I walk into the stables and call out, “Byronn?”
He doesn’t answer and he’s nowhere in sight. Then I have an idea. I hoist my nightgown over my knees and climb up into the hayloft. He lays in a pile of straw, sleeping. His pixie-like features look so innocent.
“Is he up there?” Calls woande.
“Yeah, come on up.” I reply. She climb the ladder and sits next to me.
“How do we wake him?” Asks Woande.
I lightly hold his shoulders and whisper, “Byronn!”
He wakes with a small start. “Oh, hello.”
I mentally catch Woande up to speed by sharing my memory of the conversation earlier.
“So what were you going to say earlier?” asks Woande. He looks confused.
So I explain. “I told her.”
“Oh. Well, I was gonna say that you don’t remember because your father had all memories of your mother or anything to do with her wiped from your head.” He says.
“What?!” Woande and I exclaim.
“So this whole time, I wasn’t allowed to speak to you or I would be hanged. Your father is bitter because I helped your mother leave. They both loved her, and the two countries were always tense, but she chose Flabnorius. Gorongl eventually found the right woman, but a few years after she bore both her sons she became ill and died. The Queen felt awful, so she went to visit and see if she could help make him happy. He tried to convince her to leave Flabnorius for him, but she refused. So he threw her in the dungeon. Now, she is prisoner there and was forced to mother the Princes. One of them, the younger one, truly believes she is his mother, but the oldest is as cold and cruel as his Father.” He explains elaborately.
“And you have to marry him?!” demands Woande in disbelief.
My heart sinks. I do fall for intelligence, but he is also brutal and bitter. I don’t want to spend my life with somebody like that.
Then I come up with something. “No, I don’t!” They give me funny looks. “We can find a way to save our mother without joining the countries together!”
“How?” asks Woande.
“I know!” I exclaim. “I could say that I want to see Goronglia before we’re married. So we could be engaged and I could go stay there and find a way to bail mother out of there!”
“Where would Cadarum and I be?” She asks.
“You could stay here or come with me, but Cadarum wouldn’t be much use. Unless… we’ll have to tell Cadarum all of this!” I petition.
“Don’t forget about me!” says Byronn. “I’ll go with Flerbery just to be safe.”
“Okay, but now tell us more about Mother,” pleads Woande.