Chapter 13

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The next morning I woke up at 5:00am, as I had been doing for several days now. The process of getting ready wasn't nearly so arduous as it had been the first time. After dropping off Prince Nikolas's breakfast, Ivan and I headed to the kitchen to eat our own. Jonathan passed us each our respective breakfasts; Ivan had toast, eggs, and sausage. I had fluffy rolled crepes topped with strawberries, whipped cream, and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. To compliment the crepes were a glass of chilled milk and four crisp strips of bacon.

"These look amazing!" I exclaimed through my own drool. I cut off a bite of the crepes, shoved it in my mouth, and sighed blissfully.

"You're lucky you're so pretty," Chef Jonathan said. "I wouldn't especially make those crepes for just anyone."

I wasn't sure how to respond, but I swallowed my food and beamed. "Well I'm lucky you think so because these are to die for!"

"Well consider it a good start to the Autumn Festival, then," Jonathan told me.

I noticed Ivan eyeing my food, which looked distinctly better than his Plain Jane eggs, so I cut off a bite from my crepes and placed in on his plate with a smile.

"What did you do that for?" Jonathan sounded grumpy.

"Ivan looked like he wanted to try some."

"So you gave a piece of my delicious meal to that Nikotan rabble?" he cried.

I looked up at Chef Jonathan sharply. "No need to be so xenophobic, Jonathan."

"Xenophhobic?"

"Prejudiced against people from other countries," I explained.

"Well then I'm not that. You're not from here, I'll remind you, but I still enjoy your company."

"True, but you're acting awfully rude towards Ivan, when as far as I can tell, he hasn't done anything wrong except for being born in Nikoto." I frowned deeply. "All the servants look at him as though he were a leper."

"Nikoto doesn't treat us any better," Chef Jonathan argued.

"Have you ever even been there?" I asked.

Chef Jonathan didn't say anything for a moment. "No. But that doesn't mean not I'm right."

"Well, suppose you are right," I said. "Don't you want to be the bigger person? The better country?"

Chef Jonathan shrugged. "I just don't like it when Nikotans are here in the castle."

I sighed. "Alright," I said. "Just try to be nicer to Ivan, please? You can hate Nikoto to your heart's content—I understand that there is history there—but don't be mean to him, will you?"

Chef Jonathan narrowed his eyes. "Fine," he conceded. "I will try. But why do you care so much?"

"Because Ivan is just a sweet little baby cinnamon roll underneath that scary big frame of his! I'm sure of it!" I answered, and Chef Jonathan merely laughed.

***

When Ivan and I returned to Prince Nikolas's room, we found the Prince pouring over a laptop at the table in his room. He started speaking to Ivan in Russian, and I waited patiently for him to finish before he repeated his instructions in English for me.

"Cassie," he finally said, and I looked at him attentively without a word. "I apologize for springing these plans so quickly on you. I was not sure until last night if I wanted to go through with it, but I have decided that I will. I would greatly like to attend the Autumn Festival today. There are going to be a lot of neat events in the Capitol today. However, I am afraid that my English accent is not good enough for me to pass as a native. I know I have a distinct Russian accent. Moreover, people know that I generally stay at the palace during this time. As such, it would be unwise for me to go out into the crowds unless I stayed mute, which may be difficult if I need certain things. That is why I will need for you to accompany me whilst I attend the festival. You will act as my mouthpiece when talking to Areganan natives. Moreover, I will not stand out as much if you are with me."

I rose my eyebrow. I was a bit surprised, to say the least. This excursion sounded like a borderline date, which definitely blurred lines. And yet, with Prince Nikolas suggesting the idea, I knew that it would be nothing at all like a date—I would simply be preforming my duty.

"After lunch, we will go out to the festival," Prince Nikolas said. "We will eat dinner while we are at the festival, and return home afterwards. Before you bring me my lunch, change into more casual attire, please. In the meantime, I need you to order a car to take us near the festival, and inform the Queen that I will not be here for dinner."

"Yes, sir," I said.

Unfortunately, I had to wait for a couple of hours before I could began working on Prince Nikolas's instructions, since he woke up before most everybody else. At 8:30, I headed toward Queen Klara's room, but ran into Missus Alexandria before I could reach her.

"Miss Cassie," Missus Alexandria smiled. "I was just looking for you. The Queen wants to see you."

"Perfect!" I said. "I need to see her as well."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Prince Nikolas sent me."

"I see."

We soon arrived outside the Queen's door and entered her room. Queen Klara was on her sofa peering into the laptop resting on her thighs and speaking to someone on a cellphone. A pair of black rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of her nose.

"Is that really all the pumpkins there are to be?" she said to whoever was on the other end of the receiver. "Right. Well see if you can't get more?" The Queen's eyes darted to me and she silently nodded in acknowledgement.

"Okay," the Queen continued into the phone. "Alright, just make sure it gets done. Yes, I'll speak with you more later. Goodbye." She tapped the end button on her phone, straightened her posture, and removed her glasses.

"Hello, Cassie," she said with a smile. "Thank you for coming. I wanted to discuss more Queen Maiden details with you."

"Okay," I said, deciding to inform her of Prince Nikolas's outing after she said whatever she needed to say.

"Take a seat." The Queen politely gestured to the soft armchair across from her, and I willingly obeyed her orders. "Well, things are a little complicated because you are serving Prince Nikolas, but I am sure it will only be a minor inconvenience." Queen Klara briefly went over our agenda. On Thursday, I would have lunch with the Queen, dinner with the royal family, and that night I would get to stay in one of the nice rooms that night. Friday would be my official Queen Maiden day.

"That sounds great!" I responded. "Also, Prince Nikolas sent me to tell you that he will not be here to have dinner tonight."

Queen Klara rose a perfectly arched brow. "Oh? Why not?"

"He's going out to the festival, and plans to eat while he is there."

"He is? He is going out to explore the Autumn Festival?" The Queen furrowed her brow. "That's odd. Did he say why?"

"Not explicitly," I answered. Suddenly, a wry smile tugged at my lips as an answer came to me. "But, perhaps he wants to better understand Areganan culture. Especially if your two countries are going to be close one day."

A smile grew on Queen Klara's face; as I had suspected, the answer was quite satisfactory to her. Any hint that her Nikolas-Calista ship might work out must have been music to her ears.

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