59: Consequences of repeating the memories

Consequences of repeating the memories

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The horses pulled the carriage cart in which clothes, bedsheets and other things that needed to be washed were piled. 

Though Princess Emily had left the old palace on her white horse, when she reached the village, she had dismounted from it and now walked alongside her maid. Four maids walked ahead of them, and four guards followed behind, leading the horse. 

"The weather feels so good," Princess Emily smiled and she fixed her dark brown dress, feeling the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze from the trees surrounding them on her half-veiled face. 

Anastasia couldn't agree more and asked, 'Lots of trees in here?'

"You are right, there are lots of trees in here," Princess Emily nodded as they walked through the village. She said, "It is probably because it is far from the royal palace, where the curse originated, and its effects must have weakened by the time it reached here. Otherwise, this area was very rich in its flora and fauna, and there is also the Hamding River that runs through the village before reaching a forest. If we are lucky, we might be able to see some rain while we are here."

Some of the people in the village came by to take a look at the princess, and a few of them even greeted her,

"Princess Emily, good health to you!"

"You look lovely as usual, Princess Emily! It is so good to see you here!" 

Anastasia noticed the princess waving her hand at the villagers, and soon two young women and two young men appeared in front of them. The guards, on high alert, drew their swords in response to the commoners' audacity. 

"It's fine! Don't hurt them!" Princess Emily stopped the guards by raising both of her hands. 

"Princess Emily, we weren't expecting you here," One of the young women, who had blonde hair, bowed and said, "Zain said that he thought he saw you last evening, but he was unsure. I hope you are here for a long time?" 

"Two or three days at the most before we return to the royal palace. It is good to see you, Naila," Princess Emily smiled at the young woman. 

"That seems like a short visit. But we are glad you are here, Princess," said the other woman, with dimples in her cheeks. 

"I am glad to be here too, Alora. I was hoping to meet with you all," Princess Emily said, and she turned to Anastasia and said, "Anna, these are my friends whom I used to play with here when I was young. This is Naila, Alora, and these two here are Zain and Issac."

So the princess did spend a little time away from the palace and mingled with the commoners when she visited the old palace, Anastasia thought to herself. 

"Where is Prince Aiden? We have missed him immensely," the young man with wavy brown hair asked. 

"He's out with Brother Dante for work, but he should return soon," Princess Emily responded politely. 

"Oh…" came the quiet response from them, and Anastasia took it that the princess's acquaintances weren't particularly eager to meet the first prince because of his intimidating demeanour. 

"Princess, it looks like you are heading to the river. How about Alora and I accompany you? We have our own clothes that need to be washed. If you don't mind the company," the woman named Naila asked, not wanting to impose. 

"It should be okay. The more, the merrier," Princess Emily smiled. 

The young man named Issac asked, "Then you wouldn't mind us tagging along, would you, Princess?" He added, "It would be a shame to not reminisce about our memories." And though he said those words, his eyes shifted to look at the maid, who stood beside the princess, curious to find out more about her. 

"Ah, I guess… If you are good at cleaning clothes," Princess Emily raised her eyebrows, and the two young men burst out laughing before nodding. 

"We will help your maids to finish the work quickly. And this way the princess will have more free time, along with the maids?" Issac asked, before they began to head together to the riverside. 

On their way, Anastasia noticed how Princess Emily looked happier in their company than when she was in the royal palace, as she was supposed to behave in a certain way. It brought a smile to her face. 

"I don't think I caught your name. I am Issac," the young man, who was probably around the princess's age, introduced himself. 

Anastasia stared at the man, pursing her lips, and heard him ask, "Did the princess deny your right to speak?" 

"Anna cannot speak." Princess Emily, who had heard Issac's question, answered for her. 

Anastasia offered a bow to the princess, wondering when the princess would get tired of telling people she couldn't speak. But then, at the same time, the guilt and the thought of Emily finding out that she was being lied to worried her. 

"Oh, okay," Issac responded, as he continued to walk next to her. He asked her, "Is this your first time visiting here? I am sure I would have known if you had been here before."

Anastasia was not used to attention, at least not from a male who was blatantly interested in her. Taking it to be a friendly one, she nodded to his question. 

Issac said, "So I was right." And when Anastasia offered a small smile, the young man's smile grew wider. 

By the time Anastasia reached the river with the others, she could feel Issac's constant gaze on her, and she avoided meeting his eyes out of awkwardness. The man openly gawked at her until his sister, Alora, elbowed him. 

The sight of the river that gently flowed and the sound of the water hitting the small rocks near the riverbank brought Anastasia a sense of happiness, reminding her of the village she came from. 

The guards stood a few steps behind Princess Emily, who sat on the riverbank, watching and talking to the people as they began to wash their clothes with clean water. Anastasia quietly worked with the other maids, and noticed that no matter how friendly Princess Emily was, the four people from the village always addressed her as princess, as if an invisible line had been drawn, never to be crossed. 

Once the clothes were mostly done, with only a few items left, Issac proposed, "You know what we should do? Throw a celebration for Princess Emily tomorrow, as she's visiting us after such a long time." 

"That is very kind of you, Issac, but I must refuse," Princess Emily didn't want to impose on them, nor did she believe that her mother would approve of her time in the village. She said, "I came here with my brothers to spend time with my mother; it would be rude to spend time outside."

"Maybe we can make a request to Queen Sophia? You will have your maid and your mother with you. It will just be for the evening, and no longer," Naila asked with a hopeful expression.

"I will think about it," Princess Emily politely smiled. 

"Princess Emily, do you remember when we used to come here when we were little? Playing in the water, and how my sister almost drowned along with Prince Aiden," Issac chuckled at the memory. "We used to splash water at each other."

"Aiden and I still speak about this place," Princess Emily said, "Wishing we were still little."

Zain, who was Anastasia's age, said, "Don't let age stop you from doing things, Princess. See," he cupped some water in one of his hands before splashing it on Issac. 

Issac went to splash water at Zain, which also landed on his sister, and soon there was a water fight to see who could splash more water on each other. Anastasia and Princess Emily weren't spared from the water being splashed on them, so they joined in on the harmless fun, as did the maids. 

And while they continued to splash water on each other, with their laughter and chatter echoing off the banks of the river, they failed to notice the arrival of the first and third Blackthorn princes. 

On noticing the princes, the guards quickly bowed deeply, unsure of how to explain the water fight. Prince Aiden became excited, smiling, and when he turned to look at his elder brother, his excitement evaporated because of the fuming sun next to him. 

When Dante came here to pick up his sister and enjoy the sight of the running river, this was the last thing he had expected to see. Everyone in the river was drenched from head to toe. It wasn't just that they weren't acting how one was supposed to behave for their age, but that the women's clothes stuck to their bodies in the company of the two males. 

His eyes narrowed further on noticing one of the males splash water at Anastasia while she smiled and tried to dodge it. As if that wasn't bad enough, her beige cotton dress had turned semi-transparent, revealing her bosom when water wasn't splashed on her. And he wasn't the only one who noticed this; so did the young man who had been splashing water at her, and his face turned pink. 

Before his brother's mood worsened at the sight before him, Prince Aiden loudly called his sister, "Lily!"

Princess Emily heard Aiden's voice, and she turned to look, the smile quickly falling from her face on noticing Aiden quietly telling her to get out of the water, while her elder brother looked furious. 

"Brother Dante…" Anastasia heard Princess Emily whisper. 

When Anastasia followed the princess's gaze, her face paled on seeing Prince Dante's expression. The others quickly noticed their presence, and the sounds of water splashing died down, leaving only the sound of the flowing river. 

Princess Emily stepped out of the river at her younger brother's direction. 

"Aiden, take Emily back," Dante ordered, and without questioning him, Aiden and Emily disappeared from there with the guards. "Do you need a special invitation to get out?" His question was directed at Anastasia. She didn't have to be told twice, and she quickly got out of the river. 

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